Amph ~The Inheritance Cycle, by Christopher Paolini~ Discussing its literary merits

Warn you in advance, I can't spell.

I read and own Eragon and read Eldest. The only reason I read Eldest is because of Murtagh. I love him. He is the only charectar with personality!!!! Christopher favors Eragon way to much and you can waaay tell. It's annoying. I can't stand Saphira she buggs me to no end. Arya is ok, she's just very stuck up and Eragons crush on her is very....well, annoying. Can't stand Oromis or Glaeder. I do like Orik though. And I kinda like Nasuada. Roran is so stupid. I'm sorry. Killing people with hammers? GRR! And he's just very boring. Angela and Solebum are really cool in Eragon, then get kinda weak in Eldest. Elva should die!! Ok....thats my ranting and ravings..I may have more later. lol

 

I feel that both books are the sort of thing that belong on fanfiction.net and they probably would have been if it weren't for his parents. The number one dislike it that it follows Star Wars to the point of near plagarism, as well as ripping off elements from Tolkien. Then, there is the fact that Eragon is nothing more than a Gary-Stu..

 

I thought they were okay books. Nothing special, but not too bad. Although I do remember thinking that Murtagh's storyline in Eldest didn't jive too well with his character IMO. There were a few things that really bugged me about his style of writing though. It seemed that every other page someone was "quipping." Seriously, Paolini needs to expand his vocabulary.

 

Oddly enough, it seems as if Paolini is thesaurus-ing his writing but doesn't know where to use a thesaurus.

That's completely irrelevant, even, because a good writer wouldn't use "quipping" all the time, but "said" like they should.

 

I am re-reading Eragon (before I see the movie) and it cracks me up! I mean, he spends half a page discribing the elves and Arya, and then the only discription of Eragon we get it, he was brown eyes, and dark eyebrows. And some things Eragon thinks is hillariouse. Its like..who thinks like that?! I yiyi..its driving me nuts..

 

Saw the preview at the cinema. Special effects looks good . . . but I had that first impression with Dungeons and cliche Dragons too.

 

Heh. I meant to reply on this sooner, but school bogged me down longer than I hoped.

Call me crazy, but I actually like Eragon and Eldest.

I'm not saying they're perfect - I know they aren't.

In terms of gripes, yes, I agree that Eragon could do with fleshing out, but I don't go so far as to call him a Gary-Stu, he's not quite that bad. Besides, he's still a developing character, he's still a teenager! And please note that Oromis thinks that Eragon is rash, and far too stubborn, especially in his views towards Urgals. He has his flaws in the series!

And some of Paolini's descriptive passages irk me at times. I think he suffers from what I call 'big word syndrome' - where people use fancy words for the hell of it. It's the mark of an ametuer (I know I did it when I first started). One every rare occasion in a story is enough. But Eldest was better than Eragon in that regard, IMO.

And Arya, yes, seems too perfect in Eragon at least, but I think she did improve slightly in Eldest Just a bit.

But I love the Ancient Language, and I've enjoyed looking at some of the origins of the words, mainly old norse

And while some of the plot turns may be fairly obvious at times, there's some which I think will happen in the last book which DONT parrellel SW. Cause I maintain that Eragon and Murtagh are only half-brothers. I reckon Brom is Eragon's father. This ties in with Blagden's riddle, because Blagden never would have known Morzan... And In regards to Murtagh saying that both him and Eragon are sons of Morzan, he could say it because he believed it to be true. That's what I thought the whole point of the Agati Blodthrem was: to show that it IS possible to tell a mistruth in the Ancient Language if the person speaking honestly think it's true.

But it's pretty obvious that Arya will be the green rider. Considering that the riders of old include both elves and humans of both sexes, and both the new riders are human males... yeah, it'll be Arya, because I can't see Paolini introduing a new character to become the rider.

All in all, I still like the series, particularly the bond between Eragon and Saphira, and the fact that Saphira isn't a mere animal but in cases, wiser than most around her.

I'm looking forward to the movie, although I will keep the books and the movie seperated in my mind to some degree - most book-to-movie adaptions I've seen don't live up to expectations if you compare them to each other.

And yes, I have to admit that I have written Eragon fanfiction on FanFiction.Net, but don't be so quick to write everything on there; there are some good stories in there, once you stone all the god-awful Mary-Sue 3rd Rider fics out of the way.

 

as an English teacher i like the books for their storytelling merits. it's a great story. writing, eh. but we get caught up and that's the point. my only big gripe is eragon should have healed himself instead of some weird fairy elvish dragon twin thing do it. his wound or at least the pain of it is in his head and he has to purge himself of it himself.

