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Eragon is a novel written by Christopher Paolini, who began his writing career at the age of 15, and is the first book of the Inheritance trilogy. It was originally self-published by the author before being picked up by Alfred A. Knopf, after which it became a publishing success and a New York Times Bestseller. Eragon's sequel is Eldest, and there are rumours that the third book in the series is going to be called Empire, though there is no official name yet.

Plot summary

Eragon begins with a 15 year old boy, Eragon, finding a mysterious blue stone in The Spine, an untamed range of mountains near the small village he calls home, Carvahall. Eragon takes place in a land called Alagaësia, which is ruled by the evil, twisted king, Galbatorix, who was once one of the dragon riders until he lost his dragon and was corrupted by madness after the dragon riders denied him another dragon. After being unable to sell or trade his find, Eragon soon witnesses a baby dragon hatch from inside the "stone." Dragons are a species thought to be extinct, with the exception of Galbatorix's dragon. He raises the dragon in secret until two hooded figures, the evil Ra'zac, enter the town looking for his mysterious blue stone. Eragon and Saphira, as he names his dragon, manage to escape danger by hiding in the forest, but Eragon's Uncle Garrow is not as fortunate. The Ra'zac kill his uncle and destroy the house. Eragon, remembering tales of the past, takes it upon himself to become one of the Dragon riders, the ancient warriors who were slaughtered by the crazed Galbatorix in his rise to power. Accompanied by Brom, a mysterious old storyteller from his village who knows much about the Dragon Riders, swordfighting, and magic, Eragon learns the ways of the Dragon Riders as they hunt down the elusive Ra'zac.

Much researching in the town of Teirm leads Brom to the conclusion that the Ra'zac reside in Dras-Leona.

However, revenge is not what Eragon finds in Dras-Leona. He, Saphira, and Brom are instead lured into the Ra'zac's ambush. They are rescued by a mysterious stranger, Murtagh. Unfortunately, Brom is gravely injured, and he soon dies--but not before revealing his past to Eragon. Eragon is shocked to find that Brom was also a Dragon Rider that lost his dragon. The new company of three (Eragon, Murtagh and Saphira) travel in search of the hidden Varden, a strong rebel faction which Brom had mentioned on their journey. On the way Eragon has many dreams about an elf, all of which feature her suffering great pain. Ultimately, Eragon is captured and imprisoned in the same prison as where the elf is being held captive. Murtagh and Saphira stage a daring rescue and Eragon escapes with the elf, but this does not happen without incident. Eragon and Murtagh have a face - off with a Shade, one of the most powerful creatures in the land. The fact that a Shade is walking freely in the land lends Eragon to believe that some monstorous plan is afoot and that Galbatorix, the king of Alagaësia, himself a traitor of the dragon riders, has allied himself with the foulest creatures of the land. The new Dragon rider faces many perils on his way to the Varden, specifically the army of Urgals at their heels. Once inside the Varden's fortress, hidden deep within the Beor Mountains, Eragon learns of the pact between the dwarves, the elves and the Varden and how it was that Saphira's egg was magically teleported to the Spine. The group is at last able to rest, but the invasion by the army of Urgals is imminent. An intercepted message from Galbatorix confirms their fears that the king is involved. In a battle that follows, a seemingly endless army of Urgals seem poised to take the fortress, before Eragon destroys the Shade, Durza, that he had recently encountered, but at a price: a terrible wound on his back that leaves him disfigured. The Urgals seem to be lifted from a spell, giving the Varden a chance to rout the Urgals. As the story ends at the close of the battle, we learn that Eragon will soon be sent under the tutelage of the elves in the sequel, Eldest.

