Eragon...Literary Genius, Or scum of the reading world

[Elenai]

I for one despise Eragon, and find that the book lacking and believe it to be a mockery of great fantasy works in the literary world. And believe that the writer Paolini is by far not a good one.

What is your opinion on the Inheritence Trilogy. (please support your opinions with examples from the book)

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

It's well written, has a decent plot and you do get to know the characters well. The plot is solid, the dialog is extremly well written.

HOWEVER, the whole plot feels "done before", and when you look at it very very vaguely it's Star Wars. Overall, Eldest is a better book to me than the first Eragon.

The movie was an absolute horror, and even managed to scrap Paolini's story.

Personnally, I usually go for low-magic stories, or magic with a twist, like Artemis Fowl or InkHeart, but this was an entertaining trilogy and I still can't wait for the next one.

 

[MySpaceBarBroke]

I've never actually read a fantasy novel without being bored to tears. When it comes to reading fiction, I tend to prefer more futuristic or present day works.

 

[Elenai]

I think that if the books were alot more original, and had alot more plot, character development, didnt make a mockery of the fantasy races it contains, was'nt filled with inconsistencies and "farmerboy learned how to do this better than everyone else who trained for years in only a day" and overall just written better. I would have liked it.

But as it stands it just isnt very good and is quite mediocre when compared to other works.

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Dan Brown pwns all.

 

[MySpaceBarBroke]

Dan Brown pwns all.

QFTQFTQFT

Angels and Demons ROCKED.

 

[Preskooldude]

I was Orson Scott Card's Ender novels, notably the Shadow subseries, at the same time, so my reading of Eragon was clouded. The fact that it is a semi-copy of many other stories, fantasy or otherwise, was noticeable from the start (particularly if you've read many other from the fantasy genre).

I say semi-copy because it DOES have it own unique traits,such as a nice thorough grounding on linguistics, which is not easily found in most books, as well as creating a "science" out of magic, which is an aim I've been getting at for my campaign.

One thing of which I have come to love in books (Going back to the first chapter about Orson Scott Card's Ender series) is hearing the author's ramblings about philosophy, politics, and otherwise, especially when it comes to a study of heroes/the main character.

It was also missing witty sarcasm, but that isn't exactly what you'd expect to find XD.

That is all.

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Angels and demons wasn't exactly Brown's best... Too many twists at the end. It became ridiculous.

Deception Point, Da Vinci Code and Digital Fortress were great though. Da Vinci Code was amazing.

 

[Elenai]

Actually his linguistics is very poor and mediocre also the language is not very thought out nor is it well designed like perhaps Quenya or Sindarin.

Brakis Calfis- I think thats one of the spells in the ancient language, its easy to identify with Break calfs/legs/knees. I find Paolini's story to be very appauling language wise. Duweldenvarden- sounds nothing like elvish.

The magical science theme, I do like that idea and I have been making my own kind of magical science theme for my story (no inspiration from Eragon at all this is my very own creation).

I wont even get into the DaVinci code.....that book angers me.

 

[MySpaceBarBroke]

Angels and demons wasn't exactly Brown's best... Too many twists at the end. It became ridiculous.

Deception Point, Da Vinci Code and Digital Fortress were great though. Da Vinci Code was amazing.

I wasn't a major fan of Da Vinci Code. I personally found it a little over the head in comparison to the other books. But the religious controversy around it is just overreaction and fluff.

Actually his linguistics is very poor and mediocre also the language is not very thought out nor is it well designed like perhaps Quenya or Sindarin.

There are at least 3 books being discussed in this thread. It doesn't hurt to quote.

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

No he writes well in English,, and though it's not something that'll blow you away, it does a very good job of telling the story. Though I agree the "ancient language" is a bit ridiculous, though it is hard inventing a new language these days...

If there's one thing that's good about Eragon it's the linguistics. Trust me, there's been worse, and this is nowhere near atrocious quality.

 

[GST_Nemisis]

the film SUCKED. i think its the only film that i have started watching and not finished. ever.

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Meh, the only film I watched but didn't finish was Da Vinci Code. It was booooring. And the book was so much better. Besides, teh movie completly screwed the punch.

 

[MySpaceBarBroke]

I found the DVC movie to be tolerable. A dumbed down Dan Brown book is still pretty clever.

 

[Raszagal]

I am fan of Mr. Paolini's books. The story of how the book(s) became to be and how it became so famous is even more thrilling to read than the book(s) itself. So he admits of mixing Star Wars, LOTR and other fantasy/sci-fi novels into his book, well so do many other authors who includes such races the elves and dwarves and wizards of J.R.R. Tolkien's world or the plots of some hot princess that needs to be rescued and overthrowing the bad guy. Its all the same concept in the end, just written in the way that each author perceives it. Thats just my opinion. Going off-topic: I am also a huge fan of Da Vinci Code movie and book. Being a devout religious person, I am hardly offended by the book nor the movie. For me its just a good read/or watch. IMHO. Dan Browns a pretty good author, I look forward to the movie adaptation of Angels and Demons!