 

I'm looking forward to the movie. I've read bothe books (whenever they first came out). I like the series. I'm not a picky reader though so that prolly doesn't help much. I think the reason the book has done so well with kid audiences is the reason you are bitter about the book: there are not in-depth characters, yet. As a child reader one's not looking for an in-depth story. How many kids read the Harry Potter series and don't connect half of it because of all the stuff she puts into her books (4-6, the first three were pretty basic)? Eragon is a way to get a similar story or even a fantasy story without all of the extra stuff. LOTR is too advanced for a kid to read and understand it all. Now before some of you write and say "I read it when I was 8 and loved it", fine you are exceptions to the rule and that's besides the point. Most young readers need something like these books to perk their interests in reading. From here they can advance to the SW and LOTR fantasy series with more in-depth plot lines and characters.

 

Um... At least the first one made for some VERY light diversionary reading.

 

My wife and I both have read and liked the Trilogy so far.... My wife loves it and I think the books get better as it goes along.... As for "Borrowing" or "Ripping off" from other sources... I have a movie called the "Hidden Fortress" that was one of the inspirations for "Star Wars" and Obi-Wan is a Gandalf stand in... So let's take it easy on this okay?????

 

I picked up Eragon and Eldest from the damaged box at work, though I haven't had a chance to finish reading the second yet I thought I'd add some of the things that bothered me about it to the debate.

While I'm impressed that a fifteen year old had the determination to sit down and write an entire novel, Eragon certainly suffers from some really horrible writing in places, ranging from redundancies like "the elf leapt from her horse with inhuman grace" () to often unnecessary exposition forced into awkward dialogue, not to mention there's a lot of telling things that should be shown and plenty of stiff descriptions. Paolini also has a really infuriating habit of robbing any suspense from the plot and rendering it predictable (Eragon having his fortune told was a huge mistake: he'll be betrayed by a relative, cue the secretive, long-lost brother; he'll fall for a beautiful noblewoman, cue the elf princess; a rapid death approaches, say bye-bye Brom). Having said that I don't blame it all on Paolini, because these are all mistakes that a lot of young writers make, the difference is that any editor worth a damn would've spotted them before it was published (or re-published in this case).

Beyond that I was less bothered by how derivative the trilogy is than by how unsympathetic a protagonist Eragon is. I'm having a really hard time believing that a supposedly intelligent, noble and powerful dragon would actually willingly choose to ally herself with such an arrogant, insufferable twit. Everytime he gets himself into danger I find myself rooting for the Urgals or Ra'zak, yet I'd be sad if/when Murtagh dies because he's a much more compelling and interesting character.

 

For what it was, Eragon was a decent diversion. Eldest, was one of the few times I actually 100% agree with the critics, it was worse than terrible, it was . . . salicious.

A lot of my complaints with the series are the same as a lot of other critics, so I won't dive into that argument. Yes, there's too much SW, LOTR, Dune, Earthsea, etc, in there. I know that. But that's not my main problem.

The characters are cardboard, except Saphira, and she seems a bit Mary-Sueish at times. They're all stock characters too, and that wouldn't be a problem if they broke convention in some area. The dwarves are typical gruff dwarves who hate elves. Yawn. The Urgals are essentially Orcs. Not to mention that Paolini actually tried to make them into good guys in Eldest (which goes against convention, I admit, but it is such a convuluted turnaround and for the thinnest of reasons that the twist falls flat). Eragon is essentially Chris Paolini glorifying himself. Anya is the girl of Paolini's dreams, it seems. And Eragon oh-so-sweetly dreams and has visions about her. And Natasha . . . she is right there, waiting to take Eragon's hand after Anya rejects him over and over, and Eragon is too dumb to notice.

And then the implausible, saddening saga of Murtragh makes me want to cry. What a freaking waste.

And then the way he repeats words and then drops archaic terms in there just for the heck of it. Dean Koontz does that too, but he is so effective at it (heck, James Luceno is more effective) that Paolini's attempts fall flat in comparison. There is just something missing here . . .

The worst thing? I can think of about thirty fanfiction writers here who are more talented and more deserving of Paolini's lucerative contract than Paolini. A published writer who is making hundreds of thousands of dollars should simply be better than the people who write fanfiction for free.

There is no flow in his work, and no personality in his prose or his character's dialogue (after Eldest I don't want to hear 'Aye' ever again ).

In short, Paolini is a generically bad fantasy writer writing a generically bad fantasy trilogy. Hopefully the third book will be back up to the standards of the first book, a decent diversion while we wait for something meatier and more meaningful.

 

I read Eragon and am reading Eldest. For me, Paolini is at the beginning of his literary career and right now his influences [Tolkien, Star Wars, etc] are very obvious in his writing. I think if he continues to write we will see Paolini's voice come out more and more. He is emulating his literary heroes in his writing. I have heard people say he has out and out plagerised and I don't think that is the case.

All in all, I enjoyed Eragon. It was delightful. I'm reading Eldest and I wish the pace would pick up but this isn't a fast paced book. I'm eager to find out Murtagh's fate.

 

I was okay with Eragon. It was unoriginal, the influence from other books was obvious, and I kept wanting to call Eragon "Aragorn", but it was all right as far as those sort of things go.