Characters

By order of appearance (beginning after the prologue):

  • Eragon: Main character. Since born, he lived with his uncle Garrow and cousin Roran in the small town Carvahall.His mother is Selena, but when she arrived in Cavahall to her brother Garrow pregnant, Eragon was raised as his own son; his mother, following Eragon's birth had left him for reasons unknown to Eragon in the first installment of the Inheritence Trilogy. Selena is presumed to be dead. However, when a dragon he names Saphira hatches from an blue "rock" he had found while hunting in the Spine, (mountain range west Carvahall) he runs away from Carvahall with the town storyteller Brom to hide Saphira and quest for revenge on the Ra'zac (evil bird-like agents of the Empire) after they kill Garrow and burn down his home in seach of Saphira's egg. He is named after the first dragon Rider. Along his quest he becomes an official member of the Varden (rebels), an adopted dwarf, slayer of Durza, and a Dragon Rider. An interesting fact is that his name originates from the fact that "E" follows "D" in the English Alphabet, and with a "D" his name would be "Dragon", therefore, he is "The next Dragon".
  • Sloan: Butcher of Carvahall who hates Eragon's family. He despises the Spine because his wife died there.
  • Horst: Smith of Carvahall and friend of Eragon's.
  • Katrina: Daughter of Sloan and Roran's beloved.
  • Roran: Eragon's cousin, although they're like brothers; he is Katrina's beloved and is training in Therinsford to get enough money to wed her when Eragon leaves. Roran does not know what has happened to his family and his town.
  • Garrow: Farmer of Carvahall, Eragon's uncle, and Roran's father. He raised him from birth. Garrow is eventually killed by the Ra'zac.
  • Merlock: A trader that helps Eragon discover properties of the bluish 'stone'. The stone is hollow, harder than a diamond, and the blue and white material are the same.
  • Saphira: Eragon's Dragon and best friend, Saphira is fiercely protective of Eragon, and though younger than him, has the cunning, and the wisdom of the ancient dragons, and a greater intelligence than humans who think she's just a working beast. Saphira granted on Eragon the Gedwey Ignasia or "shining palm" in the ancient language; the mark that all Riders possess givin at first touch between Rider and Dragon. It is the mental link that allows Eragon and Saphira to talk to each other. She is the first dragon to hatch since Galbatorix's rule began.
  • Brom: He seems to be a humble storyteller of Carvahall, but is secretly part of the Varden and retains a mysterious knowledge of history, dragons, and the long dead Dragon Riders. He aids and joins Eragon in his escape from Carvahall, gives him Za'roc, the blade of Morzan, instructs him in the ways of magic, and suppots Eragon on his journey to kill the Ra'zac. His knowledge come from the days when he was a Rider; during that time, he killed Morzan and took from him Za'roc.
  • Angela: A powerful witch who supports the Varden; she tells Eragon his future; part of her prophecy including that Eragon would have an epic romance with someone of royal blood. She also told the future of Eragon's mother Selena and arrives in Farthen Dur and fights alongside Eragon in battle.
  • Jeod: A merchant of Teirm, Jeod is Brom's old friend, and also member of the Varden. He helps Eragon and Brom discover where the Ra'zac are hiding.
  • Solembum: The werecat who lives with Angela; he gives Eragon a prophecy and much advice. He first transformed into a shaggy-haired boy with a black dagger when in battle at Farthen Dur.
  • Morzan: The first and the last Forsworn, he is also the father of Murtagh. Galbatorix, along with the help of morzan and the Thirteen Forsworn, conquered the Riders to become king of Alagaësia.
  • Murtagh: Son of Morzan, who was a Forsworn (betrayer of the Dragon Riders); he becomes good friends with Eragon and travels with him to the Varden's hideout.
  • Arya: The gaurdian elf of the Dragon's egg from which Saphira hatches; she is saved by Eragon from the clutches of the King and Durza. Eragon also loves her even though she is a lot older than him however young she looks. In Eldest, when he learns of her noble birth, he becomes infatuated that she is the one Angela spoke of in her porphecy.
  • Durza: Once a desert nomad, he becomes a powerful Shade that ravages the land and controls the Urgal army before being killed by Eragon. At the end of the book, in the final battle with Eragon, he permanently scars Eragon in the back. The scar is similar to Murtagh's (Murtagh's father Morzan once in a drunken rage threw his sword Za'roc at him, scaring Murtagh for life). Durza started as Carsaib, and when his parents were murdered along with his tribe, he wandered about the Hadarac Desert. He stumbled upon the socerer Haeg. When Haeg was murdered in a similar attack, Carsaib summoned spirits to help avenge his master's death but was overtaken by them. The spirits controlled him henceforth and thus he became the Shade known as Durza.
  • Orik: A dwarf and the nephew of Hrothgar; he befriends Eragon after saving his life, and is his guide through Tronjheim and Farthen Dûr.
  • The Twins: Twin magicians with strong magical abilities, The Twins are powerful men within the Varden. They are cruel and strange with Eragon.
  • Ajihad: Master swordsman and brilliant tactician, Ajihad is the leader of the Varden and enemy to Galbatorix. Though human, Ajihad once fought the Durza, almost killing the shade and creating long scratch on Durza's sword.
  • Hrothgar: King of the Dwarves who befriends Eragon.
  • Nasuada: The fiery daughter of Ajihad.
  • Galbatorix: Long ago, a young boy was born. It was found that this boy was a prodigy. He had a grasp of magic and dragons that none could challenge. When he was discovered by the Riders, he was presented a dragon and became one of thier own. The boy was named Galbatorix. As he rose through the ranks of the Riders he became foolish and arrogant. It came to be that one day he flew into Urgal territory and two other Riders. Overconfident of his abilities and his dragon, he attacked them, thinking himslef a hero that would rid the land of the Urgals. He returned to the Riders nearly dead, the fellow Riders that ventured with him, their dragons, all were slain. His greatest grief however was in the loss of his own dragon. After the Riders would not provide him with another, he became mad. Then he orcastrated the fall of the Riders. Using an influential young Rider named Morzan, Galbatorix stole a dragon egg, forced the dragon within it with dark magic serve him as his black dragon Shruikan, and killed the rest of the Riders in an epic battle along with the one man strong enough to kill Galbatorix, a Rider named Vrael. The thirteen followers who decided to join Galbatorix became the Forsworn, Morzan the head Forsworn, but all were under Galbatorix's rule. Since then, all the Forsworn had been killed, most by Brom himself, but Galbatorix has remained, his power growing every day, always watching over the most important object in the entire of Alegaesia which he stole from the Riders themselves: The very last Dragon egg.