 

[Elenai]

He mixed them...I believe that a good bit of it is nearly plagerized. That is another major reason why I dont Inheritence. I would have been fine with him being inspired by those works. But not by him just putting stuff into formula and scrambling the names. Its not academic nor is it academicly acceptable.

On this issue of the DaVinci Code I was offended by the lack of good quality research into Christianity and Christian history (he completely misrepresented Christianity) And while the book is fiction he put forward that it was fact and true and fully researched when it wasnt. Not to mention the heresies and false stuff thrown in.

BUT BACK ON TOPIC

 

[GST_Nemisis]

well tbh if you take the Da Vinci Code as written truth you are a bit silly, its a novel, a good novel too, but you need to take it with a pinch of salt. anyways, just because its not all true doesnt mean its not all good.

 

[Elenai]

I never said it wasnt good as a fictional novel. I only said that people being the silly beings they are take it as fact and truth and start attacking the church, and that he should have at least done better research on Christianity.

But on a side note...The language of Eragon, in what way do you think he could have made it better, and also made his story alot more original?

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

The ancient language is fine, actually. It differs a lot from normal english to not seem ridiculous.

The only problem I see is he could have made the ancient language and the dwarf language (and also the Urgal language) more different, have each of them have a "style" and the like.

 

[Elenai]

I find that for an elven styled language that its too harsh and thick sounding. He should have used softer constanants and used a little more flow.

 

[Preskooldude]

Esp. since they are supposed to be a graceful people, whose skill lies in maneuver and the like.

 

[GST_Nemisis]

people being the silly beings they are take it as fact and truth and start attacking the church

i agree

that he should have at least done better research on Christianity.

the problem is tho, truth and good reseach doesnt make as a good a novel. lies and gossip does.

 

[Elenai]

That is true GST....People do love a good conspiracy theory or a good load of Gossip. But still peoples emotions and faith were messed with and that was'nt nice.

And Preskooldude...Exactly!! Elves are a graceful and higher people their ways and language are to be graceful and in a way royal and noble. Eragons elves are far from it. They are insensitive and borish in their manners. Their language is also very thick sounding. Arya is also very mean towards the dwarves because they believe in gods. Elves would not be mean and even better the Elves would be spiritual...Elves are a very spiritual people, they usually have god/gods in some form or another. Even nature perhaps is what they worship (in the case of wood elves). But Eragon mocks the very basics of Elven culture.

And their diet is wrong, Dont get me wrong elves eat and love veggies...But Elves also hunt on occasion. You cannot live as long as elves on a pure diet of veggies. Especially during a medievil period of time like the book is set in. Because with a vegan diet it is very VERY hard to maintain and to get the right nutrients and the right balance of nutrients even with todays medical knowledge. Imagine that without a proper doctor... even an elven doctor.

And the Elven military in Eragon sucks...If you had a large kingdom of Elven mages and warriors that have trained for centuries, Would you not easily be able to stand up to Galbatorix's main forces. Especially the Razac. The nazgul at least were just unkillable wraiths, The razac have bodies, BODIES they can be killed. With enough magic and enough arrows and enough missing body parts they will die. So the Razac are not the problem...What about the orc like creatures.....well an army of those against an army of dwarves, varden, and elves could if planned correctly take them and win. And without an army Galbatorix cannot rule a land for very long. Even Morgoth, a fallen valar of great power had to have an army to fight the Noldor. Galbatorix a mere fallen human dragon rider with out an army is nearly useless against a three forces army and two dragon riders (Eragon and that elf guy). Plus if you take into account the combined force of elven mages you can kill a dragon easily or even kill the rider with well placed arrows.

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

You're contradicting yourself.
You keep rambling about how Paolini copied eleves, dwarves and otehr creatures from other novels and stories, and then you complain about how he made his version of the elves too different, in the meantime making them sound nothing like all the other elf versions we know. There is no reason his version of the elves should be like all other elves.

Honestly, I see no reason as to why the Inheritance trilogy sucks on an incrdible level. It's VERY well written (Paolini's english is great), and he has fantasy setting new enough to not bore people to death yet familiar enough to not seem completly alien to regular fantasy fans. Even if it is something very familiar, this doesn't diminish the quality of Paolini's writing at all.

Elenai, you've been complaining on Eragon the whole time, you may not like it, but that doesn't mean the books suck. They're good books, the author is not an idiot and writes very well, and yes, even though Eragon was started when he was 15, Paolini is now in his mid 20's, so saying it was written by a kid is just false.

 

[Elenai]

I am not contradicting my self at all. You are going all fanboyism about the book being wonderful when it isnt.

Lets look at the book itself. The English is not that great. The book Was written by a kid (Eragon and Eldest were written during his teen years) He just GREW UP and is in his mid 20's now, his last book will probably be better but the first two of the three were not good.

The author may not be an idiot I never said that. His books however are mediocre and at best, mostly plagerized formula concepts already run into the ground, and his characters and races a mockery. (you can draw inspiration from other scources But dont copy and paste and insert their stuff like a formula).

First of all I dont want his elves and dwarves and orcs to be the "garden variety" but I dont want the author to make a fool out of the races I so dearly love and adore like he did especially with the elves.

