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David Eddings

David Carroll Eddings (July 7, 1931 – June 2, 2009 ) was an American fantasy writer. With his wife Leigh, he authored several best-selling epic fantasy novel series, including The Belgariad (1982–84), The Malloreon (1987–91), The Elenium (1989–91), The Tamuli (1992–94), and The Dreamers (2003–06).

Early life and education
Eddings was born in Spokane, Washington, to George Wayne Eddings and Theone (Berge) Eddings, in 1931. Eddings was known to claim to be part Cherokee.

Eddings grew up near Puget Sound in the City of Snohomish. After graduating from Snohomish High School in 1949, he worked for a year before majoring in speech, drama and English at junior college. Eddings displayed an early talent for drama and literature, winning a national oratorical contest, and performing the male lead in most of his drama productions. He graduated with a BA from Reed College in 1954, writing his first novel, How Lonely Are The Dead, as his senior thesis. After graduating from Reed College, Eddings was drafted into the U.S. Army, having also previously served in the National Guard. After being discharged in 1956, Eddings attended the graduate school of the University of Washington in Seattle for four years, graduating with an MA in 1961 after submitting a novel in progress, Man Running, for his thesis.

Early career and child abuse conviction
After earning his Master's, Eddings worked as a purchaser for Boeing, where he met his future wife, then known as Judith Leigh Schall. They married in 1962, she taking the name Leigh Eddings, and through most of the 1960s, Eddings worked as an assistant professor at Black Hills State College in South Dakota.

They adopted one boy in 1966, Scott David, then two months old. They adopted a younger girl between 1966 and 1969. In 1970 the couple lost custody of both children and were each sentenced to a year in jail in separate trials after pleading guilty to 11 counts of physical child abuse. Though the nature of the abuse, the trial, and the sentencing were all extensively reported in South Dakota newspapers at the time, these details did not resurface in media coverage of the couple during their successful joint career as authors, only returning to public attention several years after both had died.

After both served their sentences, David and Leigh Eddings moved to Denver in 1971, where David found work in a grocery store.

Early literary career
Eddings had completed the first draft of his first published novel, High Hunt, in March 1971 while serving his jail term. High Hunt was a contemporary story of four young men hunting deer, and like many of his later novels, it explores themes of manhood and coming of age. Convinced that being an author was his future career, after a short period in Denver, David and Leigh Eddings moved to Spokane, where he once again relied on a job at a grocery shop for his funds. High Hunt was published in early 1972 by G. P. Putnam's Sons to modestly positive reviews.

Eddings continued to work on several unpublished novels, including Hunseeker's Ascent, a story about mountain climbing, which was later burned, as Eddings claimed it was "a piece of tripe so bad it even bored me." Most of his attempts followed the same vein as High Hunt: adventure stories and contemporary tragedies. None were sold or published, with the eventual exception of The Losers, which tells the story of God and the Devil, cast in the roles of Raphael Taylor, gifted student and athlete, and Damon Flood, scoundrel determined to bring Raphael down. Though written in the 1970s, The Losers was not published until June 1992, well after Eddings' success as an author was established.

Success in fantasy
Eddings doodled a fantasy map one morning before work. According to Eddings, several years later, upon seeing a copy of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in a bookshop, he muttered, "Is this old turkey still floating around?", and was shocked to learn that it was in its 78th printing. However, he had already included Tolkien's work in the syllabuses for at least three sections of his English Literature survey courses in the summer of 1967 and the springs of 1968 and 1969. Eddings subsequently began to annotate his previous doodle, which became the geographical basis for the country of Aloria. Over the course of a year he added names to various kingdoms, races, and characters, and invented various theologies and a mythology, all of which counted about 230 pages.

Because the Lord of the Rings had been published as three books, Eddings believed fantasy in general was supposed to be trilogies. He initially laid out The Belgariad as a trilogy as well, until his editor Lester del Rey told him the booksellers would refuse to accept 600-page books. Instead del Rey suggested the series should be published as five books. Eddings at first refused, but having already signed the contract, and with Del Rey's promise that he would receive advances for five books instead of three, eventually agreed. Pawn of Prophecy, the first volume in the series, was issued in April 1982.

The Belgariad series of books (published in five volumes between 1982 and 1984) were popular, and Eddings would continue to produce fantasy material for the rest of his life, usually producing a book every year or two.

By 1995, new books were credited jointly to David and Leigh Eddings; Eddings explained in a brief foreword that their working together as authors "had been the case from the beginning." This is generally accepted to be broadly accurate, although Eddings scholar James Gifford notes that collaboration would have been "impossible" with Eddings' first published novel High Hunt, as David Eddings' own notes show that the first draft was completed while he and Leigh were both in different jails, about half-way through their terms.

The Eddingses' final work, the novel series The Dreamers, was published in four volumes between 2003 and 2006.

Later life
On January 26, 2007, Eddings accidentally burned about a quarter of his office, next door to his house, along with his Excalibur sports car.

On February 28, 2007, David Eddings' wife Leigh died following a series of strokes that left her unable to communicate. She was 69. Eddings cared for her at home with her mother after her first stroke, which occurred three years before he finished writing The Dreamers.

Eddings died of natural causes on June 2, 2009, in Carson City, Nevada.

Dennis, Eddings' brother, said that he had suffered from dementia for a long time, but that the disease had progressed rapidly since September 2008, and that he needed 24-hour care. He also confirmed that in his last months, his brother had been working on a manuscript that was unlike any of his other works, stating "It was very, very different. I wouldn't call it exactly a satire of fantasy but it sure plays with the genre". The unfinished work, along with his other manuscripts, went to his alma mater, Reed College, along with a bequest of $18 million to fund "students and faculty studying languages and literature." Eddings also bequeathed $10 million to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver for pediatric asthma treatment and research; Eddings' wife Leigh had asthma throughout her life.

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The Belgariad

The Belgariad is a five-book fantasy epic written by David Eddings, following the journey of protagonist Garion and his companions, first to recover a sacred stone, and later to use it against antagonist Torak. It was a bestseller from the first book in the series. It has been called both the "last gasp" of traditional fantasy and "one of the founding megasagas" of modern fantasy.

Background
David Eddings, who had been writing adventure and thriller genres, has said he developed the idea for a fantasy series somewhat "cynically" after noticing how many times J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings series had been reprinted. He had an epiphany, realizing the fantasy genre might be very lucrative and was currently "underserved". He mapped out an imaginary world to use in developing the story for the Belgariad.

He has also said he was influenced by reading medieval epics and by Lester del Rey's editorial input. In later works he acknowledged his wife, Leigh Eddings, as an "unindicted collaborator"; eventually later books credited her as co-author. She is generally acknowledged as a co-author of the earlier books as well.

Works in the series
The Belgariad is composed of five books, namely ' (1982), ' (1982), ' (1983), ' (1984), and  (1984).

The title of each book combines a chess term with a fantasy term; whereas the concept of a 'Game of Destiny' is a significant motif in the story. The series has been reprinted as a two-volume set, titled The Belgariad Volume One, containing the first three books of the series, and The Belgariad Volume Two, which contains the last two books. This does not include the original map by Chris Barbieri, but only Shelly Shapiro's map.

The Malloreon is a five-book sequel to The Belgariad. Belgarath the Sorcerer (1995) and Polgara the Sorceress (1997) are prequels that share the setting and most characters. The Rivan Codex (1998) features annotated background material.

Pawn of Prophecy
The book opens with a prologue, beginning with the creation of the world by seven gods. Aldur, oldest of the seven, fashions a stone orb and creates within it a "living soul". Torak, the most beautiful of the seven, attempts to seize the Orb from Aldur and subdue the Orb's intelligence; the Orb mutilates the left side of Torak's body. The Orb of Aldur is later recovered by Belgarath the Sorcerer, King Cherek, and Cherek's sons. Riva, Cherek's youngest son, is found to be able to hold the Orb unharmed; he and his descendants protect the Orb from Torak.

The story then begins in earnest with the experiences of protagonist Garion. His childhood on a large, prosperous farm: his earliest memories in the kitchen of his Aunt Pol; his friend Durnik the blacksmith; early games and friends; and the romance between Garion and local girl Zubrette. It also introduces Belgarath, as a wandering storyteller nicknamed 'Mister Wolf'; Garion's telepathic vision of the antagonist Asharak/Chamdar; and a "dry voice" in his mind, distinct from his own consciousness. The reader later discovers that this is the Voice of Prophecy, or "Necessity", which takes action through him.

When Belgarath, alias "Wolf", announces the theft of a mysterious object (actually the Orb), he, Garion, and Aunt Pol leave Faldor's farm to pursue the thief, reluctantly allowing Durnik to accompany them. They are joined later by Silk/Kheldar, a Drasnian prince, spy, and thief; and by Barak, a Cherek earl. Thereafter Mister Wolf follows an invisible trail through several regions until they are arrested.

They are taken to a meeting of monarchs where Garion suspects a green-cloaked individual of treason. A few days later, Barak and Garion are hunting wild boar when Garion notices the green-cloaked spy discussing further espionage; but before Garion can tell anyone of this, he is attacked by a wild boar, which is then slain by Barak in the form of a bear. Garion later exposes the green-cloaked spy, and the latter's patrons are defeated in a fight. Garion himself is almost captured, but escapes. Garion learns that Polgara is Belgarath's daughter and the sister of Garion's second-most-distant female ancestor (identified in the prologue as Queen Beldaran, wife of Riva), and for that reason called his aunt. Having learned this, Garion identifies Belgarath as his grandfather. The group, with the addition of an Algarian prince named Hettar, then leave in search of the Orb.

