Eragon

[The_Warrior]

Eragon.




It has said to be that this book angerd fans of Mcafry to the limit because of it similer fetures of dragonriders and telpathic connection of the the rider and their dragons. Did you hate this book? Or did you see it as an acplistiment for a young boy who started writing at 15 and published it by 17.?

[ghost8772]

I found it a book written by someone who has read a number of books, liked Pern, Star Wars, and ran them together into one story. his ideas were not unique, they weren't even disguised. the idea you left out of your thread was that in eragon if the dragon dies the rider is now half complete, and if the rider dies the dragon does too. one point that took an extreme was that the dragon's egg will not hatch until it finds its rider. that seemed to be the only real difference in life cycle from dragonriders. Paolini didn't discuss the mating habits of dragons, or if there are effects on humans, so no possibility for comparison there.

in short I wasn't impressed by Eragon, felt the publishing company hyped Paolini wityhout knowledge of his story in enough depth to think the ideas were somoene elses. or they didn't care.

[ambershadow]

first of all the publisher was his parents so I doubt that they cared about much except publishing his book. I thought that it was just that a book written by a youth with little expirience who has read alot and used components from his favorite stories to create his own book. Great practice for him but not as enjoyable for the readers.

[manephelien]

FYI, Pernese dragons suicide by going between if they don't find a suitable rider. That's why there are always many more candidates than eggs on the sands.

[ghost8772]

never read a direct reference about how they died if they didn't find a suitable rider. but did know they hatched then looked. didn't know that paolini's parents were his publishers. now it makes sense

[pyan]

Don't like Paolini? Read this:

Anti-Shur'tugal -- Where bleach is used up by the gallons!

(Contains strong language.)

[Cheryl]

I don't think it specifies how un-Impressed hatchlings die. Here's the relevant passage from Dragonseye/Red Star Rising:
"Early on, the records mentioned five occasions when a
dragonet had not found a compatible personality. Its subsequent death
had upset the Weyr to the point where every effort was then made to
eliminate a second occurrence, including accepting the dragonet's choice
from among spectators."

I always thought they died of starvation without going between, which would be extremely painful to watch happen.

[F'Lessan Amused]

TBH I'm a relative new reader of Pern, I say relative, I mean I've read about 4 of them all in all..and I got interested in Pern when I was talking about Eragon on here and someone said it was a direct rip-off of stories I know and love..I'm a Star Wars/Gate/Trek nut and I love the pern books, so what I'm saying is that Paolini needs to really pull his thumb out to make the last book less copied and more ingenius creativity on his part

[ghost8772]

well eragon came out and eldest reared its head what, a year, maybe two after, but the third book of the series hasn't even been rmored at being released yet? I wonder if someon somewhere didn't do the world a favor ad gag Paolini and lock in a broom closet somewhere. or maybe someone smacked him upside the head with one of his own books..... could be lethal though...in any event he might have gotten bored with writing, decided to live off his royalties, and blew off his "adoring" fans..... at least I can hope.

[sassy1]

Paolini says the third book is taking so long because he's found himself with so many loose threads in the storyline to tie up that he's finding it very hard to put everything in one book without it being ridiculously huge.

I liked Eragon (the book - the film was somewhat disappointing), but only when I told myself to stop comparing it with other books. Hard to do, with all the obviously copied storylines, but in the end i found it enjoyable. probably because he used all good storylines from others lol

and of course the publishers are going to 'hype' Paolini - because they are his parents and becuase they want to sell loads of copies - the more people hear about it, the more they are likely to buy it, either because the adverts have convinced them it's a really good book, or to see if it really is as good as it is supposed to be.

I can't wait for the last book in the trilogy to come out... and I'll do the same with that book as i have with the others - stop comparing it. I had to do the same with Terry Brooks' Shannara series when i first started reading it - i thought there were far too many similaritied with the lord of the rings to just be coinkydink...


I still think Anne McCaffrey is a much much MUCH better writer, with more original storylines =D


rant over.

[dustinzgirl]

Um....the concept of telepathy and dragon riding are not new, they have been in many, many tales other than McAffery--those who think Anne was the first to put those elements together on paper are rather under-read, and the same can be said for those who think that the wizened old warrior guiding the young orphan/farm boy is unique to Star Wars has not seen enough movies.

King Arthur, the young orphan had Merlin, the wizened old teacher.
In Beowulf, I believe the dragon and Grendel's mother used spells, which could be considered an early unscientific form of telepathy, to communicate ....at least that is what I gather.
In nearly all ancient tales, the ancient gods spoke to the minds of humans, this is telepathy.
Lord Dunsay's "Miss Cubbidge and the Dragon of Romance" is an excellent tale that examines the romantic and majestic side of dragons.
More modern times, Jane Yolen also used dragon telepathy and dragon training, but nobody says her or Anne stole from each other.

I think Paoloni deserves his dues for putting the different elements together in a young adult reader way. The story itself is simple and pretty, I wouldn't call it legendary and beautiful, but it was pretty. It was a good story and it deserves its place. It does not, however, deserve a really crappy video game. And yes, I spent the money on it. I played it. Wished I had my forty bucks back.

PS: Very few 18 year olds have written such books. McAffery was much older with much more writing and LIFE experience to become a better writer. Personally, I'd love to see what Paoloni can do given another few decades.

[Connavar]

Age and life experiance is not the only thing that makes a writer good.

So its not automatic Paolini will be better just cause he gets older.

Also there is a huge difference beteween mentioning Beowulf dragons and talking about how he took hole ideas about Dragons and their riders from Pern series. This type of dragon story might not be new but its very different when you copy something like the things in pern series he copied so completly as he did.....

About Pern i liked Dragonflight story but sometimes the way she wrote got in the way of the story. Havent read more of the series yet.

[dustinzgirl]

Originally Posted by Connavar of Rigante

Age and life experiance is not the only thing that makes a writer good.

So its not automatic Paolini will be better just cause he gets older.

Also there is a huge difference beteween mentioning Beowulf dragons and talking about how he took hole ideas about Dragons and their riders from Pern series. This type of dragon story might not be new but its very different when you copy something like the things in pern series he copied so completly as he did.....

About Pern i liked Dragonflight story but sometimes the way she wrote got in the way of the story. Havent read more of the series yet.

I don't really see it as copying though, more influence. I mean, there are some distinctive differences.

[pyan]

By the way, there is a 250-post thread with the same title over in "Young Adult Fiction" ......worth checking out for some of the earlier reactions to the book......

http://www.chronicles-network.com/fo...84-eragon.html

[RodneyMcKay]

Paolini's book only got published coz his parents are publishers...

I mean, his writing technique is OK but the story is unoriginal in everyway