Customer Reviews

Eragon and Eldest 2 copy mass market boxed set (Inheritance)

5 star:		(130)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

There are alot of people out there who speak disparingly of these books because the characters seem to be ripped off of other books/movies. However, if you look at those books/movies, you will realize that liek Eragon and Eldest, the characters are archetypal characters.

You have Eragon the innocent who becomes involved in something of which they understand little or nothing. Examples: (Recent) Luke Skywalker, Garion, Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Pippin Took, Merry Brandybuck, Bilbo Baggins, (Older) Lancelot, Paris of Troy, etc.

You have Brom and Oromis the wise and strong mentor. Examples: Merlin, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Belgarath, Polgara, Gandalf, etc.

You have Durza and Galbatorix the evil wizards/masterminds. Examples: Morgana Le Fay, the Emperor, Sauron, Morgoth/Melkor, Torak, Zandramas, Saruman, etc.

You have Arya the brave princess and love interest of the innocent hero. Examples: Ce'Nedra, Guinevere, Leia, etc.

And the list goes on and on. All of fantasy relies are these archetypal characters to help the story move on. When Christopher Paolini used these characters, he was not blatantly copying off of Lucas, Tolkien, etc. Rather, he was using the long, time-honored method of fantasy writing. So, stop your complaining and enjoy the story.

If you don't believe me go read teh Rivan Codex (http://www.amazon.com/Rivan-Codex-Ancient-BELGARIAD-MALLOREON/dp/0345435869/sr=8-1/qid=1167165505/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-7313686-7154035?ie=UTF8&s=books)
and see what David Eddings has to say.

My goodness, such passionate reviews. Let me add my own passion to the mix. I am an OLD dude, and I have been reading since I was a little tad. I read everything I can get my hands on, or, if I have nothing, even the back of cereal boxes will do. I have to read! I LOVE this series! I have been reading fantasy, and science fiction, Cowboys and Indians, adventure of all kinds, for all of my life.

One must remember that Christopher was 16-17 years old when he began this series, so his imagination was able to soar. Yes, there is a relationship to the "Dragon Riders of Pern." Yes, there is a relationship to Tolkin, but so what? If you are writing stories of "Smokey the Bear," there will be similarities to other bear stories, So how would one write a story without having it "sort of" relate to some other story?

In Eragon, Saphira becomes a very lovable part of the story. She is intelligent, sometimes funny, always wise, and a wonderful conscience of Eragon. The dragons of Pern, were none of these, but were none the less, loveable.

The series is VERY enjoyable, and I can hardly wait for the release of Bersingr, and the good news is that the story has grown so epic, that a forth book is now necessary.

So my friends, just read, or listen, and enjoy the story as written. Don't try to relate it to other books, enjoy it for what it is, an epic journey into the world of magic, dragons, elves, dwarfs, and other mystical creatures. Time well spent. Try it on audio too, the readings add a LOT to the story with the variety of voices. I listen in my truck, it makes the drive seem way too short.

The first two books in his "Inheritance" trilogy, Eragon is the story of a young man who finds a dragon's egg, which hatches shortly thereafter. Eragon and the dragon, Saphira, form a very close relationship and embark on an epic battle against evil.

There is one really remarkable quality of this book: Christopher Paolini wrote Eragon when he was just fifteen years old. He and his parents self-published it and promoted it themselves until it was picked up by a major publisher. Now it is a best-selling series and is being turned into a film.

Eragon is an entertaining tale, as is Eldest. Both books are easy to read, and the main characters are likeable and engaging. Unfortunately, the plot develops slowly and has similarities to Star Wars that are hard to ignore. The language is sometimes overly flowery to the point it becomes annoying and the actions of the characters sometimes don't make any sense, at least not to me. There were a couple of times when I just couldn't understand why Eragon and his comrades do what they do, because there seemed to be simpler solutions to their problems that they completely ignore.

That said, all of these faults are easy to forgive and don't really detract much from the entertainment value. The Inheritance trilogy will never be The Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, but it is still good reading. When the third installment makes it to the bookstore, I'll be one of the millions of people to read it.

The younger the author, the more plaudits they receive. And young author Christopher Paolini got to the top of the heap with his bestselling debut "Eragon," and again with the sequel "Eldest." Are his fantasy novels really that good? Well... no.

Paolini has raw, unrefined talent and an undeniable flair for writing, but he's bogged down by every fantasy cliche in the book. While there are distinct aftertastes of Tolkien, McCaffrey and Lucas, his first novel is an earnest light read, but his second much less so.

"Eragon" is an impoverished lad living with his uncle in a secluded village, barely scraping by. That changes when he finds a strange blue stone in the woods. He tries to sell it, with no luck. Then it hatches into a baby dragon, Sephira. He raises her in secret until his farm is attacked and his uncle Garrow murdered by the evil minions of the ex-Dragonrider Galbatorix, who is now the evil king. Seeking revenge, Eragon gets the help of the old storyteller Brom, who is more than he seems.

In the follow-up, "Eldest," Eragon and Saphira are still finding their way. To learn what he must know to combat Galbatorix, Eragon will have to train in Ellesmera, among the Elves. Elsewhere, his cousin is still resisting their enemies, and leads the villagers on an escape. But soon Eragon will discover a shocking secret about his past, during a battle with Galbatorix.

"Eragon" got massive attention when it was first published, especially since the "Harry Potter" series is winding down. With that much hype, it would be almost impossible for "Eldest" to work quite as well, especially since Paolini overloads it with too many political problems and awkward romantic moments. He really should have left the token love interests out.

