This is a story about a young farm boy who discovers he has the potential to revive a dead order that once kept peace everywhere. He teams up with an old man who lived in the town as well that was once part of the order himself, but fled because the evil emperor wiped them out. The old man trains him to do things a normal person couldn?t but eventually is killed, after joining with the rebellion to overthrow the empire the boy learns that a friend of his who joins the other side is actually his family and that his father helped wipe out the order?? sound familiar? Then you probably saw the original star wars but I?m not talking about that, instead I?ll be reviewing its medieval knock-off called Eragon or the Inheritance cycle.
Don?t get me wrong, they?re fantastic books and I?ll be spending the rest of this review praising it, but I might as well get all the negative stuff out of the way first before moving onto the good bits. Firstly, as shown in the introduction, the books are essentially a medieval knock-off of the original star wars. Normally if I ever heard of someone doing that I?d demand they be arrested for plagiarism, but thankfully Christopher Paolini gets points for excellent writing and characterization so I?ll let him off for that.
Secondly, Christopher Paolini has this habit of going into way too much detail. It?s difficult to tell if that?s a bad thing or a good thing since detail gives more depth to the story but sometimes it feels unnecessary and I found myself just wishing he?d hurry up. Well that?s about all the criticism I have so I?ll now describe my ever-lasting love of these books.
The main character is Eragon, a 15 year old at the start of the series who Paolini said he crafted after himself since he was 15 himself when he wrote the book. He finds a dragon egg which eventually hatches for him and the dragon is named Saphira. Like all dragons in the Inheritance universe, Saphira is incredibly wise and very bloodthirsty. They create a bond unique between Dragons and their Riders that allow them to share feelings and thoughts. When they have to leave their home they team up with Brom, essentially Obi-Wan?s long lost cousin.
It?s at this point we learn about magic. Magic is essentially using an ancient language that consists of everything?s true name. An example being that Brisingr is fire?s true name. Magic is the manipulation of energy and if you try to do something that requires more energy than your body has, you die. Part of the reason I like the magic aspect of the books is that it seems very practical. It has limits and rules such as any law in nature and has many twists and turns allowing your imagination to come up with all kinds of scenarios.
I?m going to skip quite a bit of the story and move straight onto the recently released third book; Brisingr (I?m assuming if you?re reading this you?ve read the other books and if not then do it right now.) In Brisingr, Paolini does his best to tie up as many loose ends as he left for himself when he finished book 2, Eldest. It was at this point though he found out the book would be too big so he had to turn it from a trilogy into a cycle.
Just let that sink in for a bit.
If you have read Eldest then like me you?ve probably been waiting the past two years to find out ?what about Solembum?s prophecies?? ?Do Eragon and Saphira fulfill all their promises?? ?Do things get better between Ayra and Eragon?? Well because of length restraints Paolini had to reveal only some of the secrets but trust me, if you are a fan Paolini has rewarded your patience. It?s tempting to write every secret that is revealed but I?m afraid someone will come into my house at night and cut my hands off so I?ll restrain myself and talk about something else.
As always, Paolini creates an incredibly deep and immersive reading experience which anyone can enjoy and indeed I would recommend it to anyone. There is something I noticed throughout the book though which I feel I should mention. Because of unrevealed secrets and the nature of magic the characters will sometimes talk to each other about what?s possible in the world and what isn?t. It almost feels like Paolini is doing his best to make sure he doesn?t get mail asking all sorts of questions about the things discussed in the book and frankly I sympathize.
So bottom line is this book is superb but if you haven?t read the previous books you'll pick it up eventually but until then you won't know what the heck is going on.
One last thing I should mention before I finish up; the movie. Never in my life have I seen such an insult to a story than this film. They cut about 4/5ths of the book out, changed the characters and practically everything we have grown to love about the books. If you have read the books, don?t see it because you will be as insulted as I am. If you haven?t read the books, still don?t see it because it?s horribly written and will put you off the books themselves.
Note: Constructive criticism appreciated. Thanks for reading.
Don?t get me wrong, they?re fantastic books and I?ll be spending the rest of this review praising it, but I might as well get all the negative stuff out of the way first before moving onto the good bits. Firstly, as shown in the introduction, the books are essentially a medieval knock-off of the original star wars. Normally if I ever heard of someone doing that I?d demand they be arrested for plagiarism, but thankfully Christopher Paolini gets points for excellent writing and characterization so I?ll let him off for that.
Secondly, Christopher Paolini has this habit of going into way too much detail. It?s difficult to tell if that?s a bad thing or a good thing since detail gives more depth to the story but sometimes it feels unnecessary and I found myself just wishing he?d hurry up. Well that?s about all the criticism I have so I?ll now describe my ever-lasting love of these books.
The main character is Eragon, a 15 year old at the start of the series who Paolini said he crafted after himself since he was 15 himself when he wrote the book. He finds a dragon egg which eventually hatches for him and the dragon is named Saphira. Like all dragons in the Inheritance universe, Saphira is incredibly wise and very bloodthirsty. They create a bond unique between Dragons and their Riders that allow them to share feelings and thoughts. When they have to leave their home they team up with Brom, essentially Obi-Wan?s long lost cousin.
It?s at this point we learn about magic. Magic is essentially using an ancient language that consists of everything?s true name. An example being that Brisingr is fire?s true name. Magic is the manipulation of energy and if you try to do something that requires more energy than your body has, you die. Part of the reason I like the magic aspect of the books is that it seems very practical. It has limits and rules such as any law in nature and has many twists and turns allowing your imagination to come up with all kinds of scenarios.
I?m going to skip quite a bit of the story and move straight onto the recently released third book; Brisingr (I?m assuming if you?re reading this you?ve read the other books and if not then do it right now.) In Brisingr, Paolini does his best to tie up as many loose ends as he left for himself when he finished book 2, Eldest. It was at this point though he found out the book would be too big so he had to turn it from a trilogy into a cycle.
Just let that sink in for a bit.
If you have read Eldest then like me you?ve probably been waiting the past two years to find out ?what about Solembum?s prophecies?? ?Do Eragon and Saphira fulfill all their promises?? ?Do things get better between Ayra and Eragon?? Well because of length restraints Paolini had to reveal only some of the secrets but trust me, if you are a fan Paolini has rewarded your patience. It?s tempting to write every secret that is revealed but I?m afraid someone will come into my house at night and cut my hands off so I?ll restrain myself and talk about something else.
As always, Paolini creates an incredibly deep and immersive reading experience which anyone can enjoy and indeed I would recommend it to anyone. There is something I noticed throughout the book though which I feel I should mention. Because of unrevealed secrets and the nature of magic the characters will sometimes talk to each other about what?s possible in the world and what isn?t. It almost feels like Paolini is doing his best to make sure he doesn?t get mail asking all sorts of questions about the things discussed in the book and frankly I sympathize.
So bottom line is this book is superb but if you haven?t read the previous books you'll pick it up eventually but until then you won't know what the heck is going on.
One last thing I should mention before I finish up; the movie. Never in my life have I seen such an insult to a story than this film. They cut about 4/5ths of the book out, changed the characters and practically everything we have grown to love about the books. If you have read the books, don?t see it because you will be as insulted as I am. If you haven?t read the books, still don?t see it because it?s horribly written and will put you off the books themselves.
Note: Constructive criticism appreciated. Thanks for reading.
