I popped over to Amazon to see what people were saying about Eragon by Christopher Paolini before I sat down to write this. It seems this is one of those books where you either really like it or hate it. It was getting either 5 stars or one. With that said…
I didn’t like it. It’s not that it was bad; it was trite. With a bad book, you can stop reading after about the first hundred (or fewer) pages and go on with life. With a trite book, you keep reading hoping that it will eventually get better. And in the end you’re disappointed. So what didn’t I like? Obviously, Paolini is influenced by George Lucas, Tolkien and Anne McCaffrey. So much so that he used their plots, characters and world descriptions. The only thing original about this book is that he managed to combine all of them. Eragon-Aragorn carries a named sword, is in love with an elf princess and is chased by Urgals-orcs (with some Krull-Urukhai thrown in). The elves are tall and graceful and came to this world from another. The dwarves, short and stocky and live underground and have a terrible relationship with the elves. Eragon has to come to terms with his destiny (like Luke Skywalker), is accompanied by an old man who trains him and then dies 3/4 of the way through the book (too bad he didn’t talk to Eragon from the grave) and then is accompanied by someone slightly older than him that has a shady past. He also managed to rescue said elf princess from a dungeon before she betrays her people. And the Dragon Riders (of which Eragon becomes one) have fallen on hard times and aren’t respected by the people any more. Eragon, of course, has to change all that. And, of course, he will.
The real problem, though, is that I just didn’t care about the characters. Oh, Brom dies. How sad. Oh, Eragon gets attacked again. Whoopie. Oh, Eragon succeeds in killing off the bad guy. Wow. Neat-O. Big deal. So what? That, I think is the real disappointment: there isn’t any real tension or emotion in this book. Oh, I think there was supposed to be. But, Paolini started this when he was 15 and finished when he was 19. I guess you can’t expect a great novel from one so young.
The Book Nut 
i agree to a certain extentThere seems to be some plagiarisation in certain naming schemes – Isenstar, Carvahall ( Cair Parvelle ), Ayra, Eragon’s name himself, etc but hey the rest of it is standard fare for epic fantasy since Tolkein.I take it he did this before the Peter Jackson film trio, but perhaps it was a high school 3 page essay that’grew” after a certain film release, but retained a copyright date.But havving said all that – i did enjoy the book, and, he has a better sense of some things that tolkein never had – all those obtuse consonant-heavy names with “g” for oneanyway that the end of my rant
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Eragon was awful, but people shouldn’t assume that it was bad because the author was a kid. Lots of kids write good books; he’s just not one of them. Trust me on this; I know.
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I agree with all of the above…except for the fact that a teen can’t write a good book. The Outsiders was written by a sixteen year old.
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I actually liked the book. I’ve only read the first one and I’m into the genre. I haven’t seen the movie but it seems like it will be a disappointment.
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Oh, I forgot to say:
I agree that there is a lot of plagarism but when you are writing it is very hard not to be influenced.
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Hmmm… interesting that most of these comments are by anonymous posters.
I’ll stand by my plagerism claim — except I got the source wrong. Someone, in reference to the movie, said that this is essentially Star Wars, not LOTR. I can see that. He was (heavily) influced by Tolkein, but he copied Lucas’s plot.
That said, M really loves the book. I’ll not begrudge her that.
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I disagree with all of you. Eragon is an amazing book, which is neither LOTR or Star Wars (which also weren’t extremely original to start – the basic plots of basically all the stories out there have been around for millennia). That being said, Eragon stands on its own. Furthermore, people talk about the authors age a lot but really, he is a hundred times better than most adult writers out there. He wasn’t published because he was young, he was published because he is good and I believe will only get better as time progresses. Lastly, go out and actually read the book without being jealous that someone younger than you is more successful and possibly you too can enjoy a worthwhile story.
