Anyways, Galbatorix ruthlessly hunts for Eragon, seeking to twist him to his side, and employing Urguls (definitely reminiscent of Orcs in Lord of the Rings, with their tougher brethren known as the Kull being ripped right from the Uruk-Hai’s pages), Ra’zac, and Shades to do his bidding. Remind you of the Ringwraiths in Lord of the Rings? Me too. These Riders, known as the Forsworn, betrayed and murdered the remainders of the Riders, killing all who refused to swear fealty to their king. Driven by grief, he steals a new dragon egg from the Riders, and together they destroy all but 13 of the Riders. One of the strongest suits of the book is the origin story of Galbatorix, a former Rider driven mad by the death of his original dragon.

Eragon becomes the last free dragon rider since the beginning of the reign of the evil emperor Galbatorix. However, no one will buy it as the stone came from the taboo Spine.This turns out to be a stroke of luck when the stone hatches into a beautiful dragon named Saphira. Hoping the mysterious stone can feed his struggling farming family, consisting of his uncle and his cousin, he tries to pawn it off in the village. From the beginning, Eragon is marked as different, not only is he an expert archer, but he is one of the only people that ventures into the Spine, at all, let alone to return. The novel begins when 15 year old Eragon stumbles across a magical blue stone while hunting in the eerie mountain range, known as the Spine. Considering that a 15 year old actually wrote this book, it’s still a very impressive feat that deserves recognition, even if the book lacks some serious originality. I still love the magic system, the villains of the novel, and the world-building of the novel, but I can now discern that the writing leaves a lot to be desired-characters are flat, their interactions awkward, and the author heavily “tells” instead of “shows”. I still enjoyed the novel upon rereading it, but I do not think I would have liked it quite so much if I had not adored the book when I was younger. At that time of my life, I had not read the amount of fantasy books I have today and gobbled up Eragon enthusiastically. Now his choices could save-or destroy-the Empire. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Knopf on August 26th 2003īuy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depositoryįifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy-until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed.

Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle, #1) by Christopher Paolini

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