Eragon

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 6:11pm

Has anyone read the books? If so, are they any good? I just saw the trailer for the movie coming out in December, and it looks really good.


Eragon trailer

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 6:18pm

I haven't read the books, but the movie looks good.
They're on my Must Read list.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 6:19pm

When I was student teaching last year they were all the rage amongst the 4th and 5th graders. I've heard they're excellent.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 6:24pm

After watching all of my customers go nuts over this book, I'm waiting for the third one to come out so I can read them all at once. Everyone says they're fantastic.

[Phantom23]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 7:11pm

I've read the two that are out. They're just ok. They're entertaining enough, but not written very well, and the plots and characters are clearly lifted straight from Lord of the Rings and other typical fantasy stories. I don't want to post any spoilers, but if you read them you'll see what I mean.

[Color and Light]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 8:15pm

The Eragon series is nothing more than a set of terribly-written, derivative books. The plot of the first installment is basically Star Wars: A New Hope meets JRR Tolkien, by way of Anne McCaffrey. You could dismiss the similarities as coincidences if they weren't so word-for-word similiar. I suppose if the reader is young or has never picked up a fantasy novel, there will be some enjoyment to glean. But for everyone else, it's nothing more than a florid rehash of fantasy cliches. It's not even enjoyable fluff material.

Eragon, in short, is just this: A home-schooled teenager's wet dream, published by his parents.

But now let me tell you how I really feel ...



EDIT: Jeremy Irons really needs to stop with the bad CGI fantasy movies. Did he learn nothing from Dungeons & Dragons?

Updated On: 9/21/06 at 08:15 PM

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 8:43pm

"Eragon, in short, is just this: A home-schooled teenager's wet dream, published by his parents."


BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Good thing I haven't read them. I'd use that line on a customer, but I actually want to sell these things.

[Color and Light]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 8:55pm

And it's all true - at least, in my opinion! And believe me, I originally approached the first book with high hopes. I haven't read the second book, so maybe perhaps it redeems the first one, somewhat. However, I've heard only terrible things about it.

This is why most teenagers aren't published authors. I am all for fostering a young writer's talents, but most teenagers honestly aren't ready for the big leagues.

However, I have to hand it to Knopf for their ingenious marketing/timing.

1. Find a trashy fantasy novel already on the self-published circuit.
2. Slap a wunderkind title on the teenaged author - even though he's hit his twenties at the point of publishing.
3. Print it between installments of the Harry Potter series, while the younger JK Rowling fans are starving for something new to read.

There you have it! Instant gold.

I'm normally not a party-pooper - if someone enjoys something that I hate, I keep my opinions to myself and let them be. But this series is nothing more than right-out plagiarism, excused by the fact that the author was fifteen when he started writing them. If the author was a 40-year-old man, the Eragon series would be lost in a sea of crappy airport novels.

Updated On: 9/21/06 at 08:55 PM

[Phantom23]

Posted: 9/21/06 at 10:25pm

The second novel does nothing to redeem the series; indeed, it only increases one's frustrations. I found myself wanting to write to Paolini and ask him who he thought he was kidding. There's not a drop of originality in him. It might have been excusable if he was a magnificent writer, but he's not. He belongs in the "teenagers who never should have been published" group, along with Amelia Atwater-Rhodes and Kaavya Viswanathan.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 8:26am

If you don't mind me asking, what things are in the books that relate to LORD OF THE RINGS, besides a quest (which every science fiction books has)?

[Phantom23]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 9:37am

*****POSSIBLE SPOILERS*****




Let me preface this by saying that I have only read each Inheritance book once, and that was last year. I have also only read each LOTR book once. Still, I'm pretty confident my comparisons are correct in their main points.

First, there are the two main characters. Tolkein has Aragorn, a human man with great hunting and battle skills whose family history is central to the story. Paolini has Eragon, a human boy who grows into a man with great hunting and battle skills whose family history is central to the story.

Tolkein has Arwen, a beautiful female elf with dark black hair who is of royal blood. Paolini has Arya, who, believe it or not, is a beautiful female elf with dark black hair who is of royal blood. Arya and Eragon are believed by fans to be destined to fall in love, as Arwen and Aragorn were in love.

Also, the topography of Middle Earth and Paolini's world are somehwat similar, and the overall direction of the quest Paolini takes his characters on very much resemble's Frodo's journey from the Shire to Mordor.

In Inheritance, Eragon dreams of a day that will come when he and the elves will travel across the sea to safety. In LOTR, Frodo does exactly this when he leaves across the sea with the elves.

Tolkein had Orcs (Uruk-hai), nasty creatures that made up most of the armies the protagonists had to fight. Paolini has Urgals, nasty creatures which make up most of the armies the protagonists have to fight. The nine Nazgul of Tolkein. The thirteen Forsworn of Paolini. Dwarves and elves don't get along in both works.

If you do some googling, or bang around Wikipedia, it's easy to find more comprehensive lists. You can also find comparisons to the Star Wars, movies, from which Paolini also lifted a great deal.

[actor]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 10:43pm

Hmmmm, it seems I have to cross Eragon off of my "books to read" list.

[Atrias]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 10:54pm

Well, let me put it this way. I own the books, but I didn't pay for them.
The immaturity of most of the text astonishes me; I wonder who on earth could have edited the books, as I, an amateur, am constantly picking his writing style to pieces.

[suddenlyseymour]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 10:55pm

well I haven't read the books, but one of my fave actresses is in the movie. Sienna Guillory is playing Arya so I will def be seeing it because of her

[actor]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 10:59pm

My guess is that Eragon is simply another carbon copy of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter combined.

Please -- can someone write something original??

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 11:07pm

I was at work last night when I read this thread, and I asked a co-worker of mine what he thought of them. He started enthusiastically gushing about them. When I read some of Color and Light's description to him, he not only disagreed, he got kind of angry about it.

Based on what I've read here, I don't plan on reading them, unless I'm just completely out of anything else to read - and that never happens. But apparently I wouldn't recommend positing these ideas to someone who's a fan. These people'll cut you!

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 9/23/06 at 8:20am

I'll actually have to read them myself to form an opinion. I mean, how many other science fiction books are carbon copies of LORD OF THE RINGS (probably about 80% of them). The thing about any fiction really, is that people pick and "borrow" from other people . . . just like movies, music, and art. But, thanks for your opinions. The movie still looks like it is going to kick arse, and I am def. looking forward to it.