The Belgariad by David Eddings

The Pawn of Prophecy, the first book in David Edding’s famous Belgariad series, was the first character-driven fantasy book that resonated with me. I was a mere middle-schooler at the time and, aside from classics like The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia, was new to the world of fantasy.

I’ll admit that the first hundred pages didn’t quite enthrall me. It was mostly about Garion, a boy, living a normal life on a farm. His companions were average, but his aunt, Polgara, and a wizened old v...