RIP David Eddings
Posted By Kathleen David on June 4, 2009
I remember precisely where I was when I bought my first David Eddings book. I was in Florida with my family on vacation. We had gone to the local mall and the bookstore (Walden Books) and I saw this cover that interested me. It was “The Pawn of Prophecy” by David Eddings. I devoured it and as many other books as had been published by that point. I really liked them. He was one of a few authors that I bought in hardcover because I wanted to own that book the minute it came out.
Years later I was working with Del Rey and ended up working on a repackaging of the Belgariad. I ended up have a number of conversations with both David and Leigh about it over the phone and a little bit of e-mail. I never told him how much I had enjoyed his books in my teen years. It just didn’t seem professional.
Leigh passed away in 2007 and I sent a sympathy card to David. This morning I learned that David passed away. And another of the fantasy modern greats passes on.
I do regret that I never told David and Leigh how much that series had meant to me.
I am grateful that I got to work with them.
This is the first place where I’ve heard about David Eddings passing away. I actually discovered David and Leigh Eddings work when I was in my mid-twenties, and thoroughly enjoyed his Belgariad novels. But my absolute favourites were his 3 Tamuli novels. The characters were pretty compelling and it was such an entertaining read.
Rest in peace, David Eddings.
It’s easy to find occasional fault with David Eddings’s dialogue (well, I do sometimes, anyway), but the readability, plotting and overall good feeling of nearly all of his writing are delightful. He will be missed. It’s time for a major rereading. His “The Losers,” which is quite atypical of his usual genre, is remarkably good.