Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)

Eragon, a young farm boy, finds a marvelous blue stone in a mystical mountain place. Before he can trade it for food to get his family through the hard winter, it hatches a beautiful sapphire-blue dragon, a race thought to be extinct. Eragon bonds with the dragon, and when his family is killed by the marauding Ra'zac, he discovers that he is the last of the Dragon Riders, fated to play a decisive part in the coming war between the human but hidden Varden, dwarves, elves, the diabolical Shades and their neanderthal Urgalls, all pitted against and allied with each other and the evil King Galbatorix. Eragon and his dragon Saphira set out to find their role, growing in magic power and understanding of the complex political situation as they endure perilous travels and sudden battles, dire wounds, capture and escape.

In spite of the engrossing action, this is not a book for the casual fantasy reader. There are 65 names of people, horses, and dragons to be remembered and lots of pseudo-Celtic places, magic words, and phrases in the Ancient Language as well as the speech of the dwarfs and the Urgalls. But the maps and glossaries help, and by the end, readers will be utterly dedicated and eager for the next book, Eldest. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell

Product Description
This deluxe edition of Eragon includes an excerpt from Eldest, the next volume in the Inheritance trilogy; an exclusive foldout map of Alagaësia; never-before-seen art by the author depicting Zarroc, Eragons sword; and an expanded pronunciation guide to the Ancient and Dwarf languages.

Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boyuntil his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could saveor destroythe Empire.

Tina Sanders, Librarian, Clear Brook H.S., Clear Creek ISD, Houston area, sent this to the list:
"Christopher Paolini visited our school on September 13, 2002. His presentation of 45 minutes held the attention of a multi-level group of students in the library for the entire time. Appearing in 14th century Italian costume, he begins by discussing how he changed from a boy who hated to read, to a young man who graduated at age 15, and began his first novel, which including the editing, took him three years to complete."

"By reading excerpts from his book, while illustrating his dragon Saphira, Christopher held the attention of our students, who went from only feigned interest to surrounding the young author for autographs. I highly recommend Christopher Paolini as a visiting author. He will inform, inspire, as well as entertain his audiences for years to come."

I purchased my own copy of Eragon and was very impressed. I love this book. The world that the author has created is special and magical. Christopher Paolini is gifted storyteller. He's made a fan out of me, a 47-year-old lady.

I was one of the librarians who nominated Eragon for the American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults 2003 Award. I hope Eragon wins a spot in the top ten, if not the number one position.

We received news from our latest copy of Publishers Weekly (12/16/02 issue--Hot Deals) that Christopher Paolini signed with the Knopf publishing company, who will release Eragon in hardcover in September 2003. Knopf is prestigious imprint of Random House. Good for you!

Mary


A reluctant 3   July 2, 2004
 172 out of 221 found this review helpful

When first I attempted reading the book, I put it down within three chapters, as the word "derivative" pummeled my brain with the same febricity that dragons assault Paolini's imagination (and his imagination is assaulted with considerable frequency, according to Paolini on his website, hosted by Random House).

It was with reluctance that I turned to the book again, and I did so with the singular intent of understanding the remarkable success of the book. We can debate the merits of this book without end, but not its stellar sales.

And the reason for its success is simple. Not since The Sword of Shannara (or lesser works such as Niel Hancock's Circle of Light series) has heroic/high fantasy been dumbed-down to this level. Eragon is a book that requires no forethought whatsoever, little to no concentration, for all plot points are given away chapters in advance.

I don't hold any of the Shannara works (and certainly not the lesser works, such as Hancock's and others) in high esteem. What Brooks did with The Sword of Shannara was to rewrite The Lord of the Rings for teenagers, and in that he succeeded quite well. He didn't write an original book, however. The characters in The Sword of Shannara were almost one-for-one reproductions, with slight variations, from LOTR. Paolini has done essentially the same thing, but whereas Brooks had only Tolkien to draw from, Paolini had many more sources to draw from. And these sources pepper the landscape of his book like a person's salad who forgot to say, "Stop!"

