Rating: 
Summary: Am I supposed to be impressed?
Review: Maybe it's me, but I think the fact that I'm repeatedly told that this novel was written by a fifteen year old is some kind strategic sales tactic by the publishers. I mean, knowing that the author is a minor already has us inclined to think that this novel will be nothing short of spectacular. If he's only fifteen, than this had better be a darn good book for it to be published! Of course, like most assumptions, that turned out to be wrong.What's wrong with this book? Aside from technical aspects, like awkward sentencing and poor editing, the real problem with this novel is that its author seems too focused on copying other, better writers. Paolini seems very keen on pulling off a Tolkien-esque story with a Tolkien-esque narrative, which makes this entire book (pretty though the packaging may be) seem awfully amateurish. I strongly discourage the continuation of this series, because it's extremely derivative. I suggest The Lord of the Rings trilogy (though weaker readers will find it exhaustive) or the Harry Potter books (note: J.K Rowling deserves all the hype she's getting...and you'll notice if you compare book 1 and book 5 how much she's grown as a writer.)
Rating: 
Summary: Written by a lover of everything fantasy
Review: Eragon, although extremely well written, seems to be several stories thrown into one. The book shares many of its ideas with classics, the most obvious being The Lord of the Rings and the Dragonriders of Pern. Some similarities including a romance between a human male and a female elf (by the name of Arya; could it be any closer to Arwen?), dwarves that mine and live in cities under the mountains, Urgals whose descriptions seem offly close to those of Orcs, and Kulls which are a hybrid species of Urgals that are tall and more ferocious (nothing at all like Tolkiens Uruk-hai).
But, despite all these similarities and my descriminations against the book, I reluctanly have to say that I actually enjoyed the book. I have a weakness for anything and everything fantasy and despite its imperfections Eragon is one of the better fantasy books in todays book market.
Rating: 
Summary: Why do so many people like this book?
Review: I read this book because it was well reviewed by many people, and I must say I was disapointed. This book lacks everything that is vital to a good fantasy novel: Original plot line, strong characterization, gender balanced cast, and decent dialogue. Paolini uses far too many adverbs, as do many other amateur writers, and he cannot write a good action scene to save his life. The characters were very weak with minimal personality, and none of them were memorable. Also, most of the plot and setting of this book was stolen from a) Tolkien, b) Ursula K. Leguin, or c) Anne McCaffrey. Many of the names of places or people were far to easy to trace back to their sources. Am I the only person who thinks that 'Eragon' sounds suspiciously like Tolkien's character 'Aragorn'? And once that link is established, it's not difficult to see that 'Arya' is an adaptation of 'Arwen'. But what really enraged me about this book was the blatant lack of female characters. In a five hundred page book, only three non-male characters have more than two lines each, and one of them is the dragon. The other two are Arya the elf and Angela the witch. There is nothing wrong with Angela, but Arya is another matter entirely. If she is such a powerful mage and skilled swordswoman, why did she need to be rescued by a fifteen year old by with an enlarged ego? A villan who defeated Arya in about two seconds was later killed by Eragon. I think this is disgusting (...). Maybe I'm just biased because I'm female, but personally, I hate books where the male characters are the best at everything. In conclusion, don't read this book. (...)
Rating: 
Summary: We need more books like this!
Review: I got this book with medium expectations. I love books but they tend to all flow together in a forgetable pool after a while. I expected this to be one of the better ones but still to sink into that pool. I was wrong this book truly is memorable. I enjoyed every last drop. Easlily as good as Harry Potter or for that matter anything you throw at it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book
Review: I thought this was a very good book. I was impressed at the author's young age. I enjoy 'The Lord of the Rings' series and Harry Potter, but this book differs from the others. It has some similar elements but the characters are different. There are no main dragons in the other books plus the character is a mature young man. He faces new skills that he didn't know he had and he only wants to work for the good. Now I need to wait a whole year to read the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Darn good start...
