Book Review: Eragon

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book very much. I haven't seen the movie yet so I've been looking forward to reading this for a while. The story is mostly well thought out and well told. The characters are three dimensional and engaging as is the fictional world the author creates for them; although he kind of has them wondering all over the place a bit. As my friend Dan pointed out, it’ similar to Harry Potter and other science fantasy books, even Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz, where the main character is an orphan being raised by an uncle and discovers a special talent and power that changes their life.

In this case 16 year old Eragon lives with his uncle and cousin and is out hunting in the forest when an unusual stone appears nearby through magic. This sets off a series of events leading to a quest. Along the way Eragon learns more about the wider world and meets a Dragon, a Dragon Rider, an Elf, a Witch, battles a Shade and meets a wide range of other creatures and characters.

To my mind two things about the writing could have been a little better. First, some things happen a little abruptly. It may be that I’m used to JRR Tolkien or Mercedes Lackey where events and emotions are anticipated and analyzed after; in the case of Ms. Lackey, it’s done too much. The other thing that could have been better is that it’s a little over written. The author seemed to go a little out of his way to use unusual words. He didn’t use extra long words or obscure words, but it seemed apparent that his thesarus was nearby. Perhaps the teenage science fiction geeks this book is aimed at like that, but lately I prefer it when things are kept simple and the story is allowed to shine through. This book is the first in a trilogy; authors naturally refine their writing as they go along so I’m looking forward to the next two books.


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