Eragon

Rating:
Summary: His age is no excuse...
Review: To be honest, criticisms of this book have already been voiced a hundred times before, and better than I could say. Derivative, unashamedly cliched and dull...sadly, it's all true. But one thing that keeps popping is the author's age. The fact is that blaming the poor quality of the writing on his youth is a bit of a cop out. If you can write well, you can write well no matter how old you are. Sure, you improve as you go along, but a novice writer who starts at the age of 30 can be just as bad as a novice who starts at 13. Don't give this kid the excuse; talent shows at any age, and he has very little.

Rating:
Summary: It's a good book.
Review: ...If you yearn for a good read, and you enjoy fantasy (both light hearted and slightly darker), then you will enjoy this book. Yes, it is close to LoTR, but if you are an avid fantasy reader, then you know a lot of things are. The kid was 15 when he began writing it (althought it truly does not really show), and he only has a full lifetime to improve. As for me, I'm hooked... I cannot wait for the second installment in the Inheritance Trilogy... Don't take my word for it, find out for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: bad, bad, bad
Review: As we all know by now, the author was fifteen when he wrote Eragon. Whoever he showed it to should have said, "This is a great book, kid. You should become an author when you grow up!" But instead they went and published it.

Aside from the beautiful cover, the book has almost nothing to recommend it. There are nearly no original elements. The characters have no personality to speak of, except for the dragon, who is smug. The action is patently unbelievable from paragraph to paragraph--I remember one scene where Eragon draws his bow and fires an arrow behind him to kill an opponent who's chasing him, and I finally quit reading when he was able to beat one of the best swordsmen in the world, left-handed, after only a few months of practice since growing up as a farm boy.

Rating:
Summary: A Book to Rival Harry Potter!!!
Review: I got the book before it came out in stores online, and LOVED it!!!! It has a lot of interesting story plots and really challenges you to continue reading the book. If you like the Harry Potter series, you will find interesting story plots and character developments in the book. This is defintitely a book to read. Recommended for people 11+ because of the challenging nature of the book. Enjoy!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Good book for light reading
Review: This was a fine book for some light reading. Obviously I noticed the similarities between the book and other fantasy novels, but this shouldn't bother a true fantasy reader. After all, dwarves, elves, men, orcs/goblins/urgals, etc. are usually the same in every single fantasy book (unless it's Terry Pratchett--books you shouldn't read unless you have a sense of humor).

So, even though countless other people ... complained about it being "copycat," I would like to remind possible readers (and those who have read the book) that Mr. Paolini is simply remaining true to unspoken fantasy norms, which is what pretty much all fantasy authors do.

If you'd like to read a good book that doesn't require labored reading, try Eragon.

Rating:
Summary: This book is awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I loved this book. Cristopher knows how to put it all together.
Eragon is a addicting story that has an amazing plot, beggining, middle, and end. I want to read it over and over agian. If I could I would buy Eldest now. To put it together if you like fantasy buy this book!

Rating:
Summary: Too big for young readers, too young for big readers
Review: Eragon is a good book, however it's very simplistic. Adult readers will pretty much know what's going to happen three pages in advance...This doesn't mean that the book doesn't have little surprises, it does....but the main plot is pretty much predictable...This book is probably more suited to middle school kids, but the sheer size of this story will drive off almost all potential pre-teen readers.

Rating:
Summary: My Connection to Eragon
Review: The main characters of this book are so developed that after I read it, I found that I had become attached to some of them. I missed hearing the banter between Eragon and his companion, Murtagh. I missed the daily swordplay lessons between Eragon and Brom. I missed the interactions between all of the characters. This novel was a well-crafted, well-planned, and well-written story. It was an adventure just to read it. While reading, because of Paolini's vivid imagery, I felt like I was there. When I sat down with this book, I was on a dragon's back sword fighting with monsters and wielding magic, I was on horseback riding across a desert in company of friends, I was the one living the adventure. Paolini's vivid description of characters added to this illusion. Murtagh and I would sword fight around a campfire at night until we were so tired we collapsed laughing. Brom was teaching me the secrets of magic and showing me how to control my dragon in flight. I was the one who was communicating with Saphira and growing to love her. This huge weight that had been put on Eragon's shoulders and all of the things that came with it didn't belong to him. When I was reading, they belonged to me. That is why I love reading so much. It gives me the chance to live out grand adventures that are impossible to live anywhere else except through books. Eragon provided me with an adventure that was unlike any I have ever experienced and that is why I love it so much.

Rating:
Summary: What a wonderful book!
Review: What we have here is a kid writing an epic scale book for other kids to read.

For all those who gave this book a not-so-great review, perhaps you are reading under your age group.

Since this book is professionally reviewed for readers age 10 - 14, I read it to see if it would be over the head of my 8 year old grandson. He's read all the Harry Potter books, so it should be just about right for him.

My grandson will not notice the influence of other stories on this young author, Paolini. My grandson will read this book for hours of sheer delight. Just as I read Tolkein and McCaffery in high school before I became an adult and realized how heavily THEY borrowed from the many others who came before.

Forget Tolkein's Aragorn!!! Did anyone even notice that replacing the "E" in Eragon with a "D" changes the name/word to Dragon? Big-Ups for Paolini's sense of humor.

I would be happy to see more reviews from readers within a book's intended age group. It's rather usless for adults to do a pick-apart review of a book created for young readers... All we get is griping about the lack of literary sophistication. As if my 8 year old grandson would know or care.

Perhaps the neigh-sayers should read works a bit more elevated on the Literary Ladder.... might better suit their adult tastes. Leave the kids books to the kids.

Again, this is a wonderful reading adventure for the pre-high school set. Everyone else's time would be better spent re-reading The Silmarillion.... even if Tolkein did rip off scores of local myths and legends from around the globe.

Rating:
Summary: Eragon
Review: As a 40 (something) year old reader of many fantasy books, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It reminds me of the Harry Potter books in that it leaves you anxiously awaiting the next book in the trilogy. It also is not just a book for young adults but a book everyone can read. I think it's amazing that a 19 year old wrote it and I hope that Christopher Paolini has many more succesful years of writing for us to enjoy! I can't wait til the next book, Eldest, is out!