Review: There are two ways to look at this book, I think. One is from the standpoint of a new fantasy novel. The other is from the standpoint of a new fantasy novel written by someone so young. I'll say this right now: It is a great start for an author so young. It's pretty amazing someone going through the latter teenage years had the vision and dedication to write a novel like this. But just because he's still a teen doesn't protect him from the criticisms of having a major novel on shelves next to J.K. Rowling and Tom Clancy and other popular authors. Paolini borrows from other stories...a lot. I caught homages to Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Matrix, and of course, the Dragonriders of Pern series. I was able to accept this throughout the book. These stories are probably all the kid knows. He's bound to borrow from them. At times, it was tiring. At times, it made me smile. I think it's cute how one can tell how Paolini has cast himself in the part of Eragon. And, later in book, his description of Ajihad seems to be of none other than Morpheus from The Matrix. The question remains then: Was he able to craft a compelling story of his own from these elements? I think he achieved this to a point. Ultimately, I was bored through a lot of the book. I read a review which said there wasn't as much travelling as in Lord of the Rings. Are you kidding me? Most of this book is just that, travelling from one location to another. It seems like Paolini drew a map of his imagined world of Alagaesia and wanted to show as many of the locations as he could in 500 pages, while purposely leaving some areas a mystery for future novels. There were many chapters dedicated to the journey and only single chapters here and there about the destinations. A good bit of the book was also very formulaic, something I expected from someone Paolini's age, and which reflects how much he borrowed from other stories. This made much of the book predictable, and slow to read through. That said, I have one big positive remark, as well. I wondered as I read the book whether I would want to go on to his second book, Eldest, when it comes out. By the end of Eragon, I had decided I would want to. The story is nice enough and intriguing enough for me to want to find out what happens to the characters after the final pages. I am also looking forward to seeing if his writing matures, or if this book was the one good bullet in his gun, the rest all blanks. I say good luck to you, Christopher. You have tons of potential.
Rating:
Summary: Eragon
Review: My eight year old son read it from cover to cover and can't wait until the next one comes out. He is a great Harry Potter fan and loves this mythical style of writing. It is tough to find books for young boys; this one is a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: Sadly done, Christopher Paolini
Review: Eragon is an epic journey of a small boy who is a peasant, and is telepathically linked with a dragon. This opens up to a regular fantasy plot, they go off and fight good vs. evil. It was upsetting to read this book, partly because of all the unoriginal ideas that were smashed together. Eragon is pretty much the mixture between Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, most of the writing seems more copied than written itself. The List of Good things: 1. Nicely Done Cover
2. Some parts included colorful demonstration of writing. The List of Bad Things: 1. Copied from Lord of the Rings. (see other reviews for lists)
2. Copied from Star Wars. (see other reviews for facts and list)
3. Poorly done dialogue.
4. Biggest cliche a fantasy fan can ever see. Why this book has received publicity: 1. Christopher Paolini and his family's ability to promote the book well by spending money for promotions, etc.
2. Was written by a 15 year old.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome book!
Review: Let me start out by saying that I loved Eragon! I thought it was very creative, and being a teenager I could relate to Eragon and to Christopher's writing style as well. I thought that the plot was very developed, and it DEFINATELY drew the reader into the series. I would liked to have a little more closure at the end. This is a sign of a good book though, it makes you long for the sequel! Still, I would have probably put another chapter on the end, just to wrap things up a little more. Overall, a GREAT book! I would suggest it to all of you that like fantasy, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings- some of my favorites. Enjoy, and help me wait for the next book!
Rating:
Summary: awesome book!
Review: I haven't finished yet (as of 5/17/04) but I'm half way through and it is by far the best fantasy book I ever read. I'm not going to survive between waiting for Eldest and HP6 to come out. It is like LOTR except more mystery into it and a little less traveling. Again, this is an awesome book!!!!!!!
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