Product Description

When Eragon finds a polished stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands - 'A winner - tip of the hat to young master Paolini' Anne McCaffrey, author of The Dragonriders of Pern series'A compelling and action-filled adventure ...a galloping good example of its genre' Daily Telegraph'This book is an achievement. Readers ...will be transported' Sunday Times' A portrayal of true affection between boy and dragon - Paolini writes like someone gripped by his own story' Guardian'A stirring fantasy of epic proportions' The Bookseller

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1771 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback

From the Back Cover
One boy...One dragon...A world of adventure.

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy almost as old as the Empire itself.
Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands....

'A compelling and action-filled adventure...a galloping good example of its genre'. Daily Telegraph

'This book is an achievement. Readers...will be transported'. Sunday Times

'A portrayal of true affection between boy and dragon...Paolini writes like someone gripped by his own story.' Guardian.

'A stirring fantasy of epic proportions'. The Bookseller

About the Author
Christopher Paolini:
Christopher Paolini was educated at home by his parents. His abiding love of fantasy and science fiction inspired him to begin writing his debut novel, Eragon, when he graduated from high school at fifteen. Now twenty, he lives with his family in Montana, USA, where he is at work on Eldest, the next volume in the Inheritance trilogy.

Customer Reviews

Hmmm...
When Eragon finds a blue stone he thinks it will buy some meat in the winter for his family. But when it hatches a dragon he becomes a legendary Dragon Rider and he and his mentor Brom leave on a journey packed with peril and destiny.

Frankly, Eragon is not the best book of the genre I have read. The description is good and the storyline goes along nicely. However, some parts which were meant to be the twists were clear from the beginning. Spoiler ahead. Like Brom is a Rider - OBVIOUS!!!! Yet other twists were really surprising. In the battle at the end the plot becomes hard to follow. But well-written and I can say, bring on ELDEST! Major problems: they have not Anglicised it so I found it frustrating to see words like 'ax', 'favor', 'color', and 'traveled' crop up. They were some of the most frequent.

Overall, not bad... But the small things amount to a lot!!! P.S any confirmation that the IIIrd book is called Glaedr???

Eragon IS by numbers
--------- SPOILERS -----------

First of all, let me say that I enjoyed Eragon, it was a fun and enetertaining read to while away the time on my recent flight to Bulgaria. But it has absolutely nothing new to offer, you can almost predict the next page as you read it (total unknown plucked out of existence to greatness etc. etc.), and also, be prepared for Eragon (the title charecter) to loose consciousness at the end of most chapters.

It has been claimed that this book has an incredibly similar storyline and set of charecters to the Star Wars films, and I must admit, that the similarities are glaring, to make the 'conincidences' easier to spot, here's my guide to charecter translation from Eragon to Star Wars:

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Eragon = Luke SkyWalker (incredibly obvious, let me put it this way, they even share the same job, 'farm boy!')

Galbatorix = The Emporer (Corrupt leader role, I could go on and on....)

Arya/Nasuada = Princess Leia (Both are diffirent aspects of the same charecter.)

Brom = Obi Wan (they could be twins.)

And finally.....

Dragon Riders = Jedi (once again, there are many similarities.)

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So, to sum that up, it's Star Wars with dragons added to the formula. This review is just abit of fun and as I've said I enjoyed the book, and I'm sure I will enjoy the sequel. Have fun spotting the similarities!

I should also point out that although the similarities are glaring, most of our well known stories are composites of earlier ones. So Eragon is hardly the first story to take ideas from another story.

Please rate my review if you have the time!

(Please note, I do not have my own acount, so I'm using my father's, I am certainly not a Mr Grant (I'm a girl)!)

Not what it's made out to be...
I bought this book following the hype that was going about. Usually I'm not one for hyped up books and movies but the plot was interesting and since it was being made into a movie I figured it had to be worth taking a look at.

That is the last time I do that...

I've gotten through most of the book but it's become something of a drag. Usually it takes me a day at the least to finish any novel but this one has taken me over three weeks. The writing style is in no way grabbing and I find myself cringing terribly whenever I get to an emotional bit. It feels summarized... all of it.

The two stars are for making me smile twice during two conversations Eragon had with his dragon and for interesting plot. But aside from that the book is lacking. A good first attempt but he really needs to work on it.