You know what universe I want to see fanfiction written for? The Belgariad.

[Traab]

Seriously, especially when you include the info from belgarath the sorcerer and Polgara. You have this massive millenia spanning universe being carefully arranged according to prophecy and we have it established how the entire storyline only happens because the original plan got messed up, which means introducing some chaos with say, a crossover, or just altering some characters could change things drastically. You could do the same with the Elenium/Tamuli series, but really, the belgariad setting just has so much to work with. Harry Potter becomes the first disciple of aldur after using accidental magic to teleport from his cupboard to outside his tower. Ichigo is sent to teach Garion how to use a sword, Naruto tags along on the main journey after getting sent here due to a sealing mishap, Luffy takes over the kingdom of cherek by being king of the pirates, I dont care, the point is, it could be AWESOME! And yet none of my main fanfic sites have much on them. There are 7 belgariad stories total, only one of which is more than 30k words.

[NecroRebel]

A number of years ago, I read a fairly long Inuyasha/Belgariad crossover fic set after the Mallorean that was probably over 100k words and incomplete at the time. I don't remember where I found it, though, but since it had explicit sex scenes I don't think it would be on a lot of the main fanfic sites. I think it was titled "Journey to the City of Endless Night." It was mostly focused on the Inuyasha characters, though, especially Inuyasha and Kagome.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Well, it's out there, just not very much of it. A google search for Belgariad fanfiction threw up a load of results (including this thread in 8th position - that's service for you!). The link immediately after that was for Harry Potter/Belgariad (http://www.favoritestracker.org/publicList.php?list=2222).

The first two items covered fanfiction.net and about 20-odd stories.

Most of it looks to be straight rather than cross-over though, and I suspect you were more interested in crossover.

[Traab]

Most of the fanfiction dot net stuff is sub 5 thousand word one shots and started single chapters with no follow up type stuff. Im reading the story you linked though, even abandoned at least it will give me something to read. As for crossovers, I like them, but I wouldnt mind reading standard fanfics of the universe where things changed, ive just been reading a lot of crossover stuff lately so the examples were in my mind easier.

[thorgrim29]

I'd like to see what Garion gets up to several centuries after the story. He'd no longer be living in Riva of course, having probably left around the time his grandkids started dying off, Ce'Nedra would be dead of old age, and he'd be adventuring around with Belgarath, trying to see what the world is like when there's no fires to put out. Call it say... "The bucket list". They'd travel around, seeing the effects of the world finally being free of the medieval stasis, visit new and old towns, check up on the descendants of old friends, etc... It would be a steampunk-ish story about immortality, progress, the nature of historical recollection, and wacky hijinx as the two of them consistently just try to be anonymous, have fun and get laid but keep being drawn into whatever plot is around at that time and/or revealing themselves somehow.

Yeah if someone could write that it would be great.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Ce'Nedra would be dead of old age

I don't think Ce'Nedra can die of old age. A major theme in the books is that marriages have to be between equals, which would not work if Ce'Nedra is mortal. Yes, "driads live a long time" but we're still talking a few hundred years - a blink of an eye to Belgarath. Now, the book doesn't draw attention to it, but Ce'Nedra's pendant is Aldur's tree, whose purpose is to exists as long as the world does. If Ce'Nedra is tied to it, as the pendant suggests she is, she is as immortal as Belgarion.

Grey Wolf

[thorgrim29]

Huh... I didn't think of that. Oh well. I don't tend to like relationshp stories in fanfics, they can work when it's from a good author but fanfics are often enjoyable because of the premise and in spite of the author's talent to me and relationships are hard to write well. Might still work with the two of them wandering around but it would have less wacky hijinks, Ce'Nedra is not hijinks fodder the way Belgarath is.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Huh... I didn't think of that. Oh well. I don't tend to like relationshp stories in fanfics, they can work when it's from a good author but fanfics are often enjoyable because of the premise and in spite of the author's talent to me and relationships are hard to write well. Might still work with the two of them wandering around but it would have less wacky hijinks, Ce'Nedra is not hijinks fodder the way Belgarath is.

No biggie. The set-up does sound fun, but I just realised that you also forgot that Belgarath also got his wife back by the end of the series - so going on adventures, yes, but sleeping around, no (besides, Belgarath got that out of his sistem about 4k years before story start - "as bad as drinking, but easier on the liver", to paraphrase him). About the only immortal wizards that didn't get paired by the end where Beltira and Belkira (well, and Zodar, for obvious reasons).

GW

[thorgrim29]

You're right I had completely forgotten that, which is kind of shameful since I read the whole series maybe half a dozen times. But anyway the sleeping around part is incidental, the main point to have it be light-hearted adventuring with deeper overarching themes (It was mainly in because I like a Harry Potter fic where he goes through the portal Sirius fell through and lands in a parallel universe where they meet up, have fun adventures and get laid a lot and I was thinking about it when I wrote my first post).

