Eragon?

[Neurosis]

It was possibly the worst book I have read start to finish. The story and "fantasy" ideas were extremely trite: this might be okay, considering much of the genre these days involves repeating the greats to some extent (unless you're Brandon Sanderson), however the writing was appalling! I noticed quite a few of what I considered mistakes; 'misusing' commas and their counter-part the humble semi-colon; apparently no understanding of active and passive voice; weird/illogical chapter transitions. Before you pull the "it was written by a teenager" card let me point out that I READ this when I was 15, and made the above observations then, and in addition as of writing this I am also STILL a teenager.

 

[Edgemaker]

I am sure as he grew older he noticed some of the things he "borrowed" from and i really feel that in the last two books he tried to make it different. I might just be giving him more credit but that is how i feel. Though if he does it again in his next story i will loose all respect for him. If you are an inspiring author read this book just so you can see what not to do and how to take whatever ideas you use from another story and give them your own twist.

Altogether I dont know if he really meant to take and copy to his own story line, because I have not spoken with him or heard from him personally, if he did or didn't is not the question. I think the question is as James said "Is he going to do it again if he writes again." Personally I see that Paolini has great potential and great guts. He has an imagination he just needs to learn to come out of the templates. Which I think is something that not many writers are doing, they bypass the thought that it is someone else's idea, character, plot device, and they still use it (terry brooks much). When I write I want it to be original, and I want people to call me on it if they see something that is not original, because this will stretch me to the point that would be good for me to be originally creative.
On the other hand like I said, Paolini has some guts to at least publish something, at least he did not clam up and not publish anything at all.

 

[Edgemaker]

I noticed quite a few of what I considered mistakes; 'misusing' commas and their counter-part the humble semi-colon; apparently no understanding of active and passive voice; weird/illogical chapter transitions. Before you pull the "it was written by a teenager" card let me point out that I READ this when I was 15, and made the above observations then, and in addition as of writing this I am also STILL a teenager.

Agreed it was something that was a horror show for perfect fantasy. But it was a decent shot at least he should be given credit for that. And then he should take some writing grammar lessons or a course in novel writing and then try again with the sequel. I would like him to try again with more of an understanding.

 

[Wormtongue]

I didn't care for Eragon. I found it painfully predictable. I was frankly stunned it was made into a movie.

 

[Tamwen]

Note: The following post will contain spoilers for all the books.

It's hard to love or even LIKE a book where you can't stand any of the characters.

Eragon is quite frankly a sociopath. What? He "spares" Sloan and makes him hobble across a vast expanse of land without sight one chapter, and then ruthlessly killed a helpless soldier the next. In the first book, he got his panties in a twist about Murtagh doing that, and the reader was supposed to take his side in the argument of "Bad Murtagh! You killed a helpless... slaver." Then, when he slaughters a helpless, possibly forced into service soldier, there's a short "What the Hell Hero?" moment before Arya (Who I hate) admits he's right in killing the guy! At least Murtagh killed someone who arguably deserved to be killed!

Plus, Eragon is a complete Gary-Stu. He becomes a master swordsman in what? A few months? He learns how to read in less time than that. Plus he learned how to fight like a master with his left hand in the time it took for his broken right wrist to heal. Less, probably. And the Deux Ex Machina ritual that turns him into a freaking ELF in the second book! If he wasn't drop dead handsome and perfect before, he is after that!

Plus, Arya, the Designated Love Interest, is really only there to look pretty. No. Seriously. Every time she shows up, purple prose smacks you in the face as Paolini attempts to describe his dream girl in the fanciest way possible.

The elves are douchebags, which is why they're the villains in my story. Blame Paolini for my hatred of elves. The dwarves are generic, the dragons are superfluous (seriously. What purpose does Saphira serve? There's no partnership. She does whatever Eragon wants her to. It's stupid)...

The movie's worse. Dragons with feathers. FEATHERS. /sob/

 

[Steerpike]

Tamwen: It is so poorly written I'm surprised by how many people get far enough into it to criticize the story

 

[Tamwen]

Tamwen: It is so poorly written I'm surprised by how many people get far enough into it to criticize the story

I compare it to watching Disney. You watch/read it as a youth and love it. Then you go back and rewatch/reread and see all the things wrong with it. I loved them when I was younger, but then I reread them it was like...

You've never done that before? Reread a book you liked as a younger person and realized it kinda sucked?

 

[Edgemaker]

Eragon is quite frankly a sociopath. What? He "spares" Sloan and makes him hobble across a vast expanse of land without sight one chapter, and then ruthlessly killed a helpless soldier the next.

Plus, Arya, the Designated Love Interest, is really only there to look pretty. No. Seriously. Every time she shows up, purple prose smacks you in the face as Paolini attempts to describe his dream girl in the fanciest way possible.

The elves are douchebags, which is why they're the villains in my story. Blame Paolini for my hatred of elves. The dwarves are generic, the dragons are superfluous (seriously. What purpose does Saphira serve? There's no partnership. She does whatever Eragon wants her to. It's stupid)...

