The strongest element of the book is character development. In the main series, Polgara can sometimes feel cold or aloof. In her memoir, we see her vulnerabilities. We see her struggles with her father, Belgarath (the drinking, womanizing sorcerer), and the crushing weight of her duty. It turns her from a "plot device" into a woman who has sacrificed love and personal happiness for a destiny she didn’t ask for.
Because the book covers thousands of years, it sometimes reads less like a novel and more like a history textbook written in the first person. It is episodic by nature; a problem arises in one century, it is solved, and then we skip ahead fifty years. This can make the middle section feel like a slog if you aren't invested in the minute political details of the fictional kingdoms.
Polgara the Sorceress (1997) is the direct companion to Belgarath the Sorcerer . It’s a first-person memoir of Polgara, the beloved, stern, and powerful daughter of Belgarath. The novel spans over 3,000 years of her life, from her childhood in the Vale of Aldur to the events of The Malloreon .
David Eddings & Leigh Eddings Genre: High Fantasy / Epic Saga Format: PDF / Digital eBook