I just finished reading “Eragon”, the first book in the Inheritance series, after many months of persuasion by many of my classmates. I found the book pretty interesting, though not my favorite series by a long shot. It is a pretty good book, though.Eragon opens the series with the story of who else, but Eragon. The boy is a simple hunter and farmer with his uncle Garrow and cousin Roran. His life is turned upside down, however, when a mysterious stone lands in front of him when he is hunting deer. It is polished and smooth, and the most beautiful thing Eragon has ever seen.
At first, he tries to sell it, but later, it hatches into a baby dragon. Eragon decides not to tell his uncle about the dragon and keeps it a secret in the woods, until it has grown almost the size of a full grown dragon, though it is still young.
The village story-teller, Brom, finds out about the dragon, and with Brom, Eragon is thrown into a web of danger and intrigue, where he and his dragon, Saphira, must challenge the evil emperor and unravel the secrets the world has hidden for many years.
I do find some problems with the book, however. There is a lot of force-like powers, like in Star Wars, which I am not entirely comfortable with. In addition, the book deals very strongly with mind-to-mind communication between dragons and humans, which is not possible (obviously) and which I do not agree with. Lastly, Eragon uses many spells and magical words throughout the book, which might pose a problem to some people and parents.
Overall, I found Eragon a refreshing read, and am now working on reading the second book. I think that I would rate it about four stars out of five plot-wise, yet because of the problems I find with it, rate it 3 and a half stars overall, and cautiously recommend it to people who like Narnia and Lord of the Rings type books, yet have the discernment to read the book.
Problems People Might Have With This Book:
A lot of magic
Dragon
Mind-to-mind communication between a dragon and a human (telepathy)
Force-like powers (movement of stones with thoughts)
If you have any questions, comments, or anything to say about this book, leave a comment or email me at uriah@intothebook.net
Fantasy lovers who aren't sticklers about plagiarism will enjoy the books, I think. I've read them all, and while I'm not a "fan," I did enjoy the series to a degree. Not the best books ever, but like I said, most younger fantasy fans will probably like the series.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review :)
Hey Abby,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. The books are well-written (they definitely get better as you go through the series) and I think most people would enjoy them. I actually found myself enjoying Brisingr - I think it's the best of the three.