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Eldest, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings Sep 14, 2005 (18 of 18 found this helpful)
Some people might think that Eldest copied Tolkien's elves, but I disagree. I think that Paolini made his elves different and interesting, and HE DID NOT COPY TOLKIEN in this area. BUT, I do think he copied many names (Melian, Beor, and others) from Tolkien. It is unfortunate that such a promising writer could not think of original names!
Also the plot is exactly like Star Wars. *spoiler* This became most annoying when Murtagh told Eragon who his father was. Eragon didn't like that idea and Murtagh said "Search your feelings, you know it to be true." *cough* Vader said that!*cough*
Eragon was excellent. Eldest was long, drawn out and lacked origianlity. It saddens me because I really thought the Inheritance Series would become the next Lord of the Rings. Unless Paolini does something amazing with the last book, it won't. =(
- A Disheartened Eragon Fan.
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And then Eragon lightly bounded up the epicly proportionatly steps to his bed. Jul 17, 2006 (17 of 17 found this helpful)
Bored yet. Thats what most of the sentences are like. I found myself skipping pages and missing absolutely nothing except Mr. Paolinis wonderful descriptions. When I read Eragon I thought it was okay not great, I didn't like the fact that Paolini copied just about every fantasty book out there. In Eldest though it gets ridiculous. As I was reading I was imagining Gimli, Arwen, and Luke Skywalker strolling through the woods.
I have to agree with the others about the editor, this book could have gotten rid of 200 pgs. or so and we would have missed nothing except expandind our vocabulary. I found myself thinking of one of my old english teachers(shudder) I don't need to be reminded of that.
Overall Paolinis descriptions reminded me of the enigizer bunny, they kept going and going and going. I'll probably read the third book when it comes out, lets all hope that a new editor comes along. Please.
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Solid, but easily forgettable... Sep 25, 2005 (33 of 37 found this helpful)
This "Inheritance" trilogy has inspired more animosity then I have seen in a very long time. Their is litterally a great divide here, with many hailing Paolini as the next Tolkien, while others say that he will be the downfall of fantasy literature. Personally, I think BOTH sides are giving him way to much credit.
Let's start off with the pro-Paolini crew. I honestly have to wonder if you have actually read any other fantasy novels out there. If you have, you will notice that Eldest is saturated with cliches which Paolini attempts to hide by calling his work 'archetypal.' The attempt at portraying true love is laughable at best with the protagonist litterally calling a girl "as beautiful as a flower." That type of stuff makes me cringe. It seems to me that Paolini doesn't get his writing from real life experience, but instead from the many different authors that he has read before. Without experience, the emotions of Eldest come out as regurgetated garbage. I do not need to delve to deeply into the storyline itself for that has been mentioned numerous times before. I will say though that Paolini has got away with plagiarism. He copied names of places and towns, people, and plots by tweaking them only slightly so as to get away with it. For an avid reader, he fails at sneaking that theivery by us. It stuck out with each new page that I read. I must also say that I am dissapointed that Paolini failed to add anything original to the fantasy genre. Everything he wrote about HAS been used before; everything. That takes the excitement from the book.
Another problem I have is Paolini's arrogance. In reviewing himself, he said "I strive for a lyrical beauty somewhere between Tolkien at his best, and Seamus Henney's translation of Beowulf." That is ridiculous. Plagiraism doesn't put you on the same plane as the one you stole it from. HIs arrognace can also be seen with the agenda's that he peppers into the book, such as the assertion that eating meat is barbaric and that the human race is a collection of bumbling idiots. To top it all off, he feels the need to use obscure words to make himself feel smarter then he really is. I have no problem with a big vocabulary, IF the words fit in the context they are used and if they help get a certain point across. HIs words just feel awkward and take away from the flow of the reading. In conclusion, I find Paolini to be a literary thief who hides and sells his book with his age, rather then any particular merits.
At the same time, I think the anti-Paolini groups are taking thier opinions way overboard. Sure the story is horrible and contrived and rittled with cliches, but you are all giving him way to much credit. I have read some reviews that say he will be the ruin of children's literature. To me, that's a bit extreme. I see the Inheritance trilogy as a fad fueled by the vaccum created by the last Harry Potter book. When this seriies is over with, it will be forgotten and a new writer will emerge. For all of you vehement anti-Paolini people, you are feeding right into Pailoni's niche and are, by some degree, the reason why his book is so popular. Debate and conflict is one of the greatest marketing tools available. I also want to add that some of these negative reviews are a bit exxagerated. It's a mediocre book, (at best), but you must take it as it is. Although I am discusted at how much Paolini stole, I must reluctantly commend him for getting som many young kids to read. He succeeded in that regard and I can only hope that it will inspire people to read books of a higher quality.
I must say that all this attention is a bit baffling. It doesn't seem like it warrants it in any way, from any viewpoint. I will read the last installment of the trilogy for the sole purpose of a closure to what has been a strange ride. As a positve, I will say that Paolini has imroved since Eragon, although his style needs a lot of fine tu
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Can we get some emotion here, please? Pretty, pretty please? May 22, 2006 (32 of 36 found this helpful)
You know when you read a book and find out that some character in it reminds you of someone you know? That's a cool feeling, and every time you read that book, or its sequels, you'll think of that character as that person you know, and therefore it'll feel much more lifelike to you. That's one of the marks of a good book: real characters with real problems and real ways to cope.
Eldest, though, is sorely lacking in this department. Unless you're excellent friends with a ceral box, you won't find any characters in this book that remind you of anyone you know. They're lifeless little robots whose only job in these books is to parade around Middle Earth (oops, I meant Alegaia, or however you spell that) and say, 'Aye', every ten words or so, despite being the only hope against. . .sorry about the spelling. . .Galboratrix.
Also, I don't really think that it was important to make Sapheria drunk all the time. Was that supposed to be funny, or something? Well, it wasn't. And if the dragon wasn't drunk, it was Orik. I'm having a very hard time beliving that these weirdos will save their kingdom. It would be great if they realized that they had problems and had to overcome them, but CP takes the easy way out and just makes his characters move along like robots, not questioning anything and dating hot elf chicks.
Yes, I finished the book. I never leave a book unfinished, no matter how dull. The ending is the best part of the book by far. In fact, this whole series would be much, much better if CP stopped trying to make Eragon fall in love with Arya and just made it one conflict after another. His battle scenes are the best part of his books. That's not really saying much, though.
So, why do I give it two stars? The battle scenes and Roran saved this book from a one-star rating. I look forward to seeing Roran in the third book, amazingly! He's the character I'm rooting for. As for Eragon. . .get rid of him and have Roran and Murtaugh narate! I'd be a much better book without that loser in it!
Read it with caution. If you're expecting something like Harry Potter, you're going to be very dissapointed indeed. If you're expecting something like The Prophecy of the Stones, (another book by a young author that's just a little short of being fantastic)then this book might just be okay for you.
On a side note:
[...] I just hope that people don't lose their faith in teen authors because of CP's novels.
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Returning it.......so should you Sep 14, 2005 (32 of 36 found this helpful)
When my son wanted to return this book to Amazon, I asked him why and we talked about the book. I couldn't believe a book could be published that was so poorly written so I read it myself and was appalled. Glaring errors, disastrous editing, poorly written, poorly organized. Clearly the most overrated book in years. Paolini you've got the last dime you'll ever get from our family of readers. This telephone book should have been trimmed to 1/2 size at the least.