Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1) [Paperback]

Christopher Paolini (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 26, 2005 | Series: The Inheritance Cycle (Book 1)

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.

A New York Times Bestseller

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Editorial Reviews

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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.)
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Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375826696
• ISBN-13: 978-0375826696
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3,186 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher Paolini was born on November 17, 1983 in Southern California. He has lived most of his life in Paradise Valley, Montana with his parents and younger sister, Angela. As a child, he often wrote short stories and poems, made frequent trips to the library, and read widely. The idea of Eragon began as the daydreams of a teen. Christopher's love for the magic of stories led him to craft a novel that he would enjoy reading. The project began as a hobby, a personal challenge; he never intended it to be published. All the characters in Eragon are from Christopher's imagination except Angela the herbalist, who is loosely based on his sister. Christopher was fifteen when he wrote the first draft of Eragon. He took a second year to revise the book and then gave it to his parents to read. The family decided to self-publish the book and spent a third year preparing the manuscript for publication: copyediting, proofreading, designing a cover, typesetting the manuscript, and creating marketing materials. During this time Christopher drew the map for Eragon, as well as the dragon eye for the book cover (that now appears inside the Knopf hardcover edition). The manuscript was sent to press and the first books arrived in November 2001. The Paolini family spent the next year promoting the book at libraries, bookstores, and schools in 2002 and early 2003. In summer 2002, author Carl Hiaasen, whose stepson read a copy of the self-published book while on vacation in Montana, brought Eragon to the attention of his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, which is part of Random House. Knopf published Eragon in August 2003. Eldest, which continues the adventures of Eragon and the dragon Saphira was published in August 2005, and in December 2006, Fox 2000 released their movie adaptation of Eragon in theaters around the world.

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#35 in Books > Teens

#35 in Books > Teens

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1,856 of 2,395 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars impressive for a 17-yr-old, clearly written by a 17-yr-old November 14, 2003

By B. Capossere TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

What you almost always hear first about this book is "wow, it was written by a 17-yr-old". And the author is fully deserving of the respect and admiration he gets--it is indeed an impressive book for a 17-year-old to have written. What he probably should not have gotten was a publishing contract, since while it is impressive for a 17-yr-old, it is less than impressive for a published work of fiction.
If an adult had written and published this, I would have been disgusted (as I was with the Sword of Shannara) with the clear calculation that had gone into the work: "ok, I'll take a lot of Tolkien, a lot of McCaffery, a good amount of Leguin, some Dragonlance, some Star Wars, etc. It will be a can't miss book." Since it's the product not of an adult but of a teenager, it comes across much more positively--as a work of fiction by someone who has read lots and absorbed lots of fantasy and simply didn't have the experience (or the good editor) to take out all of his favorite parts of other works. How can I dislike or be too critical of someone who so obviously loved some of my own favorite authors, loved them so much that they simply took over his book through I'm guessing no fault of his own.
And that in a nutshell is the problem with Eragon. The story is cliched, formulaic and barely passable as are the characters and the language is simply what you would expect from a somewhat precocious teen fan of adult fantasy. If you have any experience in the field of fantasy at all, reading Eragon will feel like a visit to Las Vegas (though not so tacky)--sure you can see New York and Paris and Italy, but they are mere shadows of the real thing. So McCaffery's telepathic link between dragon and rider is here, but not the powerful emotionality of her (especially earlier) works.... LeGuin's idea of one true name and one true language forming the backbone of magic is here, but not her masterful sense of order and balance and restraint, not to mention the sparse beauty of her language. And of course, the graceful, bow-carrying elves, the gruff and secretive mentor with magical powers, the withdrawn dwarves, etc. all show up in their correct place and time. As a high school English teacher, the story and characters are exactly what I would expect to see if I picked up one of my fantasy fan's personal notebooks off of their desks and began reading. Even the people and place names are far too imitative (as opposed to inspired by). To be perfectly honest, it was so much like my students' writings I had to struggle to continue past the first ten pages.
Does that mean nobody could enjoy this book? A quick look at the reviews clearly shows that many have (most of them young I'm sure). If you have read Tolkien, McCaffery, LeGuin, Jordan, Lewis, Pullman, Donaldson, etc., then I'd strongly suggest skipping Eragon. You'll not only be heavily disappointed by the weaknesses in plot, character development, and language, but you'll probably be annoyed at how often your favorite authors appear in borrowed and poorer clothing. If you have little experience in fantasy and so won't be bothered by the obviously derivative nature of this book, you'll probably enjoy it but there are far better works to begin a lifetime of fantasy reading with and even if you start with Eragon, I hope you quickly move onto them, beginning with the above list and adding for younger readers people like Lloyd Alexander, E. Nesbit, Robin McKinley, and many, many others. I'd like to see what this young author comes up with in another five-ten years, but for now he's still retelling the stories he liked himself, rather than writing down his own. Read more ›

