The Malloreon

The Malloreon is a five part fantasy book series written by David Eddings, which follows The Belgariad. The Malloreon is set in the same world as The Belgariad, but expands on several aspects of the setting, especially the eastern continent of Mallorea.

Works in the series

1. Guardians of the West (ISBN 0-345-35266-1)
2. King of the Murgos (ISBN 0-345-35880-5)
3. Demon Lord of Karanda (ISBN 0-345-36331-0)
4. Sorceress of Darshiva (ISBN 0-345-36935-1)
5. The Seeress of Kell (ISBN 0-345-37759-1)

While the story concludes in The Malloreon, minor events occur in the prequels Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress, which otherwise cover the history of the world.

Guardians of the West

Guardians of the West
Author(s)	David Eddings
Illustrator	Shelly Shapiro
Cover artist	Edwin Herder
Country	USA
Language	English
Series	The Malloreon
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Publisher	Del Rey Books
Publication date	04/1987
Media type	Print ( )
Pages	448 (paperback)
ISBN	0-345-33000-5
OCLC Number	17609325

At the end of The Belgariad, Garion has slain the evil god Torak and believes that he may expect lasting peace. The first half of the book concentrates on the first eight years of Belgarion's reign, describing many minor problems including Queen Ce'Nedra's seeming infertility and a civil war in Arendia. All of these problems are resolved without much trouble, their resolutions providing some comic relief. The book also focuses on the life of Errand, who is growing up in the Vale of Aldur as Polgara's ward. During his years there, Errand is revealed to have extraordinary powers of extra-sensory perception that extend almost to the definition of omniscience. This puzzles Polgara and Belgarath. During the same years, Errand encounters other supermundane activity, most significantly a lesson learned telepathically from an ancient tree and two contacts with people who will be important to his destiny.

Before the dawn of a particular day, Garion and Errand are both summoned by the Orb of Aldur to the Hall of the Rivan King. Before either one can react the Orb suddenly glows deep red, and the Voice of Prophecy warns them "Beware Zandramas!". Thereafter Garion and Belgarath seek to discover the identity and purpose of Zandramas through records of ancient, dubious prophecies. Ultimately, Garion learns that he is still a figure of prophecy and bears the responsibility of defeating the one who will succeed Torak as "Child of Dark".

Subsequent to Garion's discovery, his regent Brand is unexpectedly murdered by assassins sent to kill Ce'Nedra and her newborn son Geran. The assassins are traced to the Bear-Cult, a legion of ethnocentric fanatics dedicated to reunification of the empire divided among the sons of Garion's distant ancestor King Cherek, who consider Ce'Nedra a corruptive foreign influence. Garion later hears word that the Bear-Cult have taken over several Alorn cities as their base of operations. In response, he and other descendants of Cherek destroy the Bear-Cult, but are unable to prevent the abduction of Prince Geran by a third entity. When the cult rising is put down, it is revealed that the leader of the cultists is actually the Grolim priest/sorcerer Harakan, a servant of Torak's disciple Urvon. Harakan escapes shortly after the revelation of his true identity.

The military leaders are later visited by the clairvoyant Cyradis, the seeress of Kell, who reveals that the kidnapping was carried out by Zandramas, the new Child of Dark. Garion is told that to find his son, only the following companions must he take with him on the start of his quest: Belgarath, Polgara, Ce'Nedra, Errand, Durnik, and Silk. Additionally, he will gather on his travels the Huntress (a Drasnian spy named Liselle or Velvet), the Man Who Is No Man (Sadi), the Empty One (Mallorean Emperor Zakath), the Silent Man (Toth) and the Woman Who Watches (Poledra). With these companions he must travel to the Place Which Is No More for the final meeting between Light and Dark that will decide the fate of the world. When all objections are overcome, the company assembles and departs.

King of the Murgos

King of the Murgos
Author(s)	David Eddings
Illustrator	Shelly Shapiro
Cover artist	Edwin Herder
Country	USA
Language	English
Series	The Malloreon
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Publisher	Del Rey Books
Publication date	04/1988
Media type	Print ( )
Pages	458 (hard cover)
ISBN	ISBN 0-345-33002-1

In this book, Belgarion and his fellow travelers take up the chase of his kidnapped son Geran. They learn more about the murderous woman Zandramas and of her minion, a white-eyed Angarak named Naradas. During their stay in Nyissa they recruit Sadi, a eunuch expelled from Queen Salmissra's court. Sadi convinces the group to pose as slavers searching for escaped runaways as the Mallorean army ravages through Cthol Murgos. When they enter the wastelands of Cthol Murgos, they are captured by the desert-dwelling Dagashi and given the task of secreting an assassin through the Mallorean army lines. Eventually, they arrive in the palace of the King of the Murgos, Urgit, and discover, to Kheldar's surprise, that his father had sired the Murgo King while on a diplomatic mission many years before.