Queen of Sorcery
The story opens in the Kingdom of Arendia, where Garion duels and then befriends a master archer named Lelldorin. The party travel to Lelldorin's uncle's manor, where Garion hears about a plot to kill the Mimbrate king Korodullin and to start a civil war between the two grand duchies. The plot is masterminded by a spy from Cthol Murgos named Nachak. After leaving Lelldorin's uncle's manor the party journey south towards the great plains where they are ambushed by a group of Algroths; a fictional "monster" devised by Eddings that are something between a goat facially and a gorilla bodily, while being somewhat akin to, even if a bit smaller than a troll (QoS Chapter 6). Lelldorin is gravely injured during the encounter which only ends with the arrival of Manorallen, the supreme Mimbrate knight of the realm who chases them off. Just as he does so Chamdar's shade appears before them to mock them. Belgarath asks whether it was he who drove the Algroths out of the mountains of Ulgoland. Chamdar denies doing so but is less than convincing.

As they continue south, Mandorallen, upon Polgara's advice (but unknown to Garion who later judges Mandorallen's motives), forces Lelldorin on his honour to stay behind so he can heal from the wounds inflicted by the Algroth who had mauled him.

The party continue without Lelldorin to Vo Mimbre, the Arendish capital, where Garion reveals the plot to kill Korodullin, without naming its local conspirators, and Mandorallen challenges Nachak to a duel, which Hettar terminates by killing Nachak. Soon afterwards the party bid farewell to Vo Mimbre, with King Korodullin vowing to stamp out any untoward activity of the Angaraks (and particularly the Murgos) in his kingdom. He also pledged to ready his kingdom for the anticipated war against Torak's forces.

The party next travels to Tolnedra, and soon after crossing the border they come across a group of Monks from Mar Terrin. One of them, driven insane by the continual presence of the spirits of Maragor launches himself at Garion who naturally reaches out a hand. The man falls to the ground with an ugly welt on his head. Polgara instructs Garion to get off his horse and apologise to the man who comes to with his sanity restored. The monks proclaim a miracle, but Garion knows otherwise as do Belgarath and Polgara.

In healing the monk of his madness, Garion performed his first, albeit unknowingly, act of sorcery.

They then press on with their quest with their next planned stop being to talk to the Emperor Ran Borune in the city of Tol Honeth, and are nearly captured by a group of mercenaries for the Queen of neighboring Nyissa. At Tol Honeth, Belgarath and Polgara urge the Emperor to rid Tolnedra of the invading 'Murgos'; but Ran Borune refuses. Ce'Nedra bursts in towards the end of the meeting and Garion feels a sense of recognition although he has no idea how their lives would become forever entwined in the near future. Almost immediately afterwards Asharak presents himself to Ran Borune and it is revealed that Chamdar and Asharak are in fact the same person.

Upon leaving the capital, the group acquire an ineffectually-disguised Princess Ce'Nedra (Ran Borune's daughter), and enter the Wood of the Dryads, hoping to cross into Nyissa ahead of their opponent Zedar. In the Wood, Ce'Nedra asks the Dryad Queen Xantha for sanctuary, on grounds of common ancestry; but is refused and soon after the continue on the journey.

As they set off and leave the Dryads behind Silk and Belgarath head off on their own in pursuit of Zedar and the Orb as they'd be able to move faster, with the intention being to meet up again in the Nyissan capital of Sthiss Tor in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, the rest of them start making their own way directly to Sthiss Tor, but are detained by Tolnedran legionnaires under the command of Grand Duke Kador of Tol Vordue. They are accompanied by Asharak / Chamdar. Kador demands that Ce'Nedra be handed over to secure Kador's claim on the imperial throne. Asharak just wants Polgara and Garion and doesn't care what happens to the others. Polgara is powerless to do anything because Asharak has his hand grasped on Garion's heart (in the sense that he could crush it using sorcery). Almost unnoticed Garion alone can act and when Asharak slaps Polgara, Garion strikes Asharak and speaks the word "burn" and Asharak bursts into flames. For just a moment Garion's compassion almost saves Asharak but then Polgara tells Garion in his mind that it was Asharak who killed his parents. Suddenly, the flames are not hot enough and Garion keeps the flames on him until he dies.

Polgara exalts and calls Garion, Belgarion (his birthright name) for the first time.

Upon this shocking act of sorcery Kador's men turn against him and remember their loyalty to the Emperor. They take Kador prisoner and promise to deliver him to the garrison at Tol Borune as commanded to by Ce-Nedra who is speaking in her authority as an Imperial Princess of Tolnedra.

Arriving at Nyissa by boat, Garion, angry at the treatment of the slaves there, uses the Will and the Word (the ability shared by himself with Belgarath, Polgara, and all other sorcerers in the story) to teleport one but does not know that the leeches in the river are poisonous so the slave dies. Following a quarrel with Polgara, during which she explains to him that the power he had used to kill Asharak was the same as the one he had earlier used unwittingly to cure a madman, Garion is kidnapped, drugged, and presented to Queen Salmissra to be used as a mind-controlled sex slave. He is rescued by Polgara and Barak (the latter again assuming a bear's shape); and Polgara, with permission by Issa, the god of the Nyissans, transforms Salmissra into an immortal snake. Thereafter Garion is reconciled with Polgara.

Magician's Gambit
After learning at the end of the Queen of Sorcery that the Angarak sorcerer Ctuchik had stolen the Orb from its erstwhile thief Zedar, Belgarion and friends set off for the Vale of Aldur after Belgarath had received instruction to do so from Aldur Himself.

Although they preferred to avoid it, the party were eventually left with no other choice than to pass through Maragor, which was haunted by the spirit of Mara himself, who manifests his grief (for the Marags were slain by the Tolnedrans many centuries earlier) through countless ghostly apparitions that drive anybody who dares to enter Maragor (usually for the rich gold deposits) mad. On the whole only the monks - "Tolnedra's conscience" - are tolerated.

In order to pass through Maragor mentally unscathed, Belgarath and Polgara put everybody into a trance and somehow, while the others go under, Garion slipped into a semi-wakeful consciousness that has to all intents and purposes turned off his emotions. The "voice" (of the prophecy) had been waiting for this opportunity to talk to him rationally about what he is destined to do and it is here that an analogy comes up.

In the analogy the voice describes how something went wrong in the universe and it created two divergent destinies one of which is the original and the other an alternative. Garion equates this to when Doroon broke a window at Faldor's Farm and the voice goes along with this and suggests that if another stone was to be thrown quickly enough then it could deflect the first stone and Faldor's window would be saved. The implication being that the voice is the stone-thrower and Garion is the stone.

Soon after the conversation finishes, the party come before Mara and Belgarath and Polgara appeal to him to set aside his grief as the time of prophecy is at hand. Still inconsolable, Mara refuses and his grief turns to anger when he sets his eyes on Ce-Nedra, a child of Nedra. In his anger he threatens her with all kind of unpleasantness and suffering but when he goes to strike against her the voice intervenes through Garion. Too powerful to strike Mara, for fear of destroying the world, the voice stands unmoved and resolute until Mara yields and the voice urges everybody to leave Mara to his grief, as Ce-Nedra's presence pains him terribly.

They duly do so, although Belgarath and the voice talk briefly and both Polgara and Belgarath come to understand that Garion is now ready to be trained in the Will and the Word. When the voice goes Garion is put into a deeper slumber like most of the rest of his companions before they are all woken up having passed through Maragor.

Now they are somewhere probably in the foothills of Ulgoland and Hettar notes that one of the pack mares, pregnant, is in serious trouble. With the condition of the mare getting worse and the weather turning against them, Garion suggests they shelter in the cave, which he had previously been unaware of but somehow knew was always there. He led everybody straight to it and they soon took shelter.

The cave, according to Belgarath, was the meeting place of the Gods and where they conferred during the making of the world.

Soon afterwards the mare gives birth but the foal is stillborn. Without hesitation, Garion moves and brings it back to life. This is of significance because Polgara and Belgarath maintained that before this, it was impossible to use the Will and the Word to restore life to the dead.

Soon afterwards they leave the cave and continue their journey to The Vale.

Upon arriving in the Vale, Aldur confers with Belgarath and Polgara, but before they go aside Garion accompanies Belgarath to his tower and begins his instruction in earnest. Although the significance of what follows is not acknowledged by Eddings until the next chapter, Garion transitions from thinking in terms of Mister Wolf and now thinks in terms of Belgarath. It is a milestone in the series as Garion leaves behind his childhood understanding and fully accepts that Mister Wolf is in fact Eternal Belgarath.

Soon afterwards Garion attempts a conscious act of sorcery for the first time rather than an instinctive and spontaneous use of it, as he had done when healing the mad monk, burning Chamdar, translocating the slave in Nyissa and reviving Horse (as the colt came to be known). He moves the self-same rock that Belgarath moved many millennia earlier with semi-disastrous results which prompts a lot of amusement, but more importantly more instruction.

Soon after they leave for Rak Cthol and on their way the group enters Ulgoland, and head for the hidden city of Prolgu which is down in the caves below the ancient city. Proglu was abandoned after the cracking of the world sent the monsters insane. Before they get there they encounter a herd of carnivorous hruglin, horse-like creatures, and have to kill the stallion to drive them off. Just before Hettar kills the stallion his mind (as a Sha-Dar) connects with it just momentarily before the madness returns and he regrettably kills it.

