Eragon was one of those books that was completely off my radar when it came out and subsequently I never got round to reading it. Thus it came about that my dear friend, Marius (@Shanothaine) decided I should read it. Well there are things 16 year old boys should do, and one of those is not writing books.
I love the concept of Eragon but I have a few issues with it:
- The book was published first by Paolini International, which is all fine and well except a professional editor does more than just correct spelling and grammar errors but helps the author develop their manuscript to be the best it can be.
- The character of Saphira got on my nerves, I have issues (with books) where the protagonist (Eragon) is made out to be dumber than what is, in fact, a baby dragon. And yes Marius explained why Saphira is supposed to be smarter… blah… blah. I don’t care, I still don’t like it.
- This book would have been brilliant if: Paolini had waited until he was a bit older and had developed his craft a bit more before setting out to write this book and if an editor had taken the time to edit the book and help develop it further. Also ridding the clichés would have harmed no one.
- Oh and another thing, his ideas were not very original, bits and pieces from other fantasy writers and basically a fantasy version of Star Wars.
So did I like it? The book has potential, it was okay. I struggled to read it, actually dreaded reading it at times but I got through it. The last few chapters redeemed it slightly, but it was too late in the day to save it. Am I going to read Eldest? Yes, I am; Because I’m not a quitter.
Svagare 