# eragon



## Crazy_dude6662 (May 22, 2005)

is a good fantasy book, the author is quite young, its gonna be a trilogy 
its about a guy named eragon and his dragon its quite good. good descriptions carachters, i read it about 7 or 8 times.
its about 500 pages.


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## butterflie (May 22, 2005)

I just bought this at the bookstore the other day myself, it looked quite interesting and reading the blurb I couldn't resist buying it, which is something I rarely do. I can't wait to read it!


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## blademasterzzz (May 22, 2005)

http://www.writingforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=8829


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## Talia_Brie (May 22, 2005)

Or this one, which was even more fun.

http://www.writingforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=4233

We asked the question here about whether you should consider this book good because it was written by a 15 year old, or bad, because its derivative, unoriginal, and poorly written by any commercial standards.


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## strangedaze (May 23, 2005)

I saw it in the bookstore and flipped through it. Of course, I can't comment on content or say definitively that it's brutal, but the writing was...er...not quite up to par, to say that least.


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## XandrilZaax (May 23, 2005)

I guess his next book is either out or coming out soon. I'm not going to buy it, but I might get it fro mthe library to see if Paolini's writing and plot line is getting any better, but I doubt it...


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## Ben (May 23, 2005)

His parents own a publishing company or something dont they? that sure wouldve made things easier


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## XandrilZaax (May 23, 2005)

It would. I wish my parents owned a publishing company...lol


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## Talia_Brie (May 23, 2005)

I don't think they owned a publishing company, but they certainly had a lot of money and a lot of influence in the industry. Their drive to get the book published smacked of indulgence of a spolit brat, in my opinion.

That being said I have a friend who read it (I haven't) and they enjoyed it. I used to respect their opinion, and now I'm asking myself questions.

The main point of the other discussions has been should you rate writing against the age of the writer? As in, 'that's good writing for a 15 year old'.


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## blademasterzzz (May 23, 2005)

The main point against that is probably - 

Considering it's published, no.


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## Ben (May 23, 2005)

I haven't read it, but I assume there would have to be some good things about it. But it might just be good for a 15 year old. not anything special. 
I probably should read it sometime to see what everyone is talking about...


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## hwki (May 24, 2005)

Wow, thats an oldie. Well, not really, but its actually been out much longer than most people realize. My sister bought a copy of it, back in the day before it got bought by a traditional publisher, when Chris Paolini came to our school promoting his book. It's signed and everything (oooooh). Anyway, it took me a while to get around to reading it (I was in Iraq with nothing better to do, other than, you know, fight a war), but it was alright. It's not going to win any literary awards but its pretty decent entertainment. It's a bit derivative (why is it in every fantasy story there is, Elves and Dwarves hate each other? Is it just a Tolkien thing, or what?), but the dynamic between Eragon and the dragon was pretty well done. Got to give him props, though. You can bash on 'self-published' authors all you want, at least they're not wasting thousands of dollars on literary agents sending out manuscripts that'll never get read, much less accepted, and when they are accepted, the author gets ripped off and the publisher winds up warping everything to make it more 'consumer friendly'. 
Any hoo,
HWKI


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## Talia_Brie (May 24, 2005)

hwki said:
			
		

> You can bash on 'self-published' authors all you want, at least they're not wasting thousands of dollars on literary agents sending out manuscripts that'll never get read, much less accepted. . .



We don't bash Paolini because he's self published, because he isn't. Eragon has been released by a mainstream publisher on the grounds that his parents campaigned for it. That fact that he never would have been accepted by a mainstream publisher otherwise is what get's people going.

And not every fantasy novel is derivative of Tolkein (though the elves/dwarves thing is, where it apears), but this one is.

The problem people have with this book is that it isn't good by commercial standards. It's poorly written and didn't deserve to be published. We don't like him getting wraps because he's 15. I wouldn't mind if he got wraps in spite of being 15, but that isn't what's happening.

But the final judgement on Paolini should probably wait until his next book is released. He may then stand up as the most improved fantasy writer of all time. We'll have to see.


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## XandrilZaax (May 25, 2005)

Talia_Brie said:
			
		

> I don't think they owned a publishing company, but they certainly had a lot of money and a lot of influence in the industry. Their drive to get the book published smacked of indulgence of a spolit brat, in my opinion.



"Eragon was first published by in early 2002 by my parents' publishing company, Paolini International LLC." -excerpt from acknowledgments in the back of Eragon.

My point is made.


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## Talia_Brie (May 25, 2005)

I consider myself corrected.

Though I still think it's undulgence of a spoilt brat.


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## blademasterzzz (May 25, 2005)

D..d...don't say that. Paolini's a source of hope, at least...  :twisted:


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## Kane (May 25, 2005)

XandrilZaax said:
			
		

> It would. I wish my parents owned a publishing company...lol



If you write stories worthy of being published, it won't matter if your parents own a publishing company.


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## blademasterzzz (May 25, 2005)

Sadly, that is not so. Whoever markets best wins.


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## JBarnz (Jun 12, 2005)

I think it sounds like a really neat book with a pretty good plot but i think maybe somebody rushed it through, it should have been reviewed another time and he probably should have been a little more careful in what he wrote and added some stuff into the story, or take some out.


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## JBarnz (Jun 12, 2005)

I've heard some very good things about it.

Some people say they love it and have read it about 7 times, others say they don't really care for it. I guess what it comes down to is that a 15 year old wrote it for other 15 year olds. if you are older you might have trouble thinking the way he does.

I think it is only 300 pages by the way.


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## kintaris (Jun 12, 2005)

Ah...the big Harry Potter is-it-good is-it-bad debate is reborn...

personally, i was aware in the back of my mind that the writing was below-par, but i still thought the story was good, so i detached myself a bit from the clunky descriptions and the obvious LOTR ripoffs (Nazghul? Come on) and enjoyed the ride. Wasn't so bad, really.

kintaris


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## blademasterzzz (Jun 13, 2005)

That's the point! NOT BAD! Grrr. 


People seem to think that 17-year-olds cannot write something engrossing and unique! This belief was only strengthened when Paolini wrote his thing. 

I am not jealous. I am rather annoyed that people praise his works so highly. 

A final thing: HE DID NOT WORK ON HIS WORK! It ain't his. It's a bland mix of other works. And it shows, as his magic system and world is ripped off other books, and his characters bland and uninteresting. 

I said it before and I say it again, the book would have been much better if he'd had used the dragon's POV. 

And Harry Potter is a lot more original than Eragon (= Aragorn, Dragon).


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