Jun 3 2009
David Eddings Has Passed Away
David Eddings, fantasy author, has passed away at the age of 77.
Eddings is best known for The Belgariad series, the first installment of which, The Pawn of Prophecy (1982), prompted Lester del Rey to tell him, “You’ve written a classic.” The series introduced many to fantasy, and inspired some to write themselves (including Stephen Hunt, whose tribute to Eddings is here). Eddings was himself inspired by the success of The Lord of the Rings, which he was startled to discover was in its 78th printing when he encountered a display copy in a bookstore.
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Jun 03, 2009 @ 10:01:59
Man, that’s a bummer. I always had him mentally pictured as close to my age, ’cause he wrote like I wanted to.
His word-image of the sorceress Polgara will live in my imagination forever. Particularly her way of getting her protegee to do what he was told: “NOW, Garion!”
He’ll be missed.
Jun 03, 2009 @ 10:14:53
I had no idea he was 77 either. Wow. He started me on fantasy fiction. I’d read some fantasy before, but he got me addicted. I’ve been waiting to share the Belgariad with my son. (It’s a bit dated now, I think, but still fun.)
Sad news.
Jun 03, 2009 @ 15:31:23
That is so sad! I started his books in the early 90′s. Very sad!
Jun 03, 2009 @ 15:40:42
I can’t believe that I saw the news first on this site. Guess it shows the shift in my reading preferences lately….
I know a lot of people, particularly younger teens, who cut their fantasy teeth on Eddings. The Belgariad is very accessible, especially if it’s the first time you’ve encountered some of the standard sword-and-sorcery elements. It’s what I usually recommend to kids who loved the LOTR movies but find they don’t enjoy reading Tolkien.
Jun 03, 2009 @ 16:34:10
Damn I loved that series.
Jun 03, 2009 @ 21:30:58
HE was one of my favorite authors, and still is. I LOVED the Belgarian series, even though I started with the Elenium set.
Jun 04, 2009 @ 04:19:49
I’m so sad to hear this.
The Belgariad series was my late brother’s favourite series. I used to read these books to him over and over again, when he was bed-ridden.
Jun 04, 2009 @ 10:01:10
That’s very sad to hear. I read the Belgariad and the Malloreon over and over when I was ill back in university. The Belgariad in particular, I read at least fifteen times that year. I know it almost by heart.
Eddings was definitely an influence on my early fiction. I loved his female characters. When my daughter was small, she got read a great number of Eddings books, in addition to the Dragonlance series and Narnia.
I hope he wasn’t too terribly lonely without Leigh in his last years. They both brought a lot of joy to readers.