Eragon/ Christopher Paolini

Eragon by Christopher Paolini. fantasy, adventure, war, young adult fiction. 509 pages

If you've never heard of Christopher Paolini's "Inheritance Cycle", and are remotely interested in YA fantasy novels, then I definitely suggest picking this book up. This is the second time i've read it and I have decided to resurrect my interest in the series because I'm egotistical and superstitious enough to believe that maybe if I re-read the first three books in this series, the author will finally get a move on and publish the fourth and final book...my hopes are most likely for naught but I am certainly reminded of why I have been anticipating the 4th installment for almost two years now.

I should say before I delve too far into anything else that the story isn't the most original piece of fantasy literature. A lot of the themes and fantasy conventions utilized by Paolini are recycled from more mainstream stories (although this can be forgiven somewhat when one learns that Paolini wrote the first draft of Eragon when he was 15 years old though...now how's that for making you feel incredibly lazy?). It's the basic tale of an innocent farmboy with a mysterious past being raised by his uncle who stumbles upon a dragon egg that will change his life forever. After the servants of the evil emperor Galbatorix (now if that's not a name designed by a 15 year old, I don't know what is) destroy his home, Eragon, the aforementioned farmboy, runs off on an adventure with an old hermit who doubles as the last of an ancient order (starting to sound like a story you heard a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away yet?) to learn how to become a dragon rider and the eventual savior of the whole kingdom.

Obviously there's a lot more to it than that, but I don't want to ruin the story for those who actually plan on picking this up. One of the things that Paolini does incredibly well is molding extremely deep and involved mythology for his world. The origins of the different races that populate the magical realm of Alagesia and the extremely complicated presence of magic are particularly interesting.

Even though I mentioned that the story isn't going to be the most original thing you've read, I still want to applaud Paolini on his construction of chapters. The chapters are short enough that you can usually find a good stopping place if you need one but riveting enough that a well-placed cliffhanger (something Paolini does extremely well, arguably as well as Suzanne Collins, author of the Hunger Games trilogy) will keep you reading for hours.

I would recommend this read to anyone who's looking for a new series to pick up and isn't afraid to dive head-first into the fantastic creation of a 15 year old nerd...you won't be disappointed