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Title: Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)
Author: Christopher Paolini
Year of Publication: 2004
Genre: Fantasy
Length: (I sold my copy, so I don’t have anything to check. Probably at least 300 pages)
Rating: 2/5 - Good practice for focusing the eyes on letters*
Review:
A generic tale of a boy and his dragon.
I could really end the review right there, as that’s all you need to know. There’s a sexy female elf, a weird old mentor, and innocent relatives who die, but all of that is part of the generic fantasy bundle. It’s like a kit; there are certain things that are just included in a generic fantasy.
But somehow, there’s still some media buzz about this book even now, two years after the first one came out. If you hear one thing about Eragon, it’s that Paolini started writing Eragon when he was just 15, and finished when he was 17. That in itself is a fairly remarkable feat, though unfortunately the book is merely great for a 17-year-old, and not great in general.
The trilogy is based around a young boy named Eragon. That’s right, dragon with the first letter changed. He’s just a typical kid, growing up in some backwater town with two relatives, spending his days working, or in the forest. One day, he comes across a rock that he decides to take home with him. Much later, he discovers that this rock is, in fact, a dragon’s egg, and soon finds himself the owner of a lovely blue dragon, who he names Saphira.
She, of course, can communicate with him telepathically and has no qualms about carrying him around on her back while flying. They form a bond, become best friends for life, yadda yadda. Since Saphira ends up getting quite large, and the grunts of an evil king are looking for her, Eragon and Saphira have to run away. This is how Eragon ends up traveling with his wacky mentor, Brom, who was living as a rather simple man in Eragon’s village, but was an excellent swordsman and dragon rider decades ago. He teaches Eragon how to fight and use a sword, and basically becomes his father figure.
The plot is very predictable and full of cliches, the characters feel like cardboard cutouts, and I finally could no longer continue reading it at a point that was within a few chapters of the ending. I don’t want to spoil it, but basically, it was about the interaction between Eragon and a female character. A generic sexy female elf character, just before a really big battle. The predictability is tiring, the battles are boring, and the characters are stale and recycled.
I’m not sure who would enjoy this book. Maybe teenagers? People who like Anne McCaffrey**? I don’t even know how there is a movie being made about Eragon, but there is.
* thanks to joshx0rfz, who suggested this wording, though it was for the 1/5 rating.
** While I’m not a McCaffrey fan, I acknowledge that she’s written numerous much-loved books. I’m only mentioning her because of the dragonrider theme.
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17 Responses to “Review: Eragon”
Posted: Dec 10th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
You mention nothing of the effective imagery and mechanics of the world. I myself am an admitted fantasy novice, only having left SciFi just long enough to read harry potter and this. But it didn’t really make me wretch or anything. It was like watching The Fountain. Nothing amazing. Nothing even to recommend to your friends. but I’m not asking for my time back or anything.
2 and a half stars?
Posted: Dec 10th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
I thought the book was pefectly acceptable. It didn’t reinvent the wheel, but I went into knowing that a lot of ‘normals’ liked the book. Keeping that in mind, it was fine and I really did enjoy the sequel.
Posted: Dec 11th, 2006 at 7:20 am
The imagery, in my opinion, was so-so. As for the mechanics, I’m not sure what you mean. The magic? The dragon/person bond?
Posted: Dec 11th, 2006 at 9:16 am
The movie looks positively vomit inducing.
Posted: Dec 11th, 2006 at 9:38 am
Yeah I just read it, too, and that review pretty much sums it up. Actually, I just came to to write the review that was already written for me. Yeah there’s a movie coming out, and you know it sez something when I’m not gonna see a movie just cuz I read the book. ‘i wouldn’t see this if someone imagined the explosions for me.’
You can tell it’s written by a fifteen year old, through the adolescent morality plays contained within: “our hero just HAD to strip the shirt off the comatose sexy elf, but oh being so good he TRIED not to notice the smooth soft milky skinned lithe curvey muscley body.”
Posted: Dec 11th, 2006 at 11:12 am
Mechanics, I was referring to the way the magic worked, the dragon was too much of an “i win” button at times.
But as far as the imagery being so-so.
Who’s imagery is top notch? recommendation?
Who brings a setting that is Unforgettable?
That is, who Besides Peter f. Hamilton, and Neal Stephenson.
I think I’ve exhausted their material already.
Posted: Dec 11th, 2006 at 11:42 am
> Who’s imagery is top notch? recommendation?
> Who brings a setting that is Unforgettable?
You may just have to wait for further installments of her column…
Posted: Dec 11th, 2006 at 11:49 am
If you’re looking for Imagery (with a capital I) in books, my suggestions would be go for the classics if you haven’t read them yet:
Bram Stoker - Dracula
Mary Shelley - Frankenstein
Those are two of my favorites, also Tolkien obviously does an excellent job of creating an interesting and living world, but if you haven’t read them don’t expect him to leave much up to your imagination.
Frank Herbert’s Dune is also an excellent book, but all of these are staples in pretty much any sci-fi / fantasy fan’s collection so they may be nothing new to anyone. The classics are always the best though, that’s why they’re the classics!
Posted: Dec 11th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
I don’t remember anything significant about the way magic worked, and of course communicating the way that Eragon and Saphira do is nothing new. There’s nothing wrong with the way either is done, but there wasn’t anything about them that I wanted to mention. It could also be because I’ve been reading fantasy books for years and years, so these things don’t seem new to me.
I’m also getting sick of magic requiring words to work. If you want an interesting way of using magic, try The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. Magic is done through what’s known as weaves, and if done wrong, can be harmful to the user. It’s also different for men and women. As a word of warning, though, there are many books in the series, and they’re long and addictive. I considered doing a review for WoT, but I want to wait until the next book is out.
With regard to imagery, I agree with what The Game and Bartoneus said.
Posted: Dec 11th, 2006 at 5:06 pm
I’m curious… why did you bother to give it a 2/5? I didn’t see any positive remarks in you review.
Posted: Dec 11th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
Dan Simmons Hyperion series is my favorite sci-fi series. The first book being an excellent allusion to the Canterbury Tales.
From the sounds of it is a hack written fantasy novel. I haven’t read it but the level of genericness sounds rather astounding. It seems like the only reason it is getting any press is because it was written by a young person.
Posted: Dec 11th, 2006 at 6:57 pm
I’m using 1/5 as the lowest. While I didn’t like Eragon, it’s not the worst book I’ve ever read.
Posted: Dec 12th, 2006 at 10:22 am
Are people really that big on fantasy imagery? I enjoy reading about the setting, but honestly its the characters and their interactions with that world that really is my primary interest. A lot of fantasy seems to be overfocsed on imagery, magic, prophecies, and whatnot to the point of ignoring what makes characters tick. I would say the best character-drive author is George R.R. Martin and his Song of Ice and Fire series.
Posted: Dec 12th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
In response to 13:
Too bad all the characters in that series die.
I agree with the point on imagery. If you want really good and interesting imagery with a point behind it (figurative language!) try reading some poetry.
Posted: Apr 29th, 2007 at 6:17 am
you are all mad! i’d like to see you try and write a book at that age. it was fab, it has everything needed good characters, exalent descriptions and lots of deathes. what more could yous want?
Posted: Apr 29th, 2007 at 7:00 am
exalent? deathes? yous?
Picking on your spelling aside, sure, that is a valid opinion. It is hard to write a good book at that age.
Posted: Apr 29th, 2007 at 8:58 am
Its not hard to get that book published though when your parents own a publishing company! Nor is it hard to edit when your insider parents hold your hand the whole way and you leave high school early to write it.
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