As a descriptive writer, Paolini shows distinct talent. He has a genuine flair for description of landscapes and places, right down to the raging storms and burned-out villages. His writing is still a bit raw, sometimes awkward, and the dialogue can border on pompous. But he has a solid ability to bring up what things look, smell, sound or feel like.

Unfortunately, the writing cannot hide the two books' biggest flaw: there's virtually nothing original here. "Eragon" and "Eldest" often read like patchworks of other books and ideas. Young, clueless hero raised in the sticks? Check. Wise old man who teaches the hero? Check. Ancient sword? Dragons? Wise and fair elves? Evil wizard? Stumpy, grumpy dwarves? Check. It gets rather annoying, even if one tries to shut out the thoughts of "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings."

Paolini does know his dragons; Saphira is an amusing, often funny character. And Paolini adds dragon-riding details (like what scales do to a rider's legs) that most authors don't manage to. Eragon himself is a pretty typical fantasy hero, rather angsty and immature. He's likable at times, but still is not yet compelling.

"Eragon" is a decent fantasy read, while "Eldest" suffers from a lack of forward momentum. Despite their flaws, they will hopefully lead to a more polished finale.

Has someone ever given you a book you just can't find time to read? That happened to me with "Eragon" and "Eldest". I liked the story, as summed up in the cover, but a lot of the reviews I had previously read about the series were awful, mostly criticizing the style of its author, Christopher Paolini, or saying that these bookS were just an imitation of others, for example the books in the "Lord of the Rings" series.

I must confess that I let those comments get to me, and I always found something else to read before tackling the books included in this box set. That is, until I watched the movie, loosely based on the book of the same name written by Paolini. It wasn't spectacular, but it had something special that made you care for Eragon, a young man like many others that ends up discovering a dragon's egg, and changing his destiny and that of Alagaesia.

"Eragon", the film, was a good introduction to Paolini's world, a world of magic and dragons, elves and strange creatures. All the same, I wanted more, so I went straight to the source. I picked up the book that had been waiting patiently for me and started reading. I read it in a day, without stopping, enjoying the fact that Paolini's story was much, much better than what the film had allowed me to glimpse, and that I was on holidays and could allow myself the luxury of reading the whole book without having to stop and go to work :)

Of course, reading "Eragon" was not enough, and immediately after finishing it I started reading "Eldest". Truth to be told, I liked it just as much or more. "Eldest" picks up where "Eragon" ended, and allows us to know what is happens with Eragon, Saphira and their friends, and what they need to do in order to survive the wrath of king Galbatorix.

All in all, I can say that I loved "Eragon" and "Eldest", and that I strongly recommend it to others, specially those that (disregarding their age) have lots of imagination. On the practical side, buying this box set is a good idea because it is cheaper, and will save you some time you could spend reading. Now, what are you waiting for?

Belen Alcat

PS: To Christopher Paulini --> Please hurry up with the last book in this triology, I really want to know what happens next :)

If you're reading this review, then you're probably thinking about buying this book (or both books I guess). Well, since my version hasn't shipped yet, I can't say that I've read it, but I guess since I read the first two separately, that I can kind of guess what's going to happen. Let me tell you that this book (again, two in one) is an absolute must read. If you're any kind of fan of Tolkien, Jordan, or Goodkind, then you will definitely enjoy these books. There is one condition that you must meet before reading this book though; you can't have any problem with the age-old saga of Star Wars. This book regrettably follows a similar plot, but trust me, it's a good thing. All you have to do is pretend that they don't exist in the same time frame. Pretend that Paolini never saw the movies or read the books and that you're reading it fresh out of his mind. If you take the story as a stand-alone, you'll enjoy it 10 times more than if you sit there comparing the two stories all day. I think Star Wars has a lot of merit in it's own right, but Eragon and Eldest bring a whole new level to the story. You have to treat it as a separate entity. If you can do that, then you will enjoy the story, I guarantee. That is, if you're a fan of those other authors I mentioned previously.

For the price, the book set isn't bad. I've finished Eragon and am working on Eldest, and I've found the books to be entertaining (certainly much better than the movie). Still, they aren't on quite the same level of fantasy writing as some of the more popular authors. Despite this, the books are very understandable and easy to read for younger readers.

I found much of the plot rather predictable with little originality. I will say that the book is much better than the movie, which used maybe 20% of the book, if that, and was an even bigger disappointment. While enjoyable, I would not consider this a great work like Tolkien or Ursula LeGuin or other great authors. Perhaps with more time and experience the author will improve, adding more subtlety and less certainty in the characters.

All in all, I'd rate this book as average.

I know a lot of people are criticizing these books because they do remind you of other books you've read or movies you've seen, but that is what I love about them. It's like putting the best plots you've ever read or seen into a mixer to see what you can make out of it. The end result is bound to be something fantastic when all the ingredients were fantastic to begin with. Besides Paolini isn't that old so we get the best of both worlds. We get an author who is still young enough to remember what it's like to create your own adventures and old enough to know how to put a pen to paper so the rest of us can share in his excitement.

I love Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Dragonriders of Pern and I love that I am reminded of all of them in these stories. It's kind of like a continuing legacy of entertainment. While totally new ideas are good to read too sometimes you just want the story to never end.

For those of us who love every adventure and reliving them in countless different ways these books are for you.

I loved this book. It was suspensful and had amazing battles and the best characters. I could actually feel what the characters were feeling. C.p. gives in so much deatail, that it makes them to life. When we find out the main point of the 2nd book, and the author writes "A cold pit formed in his stomach." I could really feel it too! this book is a great read to anyone who has just wanted to get away from the world. This book took me somewhere else. that place was amazing! That place was Alagaesia!