As they continue they also come face to face with Grul, an Eldrak, a giant creature related to trolls, but far more intelligent and far more deadly. They are forced to fight him to the death and it comes at some cost with both Mandorallen and Durnik suffering significant injuries. Barak also receives a leg wound.

After that, they continue unmolested to Prolgu and are welcomed by the Gorim - chieftain and elder of the Ulgo. They are there to recruit Relg a rock diviner who has both the special ability to detect caves but also to pass through the very rock itself. According to prophecies both Angarak and Western there is enough of a suggestion that caves exist below Rak Cthol which will provide a way in when they go to retrieve the Orb. Relg, as it turns out is a zealot and a fanatic and according to Gorim the "worst of the lot". When he is presented before Gorim and the party he initially refuses until UL, the father of the Gods makes himself present and commands Relg to go. UL then turns his attention to Ce'Nedra and compels her to stay behind as a guest of Gorim, the Ulgos. UL warns that if she goes to Cthol Murgos she will surely die and the prophecy will be lost. Ce'Nedra usually willful and independently minded, recognises the authority of the command and stays behind as ordered.

So with Relg now on board the party travel to Cthol Murgos. On their way to Rak Cthol they meet Yarblek, a Nadrak merchant (who later becomes a significant secondary character) and are nearly caught by Taur Urgas, the King of the Murgos. The party made their escape out of the back of a tent just in time. Silk who'd tried to flee beforehand, on hearing that Taur Urgas was approaching with an army, was caught by Brill when attempting to flee. The party were in great despair about Silk's fate but then Relg, used his specially rock divining gift to go and simply pick him up and. although the experience of seeping through the rock left Silk traumatised he was physically fine and so they continued with the journey. Later Garion learns how to create a mind shield which, with Polgara, is used to hide the party on their approach while Belgarath concentrates on Ctuchik himself. They enter Rak Cthol through the caves that lead to the slave pens and on the way they meet Taiba (a Marag slave woman;'The Mother of the Race who Died') and do what they can to make her comfortable before carrying on. On their way up they encounter Brill again, who Silk dispatches with a throw that tosses him over the parapets to his death. Silk later jokes that Brill was trying to fly, but not doing very well unless bouncing counts Ultimately they reach Ctuchik's chambers, which only Belgarath, Garion and Polgara enter with the others being told to wait outside. Ctuchik gloats that he has won as he intends to kill Ce'Nedra and destroy The Prophecy, but then to his chagrin he realises she is not among the party and is invulnerable under the protection of UL himself. Belgarath takes great satisfaction at his adversary's miscalculation, which had actually made their passing through of Cthol Murgos easier. Belgarath then fights Ctuchik. Driven by a vision of Garion suddenly taking hold of the Orb, Ctuchik attempts to "unmake" the Orb and thus "unmakes" himself. The explosion sets off an earthquake. The group escapes, taking the now unconscious Belgarath and Errand the Orb Bearer. With the book ending with them fleeing the collapsing city.

Castle of Wizardry
On their way out of the caves under Rak Cthol they pause briefly to pick up Taiba who Relg pulls through the collapsed rocks, just as he has done Silk after he had been captured by Brill. Now out in the open the role of leader is thrust upon Garion with Belgarath incapacitated after his fight with Ctuchik and Polgara focusing on protecting Errand. Unable to attack Errand directly the Hierarchs of Rak Cthol go for Durnik instead. With the guidance of The Prophecy Garion climbs into his shadow and goes after them. He soon finds them in the broken remains of Rak Cthol and shatters the jewel which they are using to concentrate their will before rather melodramatically threatening one of the Hierarchs by clutching his shadow hand around his heart. When Garion's shadow returns Belgarath stirs briefly and now the threat has been neutralised they are able to continue unshielded, but with the knowledge that Taur Urgas is pursuing them.

As they race across Cthol Murgos in the direction of Algaria things gets very tight and they are not helped by their horses cramping up. In the end, just when they thought they were about to be intercepted countless Algarian horsemen swept down and slaughtered a great many of the Murgos. For just a brief moment Taur Urgas and King Cho-Hag of Algaria came within range of each other before once more being swept apart by the ensuing battle.

That very evening Belgarath collapses and is carried to The Stronghold with the utmost urgency for his very life was in danger. Cajoled, tormented and molly-coddled, Polgara nurses him back to health. In doing so she abandons her usual remedies as she knows her father well enough to realise that he will just lay back and indulge in being taken care of. What he needed most was mental stimulation and what she feared most was that he might have lost his ability to use the Will and the Word the very thing that had kept Angarak in check since The Battle of Vo Mimbre some 500 years earlier.

Once recovered and in time for Erastide they travelled to Riva, but not before picking up Ce'Nedra from Ulgo. Then as they head west, Garion, Polgara, Ce'Nedra and Durnik visit Faldor's Farm for one last time. For Polgara it was so she could pick up some favourite pots she'd been left behind, but most importantly it was for Garion to find closure on that chapter of his life which is best represented by how coldly he showed affection, but no love, for Zubrette, his childhood sweetheart.

Now in Riva, Belgarion is led by Belgarath, Polgara, and the Voice of Prophecy to accept the Orb of Aldur from Errand in the Hall of the Rivan King, where the ancient Sword rests above the Rivan Throne. In Garion's hands, the Orb identifies him as the long-lost heir to the throne. This revelation infuriates Ce'Nedra, who discovers herself betrothed to him. During the investiture, Garion, aided by the Voice of Prophecy, sees each member of the quest as an Instrument of Prophecy.

Shortly after the betrothal, Garion learns from the Mrin Prophecy that the Rivan King must slay the god Torak or die in the process. In order to save lives and try to avoid a catastrophic war, like the one that had culminated in the Battle of Vo Mimbre some 500 years previously, Belgarion decided to set off relatively on his own to face Torak.Taking only Belgarath, and Silk with him he left notes for Polgara and Ce'Nedra with instructions not to pursue them.

''From this point in the story the narrative is split into two tracks, with the first following Garion, Belgarath and Silk and the second following Ce'Nedra and everything that happens around her. The two tracks are brought back together in Enchanter's End Game when all the protagonists are brought together again just before the confrontation with Torak.''

(Additionally, from time to time, in Enchanter's End Game, a third minor track is added with a chapter devoted to events far away from the main events centred on the rulers of the western kingdoms - including Nyissa).

The three of them pass through Drasnia, where they happen upon Vordai, the Witch of the Fens who is hospitable but quite defensive. Later to their chargin, they realise they are trapped in the fens and Vordai exacts a price for showing them the way out. She insists that Belgarath gives the fenlings (small otter-like creatures) the power of speech as she knew she wouldn't be around much longer to protect them. Garion is immediately alarmed, for fear that Belgarath has lost his power but by the time he tells Vordai it is too late. After conferring with the spirit of Aldur, Belgarath gives the fenlings the power to talk and it was only later when Garion realises that even he could have used sorcery to find their way out of the fens that Belgarath had done it out of compassion. Any thoughts of Belgarath losing his power are forever dispelled at that moment.

They then head towards Boktor where they confer with Porenn and Silk meets his mother who was once one of the great beauties of Drasnia. She was tragically blinded and marred by a vicious plague some 20 years earlier and visiting her was very hard on Silk who sees the blinding as half a blessing as his mother can no longer look on her face and see how scarred it became after the plague had left her disfigured.

Meanwhile, upon discovery of Garion, Belgarath and Silk's departure, Polgara enters a rage, which devastates her apartment and causes a thunderstorm overhead. Ce'Nedra too, feeling humiliated and taking it personally, has her own tantrum before calming down. She then discovers the power of Beldaran's necklace and, having learnt the reason for Garion's departure, she raises an international army to distract the Angaraks from Garion's quest so that he may reach Cthol Mishrak safely and overcome Torak.

Enchanters' End Game
The final book of the series starts with Belgarion, Silk, and Belgarath sneaking through Gar og Nadrak on their way to Mallorea. In the opening chapters they are accompanied first by a Drasnian trader and then later by an old man who lives a hermit like existence in the forests. He warns them that Mallorean recruiters are forcibly enlisting people into the army for the forthcoming war. Soon they come across a mining town and have a conversation with a local Nadrak who tells of a Queen raising an army in the west. Garion is incredulous and even wonders if it was Polgara. Soon afterwards Mallorean recruiters arrive and the three of them manage to get out just in time - unlike their new Nadrak friend.

As they continue on their quest the three of them enter the Nadrak forest and Garion comes to see that he understands the language of wolves even in his human form. Soon they stop off in a small town. It is only worthy of a mention because it is here that they come across Vella for the first time, a Nadrak woman, who later becomes an important secondary character as she gets to know Yarblek and then later on, in the Mallorean, Beldin. Due to Silk being recognised as a wanted man they soon have to flee with a pack of wolves, one of which Garion had not long met and conversed with, putting the trackers off.

As they carry on eastwards they are ambushed in a tavern and Garion and Silk are forcibly enlisted into the Mallorean army. Belgarath somehow manages to escape. En route to Thull Zelik, the Mallorean army's staging post, the recruiters and their hapless prisoners are met my Yarblek the Nadrak who quickly disposes of the Malloreans before telling Garion and Silk that he is under orders from Drosta lek Thun, the King of the Nadraks to deliver Silk to him.

With Belgarath still nowhere in sight, Garion and Silk travel with Yarblek to Yar Nadrak, the capital, where they meet Drosta in some run down squalid inn. Just before they meet Drosta they see Belgarath apparently drunk in a corner of the inn with his head down.

