My only regret on this one is that I've read it so many times there's little drama in it for me. Also I think the second sequence of books undoes some tension from the Belgariad with a lot of "oh that was actually definitely going to happen".

This book and the previous actually remind me a lot of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance now. I just want travelogues, I think. And a bit of a rest in Riva, which is basically the kingdome of hygge, but either Icelandic or Welsh. Lashing rain, austere architecture, cozy indoors.