173 of 223 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A reluctant 3 July 2, 2004

By Jonathan Appleseed VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

When first I attempted reading the book, I put it down within three chapters, as the word "derivative" pummeled my brain with the same febricity that dragons assault Paolini's imagination (and his imagination is assaulted with considerable frequency, according to Paolini on his website, hosted by Random House).

It was with reluctance that I turned to the book again, and I did so with the singular intent of understanding the remarkable success of the book. We can debate the merits of this book without end, but not its stellar sales.

And the reason for its success is simple. Not since The Sword of Shannara (or lesser works such as Niel Hancock's Circle of Light series) has heroic/high fantasy been dumbed-down to this level. Eragon is a book that requires no forethought whatsoever, little to no concentration, for all plot points are given away chapters in advance.

I don't hold any of the Shannara works (and certainly not the lesser works, such as Hancock's and others) in high esteem. What Brooks did with The Sword of Shannara was to rewrite The Lord of the Rings for teenagers, and in that he succeeded quite well. He didn't write an original book, however. The characters in The Sword of Shannara were almost one-for-one reproductions, with slight variations, from LOTR. Paolini has done essentially the same thing, but whereas Brooks had only Tolkien to draw from, Paolini had many more sources to draw from. And these sources pepper the landscape of his book like a person's salad who forgot to say, "Stop!"

We've heard that all art is imitation (and that therefore to imitate and even copy is OK); and that imitation is the highest form of flattery. In some aspects of art, literature, and life this holds true, but not here. There is too much imitation, and not enough originality.... We have (from what I'm familiar of, anyway):

* The Thirteen Forsworn (Jordan's Forsaken)
* Elves on silver ships from across the sea (Tolkien)
* Urgals and Kulls (Orcs and Uruk-Hai from Tolkien with bits of Trollocs blended in from Jordan)
* Dwarves who are absolute reproductions of those from Tolkien, from their mountain city to their use of axes, and even the description of "hewing" heads off Urgals (er, Orcs)
* A Shade (Jordan's Fade, although with an intriguing difference - and it's not the color of the hair)
* Dragons and everything that comes with them (McCaffrey, although she doesn't seem to mind, if her blurbs mean anything)
* A "magic-user" (former Dragon Rider) who refuses to reveal his true nature for no good reason other than to cause dramatic tension (take your pick from any of the lesser derivative works)
* Ra'Zac (All wicked lords need hand servants...and they all get them, no different here)
* Somebody says "Hellfire!" This is an uncommon oath in the "real" world, but not an uncommon oath to Thomas Covenant. There were a couple of other Covenant similarities, but I didn't make note of them.

There are more, but this isn't intended to be exhaustive. Given what some truly great high/heroic fantasists have done (Tolkien, Donaldson, Martin, Williams, and to a lesser degree of late, Jordan), it is absolutely essential to make your own work your own. Is it easy? Not a chance. There are only so many original ideas, only so many different ways to write a high/heroic fantasy, but if you're going to do it, you can't just take what others have done, tweak it a bit, toss it into a blender, and put it out there as your own original work. This is NOT an original work.

