Product Description

This deluxe edition of Eragon includes an excerpt from Eldest, the next volume in the Inheritance trilogy; an exclusive foldout map of Alagaësia; never-before-seen art by the author depicting Zar’roc, Eragon’s sword; and an expanded pronunciation guide to the Ancient and Dwarf languages.

Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy—until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save—or destroy—the Empire.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12229 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 544 pages

Amazon.com Review
Here's a great big fantasy that you can pull over your head like a comfy old sweater and disappear into for a whole weekend. Christopher Paolini began Eragon when he was just 15, and the book shows the influence of Tolkien, of course, but also Terry Brooks, Anne McCaffrey, and perhaps even Wagner in its traditional quest structure and the generally agreed-upon nature of dwarves, elves, dragons, and heroic warfare with magic swords.

Eragon, a young farm boy, finds a marvelous blue stone in a mystical mountain place. Before he can trade it for food to get his family through the hard winter, it hatches a beautiful sapphire-blue dragon, a race thought to be extinct. Eragon bonds with the dragon, and when his family is killed by the marauding Ra'zac, he discovers that he is the last of the Dragon Riders, fated to play a decisive part in the coming war between the human but hidden Varden, dwarves, elves, the diabolical Shades and their neanderthal Urgalls, all pitted against and allied with each other and the evil King Galbatorix. Eragon and his dragon Saphira set out to find their role, growing in magic power and understanding of the complex political situation as they endure perilous travels and sudden battles, dire wounds, capture and escape.

In spite of the engrossing action, this is not a book for the casual fantasy reader. There are 65 names of people, horses, and dragons to be remembered and lots of pseudo-Celtic places, magic words, and phrases in the Ancient Language as well as the speech of the dwarfs and the Urgalls. But the maps and glossaries help, and by the end, readers will be utterly dedicated and eager for the next book, Eldest. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell

From Publishers Weekly
While exploring the forest, 15-year-old Eragon discovers an odd blue gemstone—a dragon egg, fated to hatch in his care. According to PW, "The author takes the near-archetypes of fantasy fiction and makes them fresh and enjoyable, chiefly through a crisp narrative and a likable hero." Ages 12-up. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up-Eragon, 15, is hunting for wild game when he witnesses a mysterious explosion. At the center of the blast radius he finds a polished blue stone marked with white veins. Brom, the village storyteller, has shown interest in it, so it is to him that Eragon turns when it starts squeaking, then wobbling, and then hatches into a majestic sapphire blue dragon. His decision to keep and raise Saphira starts him on an epic journey of Tolkienesque proportions that is only partially told in the 500 pages of this book. Eragon learns that the Empire's cruel and oppressive king will stop at nothing to get Eragon and Saphira to serve him. Training and traveling with Brom, the teen and dragon learn to work together in war and peace, using a combination of traditional fighting arts and magic. They encounter massive humanoid warriors with savage intentions and are befriended by Murtagh, a human warrior with mysterious ties to the Varden and the Empire. Eventually, they seek refuge with dwarves who harbor the Varden, who exist to free the Empire. Eragon does not approach the depth, uniqueness, or mastery of J. R. R. Tolkien's works, and sometimes the magic solutions are just too convenient for getting out of difficult situations. However, the empathetic characters and interesting plot twists will appeal to the legions of readers who have been captivated by the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and are looking for more books like it.
Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Eragon
I couldn't call SF/fantasy overused with a clear conscience. There are always new worlds to be explored and new levels of style and skill to be tapped into. However, you need a certain amount of individuality to make a fantasy hit with me, considering the huge numbers of novels available, and in this I find Eragon slightly lacking.