Drosta is looking for a way out of the war and freedom from Mallorean domination and he asks for help, or to at least get a message to Rhodar before Belgarath bursts in and rapidly moves things along. Then, realising who Garion is, Drosta lets them continue on their journey.

They are tracked by Malloreans who follow them out of Yar Nadrak, but they manage to stay well ahead of them. However, under such pressure they decide to turn north and go across Morindland to the land bridge between the two continents rather than continue as they originally intended. Just as they decided Beldin pays them a visit and updates them on what is happening in the West and the current strategy that aims to get the Cherek fleet into the Sea of the East to stop the Malloreans from flooding in. Belgarath is deeply unhappy as he realises that such a strategy could backfire and 'Zakath will use the very land bridge he intends to use to get to Cthol Mishrak and thus block their passage. Beldin also delivers the news that the Orb will restore Torak's marred face.

They get across Morindland, after fighting off a challenge from an other clan.

Then as they finally get across to Mallorea, Garion is tempted by Torak to accept him as a father and Polgara as his mother, but rejects this offer and reaches Cthol Mishrak unchallenged.

Ce'Nedra's army invades Angarak lands, and wins a hard-fought Battle at Thull Mardu with both physical and magical powers employed by both sides. However, in the moment of victory Ce'Nedra, Polgara, Durnik, and Errand are captured by the emperor Zakath of Mallorea, who gives them to Zedar to offer to Torak. En route to Cthol Mishrak, Polgara reveals that the Mallorean Prophecies identify her as Torak's fiancée, and that her resistance to Torak's call may decide Belgarion's duel. Zedar takes his prisoners to Torak's chamber, where Zedar kills Durnik, enraging Belgarath, who buries him alive. Torak attempts to sway Polgara; but Garion sends images of Durnik into her mind, thereby helping her to withstand Torak's call. A final battle ensues, during which Garion and Torak swell into immensity, and in which Garion, having 'rejected' Torak again, kills him outright. The other gods claim Torak's body, and UL, revealed as the father of the gods, agrees to allow Garion to revive Durnik; Mara objects, but relents when Belgarath reveals the existence of Taiba.

Upon the company's return to Riva, Garion and Ce'Nedra plan their wedding, while Polgara and Durnik are married in a private chapel in the Citadel. Here, Durnik reveals that he received the Will and the Word when he was brought back to life, and that Belgarath had been training him to control the "will and the word". Ce'Nedra and Garion are married, dance with everyone, and retire to their chambers. The story ends with a half-drunk Belgarath having a conversation with the Orb, while Garion and Ce'Nedra consummate their marriage.

Reception and impact
The series was a bestseller and an instant sensation. Publishers Weekly in their review of The Rivan Codex (1998) called The Belgariad "one of the founding megasagas in modern English-language fantasy." The Guardian credited Eddings with creating "the craze for doorstopper-sized fantasy series". The series was published in a transitional period for fantasy literature, when the genre was becoming more "complex and nuanced," and the Eddings books were a sort of "last gasp" of popularity for traditional fantasy. Stephen Hunt said the books "were fantasy, but they carried a modern feel to the dialogue and characterisation, while still being firmly placed in a deeply believable fantasy world."

Jason Heller wrote a retrospective on the series for NPR in 2017 after re-reading the books as an adult ~30 years after reading them originally. He found the archetypical fantasy aspects had aged reasonably well despite his expectations that the tropes might feel worn out, and noted the story's very direct use of the hero's journey from Joseph Campbell. Heller did find that the gender roles had aged poorly, though:

"Aunt Pol — who also happens to be Polgara the Sorceress, the most feared and powerful woman in the world — spends an inordinate amount of page-time happily doing domestic chores. Princess Ce'Nedra, Garion's love interest, intrepidly raises an entire army only to leave it in the hands of the men. Certain characters break stereotype, such as Queen Porenn, who has an excellent grasp of policy and tactics — but it's always made wincingly clear in the text that she's a glaring exception who only knows about military and political matters because she's married to a king who's taught her such things."

Heller also felt that the series uncritically mirrored the real-life East–West dichotomy, and that this aspect also bothered him as an adult. The protagonists are largely fair-skinned good guys in the West, while the antagonists of the series are from the kingdoms of the East and "systematically sinister or congenitally stupid."

title: The Belgariad


text:
The Malloreon

The Malloreon is a five-part fantasy book series written by David Eddings, which follows The Belgariad. The Malloreon is set in the same world as The Belgariad, but expands on several aspects of the setting, especially the eastern continent of Mallorea.

Works in the series

 * 1)  (ISBN 0-345-35266-1)
 * 2)  (ISBN 0-345-35880-5)
 * 3)  (ISBN 0-345-36331-0)
 * 4)   (ISBN 0-345-36935-1)
 * 5)  (ISBN 0-345-37759-1)

While the story concludes in The Malloreon, minor events occur in the prequels Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress, which otherwise cover the history of the world.

Guardians of the West
At the end of The Belgariad, Garion has slain the evil god Torak and expects lasting peace. The first half of the book concentrates on the first eight years of Belgarion's reign, describing minor problems including Queen Ce'Nedra's seeming infertility and a civil war in Arendia. All of these problems are resolved without much trouble, their resolutions providing some comic relief. The book also depicts the life of Errand, Polgara's ward. During his years under her care, Errand displays near-omniscience; this puzzles Polgara and Belgarath. During the same years, Errand encounters a lesson learned telepathically from an ancient tree and two contacts with people important to his destiny. The inciting action of the story occurs when Garion and Errand are both summoned by the Orb of Aldur, and the Voice of Prophecy warns them "Beware Zandramas!". Thereafter Garion and Belgarath seek to discover the identity and purpose of Zandramas through records of ancient, dubious prophecies. Ultimately, Garion learns that he is still a figure of prophecy and bears the responsibility of defeating Torak's successor, the "Child of Dark".

Subsequent to Garion's discovery, his regent Brand is murdered by assassins sent to kill Ce'Nedra and her newborn son Geran. The assassins are traced to the Bear-Cult, a legion of ethnocentric fanatics dedicated to reunification of the empire divided among the sons of Garion's ancestor King Cherek. In response, Garion and other descendants of Cherek destroy the Bear-Cult, but are unable to prevent the abduction of Prince Geran. When the cult rising is put down, it is revealed that the leader of the cultists is the priest/sorcerer Harakan, a servant of Torak's disciple Urvon. Harakan escapes shortly after the revelation of his true identity.

The military leaders are later visited by the clairvoyant Cyradis, who reveals that Geran's kidnapping was carried out by Zandramas, the new Child of Dark, and that Garion must recover him with the help of Belgarath, Polgara, Ce'Nedra, Errand, Durnik, and Silk; but shall later acquire the Huntress (a Drasnian spy named Liselle or Velvet), the Man Who Is No Man (the eunuch Sadi), the Empty One (Mallorean Emperor Zakath), the Silent Man (Cyradis' bodyguard Toth) and the Woman Who Watches (Belgarath's wife Poledra). With these companions he must travel to the Place Which Is No More for the final meeting between Light and Dark that will decide the fate of the world. When all objections are overcome, the company assembles and departs.

King of the Murgos
In this book, Belgarion and his fellow travelers learn more about the murderous woman Zandramas and of her minion, a white-eyed Angarak named Naradas. During their stay in Nyissa they recruit Sadi, a eunuch expelled from Queen Salmissra's court. Sadi convinces the group to pose as slavers searching for escaped runaways as the Mallorean army ravages Cthol Murgos. When they enter the wastelands of Cthol Murgos, they are captured by the desert-dwelling Dagashi and given the task of secreting an assassin through the Mallorean army lines. Eventually, they arrive in the palace of the King of the Murgos, Urgit, and discover, to Kheldar's surprise, that his father had sired the Murgo King while on a diplomatic mission many years before.

Urgit, upon learning that Kheldar is his half-brother, arranges for the group to travel south to the Isle of Verkat. Before they leave the city, they find that the Dagashi assassin is in fact Harakan. Garion and Harakan duel with swords until Harakan realizes he is about to lose and resorts to sorcery to save himself. The group then sails south. En route, their ship wrecks and they must travel to the coast on foot. On the coast, Toth tells them that Cyradis has arranged a boat to take them to the island. On the island, they are directed to Ashaba, Torak's ruined castle. Before they can leave the island, Mallorean soldiers come looking for them, and Cyradis, who must abet both Necessities equally, tells Toth to alert the guards to their presence. The book ends with the company being sent to Emperor Zakath's Imperial Stronghold.

Demon Lord of Karanda
At the beginning of this chapter, Belgarion and his fellow travellers are brought to Mallorea. There Belgarion meets Kal Zakath, the Mallorean emperor bent on destroying the Murgos' royal family. Gradually, Zakath and Garion become friends. When a sudden plague spreads, necessitating quarantine, the questing party escape the city so as to continue their journey. In escape, they are joined by the jester Feldegast (actually Belgarath's 'brother' Beldin in disguise), with whom they approach Ashaba. Problems arise when they confirm the report of demons under the Demon Lord Nahaz, who has turned the sorcerer Urvon insane.

