Christopher Paolini

[Dionysus_PSI]

Right now I am reading Eldest (part II of inheritance, part I is called Eragon) and it is amazing. I also loved Eragon (but I dispise the movie, it was TERRIBLE... but that is for later discussion).
After reading Eragon I just HAD to get a copy of Eldest, and now that I'm only 1/4 of the way though it I want to get onto whatever the third and final installement be.
I am finding Paolini's wiriting to be rich, filled with detail and excelent prose. And he really has thought of a universe much as did Tolkien and Frank Herbert (Author of Dune). It is quite noticeable that Paolini, as anyone writing in that 'area' is heavily affected by Tolkien, however he makes some good distinctions, variations, etc.

For anyone consitering reading Eragon PLEASE IGNORE THE MOVIE (unless you liked the movie). I know many people LOVED the movie, but it really diden't get me, it was compressed, the acting wasen't very good, the plot was underdeveloped and the use of the standard caractor arc was substandard at best. Instead of the end building up and crashing like a cymbol, it kinda dribbled down and went SPLAT. Near the end it was obvious that the end was coming and I could even (within two seconds) dictate when the credits were going to roll. (and yes I read the book after seeing the movie despite the movie, due to the various reccomendations I got to go read it regardless).

eragon was indeed a New York Times #1 Bestseller, a proud title to gain. Not only that but it also has won various awards, etc. It is a great Novel, and sofar Eldest is proving to be just as good.

Cheers,
Dion.

[YopY]

The first book read like it was written by a 14-year old who's read too many fantasy novels. Oh wait, it was.The story was pretty generic and predictable (p00r very n0rmal kid gets dragon, sword, learns magic, meets hot chix0r and has to defeat evil and all-powerful bad guy), in my opinion.

The second book was definitely an improvement compared to the first; more advanced writing style, better story, etcetera.

I'd probably read the third book as well, but I already know it's not one of the greatest works I've read. May work for the average teenager though, like Harry Potter does for <15's.

[Ssj7Crono]

Originally Posted by Dionysus_PSI

Right now I am reading Eldest (part II of inheritance, part I is called Eragon) and it is AMAZING. I also loved Eragon (but I dispise the movie, it was TERRIBLE... but that is for later discussion).
After reading Eragon I just HAD to get a copy of Eldest, and now that I'm only 1/4 of the way though it I want to get onto whatever the third and final installement be.
I am finding Paolini's wiriting to be rich, filled with detail and excelent prose. And he really has thought of a universe much as did Tolkien and Frank Herbert (Author of Dune). It is quite noticeable that Paolini, as anyone writing in that 'area' is heavily affected by Tolkien, however he makes some good distinctions, variations, etc.

Same here. Just finished reading Eragon in about a week and now i'm about a fourth of the way done with Eldest.
Overall the story is pretty good in my opinion, although its bit average and predictable though compared to some other books ive read.

[L]

I'm agree with YopY... the books are ok, but I have a feeling that if it weren't for that the fact that Christopher was a 15 year old whose parents just happened to have publishing connections, he wouldn't be given have the praise he was, nor would the book have been published in the first place.

I disagree when it comes to Eldest though. I did like Eragon a lot more then Eldest, because with Eldest I kept wanting to scream "OK! I get it! You're a vegetarian atheist!" whenever anything concerning the elves came up. (FYI, Christopher is a vegetarian atheist.) Also, the whole jumping between three different characters got distracting. Eragon would be in the middle of doing something important but first! Let's watch Nasuada make lace. And I don't think his writing style improved either... instead, he just threw in bad analogies trying to make everything poetic. Bend like a reed indeed.

I just think all the publicity went to Chris's head... their decent books, but really, honestly, they're not that good.

[YopY]

Hah, already had forgotten about that bit, teh lol.

I'm currently reading A Song of Ice and Fire (series), and that series jumps a lot between characters. As in, each chapter is about one specific character. Sometimes one character is about to go to a battle or something, then it goes to the littler brother of that character and you find out he's won the battle, but only from a completely different perspective. It's interesting, I'd say. But probably wouldn't work for most fantasy books, let alone this one.

[Ssj7Crono]

wat about the movie Eragon? havent seen it yet but depending on a person's point of view it can either be good or it can be terrible.

i saw a trailer of it on youtube but its either me or most of the character actors simply just do not match and jsut suck. i had a diffrent vision of them when i was reading the book. i might just rent it when it comes out on DVD just to see how terrible it is.

[Dionysus_PSI]

True true it was predictable, but many stories are, its based on the basic caractor arc that we all learn about when you take any writing course. And part of the reason I like the books is that indeed they were written by a 15-year-old. He did an amazing job for his limited experience, age, etc.

They are not my favorite books by far, I indeed prefer Tolkien, Herbert, Terry Goodkind, etc, etc far more than Christopher Paolini.
As-per his 'publishing connections' yes, it helps, but I'm sure that if this was given to many other publishers they'd take it over. And actually the NEW publisher of the books is a new publisher who took on Eragon to kick themselves off.

[L]

The thing that will really set me off on a tirade is when people compare Paolini to Tolkien. No sir, not even close. There are entire mythologies, histories, genealogies, languages (written and spoken) that goes along with Middle-Earth. The whole Lord of the Rings saga just happens to be one, and albeit the most popular of all the Middle Earth stories written. However, it's just a part of the world Tolkien created. I have 12 books written by J.R.R Tolkien concerning Middle Earth.

