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The Belgariad, by David Eddings

The first thing the boy Garion remembered was the kitchen at Faldor's farm. For all the rest of his life he had a special warm feeling for kitchens and those peculiar sounds and smells that seemed somehow to combine into a bustling seriousness that had to do with love and food and comfort and security and, above all, home. No matter how high Garion rose in life, he never forgot that all his memories began in that kitchen.

(from Pawn of Prophecy)

Not an inspiring beginning, it might be thought. And yet, somehow, the words reach out and ... entrance you. Yes, entrance is the word, I'm sure. I felt quite entranced, the first time I read this book (and, practically unique in my life, I remember exactly where I was when I read these books - to be more precise, I remember exactly where I was when I finished the last book in the first five-book series, and began again, immediately, astoundingly, from the beginning). The words just carry you along, and the people are entertaining. Entertaining. I don't think the word does them justice. What I mean is, you want to spend time with them; you enjoy their company. And that, I think, is the big attraction about these books - I mean, they're very readable (easy to read; lots of dialog; story flows easily), but most of all, you enjoy the people.

David Eddings has written two five-book series about these people and their world: