Eragon the 1st installment of the Inheritance Cycle
Hello, my name is Charlie Hechler and I will be analyzing and reviewing Eragon the great fantasy story written by teenage Christopher Paolini. This book is probably my least favorite of the entire Inheritance Cycle, the four book collection, Eragon being the first installment.
Eragon is a story following a boy who happens across a dragon egg deep in a forest. The story follows him as the dragon hatches and he must flee from his hometown on a quest to avenge his slain uncle. Along the way he meets new friends and foes as well as the mental challenges of being put in a place of great power and responsibility. He is now the only dragon rider between the evil King Galbatorix and complete control of Alegasia. But first he must get revenge on the shade, a sorcerer that has been taken over and controlled by evil spirits, that was the one who had slain his uncle. He embarks on a grand quest with Brom an old mysterious man across Alegasia to the Varden, a resistance force that is uncontrolled by the empire. This is my review on the first part of his grand journey.
Eragon was a very captivating read for me and it especially caught my attention because the writer was 15 when he first started to piece together the plot. The structure of the book kept my attention throughout the whole story. The prologue starts with the elf princess Arya being caught and captured by a team of urgals, very similar to the orcs in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and a shade named Durza. This brings you completely into the story. It develops the main characteristics of the story and raises lots of questions to keep the reader reading. In addition to the thrilling scenes Paolini does not over dramatize the events in the story. I personally enjoy stories that do not describe scenes in total detail emphasizing each characteristic of the scene. I always want to know what happens next. Paolini writes very concisely so that detail is still preserved, but the story keeps moving.
My least favorite thing about the book is how little the events move as Eragon and Brom move between towns and they just train and occasionally run away from urgals. This aspect of the story becomes repetitive, but it shows some reality, that when moving across a whole country there is not a lot that can happen without it feeling forceful. These parts amplify the continuous change in Eragon, physically and mentally.
Many have said that Eragon has plagiarized The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. I completely disagree with this claim. Although it is clear that some elements of the story, for example the use of elves and dwarves and the settings in which they live, the plot has little connection. They both follow a singular person as they journey across a county to stop evil. However, the connection ends there. Traveling across Alegasia is a continuous aspect of the story throughout the whole Inheritance Cycle. The two stories have much different ways of showing the fight against good and bad. In the Inheritance Cycle the battle is a both a physical and mental fight person to person. Everything bad is a result of one person. In The Lord of the Rings it is a feat of mental endurance and the journey which happens is to destroy the evil ring that they already have. This is opposite to the Inheritance Cycle where the journey is to the evil king whom he must ultimately kill.
Overall, Eragon is a very enjoyable and captivating read. The book is an epic story of how Eragon develops and learns to handle the great pressures of the entire empire to free the citizens from the oppressive rule of the king Galbatorix. It captivates you to the very end. I recommend this book to anyone who has not read it yet.
-Charlie Hechler
Eragon is a story following a boy who happens across a dragon egg deep in a forest. The story follows him as the dragon hatches and he must flee from his hometown on a quest to avenge his slain uncle. Along the way he meets new friends and foes as well as the mental challenges of being put in a place of great power and responsibility. He is now the only dragon rider between the evil King Galbatorix and complete control of Alegasia. But first he must get revenge on the shade, a sorcerer that has been taken over and controlled by evil spirits, that was the one who had slain his uncle. He embarks on a grand quest with Brom an old mysterious man across Alegasia to the Varden, a resistance force that is uncontrolled by the empire. This is my review on the first part of his grand journey.
Eragon was a very captivating read for me and it especially caught my attention because the writer was 15 when he first started to piece together the plot. The structure of the book kept my attention throughout the whole story. The prologue starts with the elf princess Arya being caught and captured by a team of urgals, very similar to the orcs in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and a shade named Durza. This brings you completely into the story. It develops the main characteristics of the story and raises lots of questions to keep the reader reading. In addition to the thrilling scenes Paolini does not over dramatize the events in the story. I personally enjoy stories that do not describe scenes in total detail emphasizing each characteristic of the scene. I always want to know what happens next. Paolini writes very concisely so that detail is still preserved, but the story keeps moving.
My least favorite thing about the book is how little the events move as Eragon and Brom move between towns and they just train and occasionally run away from urgals. This aspect of the story becomes repetitive, but it shows some reality, that when moving across a whole country there is not a lot that can happen without it feeling forceful. These parts amplify the continuous change in Eragon, physically and mentally.
Many have said that Eragon has plagiarized The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. I completely disagree with this claim. Although it is clear that some elements of the story, for example the use of elves and dwarves and the settings in which they live, the plot has little connection. They both follow a singular person as they journey across a county to stop evil. However, the connection ends there. Traveling across Alegasia is a continuous aspect of the story throughout the whole Inheritance Cycle. The two stories have much different ways of showing the fight against good and bad. In the Inheritance Cycle the battle is a both a physical and mental fight person to person. Everything bad is a result of one person. In The Lord of the Rings it is a feat of mental endurance and the journey which happens is to destroy the evil ring that they already have. This is opposite to the Inheritance Cycle where the journey is to the evil king whom he must ultimately kill.
Overall, Eragon is a very enjoyable and captivating read. The book is an epic story of how Eragon develops and learns to handle the great pressures of the entire empire to free the citizens from the oppressive rule of the king Galbatorix. It captivates you to the very end. I recommend this book to anyone who has not read it yet.
-Charlie Hechler
You really went into depth with this blog. It's very detailed and provides proper insight on what the storyline of the book is and how it relates to the characters. You gave a good summary that doesn't give anything away while mentioning all the key details. I think this review is really good! So.... good job!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Shout-out to Princess Arya.
I liked how you gave a clear, detailed summary before talking about the book. I agree that the relationship between Eragon and Brom could have developed more over the series instead of abruptly ending in the first book. I have read the Inheritance Cycle and the Lord of the Rings myself, so I can confirm that both are two completely unique stories. If anything, I can say I like Eragon more because of Christopher Paolini's writing style of being descriptive and interesting at the same time. Overall, nice job.
ReplyDeleteYour review was very concise and informative. Your summary covered all of the main points of the book, but didn't spoil any plot twists. Eragon has been recommended to me by several friends, but I haven’t actually read it yet. I was also interested in the story when I learned about Paolini’s young age when he wrote this book. I’ve entered a lot of writing contests and thought about being an author, so even though I haven’t read Eragon yet, it’s still on my reading list. I have read several of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books and can see why some people might accuse Paolini of plagiarism, but based on your review, the plots do seem to differ significantly.
ReplyDeleteI read this book a while back, and your descriptions are very detailed and spot on. The way you explain the author’s writing style and plot layout, as well as how you tie in your own opinions, makes this a very good review.
ReplyDeleteI have never read this book, but I have heard a lot of good things about it and the series. You mentioned that it is similar to The Lord of the Rings, but much better. I have tried to read The Lord of the Rings, and found it very boring. If Eragon is better, like you said, I look forward to reading it. I'm glad you didn't spoil it, and your review gave me a good idea to expect when I read it.
ReplyDelete