So with that in mind it works with both Ce'Nedra and Poledra being alive. sort of "Well, honey, Grandpa and I love you and Poledra very much but we've been sitting on our hands in Aldur's Vale for the last 50 years and we're bored, see you in a few years!". Then you could write chapters once in a while about what goes on in Aldur's Vale during that time or Ce'Nedra and Poledra drag Polgara and Durnick along on their own adventure with similar problems but seen from their perspectives. Man I think I'm on to something here, always happens to me I think of interesting concepts but I cannot write a story to save my life. If anyone wants to write this you have my blessings.

[Traab]

Honestly, I could see that being used as a basis for crossovers where belgarath/garion go reality hopping just looking for something new to do and learn about! Be like, "Yo, great great great great grandson riva the 5th, lend me the orb so we can go elsewhere. That way the orb isnt in danger here, we get to vanish, and everyone is happy!"

After all, they no longer have that Purpose driving them on. I would imagine a few centuries of study with nothing to apply it to would get dull as heck. And dealing with mortals would be painful as heck so reconnecting with the world isnt much of an option. Might as well go reality hopping, see what they can find and learn, then move on when it gets boring or annoying. Come back to visit the family and turn over any information they gathered, then go back out. Maybe switching out the party from time to time for variety.

[Hopeless]

Well sooner or later someone's going to figure out about Belgarath and kidnap him whilst he's drunk.
Maybe a wannabe rival seeking the secrets of his power maybe even keeping him under control using drugs eventually forcing the others to rescue him.
What if Belgarath had kids during that period when he went visiting bars and getting blind drunk?

Lord knows nothing says that couldn't happen with the villains from the books?

Imagine if the villain of the first series had kids but imprisoned them somewhere beyond the reach of his brethren and they were only released as a result of the sequel with Belgarion's nemesis being sealed away... heck if she was intended to seal a gap what if someone or something crossed through before then?

Nothing says those books aren't set in the same universe as Sparhawk for example...

Lots of potential there!

[Dienekes]

Torak having secret kids and having the presence of mind to hide them? Do gods even have kids?

Beyond that, really? Torak? I don't think he's smart enough for that. Hell it was thoroughly proven he wasn't even smart enough to figure out how prophecies work. I doubt he'd even be able to figure out how to make kids if a harem of women were trying to explain it to him using diagrams and crayon drawings.

[Traab]

Torak having secret kids and having the presence of mind to hide them? Do gods even have kids?

Beyond that, really? Torak? I don't think he's smart enough for that. Hell it was thoroughly proven he wasn't even smart enough to figure out how prophecies work. I doubt he'd even be able to figure out how to make kids if a harem of women were trying to explain it to him using diagrams and crayon drawings.

Hey, he wanted to claim polgara as his wife and even offered to adopt belgarion as his son! Thats sort of a way to get a family. Sure they would have been mind controlled into total servitude but hey, thats how families work, right? As for being smart enough to understand how prophecies work, remember that both prophecies are equally valid right up until "the Choice" is made. There is a different Choice at every Event that determines how it all works out. It is quite nearly a coin flip as to which side will win, and both sides have a prophecy that tells them they will pull it off and things will go as they want them to. As for secret kids, meh, if it was a part of the grand plan, they would have been hidden. If not, they would have gotten spotted and splatted most likely. Oh, and theoretically he could have kids. After all, he is the son of Ul. Therefore gods can give birth to gods. Or at least demigods in the case of torak.

[Dienekes]

Hey, he wanted to claim polgara as his wife and even offered to adopt belgarion as his son! Thats sort of a way to get a family. Sure they would have been mind controlled into total servitude but hey, thats how families work, right? As for being smart enough to understand how prophecies work, remember that both prophecies are equally valid right up until "the Choice" is made. There is a different Choice at every Event that determines how it all works out. It is quite nearly a coin flip as to which side will win, and both sides have a prophecy that tells them they will pull it off and things will go as they want them to. As for secret kids, meh, if it was a part of the grand plan, they would have been hidden. If not, they would have gotten spotted and splatted most likely. Oh, and theoretically he could have kids. After all, he is the son of Ul. Therefore gods can give birth to gods. Or at least demigods in the case of torak.

The prophecy was me referencing what happened in the Mallorian where we found out the Dark Prophecy had him do some actual prophesying then when he was lucid again, he read it, didn't like it, so he decided to just rewrite it to his liking.

That's not how it works Torak.

[Corvus]

I'd go with demi-gods are not really likely in the setting. After all Belar was known to have slept with lots and lots of Alorn girls back in the day but no mention is ever made of it resulting in any children.

[Hopeless]

You mean other than overly tall descendants or the fact one of the characters from the first set of books turned into a bear when Garion was threatened?

