Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)

Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on Monday, October 24, 2005 - 06:06

Children Books

Christopher Paolini: Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)

Author	Christopher Paolini
Made	Knopf Books for Young Readers
Date	2005-04-26
Media	Paperback
Catalog	Book
Sales Rank	11849
Availability	Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price	US$10.95
Our Price*	US$8.76

*Price subject to change

Amazon.com US$8.76

Amazon Canada CDN$14.36

Amazon UK £5.56

Reviews:

Rating 4.0/5 from 2699 reviews

Great Story!!

Rating: 5/5 2008-12-21

I really like the way the guy does the voices. One of my favorite daragon stories!

A exellent book, what's with all the bad reviews?

Rating: 5/5 (2 out of 2 think this is helpful) 2008-12-13

Unlike other people, I saw the movie before I read the book. People talked to me about it, but I thought it was a depressing book series with the last dragon on earth in it.

But after seeing the movie and learning I had been mistaken in this viewpoint, I got the book from the library and am now reading 'Brisingr'.

A young boy named Eragon, raised by his Uncle Garrow and Aunt Marian in the land of Alagaesia, where the evil King Galbatorix lords over the land, finds a saphire colored egg and thinks it is some sort of valuable stone. He tries to sell it, but it ends out hatching, and revealing a small dragon inside.

Eragon raises the dragon, and gleans information about them from Brom, the village's storyteller. He gives his female dragon the name 'Saphira', from a dragon name that Brom gives him.

Soon, evil beings called the Ra'zac come to Eragon's village, and murder his uncle Garrow (his cousin Roran being somewhere else, and his aunt having died years before), leaving Eragon with a heavy thirst for revenge.

Brom finds Eragon and Saphira, says he knows about dragons, and insists that he allow him to train Eragon, so he might live though his quest to kill the Ra'zac. Eragon agrees, and him and Brom and Saphira leave, for the Ra'zac are leaving, and the trio don't want to lose them.

After dropping off at a massacered village, having Eragon's fortune told by Angela, and getting information from Jeod, a wealthy merchant and an old friend of Brom's, they try to find out the Ra'zac's hiding place, which leads to them fleeing for their lives from Hellegrid.

While on the run from Ra'zac, they get attacked, and Brom is wounded. A young man named Murtagh rescues Eragon and Saphira, and offers to help them with their quest. They reach a hidden cave, where Brom wakes up and tells Eragon he was a Dragon Rider, and that his dragon, Saphira, was killed by the traitor Morzan. He then dies, leaving Eragon heartbroken.

Shortly after they get captured, and Eragon meets Duraz, a evil Shade that is intent on learning Eragon's true name (learning the true name of a person will allow anyone control over a person). With a little bit of luck, Eragon and Murtagh escape to join Saphira, rescuing a elf woman in the process.

When they reach safty, Eragon heals her, and finds out from her mind the way to the Varden, and that she must have medicine from them is she wants to be healed. They journey there, where and Saphira discover that Murtagh is Morzan's son, (Morzan being the traitor Dragon Rider that allied with Galbatorix, the evil king of Alagaesia, to kill the rest of the Dragon Riders and in doing so killed all the dragons that did not escape Alagaesia), and ally themselves to the Varden.

A battle is waged, and Eragon and Saphira must fight against the Shade Duraz, or die in the process...

All together, a great book.

Interesting...

Rating: 3/5 2008-12-12

Let's just say that I felt better knowing that this book was written by a 19 year old. Actually, finding out that fact resolved many questions for me.

It's not a horrific book. It's interesting and can be entertaining. However, it's no Lord of the Rings and the worst thing about it is the fact that it seems to BE like Lord of the Rings.

I am OK with books with similar plots and characters, as long as the book is well written and with an interesting plot. Unfortunately, the book was not well written. The descriptions of the "exciting" parts were confusing and I had to reread certain sentences twice to figure out what the heck was going on. That really took away the excitement "feel" from those passages.

Also, the book is so anti-climatic! I know that there are the second and third book, but after reading so many pages to pretty much find out that nothing really developed, I definitely am not going to finish this series.

Maybe if you are a lover of fantasy fiction, I would say go for it. Otherwise, despite the hype about the series, I wouldn't necessarily recommend Eragon.

YES! YES! YES!

Rating: 5/5 (1 out of 1 think this is helpful) 2008-12-03

This is my favorite book, I think. I have read many. It is one of the better ones. And, as usual in a series, the very first book is usually the best. Eldest is alright, but I think Brisingr is an awesome book also.

Eragon: Inheritance Cycle, Book 1

Rating: 4/5 (2 out of 2 think this is helpful) 2008-12-03

I don't like write reviews on Amazon but after reading all the negative reviews of Eragon I had to put my 2 cents in for your consideration. At the time of writing this there are 3 books that have been written (& I've read) with the promise of the 4th one being the last one coming out in the future.
I have read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and I love those books. Eragon is the story of a boy that finds a dragon egg and through a number of events becomes a dragon rider, etc.
When I picked this up I was looking for book to entertain me and it did. The world that Christopher Paolini has written uses races (Dwarfs & Elves) that Tolkien created in Lord of the Rings. So what! Paolini also writes other creatures and a world that are unique to Eragon. As I said this book entertained me. I like the characters and their development through the story.
Those of you who are wondering whether to give this book a try I recommend it for fun escape fantasy. I hope you will see what I have seen in this story (and the other two books so far). Its a little read with a lot of excitement and adventure. I would encourage you to make your own decision about the book(s). I believe if you read them with an open mind you'll probably enjoy them like I do. I can't wait to read the 4th book to find out what happens.

Editorials:

Product Description

Now in paperback! Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy—until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save—or destroy—the Empire.

A New York Times Bestseller

A USA Today Bestseller

A Wall Street Journal Bestseller

A Book Sense Bestseller

Amazon.com Review

Here's a great big fantasy that you can pull over your head like a comfy old sweater and disappear into for a whole weekend. Christopher Paolini began Eragon when he was just 15, and the book shows the influence of Tolkien, of course, but also Terry Brooks, Anne McCaffrey, and perhaps even Wagner in its traditional quest structure and the generally agreed-upon nature of dwarves, elves, dragons, and heroic warfare with magic swords.

Eragon, a young farm boy, finds a marvelous blue stone in a mystical mountain place. Before he can trade it for food to get his family through the hard winter, it hatches a beautiful sapphire-blue dragon, a race thought to be extinct. Eragon bonds with the dragon, and when his family is killed by the marauding Ra'zac, he discovers that he is the last of the Dragon Riders, fated to play a decisive part in the coming war between the human but hidden Varden, dwarves, elves, the diabolical Shades and their neanderthal Urgalls, all pitted against and allied with each other and the evil King Galbatorix. Eragon and his dragon Saphira set out to find their role, growing in magic power and understanding of the complex political situation as they endure perilous travels and sudden battles, dire wounds, capture and escape.

In spite of the engrossing action, this is not a book for the casual fantasy reader. There are 65 names of people, horses, and dragons to be remembered and lots of pseudo-Celtic places, magic words, and phrases in the Ancient Language as well as the speech of the dwarfs and the Urgalls. But the maps and glossaries help, and by the end, readers will be utterly dedicated and eager for the next book, Eldest. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell

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