Eragon, by Christopher Paolini, was published in 2001 and then re-published on August 26, 2003. The book takes place in a land called Alagaësia, which houses the races of the humans, urgals, elves, dragons, and dwarves. In the northwestern most part of Alagaësia lies a small town called Carvahall, home of a young farm boy, Eragon, the protagonist of the story. One day, Eragon is out hunting a crippled doe. He comes upon the herd the doe was had successfully caught up with and in the instant before he released his arrow for the kill, a blinding flash of light saved the helpless creature and in the clearing smoke, Eragon finds what appears to a blue polished stone. Hoping to make up for the meat he lost, he brings it home with the intention of selling it. Instead, before he could sell it, it hatched in the middle of the night and Eragon awoke to a blue dragon which “burned” his palm and made him a dragon rider. Eragon does his best to keep this a secret, however, soon it is discovered and his uncle (Eragon is under the care of his uncle) is killed by the Ra’zac. Eragon now intends to kill his uncle’s killers with the help of the town’s storyteller, Brom.
About the Author
Christopher Paolini was born on November 17, 1983, in Los Angeles, California. Home schooled for most of his school career, he graduated high school at the age of 15, and began writing what would become Eragon. His family self-published his first book, Eragon, in 2001 and Paolini went around to various schools in order to promote his book. A few years later, it was published again under Alfred A. Knopf and became a hit. He has since finished the Inheritance Cycle, with a total of four books (Eldest - 2005, Brisingr - 2008, Inheritance - 2011 ) selling over 25 million copies. Although he has received much praise for his novel(s), he has also been accused of taking ideas from series such as Lord of the Rings and other fantasy novels.
Characters
Eragon - protagonist of the story, travels with Brom and Saphira throughout most of the story. Wants to train his skills in order to defeat the Ra’zac.
Saphira - Eragon’s dragon. She is blue, and even though she is much younger than Eragon, she is much more knowledgeable than he is.
Brom - the storyteller from Carvahall. Raggedy and knows much more about the world than Eragon. Brom tends to keep much of his past to himself and hides many secrets.
Galbatorix - evil, corrupt, and insane self-proclaimed king of Alagaësia
Murtagh - a runaway teenager Eragon finds during his travels. Murtagh trains and travels with Eragon. Their similarities are quite obvious from their first spar.
Angela - Fortune teller of Teirm, a port city. She gives Eragon a fortune and throughout the book, one part of it comes true.
Solembum - A werecat that travels with Angela; he also gave Eragon information pertinent to Eragon’s future.
Theme In Eragon, Paolini uses the characters to convey that your past doesn't matter; what matters is the present and what you end up doing with it.
Conflict Eragon is faced with a decision to make: he must either fight the Empire with the Varden (the rebel group in the land), join Galbatorix, or forever flee from his problems. Obviously, Eragon chooses to fight the Empire in order to resist the mad king and, with any luck, eventually overthrow him. The conflict arises when he makes his decision, because when he chooses to fight the Empire, he is in the heart of it. He must now flee to the land not controlled by Galbatorix, the lands east of the Empire.
Book Review Eragon, a young farmer's boy, happened to be deep in the mountain range called the Spine, when suddenly, in a burst of bright light, and what appears to be a blue polished stone appears before him. He takes it home, thinking it may be worth something, however, before his chance to sell the stone arrives, he awakes one night to a rattling in his room. The stone, or egg, breaks open, and out of it comes a blue dragon, one of the last of her kind. Under the rule of Galbatorix, a king on the verge of insanity, Eragon must find a way to escape the Empire and train his magic, a skill that comes along with being a rider. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read an engaging fantasy novel. - Tom Daniels
Stylist Analysis In Eragon, author Paolini uses descriptors and colorful language in order to help the reader immerse themselves within the novel. Paolini depicts his every town, city, character, place, and even a desert in order for him to paint a picture of the book in the reader's mind's eye, pushing the reading into the novel as if her or she is actually experiencing it. When describing towns or cities, Paolini usually puts in descriptors such as what the houses, people, the land, and any surrounding area by the town. By doing so, the reader feels as if he or she is experiencing it first-hand, and by "experiencing" it, the reader is put into the novel. In a review by www.helium.com, one person reviewing the book said, "Another good feature of the book is the depictive writing; making you fell as though you are not actually reading the book but experiencing it instead" (Duncan). Depicting the scenes and characters to your reader is an important element in helping the readers immerse themselves within a novel because by describing everything, the reader forgets his or her self and has their attention on what's occurring in the book. In the book itself, Paolini writes,"A vast expanse of dunes spread to the horizon like ripples on an ocean. Bursts of wind twirled the reddish gold sand into the air. Scraggly trees grew on scattered patches of solid ground-ground any farmer would have declared unfit for crops. Rising in the distance was a line of purple crags. The imposing desolation was barren of any animals except for a bird gliding on the zephyrs" (Paolini 331). The description of the desert also contains at least one of Paolini's colorful diction, the word zephyrs. He uses this and his other words in order for the story to remain appealing. He tends to repeat himself, but each time he does repeat himself, he says his words in a different way in order for the reader to remain within his "spell binding" words. He uses both "bursts of wind" and "zephyrs" in order to show that it is windy in the desert, but he does it without repeating himself. The same book review author as before also said,"In addition, the author uses a wide range of vocabulary making the reading flow instead of seeming repetitive. This descriptive writing is just another reason why reader will be so intoxicated with Eragon"(Duncan). Overall, the author of Eragon, Christopher Paolini uses his words and descriptors successfully in order to keep the audience captivated and to paint a picture in the mind's eye.