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I liked the book. you say that it’s bad that he’s taught by an old dude, has a named sword, loves a girl and other things. I havn’t read most of the books you listed. Anyway, Back in the days the book’s set, swords had names, old people trained younger people, people fall in love, and people die.P.S. kids can write books. Just because he’s a kid it’s automaticly a bad book? I ask you to point out how that’s not like saying a woman can’t write a good book. I’m 13 and I find it offencive that I have an I.Q. of 140, while you probably struggle to reach 120, and I automaticly can’t write a good book? thanks jerk
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“P.S. kids can write books. Just because he’s a kid it’s automaticly a bad book? I ask you to point out how that’s not like saying a woman can’t write a good book. I’m 13 and I find it offencive that I have an I.Q. of 140, while you probably struggle to reach 120, and I automaticly can’t write a good book? thanks jerk”I’ll justify your comments with an intelligent response when you learn to spell. IQ of 140? HA!
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“Furthermore, people talk about the authors age a lot but really, he is a hundred times better than most adult writers out there. He wasn’t published because he was young, he was published because he is good and I believe will only get better as time progresses.”Actually, no. He didn’t get into a big time publishing company. He only got published because his mommy and daddy own a publishing company and they didn’t have the heart to tell him ‘no’. If he had submitted to, say, Random House or Scholastic, he wouldn’t have gotten published. Of course, he did eventually jump ship from his parents’ company and go to Knopf, but Knopf only bought the rights because they saw what a phenomenon it was becoming. Smart move by them- honestly, charging $27 for a book? The pathetic thing is that people still bought it.
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Melissa,I had the “bad book” reaction rather than the trite one. The use of English in the book was just too amateurish for my taste, as if proof reading was a long-lost legendary art. Whilst I would never criticise a young man for poor grammar and style, I will happily criticise a novel. I was simply unable to forgive such blatant action movie clangers as being “at the centre of the blast radius” (hint: you can be at the centre of a blast, not a radius).Whilst this may make me sound elitist, I’m not. I enjoy, for example, the massacre the English language endures with Joss Whedon creations such as Buffy and Angel as much as I enjoy, say, Tom Stoppard. This book though is unintentionally amateur.Plagiarism is a big concept. Its hard to criticise a novel or film for tapping into archetypes or retelling the hero myth. However, it is obvious this book is unaware of its mythic origins and simply derives from other more astutely authored works. Joseph Campbell may have been a friend to George Lucas but you get the feeling the author of Eragon was unaware of any of his work. That said, it could be forgiven, if it were only motifs drawn from other works – no better nor worse than Harry Potter in this sense – but entire phrases and, let alone names, were obviously copied with no thought to their mix. If only eclecticism was an acceptable style for writing paragraphs, Eragon would be a Pulitzer winner.I simply could not overcome the intellectual assault this book brings long enough to enjoy the story. Simply put, as a work of fictional writing it is atrocious. I had the trite reaction to the film Melissa but I think it is for the best that the film failed and we see an end to this chapter in literary abuse. Had Frodo been poised to save the books of Eragon, I’m sure he would have turned around, given the ring to Golum and gone home instead.
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I think that all his characters except for two (Murtaugh and Angela) are too shallow. They all think in the same shallow, pathetic, and honorable way. I believe that the reason why Paolini was unable to really capture how the human nature really is is because he is to young to have seen enough of the world. Every author is influenced by other books, but he just about took Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, slightly altered the name and plots then published it as his own book. The reason why the Inheritance Cycle is selling so well is that the author really did not use anything of his own. The only reason I keep reading those books is because I want to find out what happens. But, of course that is easy, I’ll just go read The Return of the King!
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To me all except for two of Paolini’s characters are too shallow. They all think in the same boring, honorable, and pathetic way. Using what other authors wrote as a reference is okay. But, Poalini just took Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, slightly altered the plots, people, and places then had it published as his own work. The reason why The Inheritance Cycle is selling so well is because it is really the book by two experienced and good authors but not one fourteen year old boy. The only reason I stick with the books is that I’m the curious kind of person who just needs to know what happens.
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