But Eldest? Blah. Paoloni has a really obvious bias towards his main character. That's not bad in and of itself, but he sucks the personality out of other more interesting characters in order to make Eragon look better (and you know who I'm talking about, so I won't say it in case someone doesn't want to be spoiled). Plus it gets rather preaching and drags in a lot of places. I started to dislike Eragon by the end of it.

Also, Eldest was the point where the more obvious similarities with Tolkien came to the forefront. I love Tolkien and all, but sometimes I really hate him for popularizing the "pretty, special elves" bit.

 

I just realized I called Nasuada 'Natasha' . . . man, that made me sound like I read the book indeed.

But the real reason I'm posting is because I read a preview for Book Three . . . and it's bad. Really bad. About as bad as the worst pages of Eldest.

Mostly because it doesn't make any sense whatsoever, much like the opening of Eldest. And considering what Eldest was, this is not a good indication of it matching up to 'diversion' status . . .

 

You can post it here (with highlights) so we can all make fun of it

 

Here's essentially what happens, and I have to warn you in advance that I didn't like the excerpt and I savage it:

Eragon and Roran ride Saphira to where the Ra?zac (Paolini's Ringwraiths) live so they can rescue Katrina (an unfortunate name for the girl that instantly catapults me away from any immersion this piece gives me, though that's not Paolini's direct fault). They find the entrance to this big cave hidden behind an illusion apparently set up by Galbatorix himself (what surprises me is that Eragon knows this with certainty). They enter the cave, and Eragon somehow fails to detect the presence of the lethrblaka, one of which hits Saphira, knocking him down. Eragon is apparently knocked unconscious once more and that is where the extract ends, it is mercifully brief. You think he didn't make it? Ha. Of course he did. It would be an improvement to the story if Eragon became the Ra'zac's dinner, but something tells me we'll be getting a ROTJ-ripoff featuring a massive beast.

All of his usual problems are here: archaic language (seriously . . . who uses 'thews' anymore? Not even when I go massive purple prose do I use 'thews'. And 'thews' don't 'surge', either), inconsistencies (since when does Roan know how to fly a dragon, and where did he get that hammer-thingy?) lots of stupid mistakes like making Saphira's scales glow in the dark (). I mean, c'mon, doesn't she need to hunt meals down? Oh, and Paolini's language is often pompous and preachy, has words out of place, and . . . you know what, read it for yourself. I feel like I'm stretching back to my horrendous third grade when it comes to painful memories.


Basically you can forget about me spending 20 bucks on 600 pages of wasted trees. My brother, on the other hand, still has hope, and as a result Paolini will get 20 bucks out of my family. *sighs*

Part of me wishes this book will never see the light of day, and another . . . well, hopes it is unleashed, because Paolini will finally be out of whatever ideas (or rip-offs) he has and we won't have to wait in anticipation of another disaster, and this insult to young, talented writers everywhere can finally be forgotten.

 

Ew. I don't know that I'll be reading this. I'll just make my friend tell me (since he sat me down and completely spoiled book 2 for me anyway).

Did it mention a release date?

 

It didn't even mention a title, much less a release date. The one that's rumored is Empire, though, and the projected release date is this spring/summer. Wouldn't that be something, last book of Inheritance vs. last book of Harry Potter.

My money's on Potter.

 

This spring/summer without an offical title? A bit surprising.

Yeah, mine us too

 

I'm thinking it's some sort of stunt like Exile's DP being hidden from us or the 'all hell breaks loose' temporary cover of Inferno. They both have the same parent company (Random House) so I guess that isn't too surprising.

I'll comb around every now and then until I get a couple of reliable reports regarding the release date and title. Since my brother will get the book I'll read it after he's finished, stifle my gag reflex, and spill out all of the half-baked details if you guys want 'em.

That is, if it ever gets released. One theory swirling in my brain is that Paolini knows his free ride is coming to an end and he wants to drag it out as long as possible . . .

 

Of course his work seemed like it was over-done, as an author I find it hard to come up with undone elements. There really aren't any left. Chris's work is well written and justly praised. Yes it seems like Lord of the Rings...never mind I'll not argue the points of fine fiction.

 

Of course his work seemed like it was over-done, as an author I find it hard to come up with undone elements. There really aren't any left.

There's always something new to experiment with and discover. If everything's been done there's no point in writing, because all you'd be doing is rehashing material. There has to be a vision when you're writing. Even if the setting isn't entirely new and fresh there has to be some sort of idea or twist that's unexpected, new and exciting.

Chris's work is well written and justly praised.

"The songs of the dead are the lamentations of the living." C'mon.

Yes it seems like Lord of the Rings...never mind I'll not argue the points of fine fiction.

Personally it feels like Star Wars set in LOTR-land to me . . . but I don't want to start a fight over fiction either. If you like the books, it's your business, and I'm happy you've found something you enjoy. But I am also free to dislike them, too.

 

haha! I read the thread title and was almost afraid to look inside for fear that someone would be praising the novels instead of criticizing them. I agree with the points you made in your intro post... Totally agree.