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Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)

Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)

List Price: $18.95
Your Price: $12.89
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: EXQUISITE!!!!!
Review: It's the absolute best book someone could buy. It has magic, dragons and a bunch o' cool stuff. I think it's the best book ever!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Well, 3 1/2 stars, actually...
Review: I have to admit, the first time I read this book, it annoyed me. In fact, scratch that, it irritated me to the point I had to set it down and watch some mind-numbing TV to calm myself.
Why?
Because this book, to me, was mostly a hack. I could flip through my favorite (earlier) fantasies, likely known to Paolini himself, and point out a phrase that was exactly the same in the two.
Certainly, the story itself is a bit different. But the fact is I found myself wondering why the book got so much attention when it wasn't particularly original in itself. The characters featured are familiar to most of us (dragons, elves, dwarves, etc.) But that wasn't what bothered me; the thing that bothered me was that the characters were so similar to those in other books. The Riders were like to the Aes Sedai (from Jordan's Wheel of Time Series), as the Shades were like...well, the Shades, also from Jordan. In fact, most of the things I read in 'Eragon' were remarkable in their similarity to Jordan. Poor farm boy, near the mountains, living outside of town, with no mother?

The second time I read 'Eragon', I put all prejudices aside and just enjoyed the thing for what it was: a work meant solely for entertainment. There aren't any underlying meanings or anything inparticular to "read into" in the story. That said, it IS a very engrossing book, one that will keep you hooked for the few hours it takes to read it.

But as for buying, I'd just check 'Eragon' out at the library. It's fun, but it's no Tolkien.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Old Characters + Old Plot = A Good Read Nonetheless
Review: In this, his first published novel, Paolini does not create any new themes, story lines, or characters. Rather, he takes several popular characters from other sources and molds them to his needs. Likewise, the story lines of bad king versus good-but-outnumbered rebels, young innocent farm boy evolving into heroic warrior, etc. are hardly unknown to the science fiction genre but are nonetheless well handled by Paolini in creating a highly readable and entertaining story. While Paolini may not be a creator of totally new concepts, he certainly shows himself skilled at adaptation and improvisation, building a good read out of old materials.

The reader will easily recognize many influences on the author as he created the novel Eragon. Anne McCaffrey's series of novels about the dragonriders of Pern are an obvious influence, but I believe that J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novels have had even a greater influence than McCaffrey's works. Some parallels with J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter stories can be argued, and the "Evil Empire" against which the rebels struggle evokes images of the Star Wars motion pictures. Readers familiar with these various sources will quickly see Paolini's Brom as the counterpart of Tolkien's Gandolf. Paolini's Urgals are dead ringers for Tolkien's Orcs. The Elfin race goes by the same name in both Paolini and Tolkien. Paolini's two Ra'zacs remind one of Tolkien's nine Nazgul. The words that Eragon uses to lift stones and cast destruction on his enemies suggest the magic of Rowling's Harry Potter. And on and on go the parallels.

Paolini's strength, however, lies not in the direct retelling of any of his source materials but in the adaptation of the sources' character types to his own ends. His novel is not a close variation of any of his sources' story lines but is his own creation. That the reader recognizes others' characters reborn in Paolini's work actually makes them even more endearing. Here are some of the old friends that we first met in other books reborn into a new environment and a different time. Their resurrection is pleasant and we are happy to see them in action once more.

Unhappily, a very few grammatical errors found their way past both the author and his proofreaders. While these are but few, they still assault readers' sensibilities and leave behind a most unpleasant residue in their minds. In each instance, these involve the use of the first person objective case pronoun when use of the nominative case is appropriate. These would probably not be so jarring were overall usage elsewhere in the novel less excellent.