.cough. Anywho...

The jumping between characters bit could've worked, but a lot of times their seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it. It's like Paolini was in the middle of [spoiler]describing of Eragon's transformation[/spoiler] then suddenly decided to shove in few chapters about Roran (or was it Nasuada this time) because he felt like it. There was no connection between the events at all.

[YopY]

Psh. Almost every (new) fantasy writer (wait, old ones too) get compared to Tolkien sooner or later.

[Ssj7Crono]

when i was reading Eragon i felt that it just draged on for a while with little happening. then theres the fact i found it a bit predicatble at times with certain characters holding secrets and what have you which became more obvious at the story progressed.

[Dionysus_PSI]

Did you know that Tolkien actually started coming up with Sindarian and other languages for 'middle earth' before he even wrote the hobbit? And that the universe he created differend quite a bit after the Hobbit. Hell the version most people read of the hobbit isen't even the origional, it's an edited version, Tolkien changed things to make it fit the rest of the stories of middle-earth afterwards.

And yes I own The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The silmarillion, etc too, so yes I know there is more to his work than tLOTR.

Anyways, yes Paolini isen't nearly as good a writer as Tolkien (then agian Tolkien was quite a bit older when he started to write about middle earth...significantly so). The Comparison lies in the fact that Paolini's work is BASED off of tolkien's works (as I believe I foremetioned), hell Tolkien's vision of Elves, etc is the root of basically how ALL fantasy today sees these 'creatures' (Elves, Dwarfes, Orcs, Dragons (to a VERY limited degree there), Worgs, etc, etc). Also Paolini has indeed taken this and formed his own version of said, with it's own mythology, etc,etc, THATS where the comparison comes in. He's made a level of detail, backstory, etc.

I've read a bit of fantasty that really I could of sworn it was a direct LOTR ripoff, and you know what, I think it really was. The mythology was the exact same, yadayadayada, it's boring, borish, and ****e.

"They are not my favorite books by far" I do reinterate. But I do like what I've read; I've enjoyed them. I think that it's definatly worth a read, and if you don't care for them then so-be-it. I have to reccomend them (however some of the vocabulary is trublesome to the youngsters; words that aren't exactly "mainstream" are throughout them).

Cheers.

[L]

xD I guess I should also restate that I don't think there terrible books either. I don't think their a waste of space on my bookshelf, and I do intend on buying and reading the last one when it comes out. However, I just feel that the books are a tad bit overrated, and that there are a lot of other fantasy books out their that are a lot more original, and a lot more suitable for movie production then this one.

[Ssj7Crono]

Originally Posted by Soda

xD I guess I should also restate that I don't think there terrible books either. I don't think their a waste of space on my bookshelf, and I do intend on buying and reading the last one when it comes out. However, I just feel that the books are a tad bit overrated, and that there are a lot of other fantasy books out their that are a lot more original, and a lot more suitable for movie production then this one.

probably from all the publicity it got from the movie. honstly if it wasnt for the movie ive would of never heard of this book, let alone read it. then again i rarely read. only a few books a year.

i simply went to the bookstore the week the movie came out in theatres and the bookstore had a small secton promoting the books and movie.

[YopY]

I bought it when I was in the US one and a half year ago, saw the second book which had just released, and was curious. Got the first book there and read it, shrugged and bought the second, finished it when I got back home. The book(s) seemed popular enough, most likely because the author was 15 or so. Books popular like that often get a movie adaptation, and they don't even need to be that good - take the Da Vinci Code, probably the most overrated book in the history of literature.

[The Man]

Da Vinci Code was only popular because of its subject matter. I found that rather interesting at the time, because I still gave a **** about religion, but now it bores me. Go figure.

[YopY]

DVC contained nothing new, and the nothing-newness was packed in a rather dull packaging.

[The Man]

true, but most people, myself included, hadn't heard of the theories included within.

Btw, do you want to make the GRRM thread or should I unlazy myself and do it?

[Dionysus_PSI]

" GRRM" thread??

As-for the movie being the only reason that people know of the book so well is false, it was a very-high selling book before the movie started to be made (it was one of the reasons I've heard that they desided to make the movie, beacouse the book was selling quite well).

My copy of eldest was published Aug2006, and hit has the listings for eragon on the back:

The #1 New York Times Bestseller
The #1 Publisher's Weekly Bestseller
The USA Today Bestseller
The Wall Street Journal Bestseller
The Book Sence Book of the Year

I'm reasonabally sure that that praise is high-cause for so many people going out and buying the book, and so many people knowing of it.

Okay I just checked my copy of Eragon and it was published April 2005 and has the exact same list on it. This is the KNOPF published version (the second publisher to hold the series; Firstly his parents'. Eragon was chosen due to it's popularity and status, among with Paolini meeting an KNOPF editor at his signings).

[The Man]

George R. R. Martin. And it looks like Yop won't be bothered, so when I unlazy myself I'll make it.

[YopY]

Originally Posted by The Man

George R. R. Martin. And it looks like Yop won't be bothered, so when I unlazy myself I'll make it.

Yes I can, but it'll be a SoIaF thread, haven't read anything else from him so far .