Reaching Ashaba, Garion is tricked into believing that he sees Zandramas and his son meeting with Urvon and charges into the throne room. Beldin, on seeing Urvon and his man Harakan, assumes his true form; this starts a battle with Urvon's forces, which ultimately results in Harakan's death. Nahaz faces the group of sorcerers and the Orb, ready to fight; but when Eriond comes to stand with Garion, the Demon Lord flees, carrying Urvon with him. The group then continues east. Travelling through the demon-infested countryside, and seeing horrors such as women impregnated by demons (the births usually resulting in the mother's death), the group encounters Zandramas, who attempts to coerce Ce'Nedra within killing distance, until Poledra, Polgara's mother and Belgarath's wife, forces Zandramas to retreat.

Sorceress of Darshiva
The party enters the Melcene Empire, where they discover that the Sardion, the moral opposite of the Orb of Aldur, was once kept in an undersea cave where traces of its power still resonate. Upon reaching the University at Melcena, Belgarath finds an unmutilated copy of the Ashabine Oracles, which he has sought, and decides that the party must go to Kell to learn of the location of "The Place That Is No More". Garion, in the same book, sees that in his sole moment of sanity, Torak specifically addressed Belgarion, demanding that if need be he should destroy the world, even kill his own son, rather than let Zandramas complete her plans. This reflects a similar warning made by Cyradis in Guardians of the West. Having achieved this knowledge, the group return to Mallorea and travel overland. At some point thereafter, a suggestion is made that Torak's existence was an aberration and that another God shall appear to take his place.

The party is recaptured by Zakath, who threatens to take Garion back to Mal Zeth with his companions as collateral. At Beldin's request, Cyradis persuades him to release the party, offering herself as a hostage; Zakath does so and joins their quest. Shortly thereafter, Poledra joins them in the guise of a wolf, bringing an orphaned cub later domesticated by Ce'Nedra. Her identity is concealed from both characters and reader until the next book.

Urvon's Karand army under Nahaz and Zandramas' Darshivan army eventually engage each other in battle, as do Urvon's Demon Lord Nahaz and Zandramas' Demon Lord Mordja. The demons go after Garion's group, sensing the Orb's presence, but Aldur infuses Durnik with his own powers, and he defeats and banishes Nahaz. Aldur, before leaving, informs Belgarath, Beldin, and Polgara that Durnik is "also my beloved Disciple, as he was the best suited of ye". An amulet shaped in the likeness of a sledgehammer (the only one made by Aldur without the aid of Belgarath) is then bestowed upon the smith.

The Seeress of Kell
The group continues to Kell, where they meet with Cyradis. As promised, the Seeress surrenders herself to Zakath, and directs the others to Perivor, an island to the southwest of the Mallorean continent. Garion's party and Zandramas's servant Naradas attempt to find maps in Perivor, a kingdom of shipwrecked Mimbrates, that point the way to the Place Which Is No More. Naradas, disguised as a court minister, delays Garion with red-herring quests, whereafter Sadi poisons him. With the aid of a Necromancer, they expose his treachery to the King and find an ancient map on which Place Which is No More is the 'High Places of Korim', an ancient temple of Torak. There, they confront Zandramas. A battle ensues against her Grolim priests, as well as the demon Mordja. Mordja kills the blindfolded Seeress's guide Toth; but Garion slays the demon with his ancestral sword.

The group then accompanies Zandramas into the Sardion's resting place, where Zandramas chooses Geran as the next Child of Dark, whereupon Garion chooses Eriond as the next Child of Light. Cyradis, still grieving over the loss of Toth and unable to consult her people, is terrified of making the wrong choice, until Polgara removes her blindfold. Receiving a final challenge from Zandramas, Cyradis ultimately chooses Eriond, whereupon Zandramas and the Sardion are changed into stars and transported into outer space.

The Voice of Prophecy explains that the events of the preceding books were the result of an ancient 'accident' in space, that resulted in the Light and Dark prophecies, and that Eriond, the final Child of the Light, is now the God of Angarak. Zakath's personal guard soon arrives on the Imperial ship. In the harbor, Barak, Lelldorin, Mandorallen, and Hettar arrive in Barak's ship, with Barak's son Unrak tied to the ship's mast. Here, it is revealed that Unrak is his father's successor to the position of the Rivan King's guardian, the Dreadful Bear. The sorcerers honor the fallen Toth by populating his funeral slab with eternally growing flowers and sealing off the section of Mount Korim with glowing quartz as his tomb.

After leaving Eriond, Zakath, and Cyradis, the adventurers return home in Barak's ship, where it is revealed that both Ce'Nedra and Polgara are pregnant. The story ends with Garion reading a letter from Zakath, showing that Zakath has now married Cyradis and is witness to the social changes wrought by Eriond, while Garion, Belgarath, and Durnik are in the Vale of Aldur, as Polgara gives birth to twins. This birth is theorized as the first "new" event in their world's history.

title: The Malloreon


text:
Record producer

A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensuring artists deliver acceptable and quality performances, supervising the technical engineering of the recording, and coordinating the production team and process. The producer's involvement in a musical project can vary in depth and scope. Sometimes in popular genres the producer may create the recording's entire sound and structure. However, in classical music recording, for example, the producer serves as more of a liaison between the conductor and the engineering team. The role is often likened to that of a film director though there are important differences. It is distinct from the role of an executive producer, who is mostly involved in the recording project on an administrative level, and from the audio engineer who operates the recording technology.

Varying by project, the producer may or may not choose all of the artists. If employing only synthesized or sampled instrumentation, the producer may be the sole artist. Conversely, some artists do their own production. Some producers are their own engineers, operating the technology across the project: preproduction, recording, mixing, and mastering. Record producers' precursors were "A&R men", who likewise could blend entrepreneurial, creative, and technical roles, but often exercised scant creative influence, as record production still focused, into the 1950s, on simply improving the record's sonic match to the artists' own live performance.

Advances in recording technology, especially the 1940s advent of tape recording—which Les Paul promptly innovated further to develop multitrack recording —and the 1950s rise of electronic instruments, turned record production into a specialty. In popular music, then, producers like George Martin, Phil Spector and Brian Eno led its evolution into its present use of elaborate techniques and unrealistic sounds, creating songs impossible to originate live. After the 1980s, production's move from analog to digital further expanded possibilities. By now, DAWs, or digital audio workstations, like Logic Pro, Pro Tools and Studio One, turn an ordinary computer into a production console, whereby a solitary novice can become a skilled producer in a thrifty home studio. In the 2010s, efforts began to increase the prevalence of producers and engineers who are women, heavily outnumbered by men and prominently accoladed only in classical music.

Production overview
As a broad project, the creation of a music recording may be split across three specialists: the executive producer, who oversees business partnerships and financing; the vocal producer or vocal arranger, who aids vocal performance via expert critique and coaching of vocal technique, and the record producer or music producer, who, often called simply the producer, directs the overall creative process of recording the song in its final mix.

The producer's roles can include gathering ideas, composing music, choosing session musicians, proposing changes to song arrangements, coaching the performers, controlling sessions, supervising the audio mixing, and, in some cases, supervising the audio mastering. A producer may give creative control to the artists themselves, taking a supervisory or advisory role instead. As to qualifying for a Grammy nomination, the Recording Academy defines a producer:

The person who has overall creative and technical control of the entire recording project, and the individual recording sessions that are part of that project. He or she is present in the recording studio or at the location recording and works directly with the artist and engineer. The producer makes creative and aesthetic decisions that realize both the artist's and label's goals in the creation of musical content. Other duties include, but are not limited to: keeping budgets and schedules; adhering to deadlines; hiring musicians, singers, studios, and engineers; overseeing other staffing needs; and editing (Classical projects).

The producer often selects and collaborates with a mixing engineer, who focuses on the especially technological aspects of the recording process, namely, operating the electronic equipment and blending the raw, recorded tracks of the chosen performances, whether vocal or instrumental, into a mix, either stereo or surround sound. Then a mastering engineer further adjusts this recording for distribution on the chosen media. A producer may work on only one or two songs or on an artist's entire album, helping develop the album's overall vision. The record producers may also take on the role of executive producer, managing the budget, schedules, contracts, and negotiations.

A&R team
(Artists and Repertoires)

In the 1880s, the record industry began by simply having the artist perform at a phonograph. In 1924, the trade journal Talking Machine World, covering the phonography and record industry, reported that Eddie King, Victor Records' manager of the "New York artist and repertoire department", had planned a set of recordings in Los Angeles. Later, folklorist Archie Green called this perhaps the earliest printed use of A&R man. Actually, it says neither "A&R man" nor even "A&R", an initialism perhaps coined by Billboard magazine in 1946, and entering wide use in the late 1940s.

In the 1920s and 1930s, A&R executives, like Ben Selvin at Columbia Records, Nathaniel Shilkret at Victor Records, and Bob Haring at Brunswick Records became the precursors of record producers, supervising recording and often leading session orchestras. During the 1940s, major record labels increasingly opened official A&R departments, whose roles included supervision of recording. Meanwhile, independent recording studios opened, helping originate record producer as a specialty. But despite a tradition of some A&R men writing music, record production still referred to just the manufacturing of record discs.

Record producers
After World War II, pioneering A&R managers who transitioned influentially to record production as now understood, while sometimes owning independent labels, include J. Mayo Williams and John Hammond. Upon moving from Columbia Records to Mercury Records, Hammond appointed Mitch Miller to lead Mercury's popular recordings in New York. Miller then produced country-pop crossover hits by Patti Page and by Frankie Laine, moved from Mercury to Columbia, and became a leading A&R man of the 1950s.

