Eragon

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Summary: Eragon, by Christopher Paolini
Review: This is one of the finest fantasy works I have read. It takes the reader on a wonderful adventure, involving them in the mystical relationship of a boy, his dragon and his mentor. The story flows naturally and easily as you are taken along with the characters on their journey to right their world. You cannot help but cheer for them. I cannot wait for the young Mr. Paolini's sequel novel. For now I have slipped Eragon into my collection, next to Tolkein.

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Summary: Amazing!
Review: I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. It contains all the basic elements of a true classic, magic, mystical creatures, a lovable hero and most importantly DRAGONS! Christopher Paolini portrays these mysterious creatures so well that everyone I now that has read this book now wants a dragon.Though i enjoyed this book a few similarities between it and Lord Of The Rings were evident but i let them slide just due to the superb story.If you are a fan of interresting imaginative fiction books you should really enjoy this, I know I did!!!!!!!!!!!1

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Summary: Eragon
Review: I read an article about Eragon in "Home Education Magazine" which fascinated me. For the next few months, I searched everywhere for it, but was disappointed.

Recently, however, a friend mentioned this "dragon book" by a fifteen year old. My response was, "Eragon?" That was how I found out where to get the book.

I read it in two days, and was drawn in by every sentence. To be fair, there were some instances which I thought stilted, for example, when Solembum informs Eragon about what to do if his power is insufficient, etc. It sounded too much like my own writing.

And yet it fit, and I definitely could not write it any better. Some descriptions have been said to be clichés, and yet, in the context of the book, they fit. Sure, he could do better, but where would Paolini go if he wrote his best book at fifteen?

The languages are interesting, although more of them would always be nice for those of us who are amateur linguists. The few sentences aren't enough to have a grammatical review. But more will surely be coming in Eldest, book two.

Why is Eragon so popular, and so hated? I have read articles by people who find it
repulsive, who need to read all the Harry Potter books to cleanse their minds before sleeping, and I also have my own reaction which was to redesign my list of best authors from JRR Tolkien, Asimov, and Jacques to JRR Tolkien, Paolini, Asimov, and Jacques.

This is proof that it is like the LotR, as JRRT observed peoples reactions to it in a poem: The Lord of the Rings/is one of those things/if you like it you do/if you don't then you boo!

Congratulations to Christopher Paolini for a great book, and I, for one, have no need to cleanse my mind after reading "Eragon." (Which is not something I could say about some other writers. . .)

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Summary: Pretty imaginative
Review: For someone so young, this first book is quite complex. So waht if the author borrowed on a theme? Most published works these days are rarely an original thought.

Eragon has accomplished in one book what it took the first four of the Harry Potter series to achieve. The book introduces us to a world of innocence that is quickly overshadowed by harship, mistrust, hard-won friendships, war, and politics. I also love the sassiness of Saphira. I do love Harry Potter, but I place Eragon much closer to my first love which is the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In a world where it is so hard to get some youngsters to pick up a book, I'm glad that one had enough imagination, drive, and support to write one.

I look forward to the future of Eragon.

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Summary: The Dragon and the Unknown Warrior-a review by Chris, age 10
Review: Eragon is a boy who lives in a very poor family and when the book starts he is in a wood called the Spine, where he finds a blue rock. He goes home and later to the market. He finds that the rock is harder than crystal. He goes in search of more information. When he gets home he finds the egg is shaking and the next morning it is gone ... and a dragon replaces it! He raises it for many weeks, then goes to Brom the storyteller for advice. The next day his house is burned to the ground, and he finds that the most unexpected people are warriors. He goes in search of revenge on whatever force did this.

This book was written by a teenaged boy who is going to write a few novels in his time. It will probably inspire many young readers to become great authors. There will probably be good novels, bad novels, and novels that change the world (like Eragon). This book is an adventurous mystery with magic and swords, packed with ghouls, goblins, and creatures of that sort. It sticks to the reader like a shadow sticks to a person. This is a fabulous book that I would recommend it to anyone who likes Harry Potter (J. K. Rowling) and The Lost Years of Merlin (T. A. Barron). This is a wonderful book and I can't wait for Eldest to come out.

