Eragon by Christopher Paolini

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Summary Entertaining and enjoyable but unfortunately repetitive and unoriginal.

When Eragon, a young farm-boy, discovers a polished stone in the forest his first thoughts are of selling it to feed his family. The stone turns out to be the home of a dragon hatchling and as Eragon secret ely raises it evil forces descend upon his family and he is thrown into a world of magic and power with only an ancient sword and a fledgling dragon to help him.

Eragon is a remarkable achievement by Christopher Paolini especially when you take in consideration the tender age at which he wrote the novel. It is a tale that contains beauty and friendship, told by a young author who believes fully in the world that he has created.

On the plus side, Eragon is enjoyable, entertaining and a book that will appeal to young adults around the world. However, on the negative side, there is a distinct lack of originality and if you were being kind you might say that Paolini was paying homage to Tolkien and Star Wars rather than simply re-writing them.

There is a surprising amount of violence in Eragon, seeing as it is a book aimed at young adults and the story can get somewhat repetitive (Paolini is a fan of David Eddings after all) and you will struggle to find anything in Eragon that you have not read elsewhere.

In summary, entertaining and enjoyable but unfortunately repetitive and unoriginal.

Eragon (Inheritance Cycle) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Christopher Paolini
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages:
Publication date: 2005-01-06
Publisher: Corgi Childrens

RRP: £7.99
Lowest new price: £1.19
Lowest used price: £0.01

There's always room for another fantasy quest trilogy--as long as it has distinction, originality and a cracking plot. This has. Eragon, Paolini's first book in his Inheritance Trilogy, which he began writing when aged only 15, is an amazing debut that demonstrates a written maturity beyond its creators' years. Any rough edges borne through inexperience are quickly forgiven as his story takes the reader on an imaginative journey by way of a host of likable and interesting characters and several breathtaking and dramatic sequences of high fantasy.

Eragon's adventure begins when he is out hunting one day in the mountainous region of his world known as the Spine. While eyeing up a tasty deer with his bow, his aim is disturbed by a polished blue stone that explodes from the sky and narrowly misses him. The oval shaped object, cool and frictionless to his touch, weighs several pounds and it turns out to be his only reward from his days' hunting session. Returning to his home town Carvahall, Eragon's unsuccessful attempts to exchange the stone for meat for his family begins a run of bad luck that will eventually force him to flee his place of birth. This heralds the beginning of a new destiny for him.

The stone is in fact a dragon's egg, and it chooses to hatch in Eragon's company--making him the first new Dragon Rider for many, many years. Suddenly, the fate of the Empire rests in his hands and he must navigate a dark and dangerous terrain, and some formidable enemies, to challenge the might of a king whose evil is limitless.

Despite its classic quest format there are enough new ideas and twists and turns to make it stand out among its legion of competitors in the genre. Eragon begins a bigger story that continues with the follow-up Eldest.

(Age 12 and over)--John McLay
Amazon.co.uk Review

ERAGON: Inheritance Book One (Amazon.com)

Author: Christopher Paolini
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages:
Publication date: 2005-01-01
Publisher: Corgi Books

RRP:
Lowest new price:
Lowest used price: $0.01

Nelson from Florida
"I find Christopher Paolini to be a boring and terrible writer. I myself am a writer and I make sure I have fresh and original ideas. He is the worst author in the history of the world and I hate his work!"

Alex from Australia
"I absolutely loved this book and Eldest and i can't wait for the next to come out, I am a writer and i don't see how you can hate his work, it is magnificent. If my book does end up getting published and they ask who my greatest influence was i would say Christopher Paolini."

Will from Virginia
"Even without considering Paolini's blatant plagiarism, the book was written by a spectacularly poor writer. Paolini was 13 at the time, and I have some sympathy, but this is not a book for adults or for experienced readers."

Louis
"He wasn\'t thirteen when he wrote it...are you kidding? So much misinformation. The version you read right now was written by a nineteen year old, with the help of his family and at least one professional editor. Horrible."

Tripti from India
"I really think it was not that bad. Heck, I'm not a writer but it was kind of interesting. I think it is better than the Harry Potter series at least! "

Cameron from England
"This is a great book. I entirely enjoyed it from cover to cover and it left me wanting more. You go on about it being blatant plagerism then why hasn't he been sued? Even so, that's not the point, he created an enthraling novel and an expansive world that has been enjoyed by many (some people must like it seeing that there is a movie and a video game) and that is the whole point of fiction books - TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY!!!"

Aoife from Ireland
"This book disgusts me, as does its author. If I had ripped off so many classics writing this book, I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt. The only reason Paolini hasn't been sued is that most of the people he stole ideas from are too rich to care and the rest of them fear the backlash of a whole bunch of Eragon "fans"."

anonymous from unknown
"I can't tell how you couldn't like this book. I loved it ! It was second only to The Lord of the Rings!"

Cool Cat
"BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! "

Anonymous from unknown 2
"It is like, so cool, (soz didn't put name down) good book, should have a competition like 'create a dragon'. They should make more films of it and give Chris more credit!"

Ian from London
"Utterly derivative work with a poor writing style to boot. There's so much better out there that deserves mention before these books."

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