We've heard that all art is imitation (and that therefore to imitate and even copy is OK); and that imitation is the highest form of flattery. In some aspects of art, literature, and life this holds true, but not here. There is too much imitation, and not enough originality. We have (from what I'm familiar of, anyway):

*The Thirteen Forsworn (Jordan's Forsaken)
*Elves on silver ships from across the sea (Tolkien)
*Urgals and Kulls (Orcs and Uruk-Hai from Tolkien with bits of Trollocs blended in from Jordan)
*Dwarves who are absolute reproductions of those from Tolkien, from their mountain city to their use of axes, and even the description of "hewing" heads off Urgals (er, Orcs)
*A Shade (Jordan's Fade, although with an intriguing difference - and it's not the color of the hair)
*Dragons and everything that comes with them (McCaffrey, although she doesn't seem to mind, if her blurbs mean anything)
*A "magic-user" (former Dragon Rider) who refuses to reveal his true nature for no good reason other than to cause dramatic tension (take your pick from any of the lesser derivative works)
*Ra'Zac (All wicked lords need hand servants...and they all get them, no different here)
*Somebody says "Hellfire!" This is an uncommon oath in the "real" world, but not an uncommon oath to Thomas Covenant. There were a couple of other Covenant similarities, but I didn't make note of them.

There are more, but this isn't intended to be exhaustive. Given what some truly great high/heroic fantasists have done (Tolkien, Donaldson, Martin, Williams, and to a lesser degree of late, Jordan), it is absolutely essential to make your own work your own. Is it easy? Not a chance. There are only so many original ideas, only so many different ways to write a high/heroic fantasy, but if you're going to do it, you can't just take what others have done, tweak it a bit, toss it into a blender, and put it out there as your own original work. This is NOT an original work.

As to the writing itself, I refuse to be too critical. This was written and edited by a *teenager*. Some of his descriptions of physical objects and places are excellent, even for a "stronger" writer. Yes, he makes the mistake of confusing salt with adverbs. Most food contains salt of some kind, especially true for prepared foods, and it seemed that way with his sentences. There are adverbs galore. That's a nasty habit he needs to say good-bye to.

As to the writer, well, after reading what he had written about his own work on his website, I lost some respect for him. Granted, this is still a very young person, but he is bragging of "wonders" to be revealed in his books, and says that "I strive for a lyrical beauty somewhere between Tolkien at his best and Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf". That's terrific to strive for, but his writing doesn't come close, and it's more than a little embarrassing, I would think, to make a comment like that. Maybe if Eragon stopped asking seven thousand questions so that Paolini could explain something that he could have done better through narration...but toward the end of the book I wanted Eragon's mouth closed with duct tape. When in Tronjheim, and talking to Angela, a very awkward segue occurs (one of dozens upon dozens in the book). Angela is speaking of Shades, and I'll admit that my eyes popped open a bit at the explanation because it was rather fresh and original. The Eragon ruins it by blurting out, "Why are you living so high up in Tronjheim? Isn't it inconvenient being this isolated? And how did you get all this stuff up here?" This just isn't sensible dialogue.

My final feeling is: I was initially turned off, and then pulled into it as I picked it up the second time, but ultimately turned off. I've read The Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, The Dragonriders of Pern, and they're all better books than this. On the Random House website, Paolini jokes that perhaps an epic trilogy was too much for someone so young. He couldn't have been more right.

However, kids are reading this, and I'm in favor of almost anything that makes kids read more. Hence my three star rating. It would have been two stars otherwise.


What a Book--Stellar story and writing!   February 27, 2002
 166 out of 241 found this review helpful

Eragon is a story that you will read every spare moment until you're done with the book. Christopher Paolini (can you believe this kid is only eighteen!) has written a story that will last the test of time because it has all the classic elements: an event at the beginning that starts a series of situations and adventures, love, a coming of age story, an inheritance, bad guys (Urgals) and good guys, not the least of which is a brilliant blue dragon, Saphira. I really don't want to give away much, because you just have to read this book for yourself too see what I mean.

I loved this book. I think this author has hit a home run. I am still chasing the ball and loving the journey. I finished the book two weeks ago, yet the "world" that Paolini has created in Eragon still sticks with me. I can see it in my mind's eye. I find myself wondering about the characters, and when the next book will be ready.


Trying not to claw my eyes out   October 27, 2003
 144 out of 236 found this review helpful

How people could get through the first two paragraphs is beyond me. If I want to read badly written prose that badly, I'll go online and search for amateur writers' forums. To be frank, most of those are better than this.

"...and the book shows the influence of Tolkien, of course, but also Terry Brooks, Anne McCaffrey, and perhaps even Wagner in its traditional quest structure and the generally agreed-upon nature of dwarves, elves, dragons, and heroic warfare with magic swords."

The point of CREATIVE writing is to do something that hasn't already been done by EVERY OTHER fantasy writer out there. At least, that's how it always struck me. Tolkien, Brooks, and McCaffrey have influenced a load of people, most likely each other as well, and that's exactly what makes this piece utterly uncreative. Even the NAMES are uncreative, for heaven's sake.

No, this is not worth $$$. Save your hard-earned money for something useful. Like coffee.