His book setting is soooooo not new. Its the same old thing the same old formula the same old, same old with new names that EVEN THEN are nearly copies of other places names. It doesnt diminish its quality ofcourse but the quality of the book is still poor.

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I just like the book, that doesn't make me a fanboy. You ARE contradicting yourself, you're saying his elves aren't like other elves, when you clearly say he's been "plagiarising" (spelling?) stuff from other sources.

I don't see how his races are mediocre, they're well developped, and most of the things concerning Ergaon Elf lore and dwarf lore are not plagiarised.

I dont want the author to make a fool out of the races I so dearly love and adore like he did especially with the elves.

It can't possibly be that bad...

Ok, look. This is not the best fantasy book since LOTR, it's a book a kid started to write and turned out to be decent enough to publish, and that just happened to appeal to young readers (not necessarily 12 year olds, mind you) who probably haven't read LOTR and the like. Eventually the english grows better as you get further along the series, Eldest had some good english near the second half.

The book is anything but of poor quality, it's not revolutionary or amazingly mind-bogling, but it's a good series. It's a bit like DotA, except in smaller proportions, since it's not as bad and not as overhyped. They're fairly enjoyable books, if you're interested in this kind of literature and have a craving for something to read and quick.

 

[Elenai]

Ahhh sorry my mistake on spelling.

Now back to the thread...

I said it is ok to make races different and unique...However you do not make a mockery out of the races that you are drawing from. The races themselves are not stolen...except the Razac, those are clearly Nazgul wannabes.

His book was not decent enough to publish...Its basicly a fanfiction nothing more. The English in it is not very good. BEHOLD an example.

“[Not that any of us knows all the words in the language], but you must be familiar with its grammar and structure so that you do not kill yourself…”

Perhaps it should have been this...

"Not that any of us know all the words of the ancient language, but you must be familiar with its grammar and its structure so that you do not kill yourself."

The ancient language is also full of grammar holes and stupid mistakes.

For example the blessing Eragon placed on the girl.


That was no blessing, but a curse.” Oromis was more agitated than Eragon had ever seen him. “The suffix o forms the past tense of verbs ending with r and i. Sköliro means shielded, but skölir means shield. What you said was ‘May luck and happiness follow you and may you be a shield from misfortune.’”

This is a grammar mistake an eight year old would make. Shielded is the past tense of TO-SHIELD shield is a noun and has no past tense. This is not a language...its a silly cipher with bad grammar and even worse vocabulary (mostly stolen from Latin and Norse)

All in all it may be a good read (if you are just trying to pass a few minutes, like a magazine) But its not at all publish worthy and wouldnt have even seen store shelves if his parents hadnt published it for him.

 

[MySpaceBarBroke]

“[Not that any of us knows all the words in the language], but you must be familiar with its grammar and structure so that you do not kill yourself…”

Perhaps it should have been this...

"Not that any of us know all the words of the ancient language, but you must be familiar with it's grammar and it's structure so that you do not kill yourself."

Choo choo comes the grammar train! The possessive form of it is its, no apostrophe. Only in the contraction of it and is will it's be used.

 

[Elenai]

Ahhh yet again another mistake. Let me correct that.

EDIT-Corrected

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

That's a bit minor, don't you think? Frankly, I could barely see the difference between your version and his at first...

Maybe he was simply avoiding the overuse of "the ancient language", so he simply said "the language". Anyways, it's a small thing...

And stop saying he stole stuff, he was inspired by it to a very large extent, he did not simply copy and paste it. Besides, it is a first book (and series) and I can only expect whatever is next to be better.

Eragon is no literary genius, but it is definitly not scum of the editing world either.
Frankly, I don't see how anyone can "hate" a book, you simply don't enjoy it, maybe think it wasn't worth the hype. Or maybe that's just me. I can't hate books, I might just think they're not as good as others.

Then again, remember Eragon was aimed at a certain age, probably young teenagers and the like (which is probably where it got its fame anyway), so you can't expect it to live up to adult/older teen books, especially those from extraordinary authors with years of experience...

So again, it's a series that digs into overused content and manages to tunr it into something different in a classic setting that manages to entertain certain people.

 

[Elenai]

I must show to thee a site that explains much of my hatred and shares many of my viewpoints........http://www.anti-shurtugal.com

 

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

I just read their arguments. And it might just be the way they say it, but Eragon just seems like a piece of crap right now to me.

The fact he was stupid enough to copy Star Wars' plot so much makes me sick. And the inconsistencies are annoying.

Meh, I'll still read the third one, hoping for a change.

 

[MySpaceBarBroke]

This is one of the most obvious signs of an amateur writer is that he or she will avoid the word, "said," like the plague. When they do use the word, "Said," they often attach an adverb or other modifier to it, instead of letting the dialogue speak for itself.

Ouch. I do that all the time. =(

 

[lorothrigs]

Admittedly, Eragon does seem to be the same ground plot as Star Wars. However, it is a good series. I like it at least.

Dan Brown is an excellent author. I thought that the twists in Deception Point and Digital Fortress were very similar. They were both good though. All of them were good, in fact.