As to the writing itself, I refuse to be too critical. This was written and edited by a *teenager*. Some of his descriptions of physical objects and places are excellent, even for a "stronger" writer. Yes, he makes the mistake of confusing salt with adverbs. Most food contains salt of some kind, especially true for prepared foods, and it seemed that way with his sentences. There are adverbs galore. That's a nasty habit he needs to say good-bye to.

As to the writer, well, after reading what he had written about his own work on his website, I lost some respect for him. Granted, this is still a very young person, but he is bragging of "wonders" to be revealed in his books, and says that "I strive for a lyrical beauty somewhere between Tolkien at his best and Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf". That's terrific to strive for, but his writing doesn't come close, and it's more than a little embarrassing, I would think, to make a comment like that. Maybe if Eragon stopped asking seven thousand questions so that Paolini could explain something that he could have done better through narration...but toward the end of the book I wanted Eragon's mouth closed with duct tape. When in Tronjheim, and talking to Angela, a very awkward segue occurs (one of dozens upon dozens in the book). Angela is speaking of Shades, and I'll admit that my eyes popped open a bit at the explanation because it was rather fresh and original. The Eragon ruins it by blurting out, "Why are you living so high up in Tronjheim? Isn't it inconvenient being this isolated? And how did you get all this stuff up here?" This just isn't sensible dialogue.

My final feeling is: I was initially turned off, and then pulled into it as I picked it up the second time, but ultimately turned off. I've read The Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, The Dragonriders of Pern, and they're all better books than this. On the Random House website, Paolini jokes that perhaps an epic trilogy was too much for someone so young. He couldn't have been more right.

However, kids are reading this, and I'm in favor of almost anything that makes kids read more. Hence my three star rating. It would have been two stars otherwise. Read more ›

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Yoda is in the next book . . . September 24, 2005

By Jennifer L. Ware

Format:Hardcover

Describe a rainstorm in 700 words or more, then continue like this for and entire novel. . .

I would suggest that anyone considering reading this book just get the original or go rent the movie, it's called Star Wars. This novel followed that plot so closely that I checked the acknowlegements to see if it was intentional. I was shocked to see no mention of it at all. I was not shocked to find out Paolini's parents first published his work.

109 of 140 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars I liked it the first time I read it... when it was Star Wars. September 26, 2005

By A. C. Longtin

Format:Hardcover

I teach Gifted middle school students and was urged by many students to read this. So I picked up a copy and was almost instantly transported to a magical, far-off land- Middle Earth, with a fantastical storyline- Star Wars. Yes, it is admirable for a 17 year old, but fiction cannot be measured against the age of the author, it must be measured against other great books, regardless of author's age.

When I spoke to one of my students about how similar this storyline was to Star Wars, he asked how. So, I started a two-column list as I read. I now present this to you:

Warning: SPOILERS!! DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW!

****Keep in mind that it is not EXACT, but that many circumstances are similar. For instance, another character is the son of a bad guy, but the "son of the bad guy" is still in this story. Also keep in mind that this list was created as I read, so several revelations happen in the order they occurred.

1. 1st scene: Female elf magically transports a dragon egg, hiding it from evil doers. (Princess Leia sends a droid to an escape pod, hiding it from evil doers.)

2. Eragon lives on farm with uncle. (Luke lives on farm with aunt and uncle.)

3. Eragon's parentage unknown. (Luke's parentage unknown.)

4. Riders possess magical powers and were wiped out by Galbatorix. (Jedi possess magical powers and were wiped out by Vader and the Emperor.)

5. Galbatorix is a former Rider who enlisted another to destroy Riders. (Vader is a former Jedi who was enlisted to destroy the Jedi.)

6. The Empire rules all and it threatened by a small, mysterious band (Vardens) who "constantly raided and attacked the Empire...." (The Empire rules all and is threatened by a small, mysterious band, the Rebel Alliance.)

