Eragon By Christopher Paolini Release Date: Buy it Today! Knopf Ratings Action Romance Characters Overall Purchase on Amazon. Purchase at Powell’s. Find independent bookstores near you.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, where the elves live and play, a young farm boy named Luke Eragon found a droid dragon (Saphira), lost his uncle when the Empire burned down his house, met a crazy old man who was much more that what he seemed named Ben Brom, was given a light saber rider’s sword, learned the tales of the Jedi Dragon Riders and how they fell to the Empire (which was of course made up of their own). And this is all in the first two hundred pages. Leia, Han, and the rest of the crew haven’t even shown up yet.

I’d give you a new summary, one that actually pertains to the book, but, well, that is a summary of the beginning. It goes on to battles of good vs. evil, rebels and the Empire, and, well, if you’ve seen Star Wars, you know where it’s headed.

Still, despite (or maybe because) this book being Star Wars set in the world of Tolkien, I really enjoyed it. The detail is stunning and the events are easy to imagine. There are a lot of beginner mistakes and over explaining that an older and more seasoned writer would have taken out, but maybe that’s what makes Eragon so charming.

I’ll admit, I had no interest in reading the book until I saw the trailers for the movie. Nothing against the book (besides, perhaps, the author’s fame and popularity at an age I was still dreaming of being a writer), but it just didn’t interest me. Others had been telling me for some time that it was good and a number of the ten-year-old girls I babysat for couldn’t stop gushing about the books. Still, like Harry Potter , I just never took the time to pick up the book and read it.

Of course, the prologue rather impedes that ability to pick up the book and read it. I’m rather surprised so many kids stick through it past the prologue. My editor warned me ahead of time about it, and as a result I only skimmed it. As soon as the real story began, I was captivated, but the prologue uses the technique of no detail/names to try to create a mystery. Unfortunately, when the reader is already being thrown into a new world with unknown creatures like the Urgal, this technique does not work for the prologue. The reader has very little of the familiar to make a connection with. So, if you find yourself dragging your fingers as you read the first few pages, just skip them and get to the action. It gets far more interesting after that.

Ratings Reasons:

Action 5 – There is detailed and believable action. The author obviously has an understanding of warfare and swordplay.

Romance 2 – Romance is blooming in this book, but it certainly hasn’t become the rose depicted in Eragon’s fortune yet. He is destined to be loved by a great lady, who may very well be the elven girl he’s met in this book. Of course, his love maybe yet to come, who knows? What is for certain is that Saphira is going to be jealous either way.

Characters 4 ½ – The characters are interesting and sympathetic, but I can’t help but feel that they are strongly built on general character models, as lain out by the Hero’s Journey. Nothing wrong about that, but I still pick up on it. They do have individual characteristics, though, that make them unique within their models.

Overall 4 ½ – I liked it. I simply liked the book and sped through reading it. There are some writing problems, a tendency to over explain things, and Eragon is always getting a lecture of some sort. Still, it’s a good read. If you’re like me and have been avoiding reading it, give it a try. Or at least go see the movie and see if that piques your interest.

Extras:

For more information about the world of Eragon and the Inheritance Trilogy, check out Christopher Paolini’s website, Alagaesia . Unfortunately, while the site is very pretty, there isn’t as much actual information as I would have hoped for. There are some fun-looking games and you can visit Eragon’s myspace.

If you are looking for more beyond that, there are many fan sites for the book and new movie. Visit Shur’tugal or the Inheritance Forum.

And if Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings franchises have taught us nothing else, they have made it clear that if you stick an “officially licensed replica” label on anything, and it will sell. So get your officially license Eragon swords.

Still interested in dragons? Well, so is the rest of the world. Check out the Dragonology book. It has lots of great details about the different types of dragons, along with dragon scales you can feel! I love this book and got it the first time I saw it. There are other books in the series now, and they all look gorgeous. There are also a few more dragon books by the same makers, some fiction and at least one is another “reference” book.

All right, so I said Eragon is Star Wars set in the world of Lord of the Rings, and I’ll stick by that statement. So check out these two originals. Lord of the Rings redefined fantasy and Tolkien set the standards for all the fantasy writers that followed. Star Wars meanwhile took a classic hero’s journey and made it into something new, while bringing science-fiction movies to a new standard of storytelling and special effects.

Lastly, in case you didn’t know (and apparently are living in a tv-less cave), the movie Eragon opens this weekend at a theater near you. Mostly likely on five screens at a theater near you. They expect to make a lot of money off of it. It does look like a good movie though, and I’m excited to see it. I love a good fantasy movie to begin with, so if it is just up to that standard, I’ll be happy. The New York Times has an interesting article online about how the movie-makers brought Saphira to the big screen.

Parents:10+ I know too many ten-year-olds that love this book to give it anything less. The author is very detailed though, and the reader will be feeling Eragon’s emotions with him, so be prepared to comfort if needed. I think this would also be a great book for a family to read aloud while all cuddled up on the couch this cold winter.

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