Eragon: Inheritance, Book I [Hardcover]

I'm a 13 year old boy who likes fantasy and i can see how this sort of book is supposed to appeal to someone like me. i wrote a very long review but decided not to post it mostly because i felt it was, well, just too long. so i'll try to make it short and sweet.

this book reminds me of the kind of fiction i used to do when i was in elementary school for creative writing. to me that sort of says that this was published because his parents owned a publishing company, not because it was exceptionally well done considering the author's age.

the story, setting, development, characters, etc. are nearly all taken from some place or another, given new names or details or something, and shuffled around. i won't nitpick over this because a lot of other reviewers have but some of the elements of this book seemed to be ripped straight out of LotR, Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea Cycle, Anne McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern series, and Star Wars. (all of which i have seen or read) other reviewers have talked about numerous other books that the author has taken things from. its one thing to be influenced by other stories and show those influences in your writing. in fact, its a good thing, it makes your writing better. no book is totally original, and many classics are made because the authors took things that influenced them and that they liked and incorporated them. but is this different. nothing new is done with these ideas or characters, and it all feels rehashed and kind of boring.

and the writing isnt so great either. yeah its his first book but that doesn't give him a blank check. the descriptive writing was pretty good but even that got kind of overdone.

and this is sort of a stupid thing to say but the names in this book annoyed the hell out of me. Brom, Farthen Dur, Isenstar, Ayla, Eragon, Saphira or whatever her name was. Gahh.

So in the end what I'm trying to say is this:

Don't bother. This book has a lot of hype mainly because the author is so young. its not Totally awful or anything but there are a huge deal of things in it that come straight from other stories. the author will probably turn into a better writer i think, and maybe the other books will turn out to have some more quality to them. after all, this is only the first third of a series, things could improve a lot. but for now, just look for something else besides eragon.

I had bought this book after hearing all the reviews that praised the young author for his work, and I sat down, eager to read what Mr. Paolini had written.
As soon as I got to the end of the first page, I inadvertantly cringed. There, the descriptions of the characters/species introduced seemed painfully familiar - I'd just re-read the splendid works of J.R.R. Tolkien in preparation for the release of Return of the King, and seeing characters that seemed almost exactly like Tolkien's characters in another story didn't impress upon me as a fantastic way to start the book. But I decided that I could just chalk it down to the fact that Mr. Paolini has simply been largely influenced by Tolkien. So I continued through the book, but by the time I'd made it to the tenth page, I still hadn't been as enthralled by the book as I have by other young authors (most notably by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, whose works have also been acclaimed, whose latest - Hawksong - I would recommend. If you read the rest of her books, you will see the progression her writing has made throughout the years.). I struggled with Mr. Paolini's writing (which is very rare, as I've been a voracious reader from a young age, and from the classics to more contemporary works, I can absorb anything, as long as it's well written and engaging), which for some reason struck me as stiff and artificial.

Regardless, I will try to finish this book, and from several interviews I've read about Mr. Paolini, he seems to be a very intelligent young man who I just think needs to find the words and let it flow. I'm hoping his next story in this trilogy, Eldest, will display a growth in his writing style, as when he wrote Eragon, he was 15 and might've been too focused on being proper.

I hope to see better works from him - he might be a promising writer.

Mix together equal parts "Star Wars" and J.R.R. Tolkien, then add a generous helping of Anne McCaffrey's dragon-riders and a few random shreds of Garth Nix for good measure.

Obviously originality is not Christopher Paolini's strong suit, and it shows in his fantasy debut "Eragon," which was penned in his tender teenage years. It swims in fantasy cliches and stilted dialogue, but there's a certain awkward charm in Paolini's fantasy world. The biggest problem is, simply put, Paolini's cardboard cutout of a self-insert hero, Eragon.

The titular character is lucky enough to stumble across a strange blue stone while hunting on the Spine. After failing to sell it, Eragon finds that it's actually a dragon egg, and the baby blue dragon inside selects him to hatch for and remain with forever. All the Dragon Riders were killed off by Evil King Galbatorix long ago, except for the weird old recluse Brom, who becomes Eragon's mentor.

And Luke, I am your father... wait, wrong story.

When Galbatorix's men destroy Eragon's home and family, Brom and Eragon flee to find the mysterious rebels known as the Varden. But Eragon's dreams are being haunted by the beautiful elf Arya, and the little band sets out to save her. Eragon and his dragon Saphira learn many things -- and make new allies -- the journey to the Varden brings them a terrible (and totally predictable) loss, and leads them to Eragon's first battle.

Lofty elves, humble farm boys, ghastly goblinesque creatures, mystical women, special swords, evil tyrants who are evil because they just are, evil minions, wise mentors, and telepathic dragons in a variety of colors. Christopher Paolini never met a fantasy cliche that he didn't like. And as a result, "Eragon" is dripping with Tolkien and Lucas-style trappings, right down to the hero's suspiciously Tolkienian name.

Paolini paints these typical sword-and-sorcery stories with rather stilted but promising prose. "Eragon" has some raw rookie potential, and you can detect Paolini's enthusiasm as he explores his invented fantasy land, much the way many other teenagers have done after reading high fantasy and yearning to explore their own made-up worlds. There's just not much that is new or unique about this story, although Paolini throws in some attempted humorous quirks like a weird fortune-teller.

The biggest problem with Paolini's writing is that Eragon is portrayed as a noble, brave, compassionate soul with a brilliant destiny ahead of him. Well, frankly he shows no nobility, bravery or compassion, and the many characters who gasp in admiration of him does not make him any more impressive. He's a glaring self-insert, with all the dimension of a cardboard standee, and about as sendearing.

The supporting characters are not much better -- Brom is too brief a character to make much of an impact, and he seems to exist mainly to get Our Hero up to snuff in information and ability. And the love interest Arya is glorified only for her otherworldly beauty... which is all she has. Eragon's adoration of her seems unfounded, because er personality is chilly at best, snotty and autocratic at worst.

Christopher Paolini's "Eragon" is pretty much what you'd expect of a teenage boy's fantasy novel -- plenty of Lucas and Tolkien echoes, and a style that hasn't yet gained a sense of humor about itself.