The Joy of Erudition > Recent Status Updates

Started out great, but the cracks have really been showing for a while now. The author seems often to forget about characters that are present in the party; very glaring in the cases when they logically would have had something significant to contribute to the situation. Information is often repeated. The party is so trusting that I can't believe they survived to retire. There's no sense of urgency; many detours.

Most of the really good emotional stuff was in the beginning.

This is really good so far!

Reith's decisions aren't making much sense, but oh well. Things are happening.

I'm left confused, not just from the unexpected development between the characters, but by the continuity immediately following. For instance, Vance seems to have forgotten that he wrote Dordolio falling away with blood squirting from getting his neck slashed. And he's strangely silent on the topic of the awaile (but "ooh, cool binoculars"), and I just can't believe that he takes Reith on a shopping trip afterward.

So far this is all about the main character trying to navigate the strange moods, insults, and social posturing of the princess and a newly-arrived cavalier.

This book got much, much better somewhere around chapter 18-20! Now I'm having a great time and enjoying this book.

Almost self-aware in its repetition.

"The first act was very long, your Highness," Asharak said, "and quite often tedious. As you may have noticed, Belgarath sometimes gets carried away with his own cleverness."

Nothing is happening.

Twice now, the author has explicitly described the use of "thee" and "thou" to be formal and polite. But "thee/thou" is the informal form of "you"! They're actually presumptuously tutoyering people without permission.

"Come inside, all of you. Let’s not stand about in the cold." He turned and limped up the steps to the house.

"What happened to your leg?" Wolf asked him.

"An arrow in the knee."