Eragon
by Christopher Paolini
Fantasy
2002

“Eragon was fifteen, less than a year from manhood.  Dark eyebrows rested above his intense brown eyes.  His clothes were worn from work.  A hunting knife was sheathed at his belt, and a buckskin tube protected his yew bow from the mist.  He carried a wood frame pack.” (pg. 6)

            Eragon is just a boy living in a small village called Carvahall.  He doesn’t know who his mom and dad are, but he’s lived with Roran, his cousin, and Garrow, his uncle, since he was little.  His family can barely make a living, and he can’t read or write.  He knows how to farm, and isn’t bad at hunting, but his life is nothing special.  Carvahall is part of a vast region called Alagaesia, which is ruled by an evil tyrant called Galbatorix.  To one side of his village there’s an enormous forest called the Spine.  It’s a dangerous area filled with wild animals, and most everyone that enters does not come back alive.  Eragon is an ordinary human, but there are many other races such as dwarves, elves, and dragons. 

            Dragons are an extremely powerful race with a lot of unique characteristics.  There are only a few in existence, but all have immense strength and physical ability.  They can breathe fire and live longer than other races, but their most underestimated characteristic is their wisdom and intelligence.  Dragons stay in their egg and wait for the right person to come along.  They hatch for that one person, and right when they’re born, a special bond is created between the person and the dragon.  From then on, they are called Riders.  They can communicate with each other with their minds, and they are more like one person than two.  The Rider becomes stronger both physically and mentally, and is able to use magic.  With the help of his dragon, he can cast spells that an ordinary sorcerer would not be able to.  The Rider also lives as long as an average dragon would, and gains several other abilities that help him use his powers for good or for evil.

           Even before Eragon was born, Galbatorix assembled a group of Riders called the Forsworn to do his bidding.  He killed all remaining Riders and took over as king of all of Alagaesia.  He himself is a Rider, and is now one of the only ones left. 

            As Eragon continues to grow up and mature, he and his family depend on him more and more to put food on the table.  He has always wandered into the Spine in order to hunt, but unlike others, he’s not afraid of the forest and has never been wary of it.  One day, when he goes out with his bow and quiver full of arrows.  He fires at a deer and misses, notching another arrow to his bow immediately.

“Behind him, where the deer had been, smoldered a large circle of grass and tress. Many of the pines stood bare of their needles.  The grass outside the charring was flattened.  A wisp of smoke curled in the air, carrying a burnt smell.  In the center of the blast radius lay a polished blue stone.” (pg. 7)

            He thought it might be worth something, so he gave up on the deer and went into the village, looking for someone who would buy his shiny stone.  No one offers him much, so he keeps it for himself.  Overnight, the stone hatches, and it never was an actual stone; it was a dragon egg.  He has no clue as to what to do with her, and he knows it wouldn’t be a good idea to keep her a secret from Roran and Garrow.  He makes a nest for her in the woods and keeps her there, feeding her and keeping her warm throughout the winter.  He names her Saphira because of her radiant blue scales, and they begin to communicate with each other through their minds. 

            Although Eragon managed to keep Saphira a secret from his family, Galbatorix has somehow figured everything out.  Two inhuman creatures called the Ra’zac come to Carvahall, looking for Eragon and Saphira.  They burn down Eragon’s house and kill Garrow, and Eragon is forced to ride Saphira for the first time in his life in order to escape.  When he comes back to the village, he sees his uncle and his farm, all destroyed.  He wants revenge and he decides it would be best for him to hunt them down.  As he’s about to leave, Brom, the village storyteller, comes up to him and says that he’ll be coming with him.  Eragon thinks that Brom will only slow him down, but he allows him to come.

            Eragon and Brom travel from village to village, encountering strange and dangerous creatures such as Urgals (a lot like an Orc in Lord of the Rings).  Eragon learns a lot from him, especially how to wield a sword in battle.  He even learns how to use magic, and he gets better and better as time goes on.  Brom tells him all about the Empire ruled by Galbatorix and what he had done to the Riders.  He tells him about the Varden, a secret group of people that oppose Galbatorix and who try to overthrow him.  Eragon matures and becomes a much more intelligent person throughout their journey, and a lot of amazing things happen to them.  The rest of this book unravels their incredible expedition through Alagaesia and all the troubles they must struggle through in order to get revenge on the Ra’zac. 

            There were a lot of things that made this book so great.  One of the most important things was the themes of this book, one of them being growing up.  I really saw Eragon mature and become more intelligent throughout the book.  The only things he knew how to do in the beginning of the book were farm and hunt, and he wasn’t exceptional at either.  But by the end of the novel, he’s become a master with the sword, a courageous Dragon Rider who can slay dozens in a war, and someone who thinks things through and makes the right decision.  I could really see this transformation always happening throughout the book.

            Good versus Evil.  A classic theme in thousands of books.  The Empire, along with Galbatorix, is obviously the evil in this book.  Eragon, along with all that oppose Galbatorix, are the ones that fight for all that is good.  From the beginning, when the Ra’zac come and invade Carvahall, the theme of good versus evil comes into play.  It’s quite an obvious theme, but still an important one that we can all make connections to.

            Eragon was a lot like the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Both books have dwarves, elves, humans and many strange creatures, and the writing style of Christopher Paolini closely resembles that of J.R.R. Tolkien’s.  They both foreshadow a lot and use irony to really make the reader think.  They use dialogue very well and their writing is always fluent.  Both authors really seem to know who their characters are; they would probably know what each character’s favorite food is and know exactly how they would act in every kind of situation.  Finally, they both use a ton of detail with everything.  They pay attention to all the little things, and it makes their books that much better.  Descriptions are elaborated fully and nothing is vague in any way.  I’ve read both books and they were very good.  Anyone that enjoyed Tolkien’s trilogy would certainly become fond of Eragon. 

            This book is a little easier to read than the Lord of the Rings, but the audience is very similar.  People in middle school as well as high school and college can read this book and take a lot of pleasure in it.  It is Paolini’s first book, and a very good one.  It’s fresh and would be near the top of my list for anyone looking for a good fantasy book.  I would give it two and a half stars out of three.  It was a little slow in the beginning, and the book didn’t hook me in straight away.  It took me a while to read because I wasn’t engrossed by the book until at least one hundred pages into it.  I stuck with it and it got a lot better, with a lot more suspense, action, and excitement.  Even if you don’t like it at first and want to put it down, try to keep on reading.  That was one of the only flaws I found in this book.

            Paolini has a lot of potential to become the next Tolkien.  Eragon is the first book in the Inheritance Trilogy, and I’m very excited about the next book, Eldest.  This was an amazing piece of writing for a fifteen year old, and I expect him to become a well-known author very soon. 

Jae L.   December 2005