17, 1983, in Los Angeles, California. Home
schooled for most of his school career, he
graduated high school at the age of 15, and
began writing what would become Eragon.
His family self-published his first book,
Eragon, in 2001 and Paolini went around
to various schools in order to promote his
book. A few years later, it was published
again under Alfred A. Knopf and became a
hit. He has since finished the Inheritance
Cycle, with a total of four books (Eldest -
2005, Brisingr - 2008, Inheritance - 2011
) selling over 25 million copies. Although he has
received much praise for his novel(s), he has also
been accused of taking ideas from series such as
Lord of the Rings and other fantasy novels.
Saphira - Eragon’s dragon. She is blue, and even though she is much younger than Eragon, she is much more knowledgeable than he is.
Brom - the storyteller from Carvahall. Raggedy and knows much more about the world than Eragon. Brom tends to keep much of his past to himself and hides many secrets.
Galbatorix - evil, corrupt, and insane self-proclaimed king of Alagaësia
Murtagh - a runaway teenager Eragon finds during his travels. Murtagh trains and travels with Eragon. Their similarities are quite obvious from their first spar.
Angela - Fortune teller of Teirm, a port city. She gives Eragon a fortune and throughout the book, one part of it comes true.
Solembum - A werecat that travels with Angela; he also gave Eragon information pertinent to Eragon’s future.
Theme
In Eragon, Paolini uses the characters to convey that your past doesn't matter; what matters is the present and what you end up doing with it.
Conflict
Eragon is faced with a decision to make: he must either fight the Empire with the Varden (the rebel group in the land), join Galbatorix, or forever flee from his problems. Obviously, Eragon chooses to fight the Empire in order to resist the mad king and, with any luck, eventually overthrow him. The conflict arises when he makes his decision, because when he chooses to fight the Empire, he is in the heart of it. He must now flee to the land not controlled by Galbatorix, the lands east of the Empire.
Book Review
Eragon, a young farmer's boy, happened to be deep in the mountain range called the Spine, when suddenly, in a burst of bright light, and what appears to be a blue polished stone appears before him. He takes it home, thinking it may be worth something, however, before his chance to sell the stone arrives, he awakes one night to a rattling in his room. The stone, or egg, breaks open, and out of it comes a blue dragon, one of the last of her kind. Under the rule of Galbatorix, a king on the verge of insanity, Eragon must find a way to escape the Empire and train his magic, a skill that comes along with being a rider. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read an engaging fantasy novel. - Tom Daniels
Stylist Analysis
In Eragon, author Paolini uses descriptors and colorful language in order to help the reader immerse themselves within the novel. Paolini depicts his every town, city, character, place, and even a desert in order for him to paint a picture of the book in the reader's mind's eye, pushing the reading into the novel as if her or she is actually experiencing it. When describing towns or cities, Paolini usually puts in descriptors such as what the houses, people, the land, and any surrounding area by the town. By doing so, the reader feels as if he or she is experiencing it first-hand, and by "experiencing" it, the reader is put into the novel. In a review by www.helium.com, one person reviewing the book said, "Another good feature of the book is the depictive writing; making you fell as though you are not actually reading the book but experiencing it instead" (Duncan). Depicting the scenes and characters to your reader is an important element in helping the readers immerse themselves within a novel because by describing everything, the reader forgets his or her self and has their attention on what's occurring in the book. In the book itself, Paolini writes,"A vast expanse of dunes spread to the horizon like ripples on an ocean. Bursts of wind twirled the reddish gold sand into the air. Scraggly trees grew on scattered patches of solid ground-ground any farmer would have declared unfit for crops. Rising in the distance was a line of purple crags. The imposing desolation was barren of any animals except for a bird gliding on the zephyrs" (Paolini 331). The description of the desert also contains at least one of Paolini's colorful diction, the word zephyrs. He uses this and his other words in order for the story to remain appealing. He tends to repeat himself, but each time he does repeat himself, he says his words in a different way in order for the reader to remain within his "spell binding" words. He uses both "bursts of wind" and "zephyrs" in order to show that it is windy in the desert, but he does it without repeating himself. The same book review author as before also said,"In addition, the author uses a wide range of vocabulary making the reading flow instead of seeming repetitive. This descriptive writing is just another reason why reader will be so intoxicated with Eragon"(Duncan). Overall, the author of Eragon, Christopher Paolini uses his words and descriptors successfully in order to keep the audience captivated and to paint a picture in the mind's eye.
Works Cited
Duncan, Clayton. “Books reviews: Eragon, by Christopher Paolini.” Helium.com. Helium, Inc. 8 Mar. 2007. Web. 17 May 2012. <http://www.helium.com/items/201526-book-reviews-eragon-by-christopher-paolini>.
Paolini, Christopher. Eragon. New York: Knopf, 8 Nov. 2001. Print.