Eragon

Rating:
Summary: Childish and too unoriginal
Review: The amazing thing about this book was that it was written by a 15 year old. But the bad thing is that it was horrible. The charactors were so much like LOTR. I felt like this book was too slow paced and lacked action. It also had a very loose story line and lacked any epic feeling. I also felt that is was hard to love the charectors. They all(old or young) had the heart of a 15 year old. Brom,the old wise rider, lacked the wiseness that charectors such as Gandalf had. Overall I hated this book and i dont intend on reading the rest of the series.

Rating:
Summary: Not much special . . .
Review: Essentially, this book is like wearing an old comfy sweater. I knew the story by heart before I had finished the first chapter. It's such a basic, innocuous fantasy novel - it reminded me of why I began reading fanasy to begin with, but it didn't give me anything new.

The novel had no voice of it's own - it was bland, and I agree with "Ivy" that he is a novice, simply because his writing was boring and seemed forced. No one ever showed him how to write transparently, and though he may grow into a fantastic storyteller, he need to take a few writing courses.

Still, it was comfy and entertaining - hand it to your kids, read it out loud to a loved one (I find his language works well aloud - I was shocked how much better it sounded when I started reading it to my boyfriend, etc.

Bottom line: It's no Harry Potter, but it'll pass the time until the next one.

Rating:
Summary: I'd say in between 4 and 5 stars so i just rounded up.
Review: I have to say that I truly enjoyed this novel. Although many of the concepts are like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, this book is refreshingly modern. Furthermore, Cristopher Paolini is concise, unlike Mr. Tolkein who had a tendancy to ramble on and on about the most random topics.
The world of Alagaesia is original and the idea of the epic Dragon Riders and their legendary powers made me quiver with excitement. I absolutely loved this book, but yearned for more information about the elves. Also, Eragon and Saphira are the perfect dynmaic duo. There is an innocent, unconditional friendship between them. Arya is just the correct amount of mystery, Murtagh (despite the horrible puce-like name) is the perfect image of rugged depressed heart throb, and Brom is a great father-figure. The one thing I could not stand, in a good way, was the mystery of it all. There were no true straight answers to anything. I can't wait for more!

Rating:
Summary: Raw talent, but still raw.
Review: I'm not sure why this novel is getting so much attention. Probably because the author is so young. He obviously has writing talent, but it is still raw, and I expect (hope) we will see better writing from him in years to come. In the meantime, Eragon is a humdrum rehash of characters and plot lines we have seen before. And there is surprisingly little action. The majority of the book is a travel log--they're chasing something or running from something, the horses are tired, they make camp. Again. And again. And again. Occasionally something interesting happens. The author has a nice descriptive voice, but at times he tries too hard. He overdescribed settings to the point that it is actually hard to visualize them. (The reader doesn't need to know exact heights, right turns, left turns, etc. Too confusing.) That said, I still give it three stars because I kept reading and kept wondering what would happen and intend to read the next book in the series. I admire the author's natural talent and look forward to his more mature work.

Rating:
Summary: What on Earth
Review: Now plenty of people have said that this book is unoriginal and completely cliched. I myself find that I must agree with them. One can only read about elves and dwarves and dragons so many times. Along with the fact that the storyline was "slightly" overdone. The multiple versions of said thing did make me angry at times but i might have been able to look past it had the book been original. I'm a fan of fantasy and all, but eventually the same plot can get old. I would have liked to see a few less $20 words and a few more $2 words. Some people might have to go and get a dictionary every other sentence. It's just as easy to get the point across without the crazy descriptions and what-not. I must say that Christopher Paolini does show some promise however. If he can get over making readers feel stupid when they have to sound out half the words on a page, and can decide on a plot and stick with it, then it is possible that the next books could be good reads. I'll probably read them nonetheless because i have nothing better to do, but i would like to be a tad bit more interested. I think he should remember that triteness is bad and originality is good.

Rating:
Summary: Nuff Said
Review: Okay...keeping this short and simple. Same old reused tired plot. Writting could be alot better and the story could have been stitched together probably much better. Characters do not have a good balance with each other. Not really suspenseful since we've all seen this story before (just with different characters). BUT it's a okay good book for kids to read if they really can't get into Lord of the Rings. I would say this would be a replacement book for kids that are around 10-16 who can't understand or get into Lord of the Rings.

Rating:
Summary: WARNING!!!!!!!!!
Review: Eragon is what I would call an 'editor's dream'; meaning that there is practically nothing new in this book and it sounds as though the editor wrote it. This book is like a badly mixed recipe, with hints from all kinds of books and rolled together, bumpy and boring. It barely held my attention, and there is a very annoying fact that there is hardly any strong girl charactors.

It starts out with a classic sound of King Arthur, and when you think about it, the history of Eragon's land is basically a copy of Camelot. The basic plot is incredibly predictable. The only characters that I liked were the dragon, Saphira, the healer Angela, and the elf Arya. I really did not care whether Eragon lived or died.

About the only thing I liked about the writing was that he actually used some good adjectives, and even then it annoyed me that he used the word 'lanced' too much.

I hope that he gets more skill as a writer in the next books, and doesn't rely on the editor so much. (Or sounds like he used the editor too much).

In fact, the only reasons I will read the next book is to see how Saphira, Angela, and Arya fare, and to see the villainy of King Galbatorix. Please, PLEASE make Eldest better written than Eragon!

Rating:
Summary: I agree with Ivy
Review: Okay. This kid can write. True. But...the incessant versions of things other than said (assured was one that irked me severely) was aggravating. And the story was SOO cliched, it was incredible. I really could barely stand it. It was just a jumble of every fantasy story you've ever read. And I don't think he "was inspired by" Tolkien. Get it right. He copied him.

Rating:
Summary: Not entirely original, but fun just the same
Review: To everyone who keeps saying that the themes in this book have been done before, I do agree that there are many parallels between Eragon and The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, and other fantasy series. However, as a book for young people, I still think it is well-written and enjoyable and very well done for a teen-age author. I don't think many kids his age could do as well. Most kids are not going to sit there and analyze the story and criticize it because it's too much like another book. Kids just enjoy a good story that keeps them engrossed, and these days I'm in favor of anything that will keep kids reading.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Book...
Review: Eragon is, without question, a good book-in fact, when I was reading it for the first time I could hardly put it down. However, when you read it for the second and third times, you start to see the similarities between it and so many other fantasy epics...most prominent, Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. Star Wars, particularly-a boy's family is killed, he goes with an old man who has a mysterious past away from his homeland, rescues a beautiful woman who has, in her last seconds of freedom, transported something that is of vital importance to the survival of a rebellion-the examples go on and on.
In contrast, though, I thought that Saphira, Angela, and Orik were all particularly good characters. They all had fully developed personalities, good senses of humor, and they seemed to be truly figments of the authors imagination-or based on people in real life instead of in other books. I also really liked the description of Tronjheim. The book is engrossing and good fantasy, although you can tell that it is a begining work. I think that the trilogy will get better with time, and I do recommend the book.