Product Description

A thrilling and evocative fantasy from a new master of the genre, Christopher Paolini.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1827 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-06
• Binding: Paperback

Synopsis
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

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

Depends on what eyes you read this book through...
As you can see from the star dispersal that this, depending on what eyes you read it with can be a gripping read or if you hold preconceptions in your head as you read it can seem cliched.
But not I, I read it with the knowledge that any good fantasy book would no doubt have elves, good and evil, dragons etc. and were essential to any good fantasy read you'd want to emmerse yourself in. And Eragon delivers that in strides as light reading with some wonderful warm characterisation and development of relationships between who are essentially the two main characters: Eragon and Saphira and for once we see a dragon as a fleshed out character and not a mere plot device. This book does seem to focus mainly on Eragon and Saphira's bond for relationship development and is always good for a laugh considering how different they are. The other characters always seem there for support and with exception of a few (Brom for instance) arn't gone into in some detail.
Bottom line? A wonderfully good adventurous read that you'll love to pick up and read for hundreds of pages at a time and feel very reluctant to put down without being forced to spend hundreds of pages being introduced to new concepts and races just so you can remotely get your head around the plot.
This is the beginnning of a brilliant fantasy series that you will want to read the contiunuation of without a doubt

An excellent read... why disect it?
I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Eragon' and 'Eldest' and I am sure that I will enjoy 'Brisingr' when it is released; in my mind that's all that matters. While I am happy to acknowledge the similarites that it has with many other fantastic novels, I do not believe that these similarities detract from the books.
Many people who have reviewed this seem obsessed with disecting the book, focusing on which parts are similar to other books and so on, but surely if a book is entertaining to read, then it has fufilled it's purpose. Books are not written to be analysed, they are written to be enjoyed.
To conclude, if you want to read a book simply to bask in it's literary genius and ingenuity, then walk away, but if you read for pleasure, then buy it and enjoy a fantastic read.

P.S. The film is terrible...please don't bother with it.

Absolutely fantastic!!!
Boy, how I loved this book, and the next one... I could hardly put them down, and only did so because I had to go to work, so I didn't get much sleep for a little week... but the books are amazing, as simply as that!!