Customer Reviews
Entertaining read but nothing new - By: A. Davies, 02 Jan 2009 
I read Eragon after my friend raved & raved about it for weeks. (In hindsight, I think said friend was over exaggerating).
The book contains the typical fantasy plot of a poor farmboy (Eragon) finding a dragon egg. Upon hatching the egg, Eragon finds himself swept up by events beyond his control & discovers that the fate of his world is on his shoulders.
Although, he creates a rich & detailed fantasy world, Christopher Paolini offers nothing new to the fantasy genre, using conventional characters such as dwarves & elves. He also borrows the storyline from Lord of the Rings & Star Wars. As a result from this, the plot gets a bit too predictablein places.
However, Eragon is a good read if you just want a bog standard fantasy epic with a big battle & well paced plot.
Original, New and Fresh Ideas from this Author. - By: Ree View, 27 Dec 2008 
I got this book for christmas & just couldn't put it down. I was going to discuss the storyline but after seeing the shocking 1 & 2 star reviews I am going to focus on the original points of this book & how it has set itself apart from other such books.
Before this book I have never seen...
1) Such an intimate bond between human & animal that makes the bonds of friendship & love look weak.
2) Dwarves harboring another racein there caves showing great hospitality & shrugging off the stereotype that Dwarves are greedy & selfish.
3) an author create a huge world & not be scared to explore every city, town & forest & show good planning & great effortin creating immense detail for all these places.
4) Magic being controlled by a full language & not just shouting out random words to make spells like so many other books. This also shows the great detail & effort the author has put into this book.
5) The elves actin a way that has never been done before & shows themin a new light & doesn't portray them as a perfect race. Also we find a solid explanation to the elves long life & how they livein the forest.
I have allready started onto the next book (Eldest) so this is only the short list of what I can remember.
People say this book takes its ideas from many others & this makes the author look like a lazy copycat when it is the opposite which is true. Ofcourse he is influenced by other peoples work as everyone is but this book for me gives a nice breath of fresh air into fantasy & has changed the way i think about the genre.
Okay its not orignal but fun to read all the same - By: Ms. Z. Cotton, 22 Dec 2008 I picked up Eragon on a whim before hearing all the hype & equal criticism. I enjoyed the story & the development of Eragon's & Saphira's relationship. I must admit that the book mirrors aspects of well known & loved fantasy stories but that should not put you off, hardly anything has true originality these days.
Eragon is a Good start the Inheritance cycle which improves with the second instalment. If you like fantasy make time for this book
A good read, if a little wooden at times ... - By: M. Hunter, 11 Oct 2008 
For any fantasy/sci-fi fan, Eragon will contain a lot of familiar material. However, it is well written & has a fast-moving pace which makes up for its derivative nature. Although the story & characters are not new, it is an interesting (if not particularly thrilling) read.
On the down-side, the dialogue is very wooden & a lot of the description is long-winded & verbose. I suppose we can excuse Paolini, seeing as he was quite young when he wrote it.
Altogether, a good read (if you can stand the none-too-subtle echoes of Star Wars & LOTR).
Eragon - By: , 18 Sep 2008 the Eragon books are brilliant if you havent seen the film wich ruins it makingin my opinion a worse picture for the book. Still well worth the read of all the series!
