Eragon by Christopher Paolini

[dwndrgn]

During the past several months I have been anticipating reading this novel. There are several reasons for this. To begin with, I'm a dragon lover. I'll read just about anything that concerns dragons. I'm fascinated by this mythical beast that appears in numerous mythologies, ancient and new. They come in all shapes, sizes, sentience, wit, and beauty. They can be good, evil, or just plain beastly. So, that was my original interest in Eragon. When I heard that this was a first novel by a fifteen year old boy, I was further fascinated. I remembered my teens, the time period when I wanted so much but didn't have the foresight or stamina to stick with any project I began. How could a teen write a large novel? I concluded that he wanted to tell a story, and he wanted to so badly that he perservered through all the teen turmoil we all seem to go through.

All this being said, my enthousiasm was then tempered when I heard that the novel had been published with the help of his parents who just happened to be in the publishing industry. Did it have any merit on it's own? Was his novel published only through their influence? This kind of thing happens all the time. I decided that I still had to find out for myself whether or not the story was a good one, and whether his writing would stand up under scrutiny.

After all this contemplation, I finally got my hands on a copy. I began reading with anticipation. I soon realized that all the hype, bad and good, had influenced my enjoyment. I was reading, not as a fantasy fan discovering a new novel, but a sceptic - searching for worth.

To get to the point, I'll sum this all up and say that, in my humble opinion, the story itself is a good one, albeit one that could use some shoring up. His writing style shows his inexperience, but is worthy of a read nonetheless.

The story itself centers around a farm boy of the Empire who, by fate or accident, becomes the first dragon rider seen in the Empire for hundreds of years. Through a complex series of events, Eragon becomes the enemy of the ruler of the Empire. A dragon rider himself, fueled by madness and the lust for power, Galbatorix wants dominion over all lands, not just his own empire. For this, he needs dragon riders. Eragon, being the only new dragon rider in centuries, becomes the object of his desire. Aiding Eragon in his quest for revenge and peace is Brom, a mysterious story teller who knows more and has seen more than Eragon can even guess. In addition to Brom, Eragon has help from his beautiful dragon, Sephira, and a mysterious warrior named Murtaugh.

The story ends incomplete. It is apparent, even before the reader gets to that last page that tells them to await the sequel, he/she can see that there is quite a bit more to the story to come.

All in all, I found it an entertaining story with realistic characters and interesting plot twists; and I know that there are more to come. In my mind, the author's writing can only get better and the sequel to Eragon promises to be a good one. I would definitely recommend this to younger readers and any others that might enjoy a little story about a boy and his dragon.

[I, Brian]

And dwngrn has the final say in the whole debate.

Was he really fifteen at the time of writing??

Either way, thanks for that - we'll have that up very soon.

[longplay]

My review of Eragon:

I have to confess that this was another recommendation by my sister (although I’d heard many good things from a range of sources) and, as much as it pains me to say it, she was right, it is excellent. I’m a relative late-comer to the Fantasy genre but, if you look at my reading page, you’ll see that it’s making serious inroads on my reading material. I think I orginally shied away from it because it all seemed to be about unstoppable warriors saving helpless women (at least, to me), and I like my stories a little more complex than that. Anyway, for those of you following my entries, you should know that I’m a Harry Potter fan and that I’ve started writing a children’s novel. So I try and stay up to date on what’s hot in the field and Christopher Paolini certainly is.

Eragon is generally referred to as a children’s book but it’s something of a misnomer in the same way Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy are referred to as a children’s novels. The only reason for that is that they feature youngsters in the main role, but where most others are in the low teens, Eragon’s main character (also called Eragon) turns 16 in this adventure making him fall into the young adult category and it means the story is told from a significantly older perspective than the others (how many characters fight sword fights against fully grown and/or numerous opponents?).

To give you an idea of how much I enjoyed the book, I read it in three evenings, tearing through the pages with only my discipline and a strict eye on the clock forcing me to put it down. It tells the story of Eragon, a simple farm boy living in a remote backwater. One night, while out hunting in deserted woodland, a large blue stone drops from th sky and lands near him. It turns out that the stone is, in fact, one of the last dragon eggs given to man and elf. The eggs don’t hatch to a timespan, they wait until they find their partner and hatch only when they are before them. Eragon is chosen by this dragon, later named Saphira, to become one of the fabled Dragon Riders, gifted warriors who once kept the peace, until one of their number betrayed and killed them and, with the help of a few loyal followers, he wiped out the other Dragon Riders and installed himself as king. Now Eragon must try and stay safe and learn to use his newfound strength and magical abilities while hunted by the forces of this evil king. His choices are slim and he doesn’t know who he can trust, none of his options are easy, or safe, but he must choose a side.

It was a tense, action-packed read with a near-relentless pace. Eragon and Saphira are hunted on all sides and find themselves in a lot of trouble, while also trying to do the right thing. I enjoyed seeing a hero who didn’t have it all figured out, who constantly makes mistakes, who spends much of his time tired or injured and unsure of what to do, but through all that it just makes him seem more heroic. I’m not sure he gets through a fight without either falling, or being knocked, unconscious. There is also an interesting amount of self-examination and self-doubt, which is unusual for Fantasy character, but welcome. The scenary and landscape are drawn vividly, as are the characters, which helps make for an engrossing story and the legends that surround the main narrative are almost Tolkein-esque in their detail and history. The main Fantasy races are all here, although some would argue they tread the stereotypes with too little deviation, and there are new races too.

As you may have guessed, I loved the book, and the good news about discovering an author late is that you can read some of their other material. Eragon is the first book in the trilogy, with Eldest, the second part, recently released. The good news for me is that my sister has a copy of that I plan to steal too, the bad news is she just went on holiday and took it with her.

[Paradox 99]

I read Eragon a few months back and also enjoyed it thoroughly. In a similar way to dwndrgn, I was drawn to the book because the author was so young and, as an aspiring author myself, felt a certain amount of respect for him achieving this. yes, his parents are in the industry, but it still takes some character to see a large project through to the end at that age.

The stereotypes in the book actually endeared me to the novel, making me feel quite comfortable reading it (although, depending on my mood I sometimes see stereotypical characters as a bore).
I like the way he dealt with the concept of magic, the development of Eragon's relationship with Saphira was well handled, but most of all, the author provokes a lot of questions about death and the purposes of life - something that seemed ahead of years when I read it.

I'd also recommend this book, and I'm looking forward to reading the next one (haven't bought it yet)

[Hellsheep]

To summarize my view on the book: it wasn't as good as i was told it was.
Maybe I was just expecting too much, but to me there seems to be nothing really special about this book. And I really hated that foolish she-dragon, always pretending to be the smarter one...

[Gwydion]

its good, but the sequal brings it to close to star wars. the more i think about it, the more i realize how much more original he couldve have been. work in progress though.