Urgit, upon learning that Kheldar is his half-brother, arranges for the group to travel south to the Isle of Verkat. Before they leave the city, they find that the Dagashi assassin they are supposed to take with them is in fact Harakan. Garion and Harakan duel with swords until Harakan realizes he is about to lose and resorts to sorcery to save himself. The group then sails south. En route, their ship wrecks and they must travel to the coast on foot. When they reach the coast, Toth tells them that Cyradis has pre-arranged for a boat to take them to the island. On the island, they discover that they must travel to Ashaba. Before they can leave the island, Mallorean soldiers come looking for them, and Cyradis, who must abet both Necessities equally, tells Toth to alert the guards to their presence. This greatly angers Durnik, who believes that Toth, a trusted friend especially to himself, has betrayed them. The book ends with the company being imprisoned and sent to Emperor Kal Zakath's Imperial Palace.

Demon Lord of Karanda

Demon Lord of Karanda
Author(s)	David Eddings
Illustrator	Shelly Shapiro
Cover artist	Edwin Herder
Country	USA
Language	English
Series	The Malloreon
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Publisher	Del Rey Books
Publication date	09/1988
Media type	Print ( )
Pages	426 (hard cover)
ISBN	ISBN 0-345-33004-8

At the beginning of this chapter, Belgarion and his fellow travellers are brought to Mallorea. There Belgarion meets Kal Zakath, the Mallorean emperor bent on destroying all opposition to himself. During their stay at the Imperial Palace, Zakath and Garion become friends. When a sudden plague spreads, necessitating quarantine, the questing party escape the city so as to continue their journey.

While escaping the palace, they are joined by a traveling jester named Feldegast (actually Belgarath's 'brother' Beldin in disguise), with whom they approach the kingdom of Ashaba. Problems arise when it is revealed that the reports of demons in the country are true, as is the report of a Demon Lord named Nahaz, who has turned the once deadly Urvon insane to control him.

Reaching Ashaba, Garion is tricked into believing that he sees Zandramas and his son meeting with Urvon and charges into the throne room, to find that they were merely illusions. Beldin, on seeing Urvon and his man Harakan, assumes his true form; this starts a battle with Urvon's forces, which ultimately results in Harakan's death when Velvet throws a poisonous snake belonging to Sadi into his face, avenging the death at his hands of her colleague Bethra. Nahaz faces the group of sorcerers and the Orb, ready to fight; but when Eriond comes to stand with Garion, the Demon Lord flees, carrying the insane Urvon with him. The group then continues east.

Travelling through the demon-infested countryside, and seeing horrors such as women impregnated by demons (the births usually resulting in the mother's death), the group encounters Zandramas, who attempts to coerce Ce'Nedra to come within killing distance. At the last moment the supposedly dead Poledra, Polgara's mother and Belgarath's wife, appears and forces Zandramas to retreat. Poledra then returns Ce'Nedra to safety, smiles at her family, and vanishes.

Sorceress of Darshiva

Sorceress of Darshiva
Author(s)	David Eddings
Illustrator	Shelly Shapiro
Cover artist	Edwin Herder
Country	USA
Language	English
Series	The Malloreon
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Publisher	Del Rey Books
Publication date	12/1989
Media type	Print ( )
Pages	410 (hard cover)
ISBN	ISBN 0-345-33005-6

The party continues their pursuit of Zandramas into the Melcene Empire, where they discover that the Sardion, the polar opposite of the Orb of Aldur, was once kept in an undersea cove where traces of its power still resonates in the walls.

Upon reaching the University at Melcena, Belgarath finds the unmutilated copy of the Ashabine Oracles, which he has sought, and figures out that the party must go to Kell to learn of the location of "The Place That Is No More". Garion, in the same book, sees that in his sole moment of sanity, Torak specifically addressed Belgarion at the back of the Ashabine Oracles, demanding that if need be he should destroy the world, even kill his own son, rather than let Zandramas complete her plans. This reflects a similar warning made by Cyradis in Guardians of the West. Garion is stricken by the pain of Torak's request and ultimately must forgive himself for the latter's death. Having achieved this knowledge, the group return to Mallorea and travel overland. At some point thereafter, a suggestion is made that Torak's existence was an aberration and that another God shall appear to take his place.