During the decade, A&R executives increasingly directed songs' sonic signatures, although many still simply teamed singers with musicians, while yet others exercised virtually no creative influence. The term record producer in its current meaning—the creative director of song production—appearing in a 1953 issue of Billboard magazine, became widespread in the 1960s. Still, a formal distinction was elusive for some time more. A&R managers might still be creative directors, like William "Mickey" Stevenson, hired by Berry Gordy, at the Motown record label.

Tape recording
In 1947, the American market gained audio recording onto magnetic tape. At the record industry's 1880s dawn, rather, recording was done by phonograph, etching the sonic waveform vertically into a cylinder. By the 1930s, a gramophone etched it laterally across a disc. Constrained in tonal range, whether bass or treble, and in dynamic range, records made a grand, concert piano sound like a small, upright piano, and maximal duration was four and a half minutes. Selections and performance were often altered accordingly, and playing this disc—the wax master—destroyed it. The finality often caused anxiety that restrained performance to prevent error. In the 1940s, during World War II, the Germans refined audio recording onto magnetic tape—uncapping recording duration and allowing immediate playback, rerecording, and editing—a technology that premised emergence of record producers in their current roles.

Multitrack recording
Early in the recording industry, a record was attained by simply having all of the artists perform together live in one take. In 1945, by recording a musical element while playing a previously recorded record, Les Paul developed a recording technique called "sound on sound". By this, the final recording could be built piece by piece and tailored, effecting an editing process. In one case, Paul produced a song via 500 recorded discs. But, besides the tedium of this process, it serially degraded the sound quality of previously recorded elements, rerecorded as ambient sound. Yet in 1948, Paul adopted tape recording, enabling truly multitrack recording by a new technique, "overdubbing".

To enable overdubbing, Paul revised the tape recorder itself by adding a second playback head, and terming it the preview head. Joining the preexisting recording head, erase head, and playback head, the preview head allows the artist to hear the extant recording over headphones playing it in synchrony, "in sync", with the present performance being recorded alone on an isolated track. This isolation of multiple tracks enables countless mixing possibilities. Producers began recording initially only the "bed tracks"—the rhythm section, including the bassline, drums, and rhythm guitar—whereas vocals and instrument solos could be added later. A horn section, for example, could record a week later, and a string section another week later. A singer could perform her own backup vocals, or a guitarist could play 15 layers.

Electronic instruments
Across the 1960s, popular music increasingly switched from acoustic instruments, like piano, upright bass, acoustic guitar, and brass instruments, to electronic instruments, like electric guitars, keyboards, and synthesizers, employing instrument amplifiers and speakers. These could mimic acoustic instruments or create utterly new sounds. Soon, by combining the capabilities of tape, multitrack recording, and electronic instruments, producers like Phil Spector, George Martin, and Joe Meek rendered sounds unattainable live. Similarly, in jazz fusion, Teo Macero, producing Miles Davis's 1970 album Bitches Brew, spliced sections of extensive improvisation sessions.

Performer-producer
In the 1960s, rock acts like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Kinks produced some of their own songs, although many such songs are officially credited to specialist producers. Yet especially influential was the Beach Boys, whose band leader Brian Wilson took over from his father Murry within a couple of years after the band's commercial breakthrough. By 1964, Wilson had taken Spector's techniques to unseen sophistication. Wilson alone produced all Beach Boys recordings between 1963 and 1967. Using multiple studios and multiple attempts of instrumental and vocal tracks, Wilson selected the best combinations of performance and audio quality, and used tape editing to assemble a composite performance.

Digital production
The 1980s advent of digital processes and formats rapidly replaced analog processes and formats, namely, tape and vinyl. Although recording onto quality tape, at least half an inch wide and traveling 15 inches per second, had limited "tape hiss" to silent sections, digital's higher signal-to-noise ratio, SNR, abolished it. Digital also imparted to the music a perceived "pristine" sound quality, if also a loss of analog recordings' perceived "warm" quality and better-rounded bass. Yet whereas editing tape media requires physically locating the target audio on the ribbon, cutting there, and splicing pieces, editing digital media offers inarguable advantages in ease, efficiency, and possibilities.

In the 1990s, digital production reached affordable home computers via production software. By now, recording and mixing are often centralized in DAWs, digital audio workstations—for example, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Ableton, Cubase, Reason, and FL Studio—for which plugins, by third parties, effect virtual studio technology. DAWs fairly standard in the industry are Logic Pro and Pro Tools. Physical devices involved include the main mixer, MIDI controllers to communicate among equipment, the recording device itself, and perhaps effects gear that is outboard. Yet literal recording is sometimes still analog, onto tape, whereupon the raw recording is converted to a digital signal for processing and editing, as some producers still find audio advantages to recording onto tape.

Conventionally, tape is more forgiving of overmodulation, whereby dynamic peaks exceed the maximal recordable signal level: tape's limitation, a physical property, is magnetic capacity, which tapers off, smoothing the overmodulated waveform even at a signal nearly 15 decibels too "hot", whereas a digital recording is ruined by harsh distortion of "clipping" at any overshoot. In digital recording, however, a recent advancement, 32-bit float, enables DAWs to undo clipping. Still, some criticize digital instruments and workflows for excess automation, allegedly impairing creative or sonic control. In any case, as production technology has drastically changed, so have the knowledge demands, although DAWs enables novices, even teenagers at home, to learn production independently. Some have attained professional competence before ever working with an artist.

Hip hop production
In the 2000s, with the advent of technology that made traditional record production accessible, especially with hip hop beatmaking and electronic music. Within these genres, the term producer is applied to a number of roles and has popularized the use of more niche terms and credits including executive producer, co-producer, assistant producer, and additional and miscellaneous production to differentiate contributions.

Women in producing
Among female record producers, Sylvia Moy was the first at Motown, Gail Davies the first on Nashville's Music Row, and Ethel Gabriel, with RCA, the first at a major record label. Lillian McMurry, owning Trumpet Records, produced influential blues records. Meanwhile, Wilma Cozart Fine produced hundreds of records for Mercury Records' classical division. For classical production, three women have won Grammy awards, and Judith Sherman's 2015 win was her fifth. Yet in nonclassical, no woman has won Producer of the Year, awarded since 1975 and only one even nominated for a record not her own, Linda Perry. After Lauren Christy's 2004 nomination, Linda Perry's 2019 nomination was the next for a woman. On why no woman had ever won it, Perry commented, "I just don't think there are that many women interested." In the U.K., Lynsey de Paul was an early female record producer, having produced both of her Ivor Novello award-winning songs.

Across the decades, many female artists have produced their own music. For instance, artists Kate Bush, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Beyoncé (even that of Destiny's Child and the Carters), Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, and Lorde have produced or coproduced and Ariana Grande who produces and arranges her vocals as well as being an audio engineer. Still among specialists, despite some prominent women, including Missy Elliott in hip hop and Sylvia Massy in rock, the vast majority have been men. Early in the 2010s, asked for insights that she herself had gleaned as a woman who has specialized successfully in the industry, Wendy Page remarked, "The difficulties are usually very short-lived. Once people realize that you can do your job, sexism tends to lower its ugly head." Still, when tasked to explain her profession's sex disparity, Page partly reasoned that record labels, dominated by men, have been, she said, "mistrustful of giving a woman the reins of an immense, creative project like making a record." Ultimately, the reasons are multiple and not fully clear, although prominently proposed factors include types of sexism and scarcity of female role models in the profession.

Women producers known for producing records not their own include Sonia Pottinger, Sylvia Robinson and Carla Olson.

In January 2018, a research team led by Stacy L. Smith, founder and director of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, based in the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, issued a report, estimating that in the prior several years, about 2% of popular songs' producers were female. Also that month, Billboard magazine queried, "Where are all the female music producers?" Upon the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's second annual report, released in February 2019, its department at USC reported, "2018 saw an outcry from artists, executives and other music industry professionals over the lack of women in music" and "the plight of women in music", where women were allegedly being "stereotyped, sexualized, and shut out". Also in February 2019, the Recording Academy's Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion announced an initiative whereby over 200 artists and producers—ranging from Cardi B and Taylor Swift to Maroon 5 and Quincy Jones—agreed to consider at least two women for each producer or engineer position. The academy's website, Grammy.com, announced, "This initiative is the first step in a broader effort to improve those numbers and increase diversity and inclusion for all in the music industry."

title: Record producer


text:
Lloyd Alexander

Lloyd Chudley Alexander (January 30, 1924 – May 17, 2007) was an American author of more than 40 books, primarily fantasy novels for children and young adults. Over his seven-decade career, Alexander wrote 48 books, and his work has been translated into 20 languages. His most famous work is The Chronicles of Prydain, a series of five high fantasy novels whose conclusion, The High King, was awarded the 1969 Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature. He won U.S. National Book Awards in 1971 and 1982.

Alexander grew up in Pennsylvania during the Great Depression. He developed a passion for reading books and writing poetry. He attended college for only one term, believing that there was nothing more college could teach him. He enlisted in the United States Army and rose to be a staff sergeant in intelligence and counter-intelligence. He met his wife while he was stationed in France and studied French literature at the University of Paris. After returning to the United States with his new family, he struggled to make a living from writing until he published And Let the Credit Go (1955), his first autobiographical novel. His interest in Welsh mythology led to the publication of The Chronicles of Prydain.

Alexander was nominated twice for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award, and received the 1971 National Book Award for Children's Books for The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian and the 1982 National Book Award for Westmark. Alexander received three lifetime achievement awards before his death in 2007. The Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University contains a permanent Lloyd Alexander exhibit that showcases several items from his home office including his desk, typewriter, and manuscripts and editions of his books.

