Ordained to make peace and make war, to gain love and lose love, Polgara lives out her family's rich prophecy in the ceaseless struggle between the Light and the Dark.Īfter two devastating defeats and the utter annihilation of two armies, the hideous Vlagh still vows to invade the land of Dhrall. Here is the legendary life story of a woman of wit, passion, and complex emotions, a woman born of two majestic parents who could not have been more unlike one another. And there she starts on the path toward her destiny as Duchess of Erat, shepherdess of the cause of good, adversary of Torak the One-Eyed Dragon God, and guardian of the world's last, best hope: the heir to the Rivan throne. There she assumes the bird shapes that will serve her on her adventures.

There, she first learns the reaches of her powers. Her hair streaked white by her father's first touch, her mind guided by a mother she will not see again for centuries, Polgara begins life in her Uncle Beldin's tower, and in the prehistorical, magical Tree that stands in the middle of the Vale. Now, Polgara looks back at her magnificent life, in this fitting crown jewel to the saga that is the Eddings' Belgariad and Mallorean cycles. The daughter of Belgarath and the shape-shifter Poledra, she has fought wars, plotted palace coups, and worked her powerful magic for three thousand years. She soars above a world of warriors, kings, and priests.

But only if Althalus, still a thief at heart, can bring together a ragtag group of men, women, and children with no reason to trust him or each other. Her evil brother shares the power, and while Dweia has been teaching Althalus the secrets of The Book, the ancient God has been using the dark magic of his own Book to rewrite history. For when Althalus leaves the House at the End of the World, much wiser but not a day older than when he'd first entered it, thousands of years have gone by.īut Dweia is not the only one able to manipulate time. She must be: for in no time at all, she has stolen his heart. She is Dweia, sister to The Gods and a greater thief even than Althalus. On his way to steal The Book from the House at the End of the World, Althalus is confronted by a cat-a cat with eyes like emeralds, the voice of a woman, and the powers of a goddess. Yet of all the men in the world, it is Althalus, unrepentant rogue and scoundrel, who will become the champion of humanity in its desperate struggle against the forces of an ancient god determined to return the universe to nothingness.

He is, as all men know, a thief, a liar, an occasional murderer, an outrageous braggart, and a man devoid of even the slightest hint of honor. It would be sheer folly to try to conceal the true nature of Althalus, for his flaws are the stuff of legend.

The shining ones david eddings