As for Torak you've forgotten Belgarath's opposite Zorak I think his name was?

[TeChameleon]

Huh... I didn't think of that. Oh well. I don't tend to like relationshp stories in fanfics, they can work when it's from a good author but fanfics are often enjoyable because of the premise and in spite of the author's talent to me and relationships are hard to write well. Might still work with the two of them wandering around but it would have less wacky hijinks, Ce'Nedra is not hijinks fodder the way Belgarath is.

... I'm sorry, what?!?

Oh... wait, Belgarath, not Belgarion. I was trying to figure out how the staid Sendarian farmboy was somehow more highjinks fodder than Ce'Nedra...

Even so, from what I remember of the series (of which I remain quite fond), Ce'Nedra is one of the few who can wrap Belgarath around her little finger. Add to that the fact that Ce'Nedra is a willful, high-strung princess with the charisma and presence to basically steal the army of every kingdom between her and Belgarion on her way to go help him, I rather suspect that she could (should the mood take her) cause highjinks on a scale that would have even Belgarath shaking his head in wonderment (and Polgara raising one eyebrow and sniffing disapprovingly :smalltongue:)

[Giggling Ghast]

ichigo and naruto have teh sex on teh bellgariadd

it is Hott

teh end

[Traab]

ichigo and naruto have teh sex on teh bellgariadd

it is Hott

teh end

Keep yer filthy yaoi away from me heathen!! Polgarian forever OTP!

[digiman619]

I'll be honest, but The Mallorion turned me off of the universe. It honestly felt like someone's fanfic, at least as far as the story goes. "Remember how all of existence hinged on this one choice? The one that was the climax of the final book? Well, now there's a NEW final choice that all of existence hinges on! Also, this new story we introduce new love interests/bring back dead love interests for all the single characters! The new bad guy is a hot chick with the night sky as her skin color (Original Character! Do Not Steal!)." All it's missing is a new main character and having Belgarion on the sidelines.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I'll be honest, but The Mallorion turned me off of the universe. It honestly felt like someone's fanfic, at least as far as the story goes. "Remember how all of existence hinged on this one choice? The one that was the climax of the final book? Well, now there's a NEW final choice that all of existence hinges on! Also, this new story we introduce new love interests/bring back dead love interests for all the single characters! The new bad guy is a hot chick with the night sky as her skin color (Original Character! Do Not Steal!)." All it's missing is a new main character and having Belgarion on the sidelines.

Eddings wrote two very good series in the Belgariad and the Elenium. Good stories that were complete and neatly finished. Then he tacked sequels on them. Judging by the Elder Gods and Redemption of Athalus I think he had started to run out of ideas.

[Traab]

I liked redemption of althaus honestly. Its was a nice little stand alone novel in its own universe. I can see the annoyance with the mallorean, but I think the tamuli was an interesting twist that added on some neat extra factors to the storyline.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I liked redemption of althaus honestly. Its was a nice little stand alone novel in its own universe. I can see the annoyance with the mallorean, but I think the tamuli was an interesting twist that added on some neat extra factors to the storyline.

Agreed on all points; in fact, I prefer Tamuli to the Elenium. I mostly read Eddings for the character interactions & the snark, and Tamuli has it at its best - Stragen, Embar, Sarabian, Oscagne & his brother, etc. Even when I know the jokes by heart, they still make me smile. Stragen's speech to the Elven Styric high council is something more fantasy novels need to deliver.

(Full ranking: Tamuli>Elenium>Belgariad>Belgariad Prequels>Althalus>The Losers>Malloreon. I can't stand the Dreamers & have not read the rest)

Grey Wolf

[Traab]

There is one redeeming feature to the mallorean. When mandorallan makes his big speech after the end of the story.
“My Lord, I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offense against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fir which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornement for a human face. Is it possible that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?

And then he continues on FURTHER and becomes even more badass.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I liked redemption of althaus honestly. Its was a nice little stand alone novel in its own universe. I can see the annoyance with the mallorean, but I think the tamuli was an interesting twist that added on some neat extra factors to the storyline.

Oh, I enjoyed Redemption of Athalus - the problem was that having read the other four series I knew how his writing worked, which robbed the story of a lot of its charm.

My main complaint with the Tamuli was that it spent a lot of time rewriting the lore of the previous books. On the other hand some of the reasons behind the rewriting were quite clever (I rather liked Zalasta's comment that the rings were designed to deceive Gwherig (a not-very-bright troll) into thinking it had power over Bhellhom, with the result that everyone was so focused on obtaining the rings that they ignored the fact that the jewel itself was on the Thalasian crown and (relatively) easy to obtain.

The Mallorean, on the other hand, took too long to get started (it didn't really hit stride 'till the third book, and then the fourth was OK), then ended early and spent too long wrapping up.

That said, all the books had their moments. And Mandorallan tended to be made of moments.