The party is recaptured by Zakath, who threatens to take Garion back to Mal Zeth with his companions as collateral. At Beldin's request, Cyradis appears and persuades him to release the party, offering herself as a hostage; Zakath does so and joins them on their quest. Shortly thereafter, Poledra appears in the guise of a wolf, bringing with her an orphaned cub, and joins the travelling party. Her identity is concealed from both characters and reader until the next book.

Urvon's Karand army under Nahaz and Zandramas' Darshivan army eventually engage each other in battle, as do Urvon's Demon Lord ally Nahaz and Zandramas' Demon Lord ally Mordja. The demons go after Garion's group, sensing the Orb's presence, but Aldur steps in and infuses Durnik with his own powers, increasing his size. His hammer at this point is implied to partake of the power of the Orb, much like the sword of Riva Iron-grip carried by Garion. The awesome power of the three defeats Nahaz and Mordja, banishing them back to Hell, and causing Nahaz's final act on earth to drag Urvon into Hell with him. Aldur, before leaving, informs Belgarath, Beldin, and Polgara that Durnik is "also my beloved Disciple, as he was the best suited of ye". An amulet (the only one made by Aldur without the aid of Belgarath) is then bestowed upon the smith.

The Seeress of Kell

The Seeress of Kell
Author(s)	David Eddings
Illustrator	Shelly Shapiro
Cover artist	Edwin Herder
Country	USA
Language	English
Series	The Malloreon
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Publisher	Del Rey Books
Publication date	05/1991
Media type	Print ( )
Pages	402 (hard cover)
ISBN	ISBN 0-345-33006-4

The group continues to Kell, where they meet with Cyradis. As promised, the Seeress surrenders herself to Zakath as his "hostage", and tells them that the next stop of their journey is Perivor, an island to the southwest of the Mallorean continent. Here, they will find the last clue to their journey to the Place Which Is No More.

Garion's party and Zandramas's servant Naradas attempt to find maps in Perivor, a kingdom of shipwrecked Mimbrates, that point the way to the Place Which Is No More. Naradas, disguised as a court minister, delays Garion by sending him on red-herring quests, whereafter Sadi successfully poisons him. With the aid of a Necromancer, they expose his treachery to the King and find the ancient map. The Place Which is No More is revealed to be the High Places of Korim, an ancient temple of Torak.

The group sets sail to the Place Which Is No More, rests on the island there, and confronts Zandramas. A battle ensues against her Grolim priests, as well as the demon Mordja, who now resides inside the body of their world's last living dragon. To everyone's horror Mordja kills the blindfolded Seeress's guide Toth; but Garion slays both the dragon and the demon with his ancestral sword.

The group then accompanies Zandramas into the Sardion's resting place, where Zandramas chooses Geran as the next Child of Dark, whereupon Garion chooses Eriond as the next Child of Light. Cyradis, still grieving over the loss of Toth and unable to consult with her people, experiences a few moments of terrible panic for fear of making the wrong choice, until Polgara removes her blindfold so that she may see with human eyes. Receiving a final challenge from Zandramas, Cyradis ultimately chooses Eriond, causing Zandramas and the Sardion to be changed into stars and transported into outer space.

The Voice of Prophecy explains that the events of the preceding books were the result of an ancient, cosmic event that resulted in the Light and Dark prophecies, and that Eriond, the final Child of the Light, is actually the original, true God of Angarak, whereas Torak was never meant to be a God. Zakath's personal guard soon arrives on the Imperial ship. In the harbor, Barak, Lelldorin, Mandorallen, and Hettar arrive in Barak's ship, with Barak's son Unrak tied to the ship's mast. Here, it is revealed that Unrak is his father's successor to the position of the Rivan King's guardian, the Dreadful Bear. The sorcerers honor the fallen Toth by populating his funeral slab with eternally growing flowers and sealing off the section of Mount Korim with glowing quartz and crystal so that it may act as his tomb.

After leaving Eriond, Zakath, and Cyradis, the adventurers return home in Barak's ship, where it is revealed that both Ce'Nedra and Polgara are pregnant. The story ends with Garion reading a letter from Zakath, showing that Zakath has now married Cyradis and is witness to the social changes wrought by Eriond, while Garion, Belgarath, and Durnik are in the Vale of Aldur with Polgara as she gives birth to twins. This birth is theorized by the gods to be the first "new" event that is not a repetition, as Polgara has spent thousands of years helping to raise other people's children and has not, until this point, had a child of her own.

See also

• Characters in The Belgariad
• Deities in The Belgariad
• Races in The Belgariad and The Malloreon
• The Rivan Codex

External links

• A Timeline for The Belgariad and The Malloreon
• Glossary of Characters
• A MUD set in the world of the Belgariad and the Malloreon