Early life and education
Alexander was born in Philadelphia on January 30, 1924, to Edna (née Chudley) and Alan Audley Alexander, and grew up in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, a section of Upper Darby, just west of the city. He had an elder sister, Florence. His parents only read newspapers, but they did buy books "at the Salvation Army to fill up empty shelves". He taught himself to read around age four and skipped grades one and two at a private Quaker school. He and his friends played war, using equipment from World War I in their games. After his father Alan, a stockbroker, bankrupted in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Alexander attended public school, where he skipped yet another grade, entering seventh grade at age nine. Alexander read Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain and myths, especially King Arthur. In addition to being interested in art, at age thirteen, Alexander wanted to become an Episcopalian priest; however, his family could not afford to send him to divinity school. Passionate about writing, Alexander believed he could preach and worship God through his writing and his art. In high school, he began writing romantic poetry modeled after the work of nineteenth-century poets and narrative short stories, but he failed to acquire interest from publishers. His parents found him a job as a bank messenger, which inspired a satire that would become his first book published fifteen years later, And Let the Credit Go (1955). He graduated at age sixteen in 1940 from Upper Darby High School, where he was inducted into the school's Wall of Fame in 1995.

He attended West Chester State Teachers College, which he left after only one term because he did not find the curriculum rigorous enough. After dropping out of college, Alexander worked for six months in the mailroom of the Atlantic Refining Company. Alexander decided that adventure was a better school for a writer than college and enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was too clumsy with artillery to be sent to the front, and the sight of blood made him faint, making him unfit to work as a medic. With no prior musical experience, he briefly played the cymbals in a marching band in Texas. Shortly after, he was transferred to serve as a chaplain's assistant. He had the opportunity to study the French language, politics, customs, and geography at Lafayette College through the army. He was later moved to Camp Ritchie, Maryland, to receive specialized intelligence training in the United States Army Combat Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence Corps. There he met war veterans, scholars, refugees, and members of the Cherokee tribe. He rose to be a staff sergeant in the corps.

Alexander was stationed in Wales and England briefly and then was assigned to the 7th army in eastern France where he translated radio messages for six months. His next assignment was the Paris office of the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) where he worked as a translator and an interpreter until the end of 1945. After the war, Alexander attended the University of Paris where he studied French literature and was fascinated by the poetry of Paul Éluard. Alexander called Éluard on the phone and showed him his English translations of Éluard's work. Éluard immediately named Alexander his sole English translator. Alexander also contacted Gertrude Stein, who advised him that becoming a writer was a difficult and discouraging process. In Paris, he met Janine Denni, who had a young daughter named Madeleine. Alexander and Denni were married on January 8, 1946, and soon moved to Philadelphia. The three moved into the attic of his parents' home where Alexander spent twelve hours a day translating Éluard's works and writing his own.

Writing career
For about fifteen years in Philadelphia, Alexander wrote primarily fiction, non-fiction, and translations for adults. Desperate for a job, he worked as a potter's apprentice for his sister. At the end of 1948, he started writing advertising copy, and he began to receive more royalties for his translations, leading him to purchase a house for his family in Kellytown. However, he lost his job after three months, requiring his wife to take up employment in a textile mill to make ends meet. Alexander continued to write diligently, though no publishers bought his novels for seven years.

One of his short stories, "The Fantastic Symphony" (1949), published in the New Directions Annual, was a surrealistic piece inspired by Berlioz's notes on the Symphonie fantastique. Alexander's breakthrough came with his novel And Let the Credit Go (1955), his first autobiographical work in which he focused on his experience as a bank messenger in his adolescence. He wrote his second novel, My Five Tigers (1956), about his cats, continuing the trend of writing about subjects familiar to him. He found work as a copyeditor and a cartoonist where he finished his last four adult publications. He wrote two semi-autobiographical novels: Janine is French (1959) and My Love Affair with Music (1960). Alexander co-authored Park Avenue Vet (1960) with Louis Camuti, who specialized in treating cats. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals subsequently commissioned their history, which Alexander wrote as Fifty Years in the Doghouse (1964). During that time he wrote two non-fiction books for children, biographies for August Bondi and Aaron Lopez commissioned by the Jewish Publication Society, the former of which won the National Jewish Book Award in 1959. Alexander's subsequent novel was his first of the fantasy genre: Time Cat (1963). He later called it "the most creative and liberating experience of my life". The novel imagines a cat who can visit its other lives in different time periods, which Alexander researched extensively. Fifty Years in the Doghouse (1964; reprinted as Send for Ryan) told stories of how William Michael Ryan saved animals as part of his job as a special agent for the ASPCA.

Almost forty years old, he then specialized in children's fantasy, the genre of his best-known works. His wartime tenure in Wales introduced him to castles and scenery that would inspire settings for many of his books. Alexander was particularly fascinated with Welsh mythology, especially the Mabinogion. The plot for The Book of Three is based on a fragment from the Myvyrian Archaiology. Alexander signed a book deal with Henry Holt and Company for a trilogy called The Sons of Llyr. Alexander resisted simplifying the Welsh names, stating that they gave the book a certain mood and strangeness. After the release of the first novel, The Book of Three (1964), the series became known as The Chronicles of Prydain. The second book of the series, The Black Cauldron, followed in 1965. After beginning the third book, The Castle of Llyr (1966), Alexander decided his story needed to be told in four books, not three, and he planned his fourth and final novel, The High King of Prydain. During this time he also worked at the Delaware Valley Announcer as an associate editor. After having a near-death experience, Alexander hastily finished The High King, concerned he would be unable to finish his saga. However, his editor, Ann Durell, suggested that he write a fourth book in between The Castle of Llyr and The High King (1968); this book became Taran Wanderer (1967). The five novels detail the adventures of a young man named Taran, who dreams of being a sword-bearing hero but has only the title of Assistant Pig-Keeper. He progresses from youth to maturity and must finally choose whether to be High King of Prydain. Alexander also wrote two spin-off children's books from the Prydain series, Coll and His White Pig (1965) and The Truthful Harp (1967). Alexander won the Newbery Medal for The High King in 1969.

Alexander's novel The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian (1970) was rejected after its first submission, and he rewrote it three times before it was published. It won the National Book Award in 1971. He published two picture books: The King's Fountain (1971), for which he collaborated with the author Ezra Jack Keats, and The Four Donkeys (1972). He wrote the novel The Cat Who Wished to be a Man in 1973. The same year Alexander published The Foundling: And Other Tales of Prydain, a companion book to the Prydain series. After the success of Prydain, Alexander was author-in-residence at Temple University from 1970 to 1974. He once described it as being educational for him and "rather like being a visiting uncle, who has a marvelous time with his nephews and nieces, then goes off leaving the parents to cope with attacks of whooping cough, mending socks and blackmailing the kids to straighten up the mess in their rooms." Alexander wrote The Wizard in the Tree while suffering from depression and published it in 1975. The character Arbican was based on Alexander and his personal struggles. In 1977 he published The Town Cats, which received a more favorable critical reception than The Wizard in the Tree. His next book, The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha, set in a fantasy world based on 15th century Persia, was published in 1978. It won the Silver Slate Pencil Award in Holland and the Austrian Book Award in Austria.

Alexander's other fiction series are Westmark (1981 to 1984) and Vesper Holly (1987 to 1990 and 2005). Westmark features a former printer's apprentice involved in the rebellion and civil war in a fictional European kingdom around 1800. Vesper Holly is a wealthy and brilliant Philadelphia orphan who has adventures in various fictional countries during the 1870s. There was some controversy about The Fortune-Tellers (1992), a picture book illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Some felt that the story was European in origin and therefore inappropriate for its African setting. Alexander's last novel, The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio, was published in August 2007.

Alexander helped create the children's literary magazine Cricket and served on its editorial board. He served on the library committee of World Book Encyclopedia in 1974 and in the board of directors in the Friends of the International Board on Books for Young People in 1982. Alexander maintained a rigorous working schedule, awakening at 4 a.m. and working until the late afternoon, afterwards enjoying his sole meal with his wife. He adhered to this routine even when he did not feel inspired, stating that he could not rely on inspiration alone. He corresponded with fans, who on occasion visited him in his home.

Alexander died on May 17, 2007, of cancer, a few weeks after the death of his wife of sixty-one years. His stepdaughter, Madeleine Khalil, had predeceased both him and her mother in 1995. He was survived by his five step-grandchildren and five step-great-grandchildren. He is buried at Arlington Cemetery in Drexel Hill.

Themes and style
The Prydain Chronicles are set in a fantasy world that has much in common with Welsh folklore and mythology. Critics called the chronicles "one of the most important and compelling examples of Welsh mythopoesis to date." According to Dictionary of Literary Biography, Alexander's books had "the special depth and insight provided by characters who not only act but think, feel and struggle with the same kinds of problems that confuse and trouble people in the twentieth century." Some Arthurian scholars argue that Alexander took too many liberties with the material, creating works that are "too contemporary". Alexander described his own writings as based on myth, but written with his personal life experience, or "micromythology". C. W. Sullivan, a professor of Northern European mythology at East Carolina University, stated that Alexander took the structure of a fairy tale, or märchen, and added Welsh details. Brian Attebery wrote that The Book of Three was "no more than a clever imitation of Tolkien", but noted that Taran, written by an American, finds his identity in the future, not the past. Attebery described Alexander's mythopoeism as a "modest" success, bringing his own creativity to Welsh mythology. Mark Oziewicz, a professor specializing in young adult fantasy, wrote that the Prydain Chronicles show the importance of connecting the present to the past. Taran learns firsthand the importance of stories when he encounters the characters from them, who are often nothing like he imagined. Throughout the series, he must trust the knowledge of authority figures when he takes on quests he does not initially understand. The gradual transformation of Prydain from magical to mundane mirrors Taran's coming-of-age. The way the series starts in the past but comments on the future is reminiscent of Welsh hanesion narrative, which returns to the past in order to heal the present. Alexander's biographer, Jill May, along with critic Normal Bagnall, noted several American themes in the Prydain series: that leadership is an ability, not inherited, and that anyone can become a hero. Bagnall further elucidated that Taran's character development was American, with him growing from an inarticulate, self-conscious teen into a self-educated, self-sacrificing adult. In contrast, Kath Filmer-Davies from the University of Queensland argues that the Welshness of the Prydain Chronicles is responsible for much of their appeal. She noted that in Welsh culture, Taran's knowledge and nationalism are more important than his non-noble family status.