Paolini's age is certainly remarkable, and I personally believe this contributed considerably to the popularity of his novel. Otherwise, Eragon is nothing new. Other reviews call it "the Lord of the Rings for the younger set" or mention its similarity to Tolkien's epic vision, but if I were to compare it to Tolkien it would only be with shock. I saw similarities to orcs in the swarthy Urgols, and the elves with their pointed ears, white horses, superior weapons and overall loveliness and grace. The names in the map, like Isenmere, ring a little too true for my liking, while the fact that the book culminates in a battle against the Urgols outside of the white mountain city is just strange. Add the race of dwarves and Snowfire, the fastest, most beautiful horse the land has to offer (Shadowfax?) and you have a blend that is certainly unoriginal, if not outright ridiculous.

If fantasy still has thousands of novels to offer us, Paolini certainly shouldn't contribute he gets his act together. Philip Pullman said "I read like a butterfly and write like a bee; if my story [His Dark Materials series] has any honey, it is because of the nectar I found in the work of better writers. . ." But what he took was the "nectar," not the entire flower!

Typical fantasy rehash by way of bad writing
I first borrowed Eragon from the library a few months back. I thought, 'the author's just a bit younger than me, and I'm stuck on the third book in my fantasy trilogy - maybe seeing what this kid can do will inspire me.' Or something.

Lordy - I couldn't get past the first chapter.

At first, I thought maybe I was just jealous of the author for doing what I hadn't yet done while being younger than me - though I didn't -feel- particularly jealous. Nor am I usually a jealous kind of person. But I couldn't quite pin down why I disliked it so much, and I disliked it SO MUCH that I couldn't bear to read any more closely so I could figure it out.

So, I let it go. Forgot about it. Returned to reading Melanie Rawn.

Then, a week or two ago, my sister buys the book. I've already told her my experience with it, but I play it like it was nothing (because I seriously thought I was just jealous of his success, even though I didn't feel it - yeah, so I apparently confuse myself), and anyway, she's desperate for a fantasy novel.

She took the book to work with her. And when she came home, before I could even ask, she was telling me how much it sucked.

After listening to her rant, I picked up her copy and read as much of it as I could stand. And we agree, now, on why it was so bad, and why it wasn't jealousy that motivated my initial disgust.

The. Writing. Is. Choppy. And. Emotionless.

(Yes, I wrote that that way to be ironic.)

Seriously. I know run-on sentences are bad, but not all your sentences need to be short - and frankly, sometimes sentences don't fit together in paragraphs when they're short like that, because the subject jumps back and forth. For instance (and because I'm not sure quotes are allowed here, I'm not quoting it, but using an example I'm making up right now):


>>Eragon's hair blew in the brisk wind. The wind came from the north. Barbarians lived in the north. The wind got sand in Eragon's eyes.<<


See, now if you added the useless barbarian info to the previous line (i.e. 'The wind came from the north, where the barbarians lived.'), the paragraph retains coherency. (Not a lot, mind, but much more than it currently has.) Seperate them, and the whole thing becomes a series of sentences that are marred by one out-of-place line.

Also, his usage of some words and phrases is, as far as I know, not quite correct. A 'torrent' of sunshine? 'Cheeks' flooding with tears? Someone 'diffidently' left, there are 'sheets' of snow, sleep 'overcame' him - and THEN he started thinking... There are so many examples of this, it makes my head spin.

Also, he leaves details out in the strangest places... For instance, 'snow blinds him' - not the sun shining off the snow, but the snow itself. How? Does it blow into his eyes? Or is it the unmentioned sunlight reflecting off the snow?

We don't know. We aren't told.

Yes, I know one should show the reader, not tell. But in order to show, one must give details - don't leave the reader to do guesswork when it comes to what your lines are supposed to mean.

And the wrong use of snow is not even the worst example of such a mistake. More than once, his sentences were so bad, grammatically speaking, that I couldn't figure out what he meant until I read further on and put the words in context. Which is something barely tolerable in a fanfiction author, let alone a published one.

Also, some things just did not make sense to me - and not (only) because of bad grammar. (SPOILERS to follow!) Like, if his uncle is so grievously injured, why is HE the one rooming with the healer, and not his uncle? Though Eragon -was- unconscious for two days, the healer admits she can't do anything for his uncle, that his wounds aren't healing - but he'll be fine, she's convinced, because he's 'strong and hardy'. And she spent, by her own admission, a lot of time watching over Eragon, too. Not the man who wasn't healing at all.