In sum, I believe that those who have has enjoyed McCaffrey's dragonrider novels or Tolkien's Lord of the Rings will also enjoy Paolini's Eragon. If one has read neither McCaffrey nor Tolkien but still enjoys an adventure fraught with peril, magic, a few monsters, and a sentient dragon, then I would still feel safe in recommending Paolini. On the other hand, if a reader seeks classical conflict, detailed character development, and the relief of an effective denouement at the end of it all, then he probably shouldn't be looking for a novel in the modern science fiction genre in the first place! I am anticipating Paolini's next novel in what he calls the Inheritance Triology with eagerness.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I Loved Eragon!
Review: This exhilarating book is about Eragon, a destitute boy who goes hunting in the jagged mountains to get food for his family. Eragon finds a blue rock, and tries to sell it for food, but before he manages to, it hatches into a sapphire-colored dragon, named Saphira. When alien-like creatures, called the Ra'zac, kill his family, Eragon decides to get revenge on the Empire. Along the way Eragon and Saphira have many breathtaking adventures. He meets an aged man, named Brom, who teaches him magic and swordfighting. He gets an ancient sword with a destiny of blood. He gets captured by the Empire, and escapes with an Elf. At the end of the book, he joins the Varden, a band of people bonded by the will to defeat the Empire.

I liked the book because it was very creative and it had innumerable imaginative ideas. Christopher Paolini's descriptions were perfect - I could see the story better than if it was a movie... It was as if I were really there. (...)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Unbelievable Journey!
Review: Christopher Paolini has an ability that few story weavers possess...the ability to engage a readers mind to the point that they are no longer merely reading a story, they are escaped into a world that has been created and to which they have become intimately involved with the outcome. Mr. Paolini creates fictions that seem so real it is difficult for the reader to forget that these worlds do not exist and these events did not really occur outside of the vividness of his or her mind when they put the book down.

I found Eragon a welcome and intriguing escape from the mundaness of everyday struggles. I must say that my only dismay comes from the fact that I must endure such a long wait before I can travel to Alagaesia again!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Obviously writen by a 15 year old
Review: This book may have a good plot line, but by chapter three I began dreading picking this book up to read each night. I picked this book up because I am an imense Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl fan. I was very disapointed.
The subject (and typically the first word) of every sentance in this book is a proper noun. Trying to keep track of the he, she, they and its quickly became annoying. Also, the author can't mention any inatomate object without giving you several long metaphores or symolies to describe it.
This book reads as though it was writin by someone who has never heard of any literay devices other than symolies and metaphores and believes writing a good story means cramming as many of them into it as humanly possible. Sometimes less is more.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!
Review: This book is amazing. And the author wrote it when he was 15. This book always leaves you in a cliff hanger. Eragon finds a stone in the spine, but it's actually a dragons egg. So Eragon becomes a dragon rider,(someone who rases a dragon). At this time the Ra'zark have killed his dad. So Eragon, Suphiera,(the dragon) and Brom are on a quest to find the Ra'zark, and kill them. This book requires a lot of imagination. But Eragon is the best book I have ever read. So buy it NO(...)! Or else!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Eragon Book Review
Review: This book is great! I read a ton, and of all of the books I read, this is one of my favorites! It has an amazing plot, and if you like fantasy books, you'll love it too, and you probably will even if you don't like fantasy books. I would chose Eragon over Harry Potter any day.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome And Amazing
Review: I am one of the want-to-be cool kids in my grade (9th) and I had to read a book for a book report and I choose Eragon out of a recommendation but it was awesome I picked it up when i was on spring break and i didnt drop it to do anything for like 6 days i pretty much missed the better part of my vacation but it was all worth it this book is awesome 5 stars!!! The only thing is the 2005 release of Eldest but you can bet ill be getting it Christopher Paolini Is an amazing author!!! And only 15 i wish i had that talent well the books awesome, the authors awesome Adios!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: wonderful book for the juvenile soul!
Review: This definitely was my favorite book ever. It has the feel of The Lord of the Rings, and the touch of Harry Potter, making you beg for the sequel. It has the well rounded ability to change settings from a mountain, to a plain, to a desert, to a mountain. Deadly brutes called urgals, possesed men known as shades, a disorientated race called the raz'ac, and an an insane king named Galbatorix,constantly stock Eragon, and constantly refresh your supplies of suspense, and adreniline. And then finally the climax explodes like a vaccant rocket that was just launched through the air, and falls back to the earth. I sincerely hope you buy this prtoduct from Amazon.com because it is worth every penny.


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