Rating:  Summary: Captivating! Review: This book was difficult to put down! It's a wonderfully written fantasy with a touch of mystery that adopts the familiar ideas of dragons, dwarves, elves and a young boy, and combines them in such a believable manner that you can almost feel as if you are part of the story as Eragon and Saphira endure both grief and victory. You laugh with them, you cry with them, and at the same time trying to unveil the true identities of several key characters leaves you hungering for the next chapter, and of course, for the next book! I can't wait!!
Rating:  Summary: Wow Review: I really never knew that a 19 year old could be so creative, i am only 15 and that was the most amazing book i have ver read, it even beats lord of the rings!!!
Rating:  Summary: A First Draft--Needs Revision Review: The novel is ok, but I can't praise it for its originality or characters. The plot is often convenient, predictable, and obviously taken from other books. The ending does not satisfy the reader, and the lack of consistent character development becomes annoying as characters suddenly grow and then revert to earlier behaviors. I have to agree with everyone criticizing the book's writing style. I know the author is just beginning, but he needs several writing courses. His sentences lack variety and the book needs much more attention to editing. As a family published novel, the book is impressive; however, as a work in mainstream publication, the work suffers from a weak tone, bad grammar, and a standard plot.
Rating:  Summary: Fanfiction--Not Quality Fiction Review: The plot is almost entirely ripped off from Star Wars, with names from Tolkien and a touch of Anne McCaffrey. The descriptive writing comes straight from the "Dark and Stormy Night" school of prose--I mean "the sun rose in a glorious conflagration of pink and yellow"? Ouch! Paolini has potential, but if he had been twice his age, this would never have been published--except by his own family's press. It is akin to fanfiction--excellent for fanfiction, but not up to the standards of children's/YA fantasy. It lacks originality--and please don't tell me how all fiction is derivative. Of course it is--that's why a new book has to have something special for it to be worth reading. And this one just isn't special. What really bugs me is how many librarians and book reviewers have missed all of this, and can only wax poetic about how the author was only 15 when he wrote this--SO WHAT? This is just not good enough to be getting on "best of lists" and garnering 5 stars from well read adults who are supposed to read CRITICALLY. Our kids deserve the best--and that includes reviewers who can recognize the best in children's literature and not fall for the sort of hype this book has generated
Rating:  Summary: Twenty seconds longer Review: I tried reading this book. I love good fantasy. I love good anything. But about 50 pages in, I just couldn't take it anymore. There's a reason Eragon's so long, and it has nothing to do with the story. This poor boy (Paolini) is addicted to modifiers, the best evidence we have of a lazy writer. Instead of thinking 20 seconds longer and finding the perfect verb or noun, he took the lazy way out and just hung lots of adverbs and adjectives on his words. Bleah. He could have done better, but now, with his success, why should he? You all have given him too much encouragement, so because he figures sloppy writing is good enough, you'll never get the writing you deserve from him. What a pity.
Rating:  Summary: Couldn't put it down Review: I loved this book and would highly recommend it. Not only was it entertaining, but it was also well written. I was amazed by the author's talent, and I am eagerly awaiting the second book. There were definite similarities to other sci-fi/fantasy books that I have read. Although the story was original, I definitely picked up on the influence of Tolkein and Ursula K. Le Guin. However, I've found that books that are important to me influence the way I think and the way I write. One learns to write partly through reading both good and bad books, and it seems to me that Paolini learned well from the master storytellers that have clearly influenced his work. Hopefully he'll be entertaining us for years to come.
Rating:  Summary: Just plain bad Review: Wow. I like pulp fantasy as much as the next die-hard fantasy lover (think Goodkind, Brooks, etc.). This book doesn't even stand up to those admittedly mediocre books. It's just bad. I can't tell you how horribly dissapointed I was with this book. It was just.....bad. I was really hoping this would be the amazing read all those zealots with a flame burning in their eye said it was. Turns out they were like any other fanatics....blinded by the lies they had fallen sway to. Hint to parnets: don't censor your kids--if they find this book and like it, that's a good thing (anything that gets kids reading is a good thing in my book). If they haven't run across it yet, try to get them interested in a higher quality author's fantasy books for young people--think Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Alexander's Prydian books, etc. We can at least show our kids the road around the deceptively alluring swamps of non-talent that this book represents, even if we can't force them to avoid them completely.
Rating:  Summary: Eragon Review: I read Eragon after reading The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches books by Robert Stanek so it was quite a change from an epic storyline with lots of subtext to the simpler story line of Eragon. While everyone is talking about The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches books, Eragon is the better story and let me tell you why. Eragon is a simple story of a boy versus the world. He starts out a simple farm boy and is soon a hero of the land. Eragon is written by 15-year-old wunderkid Christopher Paolini. It is his first book and the story will only get better as it goes on. This makes book 1 in the inheritance a stunning success.
Rating:  Summary: WARNING:ADDICTIVE STORY Review: The book rocks all the way! And the characters are so similar to the ones in the HP series-- I equal Eragon with Harry, Murtagh with Ron,Brom with Dumbledore, Arya with Hermione, and so on. The story takes place in medieval times, when the conflict is between the king and the Varden or "Wardens". Eragon finds Saphira's egg in the forests of the Spine, and unknowningly gets caught up into the war between the two bitter enemies , and as a result he will be forced to flee Alagesia so he can lead a better life.
Rating:  Summary: Beyond Beauty Review: I was drawn to this book by it's cover. Then I read a few reviews on Amazon and purchased it. I was interested to read a book written by one so young. I was skeptical at first, comparing the prose to more experienced writers. By chapter three, I was hooked. I found this to be one of the most beautiful stories I have read. I found the writing everthing I enjoy in novels. The scenery is well described, the character development is well done. The mystery surrounding each character is beautifully revealed throughout the book. I could not wait to get home from work to get back to it each day. I love Saphira and can not wait for the second book to visit with my new favorite characters. I would not compare this book to any other. It is one in it's own and I look forward to more from this young author. I am in my fifties and would recommend this book for young and young at heart. In fact I will buy another for my grand son for his birthday. Who says You can't judge a book by it's cover?
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