Got the news over from Bibliophile Stalker that one of the greatest influences of my liking for stories of the fantastic and the spectacular, David Eddings, died last Tuesday of natural causes. He was 77.The Nevada Appeal had a good story on the fantasy writer who started his career after discovering that JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was already in its 73rd printing.
Eddings, who along with his wife Leigh, produced over 25 books of epic fantasy starting with The Belgariad and its sequel series of books, The Mallorean and moved on to another fantasy world with The Elenium and The Tamuli. His last epic series was The Dreamers.
Oft criticized for his writing style, Eddings believed himself to be a storyteller and not someone out there to win a Nobel Prize for Literature. While his initial aim at writing epic fantasy was to find a way to pay the bills, he had always wanted to be a writer since his high school days. He aimed at creating fantasy that was fun to read and not lead readers astray with "thees" and "thous" that was the norm those days with fantasy writers following Tolkien's influence.
Eddings is credited with bringing the genre of fantasy fiction to the mainstream and his commercial success with his books opened doors for other fantasists to write fiction that was easy to read and fun.
According to the report, Eddings was still working on a manuscript that was unlike others he and his wife have written but still very much fantasy.
On a more personal note, he was a great influence to my own journey towards fantasy and to an extent, science fiction. He opened new doors for me and made me dream that one day I will, like him, write a book that people would love to read. His books were constant companions during summer and I hunted and tried to complete and of course, cherished.
I still lack a couple of books from his last series but no doubt, I will complete them one of these days.
He and his writings will be missed.
Photo courtesy of Nevada Appeal and in turn courtesy of Reed College
