Belgariad (4) - Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings
And the next: Castle of Wizardry (in German Turm der Hexer, in French La tour des maléfices) with 373 pages. Originally published 1984.
Ce'Nedra is terrified: She has to present herself on the court of the Rivan King – whose line was destroyed three thousand years ago – and hope the mysterious and probably non-existent man shows up and marries her. A total stranger! And, even worse, she has to do this – and be humiliated – in front of all the kings and queens!
Garion on the other hand is not a total stranger. He's supposed to bring Errand with the Orb with him to the Isle of Winds. But every time he asks aunt Pol what he has to do once he gets to the court she gets very mysterious... what is going on here?
I love it! Even though Ce'Nedra IS a little spoiled brat from time to time, she gets standable. Pol's skills get to her – and it's so cute how she begins to feel something for Garion. The way she handled the Adara situation – after she found out, who Adara is? Gorgeous! You really have to have grace to do that.
As for Adara herself, she's an incredibly sweet person. You can't but like her. I'm sorry that she's unhappily in love with Hettar – who only has horses and revenge in his head.
As for Garion... he's really to be pitied in this book. His whole world is turned upside-down. He was raised as a simple farm boy, not as a king – and everyone he knows suddenly treats him as if they didn't know him. It's overwhelming. Additionally, he has a lot to do – and he can't make all that decisions since he has no idea what the Rivans could need. And I'm sorry for Pol's and Wolf's plot with Ce'Nedra's necklace – because all that they really accomplished was that Garion got between the fronts. But he so made the right decision with making Ce'Nedra his equal.
Wolf's illness was well done, and how Pol treated him. Huh, intense, really. And I'm glad for how this played out with Barak and his wife. Finally!
As for Garion's friend, the Archer: Good. God. I had no idea that any living person could be so melodramatic! And any love that destructive! Seriously, they imagine conspiracies for the fun of it, don't they?
In brief:
I give it a star for characters, politics, style, ideas, content and humour.
Prequel:
Sequel: