Inheritance Cycle
- Thread starter noah22223
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Fuh-huh-HUCK yes. I mean, I'll still read Inheritance, but I'm looking forward to "Dance With Dragons" (Out this July!) SO much more.ArcWinter said:
I don't think I've seen people as divided over religion as I have over this book series.
I happen to enjoy them despite their shortcomings, and look forward to the final installment.Assuming it ever comes out... My mistake. I haven't been keeping up with news on it and was not aware that it's scheduled for release this November.
Don't get me started on the movie, though. I'm usually the first (sometimes only) to defend a film adaptation that strays too far from its source, but this was just...ugh...If you think Eragon turns into an asshole in the books...
I happen to enjoy them despite their shortcomings, and look forward to the final installment.
Don't get me started on the movie, though. I'm usually the first (sometimes only) to defend a film adaptation that strays too far from its source, but this was just...ugh...If you think Eragon turns into an asshole in the books...
Based upon the first two and half books, as I was too put off by the third to finish, I didn't like the books that much. They were alright. I won't say I disliked it from the moment I opened it. I liked the first book in middle school. Although as things went on the book started to bother me. The second turned me firmly against Eragon.
It wasn't the plot that got to me. I can deal with rip offs. Most things are just rip offs. I could even deal with the writing.
The characters and lore were just unbearable. The characterization of the elves and dwarves was boorish. Elves are the author's vision of perfection and dwarves are stupid superstitious dirty hill folk living under mountains. Humans are not worthy. Eragon has to transcend his humanity to become a sociopathic messiah.
Then all the logic thrown out the window. How can Eragon defeat the Emperor when he gets stronger with age, and has several centuries on him? What plan does anyone have after this war? I always hated that part. We're supposed to feel so good for the rebels, but they never actually give a step by step plan of what happens after the tyrant is disposed of.
I'm not a fan of the training montage where the hero is a champion of everything given a week of training. That's saying nothing of the constant praise showered on Eragon. I thought how he constantly lusted after the elf girl was creepy. He acts like an entitled dick, and when he becomes part elf, he's suddenly better than his fellow man.
It wasn't the plot that got to me. I can deal with rip offs. Most things are just rip offs. I could even deal with the writing.
The characters and lore were just unbearable. The characterization of the elves and dwarves was boorish. Elves are the author's vision of perfection and dwarves are stupid superstitious dirty hill folk living under mountains. Humans are not worthy. Eragon has to transcend his humanity to become a sociopathic messiah.
Then all the logic thrown out the window. How can Eragon defeat the Emperor when he gets stronger with age, and has several centuries on him? What plan does anyone have after this war? I always hated that part. We're supposed to feel so good for the rebels, but they never actually give a step by step plan of what happens after the tyrant is disposed of.
I'm not a fan of the training montage where the hero is a champion of everything given a week of training. That's saying nothing of the constant praise showered on Eragon. I thought how he constantly lusted after the elf girl was creepy. He acts like an entitled dick, and when he becomes part elf, he's suddenly better than his fellow man.
I loved these books when I was 13. It was a good fun, light read that had all the things I liked from fantasy stories. Swords, Dragons and Fireballs. This was during the LOTR hype of the time.
In retrospect, they're awful. I'd send someone to 4chan for some intelligent thought before I recommended these books. They're that kind of awful.
Never mind how they shamelessly ripped off...well...everything.
I tried the 3rd one to see if the author had matured as a writer, but no. Same old same old. More Glowy swords and "I am your father!" revelations, cram packed into some 600 pages of fluff.
They work fine as a childrens/early teen books, but that alone.
And even then, there are better authors for that. I'll name drop Garth Nix and see if anyone bites.
In retrospect, they're awful. I'd send someone to 4chan for some intelligent thought before I recommended these books. They're that kind of awful.
Never mind how they shamelessly ripped off...well...everything.
I tried the 3rd one to see if the author had matured as a writer, but no. Same old same old. More Glowy swords and "I am your father!" revelations, cram packed into some 600 pages of fluff.
They work fine as a childrens/early teen books, but that alone.
And even then, there are better authors for that. I'll name drop Garth Nix and see if anyone bites.
[HEADING=1]Okay, look.[/HEADING]
People say that we're being unreasonable in claiming that this book is plagiarised. Some even argue that most fantasy these days is plagiarised.
Here is a fucking list of quite literally everything.
People say that we're being unreasonable in claiming that this book is plagiarised. Some even argue that most fantasy these days is plagiarised.
Here is a fucking list of quite literally everything.
David Eddings
The system of magic, widely praised in Eragon, is ripped straight from David Eddings' universe. Not only can magic casters not exceed spells that would require more strength than is in their body, but magicians must be super careful to phrase or think everything precisely as they intend it, or face dire consequences. If that's not enough, the silvery mark on Eragon's hand is ripped straight from the Belgariad, where Garion has exactly the same mark.
In addition, the chapter of the bridge crossing - tricking the tollman - comes straight from David Eddings' 'the Ruby Knight', almost word for word.
Oh, and that fiery blue sword? Guess where that came from...
Tolkien
If you haven't seen these links, then I feel sorry for you. Most fantasy writers make an attempt at originality, but no, that's not for Christopher Paolini. His description of Arya matches, almost word for word, the description of Arwen, who bears a remarkably similar name. Oh, and Eragon/Aragorn. Huh.
What else, what else? Other than most of the names, which have only a couple of letters changed,[footnote]There's a proper list here http://telpenori.blogspot.com/2007/02/paolini-and-plagiarism_28.html[/footnote] there are also the characteristics of elves and dwarves, and so on.
Star Wars
Brom is essentially a mix of Gandalf and Obi-Wan Kenobi, while the entire plot is ripped straight from these films. Refer to the link at the bottom, if you don't believe me. What else? riders/glowy magic swords and jedi/lightsabers. Woa, that's crazy. Not to mention that the ancient force of lawkeepers was wiped out by one of their own, who then took an apprentice and is trying to kill the inheritor of the jedi/dragon rider legacy. Fuck, I'm going into too much detail. Just read the link.
Wheel of Time
Okay, small boy starts on a farm, father gravely wounded by poisoned blade, leaves with ancient guardian to fight old evil. It's a toss-up as to whether that's from Star Wars or WoT, but there's some other stuff as well.
For instance, Roran. His character is simply a badly written carbon copy of Perrin. They both lose their wives to the evil forces, neglect the people under their leadership, become utterly desperate to rescue her, have leadership and self confidence, and, on top of all that, they both go around killing people with FUCKING HAMMERS. Or that could all just be a coincidence. You tell me.
Ursula Le Guin
There are a couple of links here, but the main one is the ancient language. the Wizard of Earthsea was this magical land, where in the ancient tongue, everything had a name by which it could be controlled, and that was how magicians exercised their power. Sound familiar?
Magician
There are a couple of things that could come from either this or The Dragonriders of Pern, but, essentially, Eragon has a lot in common with Tomas of Midkemia. Tomas befriends a dragon, and becomes the inheritor of the legacy of the Valheru, an ancient race of Dragon lords/riders that once roamed the world. Also, once he takes on that mantle, his features become more sculpted, more alien, and he goes off and woos the elven queen. Again, can you see any links to Eragon here?
The Dragonriders of Pern
Essentially, most of this is in the title, but one of the important things here is the telepathic link between riders and their dragons.
Terry Pratchett
I'm getting a little sick of writing now, but read through the first five Discworld novels, and take a shot of whisky every time you read something that popped up in Eragon. I assure you, you'll be roaring drunk by the end.
There's more, far more, but I can't be bothered to get into it, any more. Just rest assured that Eragon is in no way, shape or form original, and that it should never have been published.
The system of magic, widely praised in Eragon, is ripped straight from David Eddings' universe. Not only can magic casters not exceed spells that would require more strength than is in their body, but magicians must be super careful to phrase or think everything precisely as they intend it, or face dire consequences. If that's not enough, the silvery mark on Eragon's hand is ripped straight from the Belgariad, where Garion has exactly the same mark.
In addition, the chapter of the bridge crossing - tricking the tollman - comes straight from David Eddings' 'the Ruby Knight', almost word for word.
Oh, and that fiery blue sword? Guess where that came from...
Tolkien
If you haven't seen these links, then I feel sorry for you. Most fantasy writers make an attempt at originality, but no, that's not for Christopher Paolini. His description of Arya matches, almost word for word, the description of Arwen, who bears a remarkably similar name. Oh, and Eragon/Aragorn. Huh.
What else, what else? Other than most of the names, which have only a couple of letters changed,[footnote]There's a proper list here http://telpenori.blogspot.com/2007/02/paolini-and-plagiarism_28.html[/footnote] there are also the characteristics of elves and dwarves, and so on.
Star Wars
Brom is essentially a mix of Gandalf and Obi-Wan Kenobi, while the entire plot is ripped straight from these films. Refer to the link at the bottom, if you don't believe me. What else? riders/glowy magic swords and jedi/lightsabers. Woa, that's crazy. Not to mention that the ancient force of lawkeepers was wiped out by one of their own, who then took an apprentice and is trying to kill the inheritor of the jedi/dragon rider legacy. Fuck, I'm going into too much detail. Just read the link.
Wheel of Time
Okay, small boy starts on a farm, father gravely wounded by poisoned blade, leaves with ancient guardian to fight old evil. It's a toss-up as to whether that's from Star Wars or WoT, but there's some other stuff as well.
For instance, Roran. His character is simply a badly written carbon copy of Perrin. They both lose their wives to the evil forces, neglect the people under their leadership, become utterly desperate to rescue her, have leadership and self confidence, and, on top of all that, they both go around killing people with FUCKING HAMMERS. Or that could all just be a coincidence. You tell me.
Ursula Le Guin
There are a couple of links here, but the main one is the ancient language. the Wizard of Earthsea was this magical land, where in the ancient tongue, everything had a name by which it could be controlled, and that was how magicians exercised their power. Sound familiar?
Magician
There are a couple of things that could come from either this or The Dragonriders of Pern, but, essentially, Eragon has a lot in common with Tomas of Midkemia. Tomas befriends a dragon, and becomes the inheritor of the legacy of the Valheru, an ancient race of Dragon lords/riders that once roamed the world. Also, once he takes on that mantle, his features become more sculpted, more alien, and he goes off and woos the elven queen. Again, can you see any links to Eragon here?
The Dragonriders of Pern
Essentially, most of this is in the title, but one of the important things here is the telepathic link between riders and their dragons.
Terry Pratchett
I'm getting a little sick of writing now, but read through the first five Discworld novels, and take a shot of whisky every time you read something that popped up in Eragon. I assure you, you'll be roaring drunk by the end.
There's more, far more, but I can't be bothered to get into it, any more. Just rest assured that Eragon is in no way, shape or form original, and that it should never have been published.
I started this thread so people could talk about the books, not hate on them and there author. Also, Star Wars got most, if not all, of its story from the space fascination of the time. LOTR got most of itself from Lore. EDIT: Also, so they could recommend books of similar ilk, suck as the Xanth series of novels.
I read the first and it was the second worst book I ever read. It's still better than Twilight, but it wasn't great by any means. I hated it.
I'll stick to Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter for my good fantasy reads.
I'll stick to Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter for my good fantasy reads.
Tolkien startted the fantasy genre, by drawing inspiration from folklore, but changing it until it was a totally unique and utterly unrecognisable world.noah22223 said:
Star Wars' plot was, admittedly, based in part on one of Akira Kurosawa's films, but even then, it was still more a matter of inspiration than anything else. Also, it took the setting from the fascination with space, not the plot.
Anyways, sorry for derailing your thread :S
If you're looking for another good fantasy series, what things in particular do you want? Humour, drama, detail, epicness or what?
The first one was good and yes the general setup for the whole thing did borrow from star wars, but it wasn't obvious enough to bother me when I was reading it. It is one of the few books I've read more than once though so despite any borrowing it's still a fun book to read, especially if you don't take it all that seriously.
The second one was alright. I enjoyed reading it.
The third one seemed like Paolini was getting a little lazy. I can't put my finger on it, but it just seemed like he wasn't trying as hard. By the end I wasn't totally able to follow exactly what was going on and I didn't care as much as it seemed like I should have.
I'm going to read the fourth one, but I'm not expecting all that much.
The film was one of the worst movie I ever laughed my way through at how bad it was. Yeah the scenery was nice, but everything else about the movie was just terrible.
hhmm now I kinda wanna go read the first one again...eh I don't really have the time right now.
The second one was alright. I enjoyed reading it.
The third one seemed like Paolini was getting a little lazy. I can't put my finger on it, but it just seemed like he wasn't trying as hard. By the end I wasn't totally able to follow exactly what was going on and I didn't care as much as it seemed like I should have.
I'm going to read the fourth one, but I'm not expecting all that much.
The film was one of the worst movie I ever laughed my way through at how bad it was. Yeah the scenery was nice, but everything else about the movie was just terrible.
hhmm now I kinda wanna go read the first one again...eh I don't really have the time right now.
Dude, please put spoilers in spoiler tags. Some of us haven't read all the way through The Wheel of Time and don't want to know whether or not a character dies ahead of time. -.-Bobbity said:
OT: I read the first two books as a kid and enjoyed them enough. However, in the long wait for the third book, two things happen: I realized that the plot was a damn near copy of Star Wars', and unrelatedly, I simply lost interest and moved on to other books.
Eragon was an enjoyable read when I was about 13. At the time it seemed rather more interesting and adult than Harry Potter and the other fantasy stuff I'd read up to that point. I liked Eldest as well, though my enthusiasm waned somewhat in the wait for Brisingr. Brisingr itself is rather long-winded and Paolini is not very good at making politics interesting, but frankly that's a rare gift. I will probably read Inheritance at some point because I am still curious how the story will turn out, but it's not very high on my to do list.
The series is very unoriginal and, especially in the first book, not terribly well written. Whether the lack of originality is due to outright plagiarism or the work just being plain old derivative is up to Paolini to say. In his defence, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings made such fascinating stories by bringing together many different story telling themes and ideas and combining them into a whole. This, combined with their massive cultural impact means that its often difficult not to write something without owing something to them. Not that it really excuses the Inheritance Cycle's quality, just thought I'd play devil's advocate for a bit.
The series is very unoriginal and, especially in the first book, not terribly well written. Whether the lack of originality is due to outright plagiarism or the work just being plain old derivative is up to Paolini to say. In his defence, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings made such fascinating stories by bringing together many different story telling themes and ideas and combining them into a whole. This, combined with their massive cultural impact means that its often difficult not to write something without owing something to them. Not that it really excuses the Inheritance Cycle's quality, just thought I'd play devil's advocate for a bit.
Garth Nix is awesome. I picked up Sabriel around the same age as I did Eragon and I enjoyed it far more. The rest of the Abhorsen series is even better, (The Disreputable Dog is awesomeness incarnate) though I'm not terribly fond of some of his other stuff like Shade's Children.Canadish said:
Your not alone on that last point. I think me and all my friends said the same thing.Psymon138 said:
The Old Kingdom series was just very well put together in a very different and interesting Fantasy land. We all wanted more of that.
Also, is the last Inheritance book out now or something?