The movie's worse. Dragons with feathers. FEATHERS. /sob/

Remember how eragon took away sloan's sight but then paolini forgot about sloan until his grandchild came to the elven forest, and eragon forgot about sloan..........

I couldnt tell if Arya was Eragon's girl or paolini's

Dragons with feathers are griffins

 

[Jabrosky]

When I saw the movie, it struck me how so much of the plot resembled that of the first Star Wars movie. I'm surprised George Lucas hasn't already sued Paolini's ass off. It's OK to borrow certain plot elements from other stories, as almost every plot element has been used before, but the combination of plot elements and tropes in Eragon is way too reminiscent of A New Hope to avoid the charge of plot plagiarism. Now Iif Paolini had passed the books off as a medieval fantasy retelling of the Star Wars movies, I wouldn't mind the similarities so much, but since he doesn't acknowledge them at all I have little respect for him. I also concur with everyone who said that the prose and characterization are subpar.

That said, as a young writer myself (albeit in my early twenties rather than teens), I must confess to envying Paolini a little. At least he had the self-discipline to finish and publish a whole novel, which is more than can be said for me even now, never mind when I was 15.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

Eragon is definitely derivative without being distinct enough, but the thing which actually bothered me the most was the 13 "Forsworn" who were the Evil Overlord's minions. It reminded me an awful lot of the 13 "Forsaken" who are the Evil Overlord's minions in The Wheel of Time...

 

[Elder the Dwarf]

I compare it to watching Disney. You watch/read it as a youth and love it. Then you go back and rewatch/reread and see all the things wrong with it. I loved them when I was younger, but then I reread them it was like...

You've never done that before? Reread a book you liked as a younger person and realized it kinda sucked?

Disney shows or Disney movies? 'Cos there is NOTHING wrong with the Lion King!

 

[Steerpike]

Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast rule

 

[Reaver]

Disney shows or Disney movies? 'Cos there is NOTHING wrong with the Lion King!

The Lion King is messed up. Have you ever paused @ the part where "grown up" Simba flops down in the dirt after seeing his father in the clouds? What's wrong with those Disney animators?

 

[Elder the Dwarf]

Oh come on! The Lion King is a beautiful movie, and I refuse to change my mind. Yes, I'm a stubborn little bastard . Ok I'm not that little. I am stubborn though. And Steerpike that is true, but Lion King is probably my favorite. Aladdin was solid, and how could you not like Cool Runnings, Tarzan, Hercules, Mulan, or Toy Story? And Homeword Bound? I cried my 5 year old butt off.

 

[Tamwen]

I'm not saying that they become bad with age, or that any of them are bad. What I'm saying is that you notice things as you mature that you didn't earlier.

With Disney for me, it was that the majority of princesses just fell in love with their princes in a minute and a half.

With the Inheritance Cycle, it was that Eragon was an unlikable sociopath who never had to work for anything.

 

[Shadoe]

I was at the dentist with my son once. He was in getting tortured while I waited in the waiting room. It was a nice place, with a jungle gym for the kids and a couple of tvs showing Disney movies non-stop. On this occasion, there was a hispanic couple in the waiting room, and the day's movie was Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow from 1958. I didn't think the movie was all that impressive, but the hispanic couple were falling off their chairs laughing. That's when I realized I was using my "I'm an adult" filter to judge the movie. Getting rid of that made the movie hilarious. How we see a lot of movies depends on the filter we choose to use.

 

[Seth son of Tom]

interesting perspective shadoe

 

[Neurosis]

I was at the dentist with my son once. He was in getting tortured while I waited in the waiting room. It was a nice place, with a jungle gym for the kids and a couple of tvs showing Disney movies non-stop. On this occasion, there was a hispanic couple in the waiting room, and the day's movie was Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow from 1958. I didn't think the movie was all that impressive, but the hispanic couple were falling off their chairs laughing. That's when I realized I was using my "I'm an adult" filter to judge the movie. Getting rid of that made the movie hilarious. How we see a lot of movies depends on the filter we choose to use.

Perception is just a bunch of choices we make beforehand.

 

[Masronyx]

I think that was why I never far enough with my work to be considered published. As bad as I wanted to be published when I was in high school, I was borrowing waaay too much for my own good. That's why I never read Terry Brooks. I read enough of his first book to see that he was borrowing from Lord of the Rings. That and he took too long with his story line...

Eragon is not a bad read. I read Eragon when i was 14 and it was a contributing factor to my desire of becoming a writer. Though i was like blind to its flaws after i discovered them i did feel a little betrayed by Paolini. He is obviously inspired by other stories and writers but you cant really blame him. The only reason i forgive Paolini is because at the age of 15 he created the plot not knowing any better. I am sure as he grew older he noticed some of the things he "borrowed" from and i really feel that in the last two books he tried to make it different. I might just be giving him more credit but that is how i feel. Though if he does it again in his next story i will loose all respect for him. If you are an inspiring author read this book just so you can see what not to do and how to take whatever ideas you use from another story and give them your own twist.

 

[Tamwen]

As a brief note, he started it when he was 15. He finished it two years later.