David Eddings

I'm currently reading "The Belgariad" series and plan to continue on to "The Malloreon" once I'm done the first.

He's one of the more talented fantasy authors I've had the pleasure of discovering, though I have a small inquiry to make of all of you:

Do you have any recommendations to make on other authors/series based on my enjoyment of the above-mentioned series? Also, what's your opinion on David Eddings's works in general?

He's okay (read: mindless fun, nothing deep, yet entertaining) if you're just starting to read fantasy, but he'll probably get on your nerves fast with his happy-flower-wonderland fantasy style with basically the same old characters (with different names) in every novel later on.
Also, clichéd/boring plots.

I agree. Eddings IS fun, but stick to the Belgariad if you want to like him. Every series of books after the Belgariad...is the Belgariad with a different name.
Much in the same style is Raymond E. Feist, although he suffers the same formulaic trap that Eddings does insomuch as he refuses to try anything new and simply rehashes all his old characters and stories. Read Magician and then forget he wrote anything else.
The Wheel of Time was promising, by Robert Jordan, however he was diagnoses with a weird terminal illness and didn't want to finish the series, so the last four or five of his books have been pretty terrible.
If you like your fantasy with a darker twist, try George R. R. Martin, Cecilia Dart-Thornton or Robin Hobb.

Jordan wasn't diagnosed with his disease until after the 11th book was released dude. 

I was unaware of that...

In that case, Jordan has no excuse for sucking.

I found Belgariad really dull. I just couldn't make myself plow through the remainder of the first book after I lost interest half way through.

Are the later books better?

somehow i manged to finish the whole belgariad, expecting it improve towards the end, but it sucked even then. spare yourself the trouble of you want somethign interesting and get it only for educational purposes...

That whole Sparhawk series was my favourite. The name of them escapes me now.

>>4
wait did jordan die he hasent released a book in over 2 years?

No, hes getting treatment at the Mayo clinic, so his writing is going very slowly.  He wrote on his blog that A Memory of Light should be submitted for publication in 2008, and most likely will come out in 09.  He has enough notes and outlines for the ending that if he were to kick off before finishing it, his wife could take over.  You wouldn't notice much of a difference Im sure, because she has been his editor for the whole series.

test

OP here. I'm on the last volume of The Belgariad (Enchanters' End Game) right now. Reading through this series has been more of a marathon than anything else; I blame Eddings' sluggish story development of a generally dull plot. My only hope, other than not falling asleep again while pursuing this series to the end, is that The Malloreon will prove to be a better read. Based on the responses in this thread so far, that doesn't seem to be likely though.

I recently read the diamond trone, and as >>2 said, boring, cliché, and mindless fun. I say fun because I didn't like it, but couldn't be arsed to stop reading. It was dull, with a so-so style, but still...
so yeah, there is better out there, and newer. So please, make the publishing industry a favor and help new authors.

>>12
If you're not enjoying a piece of fiction, don't read it. It's not like you'll be debating it with some English majors.