Some people might expect this book to be less engaging than the others in the "proper" series of the Belgariad and the Malloreon, but this is certainly not the case. How Eddings can write the story of a seven-thousand-year old sorceror without either giving us a novel thousands of pages long, and without boring his readers with too much of the same is incredible, but hardly surprising when the series themselves were so successful. As it is, he gives just as much of the vivid descriptions and intruiging plot as in his other books, and the story of Belgarath the sorceror could stand as a classic in its own right.
I would recommend new readers to try the Belagariad before attempting this book, but mostly only because it has so many subtle links with the story in those books that some people may find the story is a bit complicated. If you have already read those, however, it is an absolute joy to read, and answers a lot of important questions, like exactly how Belgarath, the great sorceror, was trained and grew up
All in all, this is a very good book, but can be hard to leave half-way through and then pick up again. I would suggest it for anyone remotely interested in fantasy, or even those who simply like beautifully-written books, and it has the same simple, glowing style that any Eddings fan will recognise.