
John J. (
schiffer) wrote on 11/26/2007...
7 member(s) found this review helpful.
I admit that “Eragon” strike a chord with me when I first came upon its summary on the newspaper during my last year of High School. I finally obtained a copy during my freshmen year of college (I actually printed it out of the College Computer Lab, all 200 pages of it). However, I put it aside after several chapters when I was sidetracked with something else. Recently I acquired a copy (the actual book) via Paperbackswap.com and it all came to me that the novel contains numerous of clinches that it should be sue for plagiarism.
Obviously Paolini was imitating Tolkien’s style when he attempted to create languages and elvish, however it obviously couldn’t compare to Tolkien’s Sindarin or Quenya. Upon reading other reviews from the web, I also noticed that Paolini copy large amount of “Starwars” too. The writing style is also dull and dry, with childish solutions to seems impossible tasks (such as rescuing Eragon from the prison of the Capital City).
Understandable, the author wrote most of the story while he was 15 and 16 (as the book proudly stated), however I failed to see how it gain so much fame and there is actually a large database for him. Aside from that, it seems that the fame had gone over the young author’s head, in a interview he said that he “strives to achieve Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf and Tolkien at his best” in his “Eragon” as quoted from Anthony Tardiff, owner of “Hard Sayings”, while he also statement “that one of the pleasures of reading Harry Potter is getting to see Rowling mature as a writer”. Such arrogance. Pity.
The book seem overly boring after I have read many other great novels, I actually skipped last 90 pages or so.
6 member(s) found this review helpful.
I heard this book was extremely popular so I bought it during one of my vacations. Needless to say, I was not very impressed. The characters failed to draw me in and the story is only so-so. I finished the book not even caring about what would happen in the sequel. Still, it's not absolutely terrible; it's just not all that great either.
6 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is a great book to read. If you liked Harry Potter then I believe that you will also like this.
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
When Earagon finds a plished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy. Little does he know it is a dragon egg and he will become the last of the dragon riders, destined to save the world. Filled with fantasy and imagination this is a very enjoyable book.

Yuki M. (
Yuki) wrote on 3/19/2008...
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
When I first read this book I thought it was pretty good. Then I stumbled upon a website (http://eragon-sporkings.wikispaces.com/) that made me realize how bad it really was.
Besides the rather (I admit) charmingly clichéd plot(a farm boy finds a dragon egg and realizes he's the last of the dragon riders), it "borrows" heavily from other books or series, and some parts just don't make any kind of sense. Eragon himself is also a very "mary sueish" character who seems to be able to do whatever whenever because it's what he NEEDS to do. The other characters--even Saphira!--seem to have minimal characterization at best and are basically just there to reflect Eragon's glory.
After I read someone else's criticisms of the book, I began to realize how often I'd gone "what?" or "but that doesn't make sense...well, okay, whatever" while I was reading it; in short, it's not worth the credit.
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
One of the reasons I think that 15 year olds shouldn't publish what they write. I ended up finishing the book only because I was having a perverse sort of fun naming where all his ideas came from. "Oh, hey, that's one from Earthsea!" "Oh man, look, Dragonriders of Pern." "...LoTR much?" Yeah. Not really very good at all, I wasn't in any way motivated to read the rest of the series. "Poor farmer boy discovers his magical destiny to save the world" is only good when everything else in the story didn't come from somewhere else, too.
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
This was a great story, and very formidable for such a young author. The book (ask usual) was soooo much better than the movie. A worthy, and entertaining read! (it'll make you want to follow the continuing story)
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
I actually saw the movie in the theater before I'd ever heard of the book. I thought that it translated so well to the screen that I was compelled to check out the book from my local library since books are usually so much better than their movie counterparts. I wasn't disappointed. I couldn't put it down. I was also very impressed by how young the author was when he wrote the book. I have since purchased a copy and added it to my permanent collection.
I will admit that my first attempt with Eldest did not capture my attention, but I recently checked it out from the library again and started over. For some reason, this time around I am totally hooked. I guess I just have to be in the mood for it.
I admit that it doesn't have fabulously intricate character and plot development like J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books where every tiny detail seems to have significance in later events. However, I still found it to be a very enjoyable read and I look forward to reading future creations by this talented author.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
We loved this book. Cudos Christopher Paolini!

Christina W. (
cworks) wrote on 2/4/2008...
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
I loved this book. I could not put it down. Good story line