More enjoyable than the ten main volumes.

This is the first prequel to the Belgariad and Malloreon (before Polgara the Sorceress).

In this prequel, Belgarath tells us about his youth and how he became Aldur's pupil and then disciple, along with his brothers Zedar, the twins Belkira and Beltira, Belmakor, Belsambar and the dwarf Beldin.

For a while they all live happily in the Vale, quietly studying, until Aldur's evil brother Torak steals the Orb and cracks the World.

Then follows a history of the events that led to the birth of Garion the Godslayer: Belgarath's meeting the remarkable she-wolf who'll become his wife Poledra, the division of Aloria between Cherek and his sons Dras, Algar and Riva, the birth of his daughters Polgara and Beldaran, the start of the Rivan line and Torak's disciples' efforts to obliterate it, the Battle of Vo Mimbre...

All the while, Belgarath and his brothers are taking care that everything clicks together, deciphering madmen's prophecies, and accordingly arranging meetings and marriages to ensure that Garion will be surrounded by the right companions when the time comes.

All in all, I enjoyed re-reading this prequel more than the ten main volumes, even though Belgarath's flaunty remarks to the reader tended to rile me. Eddings's style and plot crafting has definitely improved during the years between the writing of The Seeress of Kell and this present volume. I hope I will now enjoy Polgara the Sorceress as much as I did when I first read it, it's always been my favourite among the lot!

8/10