The Ancient Language

The Ancient Language, also referred to as the 'Language of Power', is the Elven language in the book that enables certain people to use magic. Because of the nature of the language, it is impossible to lie, but one can mislead, as the Elves show in abundance. Eragon uses it many times in the books. The Ancient Language is based on Old Norse and Icelandic.

Critical reaction

There has been much criticism of Eragon, regarding everything from word usage to the marketing techniques (critics deride the labelling of the author as a "prodigy" or "wunderkind"). The book's most frequent criticism is that it uses far too many clichés. Paolini employs stock characters, such as Elves, Dwarves, and a pseudo-orcish race known as Urgals, complete with an elite sect known as the Kull, comparable to Saruman's uruk-hai. Many believe that it is a marvel that Eragon is on bookshelves, given that the publisher of the book was the author's parents. However, after seeing the success of Eragon, Alfred A. Knopf bought the book rights from the Paolinis.

Reviews

Reviews of Eragon were mixed, although more solidly positive than the reviews of the book's sequel, Eldest. KLIATT found the book "exceptional", and Children's Literature said Paolini's "eye and ear for detail, especially in describing the natural world, are topnotch". VOYA's response was more balanced between praise and mild critique, saying,
"Overwritten action sequences and occasionally forced dialogue do not detract too much from the interesting and entertaining tale. Now and then losing its direction and sometimes a bit immature in style, Paolini's debut novel will make readers long for the second volume in hopes of finding both Eragon and the writing a bit more polished."
School Library Journal, while noting correctly that the book would garner many fans, added that it "does not approach the depth, uniqueness, or mastery of J. R. R. Tolkien's works, and sometimes the magic solutions are just too convenient for getting out of difficult situations."

Entertainment Weekly lambasted the sequel, Eldest, calling it a "Tolkien knockoff," saying it owed another debt to Star Wars (implying the first did as well), and that overall it is "mind-numbingly silly," finally giving the book a rating of D- http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/book/0,6115,1095866_5_0_,00.html. Later, they named it the number one worst book of 2005, calling it a "700-page Tolkien wannabe http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1142746_5_0_,00.html."

