Author: Christopher Paolini
Published: 2005
Genre: YA Fantasy

Book One – The Inheritance Cycle

Book Two Review | Book Three Review | Book Four Review | Book Five Review

Synopsis From Goodreads:

One boy…
One dragon…
A world of adventure.

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.

Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.

My Take:

As Eragon was first published in 2003, it has been around for a while and has had time to have many, many opinions formed about it. It seems you either love the book or hate it. The haters mention that it is evident that Paolini just took plot lines and characters from other stories (Lord of the Rings and Star Wars) and mashed them together. They criticize his writing style, his descriptions, and, well, some criticize just about everything. For those that love the book, most are effusive in their praise without much in the way of explanation. Many point out that the difference is in the age of the reader. If you are young when you first read it, you love it. If you are an adult, then you hate it. That may have some truth to it, but I don’t believe it is that simple. I would posit that your expectations when approaching the book have a bit of bearing on whether you enjoy it or not.

When I first read Eragon I was 25, so not a teenager, but it was one of my first experiences in the fantasy genre outside of The Lord of the Rings series (LOTR). I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was not bothered by any plot line similarities; if you have read many books within a specific genre, you have encountered similar plot lines multiple times. If you don’t believe me, think about it. How many times have you read a book where an average person has to rise above their origins and accomplish a great task with the help of either a special object, a special person, or a special previously-unknown skill, even if it is just extraordinary grit and determination? This is not a unique plot, and it can’t be because we as humans love the theme of a normal person doing great things. And as far as its similarity to LOTR, well, yes, it is. Quite a bit. It is a world that is made up of elves, humans, dwarves, and monsters that have a great evil to be fought against. There are big battles and long treks through various climates. If you like fantasy and worlds such as LOTR, why would you NOT enjoy a similar world? But a major difference between the two is Eragon is NOT Literature (yes, with a capital L) like LOTR. There are no extensive ballads, poems, or histories such as is common in LOTR. It was also written for young adults. LOTR was not, so to expect it to have the same gravity is ridiculous. It is a fun adventure story of a young boy who is thrust into a world he never expected to encounter and is given challenges that many of us would find difficult. It is a book with magic and dragons. It is a book that is read for the sheer enjoyment of a magical adventure. So leave your preconceived notions and expectations and just have fun!