aawehr's Full Review: Christopher Paolini - Eragon Book 1 / Eldest Book ...
Eragon, a fifteen-year old country boy, finds a polished, blue stone that turns out to be a dragon egg. Christopher Paolini wrote this book about a boy and his dragon when he graduated from high school at the age of fifteen, so who better to describe the adventures of a teenager that quickly grows to become a man.
ACTION ABOUNDS
The story opens with action on page one and introduces SHADE, a scary, powerful creature with red eyes and hair. URGALS, horned ugly creatures described as monsters chasing the ELVES on horseback. We do not understand what is happening as the scene unfolds until much later. The woman elf named Arya transports a blue stone before being captured by the evil shade. Arya is tortured by the evil king until Eragon rescues her.
How We Meet Eragon
In Chapter 2, we follow Eragon as he is hunting in the woods. This is a forest that everyone is afraid to go in, but not our fifteen-year-old hero. He is unsuccessful in his hunting, but finds a shiny blue stone. He tries to trade the stone, but no one will buy it. In Eragon's first year of manhood, he consults with the leader of the king's enemies, the Varden, is pursued by King Galbatorix and travels with Morzan's son.
How We Meet the Dragon
Saphira hatches from the blue stone one night in Eragon's room. While dragons were once common, no one has seen a dragon in many years --- so this is very unusual. Dragons grow to be the size of a house, but she is very small at first. Eragon is able to communicate with Saphira through mental telepathy and they share their thoughts often. The girl dragon grows very quickly and has intelligence and wisdom that evolves as the story unwinds. She protects Eragon with fierceness towards his enemies, but with gentleness towards him. Together their power of magic is very strong. Saphira is young in years but ancient in her thoughts.
Other Characters BROM mentors Eragon in the first half of the story and travels with Eragon on his quest to seek revenge on the Razac, the king's servants that killed his uncle Garrow. Brom is very old and wise and has lived in Eragon's village for 15 years as the local storyteller. Brom teaches Eragon how to fight with a sword, the rules of magic and the ancient language. Brom shares stories of Kings, Elves, Dragons and Dwarfs. Brom is an excellant mentor.
Dragon Riders
Eragon discovers that he was named after an elf that found a dragon's egg. The original Dragon Riders lived many years ago, controlled twice the current Empires lands, and at one time were more powerful than the Kings were.
Other Characters
The werecat, Solembum befriends Eragon and weaves in and out of the story. Angela the witch and herbalist lives with Solembum. Dwarf King Hrothgar provides the dragon and Eragon with armor to protect them in the battle at Tronjheim. Ajhad is the leader of the Varden, the enemies of the king. The elusive stranger and companion Murtagh.
Alma's Comments
My son gave me this book to read, since he knows that I loved the Harry Potter series. It took me about a week to read, but then I tend to stay up late at night, reading to relax. It is a kids book, but I give it a thumbs-up! It is all about the adventure! I will introduce it to Maury, a fifth-grader that I mentor. While it would take him a much longer time to read the book, I am sure that Maurice would enjoy it.
Wow! Am I surprised! I could not get Maury interested in the book, even after reading selections about the dragon.
This is the first of a series: Eragon/Inheritance Book One.
Although I review books on a regular basis, I haven't written a review for sometime and had problems finding the right spot for this review. I tried not to tell the reader details of the story, so that I would not spoil the adventure for you. The adventure is in the journey --- not the destination.
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