[VanimaEdhel]

Little_My*: Creosa (Welcome)!

And, I agree that many authors pay homage to Lord of the Rings (not all copy Lord of the Rings, some just make similar parts). I found that, when I read the Belgariad, that many characters reminded me of LotR characters. Lelldoran reminded me of Legolas, Belgarath (or Garath) reminded me of Gandalf, the main character (Garion) was Frodo and Aragorn combined: a meek character who had been on no adventures, but proved to be really the King of the World. C'Nedra actually reminded me of a more haughty Eowyn (even though she was meant for Garion instead of a Faramir character): she disobeyed the rules in her court (for she was princess of a lesser area), and was always showing up to battles in full armor, sometimes even dressed as a boy, I think I remember. And Barak turned into a bear (sound familiar? Think Beorn...not exactly the same, but similar). Polgara, sister of Belgareth and a sorceress, was a lot like Galadriel in personality, just...stricter. And, like the Arwen-Aragorn Elf-Human conflict, she, an immortal sorceress, marries a human man.

Well...even though it reminded me of that, I still loved that series and would recommend it to all, because there are still many differences (and it's by David Eddings: good author), and it's fairly old (without the sexual "smut" you were speaking of...the "Arrows of the Queen" series on the other hand...1st book was good...others were mainly porn).