Yeah. He dies not that long after. Can they sue for malpractice on this world?

It seemed to me like a really bad plot device - the author wanted Eragon to wake up and talk to the healer, wanted Eragon's uncle to die, but didn't bother figuring out how those two things could believably fit together.

A lot of the book seemed pieced together like that, too - contrived ideas, with no real explanation of why things are the way they are, no real understanding of how to execute his ideas so that the reader understands.

There's a scene early on, in fact, where two characters are said to be arguing (it's hard to tell from their speech, as the dialogue is stiff and never really changes to show emotions), but they leave the place they're in laughing together. No real explanation on why. Were they play-fighting? Did one of them cave? It's impossible to tell.

The author's characterization skills are sorely lacking, and his ability to explain his character's motivations is almost nil. And it seems that nearly all the plot is given through speech - everything Eragon discovers he seems to learn through someone talking, to him or someone else. A well-loved plot device for all authors, to be sure, but must it be used so often?

Also, and I can't really pinpoint why exactly this is, but I couldn't feel anything for anyone in the book. Eragon came off as an arrogant, self-rationalizing bore, and as far as I've gotten right now, every other character is flat and lifeless. The 'emotional' scenes are melodramatic (from what I've read, Eragon sure screams at the sky a lot - do you know anyone in real life who does that? Anyone?), with each 'touching' moment rendered utterly unmoving.

People constantly mention this young man's age as a defense of his work, but I have to say, it's really no excuse. Not just for him, though he obviously could've done better; some lines hinted at an actual talent buried in there somewhere (not as big a one as he apparently believes, according to some published interviews, but a talent nonetheless) - but for his editor(s), as well, who should've seen the same errors I did. Who let these mistakes go by unchanged? That's what I wanna know.

I wrote a book when I was eighteen, finished the next one when I was twenty. Does my age mean I should somehow be excused from basic literary competence? No, of course not. Which is why I'm still editing my novel, before I send it out, even though I'm twenty-three. (Well, that and a lot of emotional/family upheaval throughout the last three years, but still.)

This book's publication does, on the bright side, give me hope. Because if this can be published, errors and all, I think I may actually have some small shot. >_<

Though to be perfectly honest, what really saddens me about Eragon is that, with so much praise heaped upon this utterly undeserving book, young Mr. Paolini, like all the most popular authors, has no motivation to improve upon his own writing except whatever motivation he provides for himself - and judging by his own published interviews on the matter, he believes much of his own hype, and will not be searching for improvement anytime soon. And that is a real travesty, because with effort, I think he might one day be able to craft an honest-to-God GOOD book.

After all, as others have already pointed out, it's blatantly obvious that he's been 'influenced' by good books, at any rate. >_<

So, in closing: I found nothing in Eragon to recommend it. The writing is bad, the characters are bad, the plot is worse - and all these things are wrapped around a basic premise (farmboy finds dragon/power/world-saving abilities he never knew he had) so unengaging, cliched, and filled with suspiciously familiar ideas and names that one may spend more time trying to place various `influences' than following the plot of the novel. Though admittedly, the plot is thin enough - and predictable enough - that following it is hardly difficult.

The only real reason I hold out hope for Mr. Paolini as an author is that he has not yet written more than one bad book-

Though to be fair, I have not yet read Eldest.

Read the real thing instead.
This book is distressing in the amount of attention it is getting, when from the very first page it is apparent that the author "borrowed" massive amounts of detail, motifs, characters, names,languages, etc. from other fantasy writers, especially Tolkien. There was not an original phrase to be found. I was willing to give the book a try and was sorely disappointed. The publishers should be ashamed of themselves as they clearly chose this book as a marketing gimmick because of the author's age and have indeed made a fortune because of this.