Derivative nature of the books

Many critics, both amateur [http://members.aol.com/swankivy/eragon.html and profesional have cited the books for its derivative nature, the most commonly referred to derivations being those of Star Wars, for the exacting similarity in plot, and Lord of the Rings for much of the setting, the elven and dwarven races, and much of its use of made-up languages and names derived directly from Tolkien's work:

  • Arya - Arwen, Arda
  • Ardwen - Arwen
  • Isenstar - Isengard
  • Mithrim - Mithrim or mithril
  • Eragon - Aragorn (but also almost identical to "dragon")
  • Angrenost - Angrenost, the Sindarin name for Isengard
  • Morgothal - Morgoth
  • Elessari - Elessar
  • Furnost - Fornost
  • Hadarac Desert - Harad Desert
  • Melian - Melian
  • Vanilor - Valinor
  • Eridor - Eriador
  • Imiladris - Imladris
  • Undin - Fundin/Udun

Professional sources decrying the book's derivations from Tolkien include USAToday, stating that the book "echoes Tolkien in its pseudo-Celtic language and imagined universe of dwarfs and elves while Entertainment Weekly also cites a specific trope from Tolkien, "the ageless elves speak wisdom Eldest, noting that it is "suffused with purple prose and faux-archaic language," and is a "patchwork of dialogue, characters and concepts pulled whole cloth from the fantasy canon [http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?z=y&pwb=1&ean=9780375826702" target="_blank" >*."

School Library Journal's review of Eragon was positive, despite admitting that "Eragon does not approach the depth, uniqueness, or mastery of J. R. R. Tolkien's works, and sometimes the magic solutions are just too convenient for getting out of difficult situationsbut its review of Eldest has grown more negative, noting that "The plot -- indeed, most of the fantasy conventions -- is heavily inspired by Tolkien, McCaffrey, and especially George Lucas," and that it will find a fan-base though "there's nothing particularly original here [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/037582670X/ref=dp_proddesc_0/103-6616238-9082248?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155."

Commonsensemedia, a family-friendly review site was particularly scathing, stating that, "It's not long, however, before they begin to notice the long-winded descriptions, the clichés and hackneyed dialogue, and the derivative nature of the plot -- straight out of Star Wars by way of The Lord of the Rings, with bits of other great fantasies thrown in here and there. That this is a great achievement for one so young is undeniable, and many children will love it. It certainly ranks right up there with other derivative, overblown fantasies written by adults, such as Terry Brooks's Sword of Shannara series*."

Yet another criticism, such as this from USAToday: "The novel also owes a debt to Luke Skywalker as the teen hero trains to be a Dragon Rider while avenging his uncle's murder - is that the plot closely resembles that of the original Star Wars saga[http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/book/0,6115,1095866_5_0_,00.html. Characters are also similar, down to Brom who is supposedly the last of his order. Brom's sacrifice to save Eragon resembles that of Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. The beginning is also extremely similar: A servant of an evil emperor attacks, with an army at his disposal, a convoy bearing an object of power to a rebellion against the Empire. The servant captures the convoy and its leader, but the leader (a princess, no less) sends the object away in hopes that it will fall into the hands of a wise old wizard, who is the last of his kind. The object is found by a poor farm boy, whose family (not parents but uncle) is killed as a result, leaving him nothing to stay behind for. He joins the wizard on a quest, as well as a rogue who has no love for the "empire". They save the princess, then the three flee to the rebels. This could be used to describe the first A New Hope movie, and no one would know the difference. In Eldest, there are also obvious plot similarities to the second Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back, as the farmboy leaves the rebels after they have just fought a costly battle to train with a wise old hermit in a forest. He trains and undergoes a life changing experience, and later participates in another great battle. He duels with an enemy, and learns a terrible secret about his family (Father/Brother and Father).

Movie

Fox 2000 (division of 20th Century Fox) recently bought the rights to Eragon and are making the book into a movie. Jeremy Irons and Sienna Guillory have starring roles in this movie. The movie also has an estimated budget of $100 million. The film is directed by Stefen Fangmeier, who did the effects for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004). The movie is planned to be released on the 15th of December, 2006.

References

Notes

See also

External links

2002 novels | 2003 novels | Young adult literature | Inheritance Trilogy

Eragon | Eragon | Eragon | Eragon | Eragon | Eragon | איראגון | Eragonas | Eragon | Eragon | Eragon | Eragon | Eragon | Eragon

 

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