Alexander's works are usually coming-of-age novels in fantasy settings where characters fulfill quests. The main characters are common people who return to their regular lives after their quests. While his settings are inspired by fairy tales and legends, his stories are modern. Self-acceptance and awareness are vital for the protagonists to grow. Alexander's works are fundamentally optimistic about human nature, with endings that are hopeful rather than tragic. He stated that in his fantasy world, "good is ultimately stronger than evil" and "courage, justice, love, and mercy actually function". The Prydain Chronicles deal with themes of good and evil and what it means to be a hero. The Westmark Trilogy also explores good and evil and shows how corrupt leadership can lead to unrest and revolution. The main character, Mickle, reluctantly joins the army in an unexpected war, subverting typical war heroics. The books are appealing adventure stories that simultaneously discuss ethical issues, a quality that critic Hazel Rochman praised in School Library Journal. Writing at The Horn Book, Mary M. Burns stated that The Illyrian Adventure was excellent because it was believable while being a fantasy and had a strong underlying theme. Alexander himself remarked that his "own concerns and questions" still came out in his fiction. He consciously used fantasy stories as a way to understand reality.

Alexander strove to create women characters who were more than a passive trophy for the hero. Rodney Fierce, a history professor, analyzes Eilonwy's agency and character over the five books in the Prydain Chronicles. While she is independent and assertive in The Book of Three, other characters view her adventuring in The High King as unladylike, consistently dismissing her useful advice. Taran only becomes attracted to her when she is wearing fancy feminine clothes, while Eilonwy's affections do not rely on Taran being luxuriously accoutered. In The Castle of Llyr, Taran commands her not to leave the castle but cannot tell her why, leaving readers to feel that his controlling behavior is noble. His secrecy is only vital to make Eilonwy a helpless victim, which will allow Taran to rescue her. In fighting the enchantress who conquered her ancestral home in Caer Colur, Eilonwy destroys her and the castle that would rightfully be hers. After the destruction of her home castle, Eilonwy's desire shifts from being focused on her own development to waiting to marry Taran. Even though Taran decides he would rather stay in Prydain than be with Eilonwy, Eilonwy gives up her magical power to marry Taran and stay with him in Prydain. Fierce concludes that, unlike other women in fantasy fiction, at least Eilonwy made the decision herself to lose her magical powers. Sullivan noted how Taran's rise to power symbolizes an "age of male dominance", contrasting Prydain's previous age of women in power. In 1985, Lois Kuznets argued that the Prydain chronicles do not achieve American ideals because Taran becomes a king rather than a president, and Eilonwy does not "achieve womanhood". Alexander's biographer, Jill May, rebutted this argument, stating that when Alexander wrote the books in the 1960s, his audience was just beginning to accept feminist ideas, and his works need to be considered in their historical context. One critic, John Rowe Townsend, disliked the "two-dimensional" and "predictable" characters of Taran and Eilonwy.

Several critics have commented on Alexander's writing style. In a Horn Book review of the Vesper Holly books, Ethel L. Heins stated that Alexander's writing was "elegant, witty, [and] beautifully paced". Reviewers praised the action scenes in the Prydain chronicles, stating that they involved the reader in the scene without gruesome detail. Jill P. May stated that his prose changes depending on the goal of his work. While his fantasy style has been compared to J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, his later writings have a completely different style. His first work for children, a biography of Jewish freedom fighter August Bondi, had little dialogue, perhaps in an effort to be faithful to historical sources. The fictional characters stood out more than Bondi's. Alexander wrote another biography for the Jewish Publication Society on Aaron Lopez. In absence of detailed historical sources, Alexander fictionalized more events in this work, with Lopez's fictional attitudes mirroring Alexander's.

Awards and honors
Alexander first garnered significant critical acclaim with his The Chronicles of Prydain series. The second volume (The Black Cauldron) was a runner-up for the 1966 Newbery Medal; the fourth (Taran Wanderer) was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year; the fifth and concluding volume (The High King) won the 1969 Newbery. Alexander was included in the 1972 third volume of the H. W. Wilson reference series, Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators —early in his career as a children's writer, but after Prydain was complete. For his contribution as a children's writer, Alexander was U.S. nominee in 1996 and again in 2008 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. Many of Alexander's later books received awards; The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian won the 1971 National Book Award in category Children's Books and in 1982, Westmark also won a National Book Award. The Fortune-Tellers, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, won the 1992 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in the Picture Book category. The American Library Association selected The Beggar Queen as one of the best books for young adults in 1984, and The Illyrian Adventure as a "notable book" in 1986. He received at least three lifetime achievement awards. In 1991, the Free Library of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Center for the Book awarded him the Pennbook Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2001, he received the inaugural Parents' Choice Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2003, Alexander received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

On January 28, 2010, an exhibit opened at the Harold B. Lee Library on the campus of Brigham Young University, displaying several items from Alexander's home office, which he referred to as "the Box". Items include manuscripts, editions of all his books, his violin, typewriter, and desk. On October 19, 2012, a documentary chronicling the life and writings of Alexander was released. The film is titled Lloyd Alexander. On September 23, 2014, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the series, Henry Holt published a special "50th Anniversary Edition" of The Book of Three.

Prydain series

 * The Chronicles of Prydain
 * The Book of Three (1964)
 * The Black Cauldron (1965), winner of the 1966 Newbery Honor
 * The Castle of Llyr (1966)
 * Taran Wanderer (1967)
 * The High King (1968), winner of the 1969 Newbery Medal

 * Supplementary
 * Coll and His White Pig (1965), picture book
 * The Truthful Harp (1967), picture book
 * The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain (1973, expanded 1999)

Westmark trilogy

 * Westmark (1981)—National Book Award
 * The Kestrel (1982)
 * The Beggar Queen (1984)

Vesper Holly series

 * The Illyrian Adventure (1986)
 * The El Dorado Adventure (1987)
 * The Drackenberg Adventure (1988)
 * The Jedera Adventure (1989)
 * The Philadelphia Adventure (1990)
 * The Xanadu Adventure (2005)

Other

 * And Let the Credit Go (1955)—autobiographical first novel
 * My Five Tigers (1956)
 * Border Hawk: August Bondi (1958)—biography of August Bondi for children
 * Janine is French (1960)—Alexander also collaborated to write a stage adaptation of this
 * My Love Affair with Music (1960)
 * The Flagship Hope: Aaron Lopez (1960)—biography of Aaron Lopez for children
 * Park Avenue Vet (1962), by Alexander and Dr. Louis J. Camuti, New York City cat veterinarian
 * Fifty Years in the Doghouse (1963); originally Send for Ryan!, retitled in 1964—non-fiction "concerning William Michael Ryan and the American SPCA"
 * Time Cat: The Remarkable Journeys of Jason and Gareth (1963)—first children's fantasy
 * The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian (1970)—National Book Award
 * The King's Fountain (1971)
 * The Four Donkeys (1972)
 * The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man (1973)
 * The Wizard in the Tree (1974)
 * The Town Cats and Other Tales (1977)
 * The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha (1978)
 * The Big Book for Peace (1990)
 * The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen (1991)
 * The Fortune-Tellers (1992)
 * The Arkadians (1995)
 * The House Gobbaleen (1995)
 * The Iron Ring (1997)
 * Gypsy Rizka (1999)
 * How the Cat Swallowed Thunder (2000)
 * The Gawgon and the Boy (2001); UK title, The Fantastical Adventures of the Invisible Boy
 * The Rope Trick (2002)
 * Dream-of-Jade: The Emperor's Cat (2005)
 * The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio (2007)—last book published

Translations

 * The Diary of Antoine Roquentin (London: John Lehmann, 1949), first English translation of Jean-Paul Sartre, La Nausée (Éditions Gallimard, 1938). The celebrated existentialist, epistolary novel is better known by the direct translation of its title, Nausea.
 * Intimacy (London: Neville Spearman Ltd., 1949), translation of Le Mur by Jean-Paul Sartre (Éditions Gallimard, 1939)
 * Selected Writings (London: Routledge & Kegan, 1952), by Paul Éluard

Adaptations
The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man and The Wizard in the Tree were adapted and produced in Japan. Also in Japan, The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian was made into a TV series.

In 1985, Disney released an animated film based on the first two books of the Prydain series, called The Black Cauldron. The first Disney animated film to employ computer-generated images, it was a box-office failure and received mixed critical reviews. It was not released for home video until over a decade later. As of 2016, Disney was in early production of another adaptation of the Prydain series.

title: Lloyd Alexander