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Summary: Beyond Beauty
Review: I was drawn to this book by it's cover. Then I read a few reviews on Amazon and purchased it.
I was interested to read a book written by one so young. I was skeptical at first, comparing the prose to more experienced writers. By chapter three, I was hooked. I found this to be one of the most beautiful stories I have read. I found the writing everthing I enjoy in novels. The scenery is well described, the character development is well done. The mystery surrounding each character is beautifully revealed throughout the book. I could not wait to get home from work to get back to it each day. I love Saphira and can not wait for the second book to visit with my new favorite characters. I would not compare this book to any other. It is one in it's own and I look forward to more from this young author.
I am in my fifties and would recommend this book for young and young at heart. In fact I will buy another for my grand son for his birthday. Who says You can't judge a book by it's cover?

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Summary: Simply Amazing
Review: Let me say this right now--whoever reads this book will be amazed by it. Not by the young age the author was when he wrote it, but by the fact that it is as good as (or better than) any other modern fantasy book on the market today. The world that Christopher Paolini has created is so absorbing that you won't be able to put this book down. His characters are complicated and very human. The story begins when a young man named Eragon, who is out hunting in a section of his country known as The Spine, discovers a dragon's egg. I really don't want to spoil the story for anyone who hasn't read the book, so I'm not going to say anything more about it. Paolini's beautiful use of the English language is complimented perfectly by his tremendous creative ability. Other than the use of some common fantasy creatures (elves, dwarves, dragons, etc.), this story is completely original. I never found myself complaining about the fact that I had read something like this a thousand times before because, well, I hadn't. Every chapter of this book is intelligently written, without even the slightest hint of monotony. I strongly recommend this book to everyone. Go buy it now. You won't regret it.

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Summary: Mediocre, at best
Review: Having succumbed to the media hype about this book, I bought a copy at Costco. I wasted my money.

Don't mistake this for quality writing, or look for any quality of imagination. This has none of the scope of Tolkein, which it tries to emulatle without success. It has none of the richness and versimilitude of Rowling. The situations are banal, the battles are silly, the characters are wooden. Out of deference to the critics who liked the book, I kept reading, waiting to figure out why they had praised it. I can only assume it is because of the age of the author. But that can't, and doesn't, make this a good read. And nothing in the book itself does.

The attempts to create suspense are painful to watch. Mr. Paolini should read some Stephen King or watch some Hitchcock to see how to create suspense. The character development is minimal at best. Most fantasy depends on unlikely and unexplained coincidences, but these are so unlikely as to be laughable.

If you are a fantasy addict and need new books to feed your addiction, I suppose this is no worse than most other fantasy being published today, though you would be advised to wait until it comes out in paperback. But if you're looking for a good read, skip this one.

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Summary: The Best Book Ever
Review: This book is the best book I've ever read! I'm only 10 and I've read all the Harry Potter books & all the Lord of the Rings books and they were great. But this book rocked 'em all!!!!Paolini is the greatest author ever!!!I can't wait 'til he writes more. This book is definitely not a waste of $$$!!!!!!!!

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Summary: A Conceited Attempt at Literature
Review: I tried to finish this book. I really did. But, as a lover of books, I decided that this story was not for me. The author is obviously an amateur, and would do very well in a high school English class. However, his home-school background shows through the flaking veneer of this unrelatable book. His sentence structure is amazingly halted, unable to flow like a quality piece of literature. Making my attempt to read this book all the less enjoyable is the author's precocious vocabulary, needless proper names and jargon, and endless simile and metaphor that fills the pages. This book is less than the quality literature that I would expect from Knoph Publishers and is merely a lengthy oddity, not an odyssey, written by a young but hardly gifted author.