E
B+ Pawn of Prophecy (Book One of the Belgariad) 1982 Fantasy
Oversimplified, definitively juvenile, pitch perfect for bookish young teens
B+ Queen of Sorcery (Book Two of the Belgariad) 1982 Fantasy
Enjoyable adolescent fluff
B Magician’s Gambit (Book Three of the Belgariad) 1983? Fantasy
Some of the tricks are wearing a bit thin
B Castle of Wizardry (Book Four of the Belgariad) 1984 Fantasy
Series starting to irritate a bit now – very lazy writing (no editing), repetitive dialogue
B- Enchanters’ End Game (Book Five of the Belgariad) 1984 Fantasy
The (yawn) climax. No suspense – every second goodie casually granted godlike powers
B The Diamond Throne (Book One of the Elenium) 1989 Fantasy
Satisfactory fare, no surprises
B The Ruby Knight (Book Two of the Elenium) 1990 Fantasy
OK, but I don’t recall ever bothering to finish the series
EGGERS, Dave
B After I was thrown into the river and before I drowned 2000 Short Story
(in ‘Speaking With the Angel’; Ed. Nick Hornby)
Dog’s enthusiastic new age perspective on
life and afterlife
B Silas Marner 1861 Novel
Not as engaging as Middlemarch, but interesting plot turns, characters and themes
A Middlemarch 1881-2 Novel
Clever, insightful, original,
potent, engaging
B+ Stark 1989 Humour
Consistently funny, unsubtle satire and environmental message
B+ Gridlock 1991 Humour
Weird juxtaposition: thriller plot narrated by (good!) stand-up comedian
A Popcorn 1997 Action/Black Comedy
Clever, funny, incisive: works as a thriller and as satire
B Inconceivable 1991 Novel
Workmanlike realisation of a usable idea, engaging start and finish, but bogs down in cliché in the middle
A- The First Casualty 2005 Historical Fiction/Crime
Alternate political characters enhance rather than overwhelm WW1 crime story
C Blind Faith 2007 SF/Novel
1984 template to hypocritically vilify facebook and religion
ELWOOD, Roger
F Angelwalk 1988
SF/Christian
Clumsy ignorant smug middle-American nominal bigotry