7. Galbatorix learned "dark secrets" from a Shade. (Vader and Palpatine learned the dark side from their mentors.)

8. Vrael defeated Galbatorix but "hesitated with the final blow." (Obi-Wan defeated Vader but did not kill him.)

9. Eragon stumbles upon the egg. (Luke stumbles upon the droid.)

10. The dragon hatches, releasing powers Eragon didn't know he had. (The droid runs away, leading Luke on a journey that releases powers he didn't know he had.)

11. Evil men looking for the egg burn Eragon's farm, killing his uncle. (Evil men looking for the droid burn Luke's farm, killing his aunt and uncle.

12. Eragon goes out for revenge and old, gray Brom goes, too. (Luke goes out to return the droid and old, gray Obi-Wan goes, too.)

13. Brom speaks to dragons. (Obi-Wan has powers, too.)

14. Brom presents a sword to Eragon. (Obi-Wan presents a lightsaber to Luke.)

15. Brom secures horses for transport. (Obi-Wan secures the Falcon for transport).

16. Eragon is the first in a new line of Riders. (Luke is the first in a new line of Jedi.)

17. On the journey, Brom teaches Eragon to fight. (On the journey, Obi-Wan teaches Luke to fight.)

18. They come across a destroyed village, all inhabitants dead. (They come across a destroyed planet, all inhabitants dead.)

19. Brom asks Eragon to levitate a rock. (Luke's training included levitating rocks.(

20. The egg was supposed to be sent to Brom. (The droid was supposed to be sent to Obi-Wan.)

21. Brom lived incognito in Carvahall to look after Eragon. (Obi-Wan lived incognito on Tatooine to look after Luke.)

22. Brom reveals himself to have been a Dragon Rider. (Obi-Wan reveals himself to be a Jedi.)

23. Brom and Eragon cross paths with Murtagh, slightly older than Eragon, who does not "owe allegiance to anyone but" himself. (Obi-Wan and Luke cross paths with Han Solo, slightly older than Luke who only looks after himself.)

24. Brom sacrifices himself to the Ra'zac to save Eragon. (Obi-Wan sacrifices himself to save Luke.)

25. Brom was friends with Morzan, a Rider who turned to evil. (Obi-Wan was friends with Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi who turned to evil.)

26. Brom took Morzan's sword after he defeated him in battle and gave it to Eragon. (Obi-Wan took Anakin's lightsaber after he defeated him in battle and gave it to Luke.)

27. Eragon wants to find a beautiful, mysterious woman who is being held prisoner. (Luke wants to find a beautiful, mysterious woman who is being held prisoner.)

28. Eragon and Murtagh rescue an elf woman from prison. (Luke and Han rescue Princess Leia from prison.)

29. Arya holds information vital to the success of the Varden. (Leia holds information vital to the success of the Rebels.)

30. Arya was ruthlessly tortured to reveal the location of the Varden. (Leia is ruthlessly tortured to reveal the location of the Rebel base.)

31. Attempting to return Arya to the Varden, Eragon and Murtagh are pursued all the way to the secret base, which takes them in. (Attempting to return Leia to the Rebels, Luke and Han are pursued all the way to the secret base, which takes them in.

32. It turns out that Arya was the one who sent the egg to the Spine. (Leia was the one who sent R2-D2 to Tatooine.

33. Murtagh reveals that he is the secret son of Morzan, Galbatorix's most faithful follower. (Darth Vader, the Emperor's most faithful follower, reveals himself to be Luke's father.)

34. Urgals advance on Tronjheim. (The Death Star advances on Yavin.)

35. Eragon destroys the Shade. (Luke destroys the Death Star.)

This doesn't mean it's not an entertaining story. Of course it is! Star Wars is entertaining, isn't it? I'm just so surprised that Paolini's editors didn't see that almost every element of this story has been borrowed from other sources, like Tolkien, McAffrey and others. Very little is original. Cutting and pasting from different books and screenplays does not make an original story. Read more ›