Book Review: Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Rating 9/10

Hello Book Dragons!

The book dragon title seems especially appropriate considering what the book is about that I am attempting to discuss with you today. It’s an oldie but a goodie. I first read it when it came out and I read it in polish. I will have to write a post about literature in translation one of these days but today is not that day. Today we are discussing Eragon by Christopher Paolini. I blame the team at Faecrate for this. I had no plans to read this series again and here I am because they are doing dust jackets for the books illustrated by Gabriella Bujdoso. This book follows a fifteen-year-old boy who finds a dragon egg. I still question why I have not found a dragon egg. Don’t I deserve one? Please don’t answer that. 

This book is so much fun. It has a teenager as the lead and that shows in his behavior and reactions but he does a lot of growing up during the story. There are a lot of elements of “classic” fantasy such as elves, dwarves, and dragons. But I love those things so I’m not bothered. I feel like the characters are original and individual and that’s what makes a story original for me. I also love dragons with an unreasonable passion. Saphira is such a great character. She knows herself and is proud of who she is. I think dragons are the best part of the series. They are just so well fleshed out. They are wise and powerful but they are not perfect. They have insecurities just like everyone else. It’s amazing how sympathetic a giant fire breathing lizard can be. I was also impressed with the amount of foreshadowing I saw in this first book for the rest of the series. I have never done a full reread since finishing the last book so I missed the amount of planning that has gone into it. 

I’ll now head into SPOILER LAND. stay out of SPOILER LAND. it is dark there. Bad things live there. The bad things will eat you and not let you read any more books if you spoil yourself in SPOILER LAND.  

“From now on you're going to have to think. There's a reason why we're born with brains in our heads, not rocks.”
― Christopher Paolini, Eragon

Let’s talk about teenagers. Eragon is such a teenager. He has no patience. He makes rash decisions when he’s angry. He gets frustrated when people don’t want to tell him the whole truth. Oh wait, I do too. I think this book is the one that lets Eragon do the most growing. When we meet him he has spent his whole life in one small village, and while his life wasn’t [erfect it was good. He had his uncle to give him advice and his cousin to confide in. their word was small, and discovering just how vast the world is, took its toll on him. His panic when Saphira hatched was understandable. I wish he had confided in someone about an intelligent quickly growing lizard he was keeping in the backyard (essentially the backyard). I don’t know it just seems like a secret that would get out quickly. But he doesn’t, and there are consequences. His whole world is destroyed. His uncle is brutally murdered and the whole far is burned to the ground. That will have some sort of effect on the psyche. Roran wasn’t there because he took a job somewhere else, and thus lived. Eragon was angry Roran left and is forced to be grateful for it later. That’s one big reversal of priorities. The poor boy was holding up pretty well all things considered. 

“People have an annoying habit of remembering things they shouldn't.”
― Christopher Paolini, Eragon

Brom, oh Brom. at the beginning of the book, he suffers from- what I call “Gandolf syndrome”. He is mysterious, has a long beard, information he should not have if he was who he claimed he was. Paolini was pushing that whole mysterious ancient mentor thing, and for the most part, it worked. I have read the whole series so I can say with confidence that it works out because the layers of character are gradually build up. Do you know how in archeology you are supposed to remove dirt layer by layer and uncover more and more things if you are patient? The same principle applies here. Not that I didn’t spend a good chunk of the book screaming on Brom to stop being difficult and use his words. The “you were not ready for this information” crap drives me nuts. For example, the first time Eragon uses his magic he does so by accident, and later on Bram states that he didnt tell him because he wasn’t ready. But then he does a one-eighty and starts screaming about the reckless use of magic and killing yourself without proper training and just generally being annoying. Sir, your teenage apprentice is a teenager. He automatically is likely to be overdramatic about everything. Secondly, he is also impulsive by nature and generally angry with the world. You are lucky he didnt kill himself on the first try. You could have let him know in a controlled environment. You can’t tell me that in your hundred years you couldn’t come up with pointless exercise to give a teenager to make him angry beyond reason. You seem like a man with an imagination. Use it. I tend to rant about things that made me angry, but that does not mean I did not like Brom. I did like him. He taught Eragon to read. He was sarcastic. He was grumpy. He was done with everyone’s shit. I appreciate that in a man (or a fictional character).

“Mmm....she's doomed! You're doomed!! They're all doomed! Notice I didn't specify what kind of doom, so no matter what happens, I predicted it. How very wise of me.”
― Christopher Paolini, Eragon

Next up is Angela the Herbalist. She is a fascinating character. Eragon has more patience than I do for cryptic mysterious individuals. I like them being mysterious to everyone else except for me okay! You have to tell me all your secrets otherwise I will scream at you. Angela is great at deflecting anything that might be considered a personal question. She could throw me out of her shop if she wanted to, but I would still nag for answers. Turn me into a frog. I dare you. I’ll be an excellent and annoying frog. Ahem, Angela offers to read Eragon’s future because a were cat speaks to him. I agree. Getting a cat to pay any attention to you does make you special. So she does, using dragon bones. I want to know where she got those. I also would like a set. The bones show some interesting things it would be wise to remember. Poor Eragon is confused, and so is angela for that twitter because she doesn’t know the context of the citation. Now she knows how I feel all the time. Angela shows up again in the stronghold of the Varden and the dwarves and I want to know how she got there before Eragon and his party. How? Someone explain. Solembam, the werecat, steals the show completely though because he is a cat with mystero=ious knowledge. He had to steal the show. 

“The only true guide is your heart. Nothing less than its supreme desire can help you.”
― Christopher Paolini, Eragon

Saphira is my favorite in this book. She is a very mature creature that can still unashamedly marvel at the world around her. She also has a healthy self-esteem. I think we could all learn from Saphira’s self-confidence and self-acceptance. Yes, she is a dragon in possession of wings. So what? I might not have wings but I still want to accept myself as much as Saphira accepts herself. She is protective and loving. I love that even though she is a dragon, a creature usually associated with physical strength only has strength in empathy and emotions. she loves her people with a passion. I want to be her friend. She would probably tell me to calm down before my brain explodes but I would take this advice more seriously if it was coming from the maw of a giant lizard. 

Comparatively speaking most of the characters do a lot of growth in the course of the book, all except for Murtagh. He stubbornly refused to grow and evolve. I mentioned before that characters who keep secrets for the sake of keeping secrets annoy me and this was the case here. They were running for their lives and he was being stubborn about running off and doing… something. He had no idea what the plan was, yet behaved as if he knew. He didnt want to hear another option or learn new things. It sounds like I hated him. I did not. I simply thought he was a deeply scared individual who did not want to open himself up to more harm. It was both understandable and frustrating. I understood where he was coming from but frustrated because this stubborn lack of openness prevented growth. I liked him as a person but I mostly felt sorry for him. Eragon while impetuous and rash refuses to blindly follow and believe anyone. He considers the consequences of his actions if he has time to do so. For example, he does not blindly swear allegiance to Adjihad. Murtagh is easily swayed and convinced. He lacks personal conviction, while Eragon is brimming with it. I dont know if I ever ranted about characters who think they are leaders when they are followers but I hat4e them. Those are the people who mess everything up for everyone. They also make things more difficult for themselves as well. I wanted to hit Murtagh over the head with a book and tell him to get over himself. Eragon idolized him because he was a great fighter and he helped save his life but I, unlike Eragon, can’t be blinded by physical capability.  Do some soul searching sir. You’ll feel better. 

“Do not pamper me, human. Elves train both their men and women to fight. I am not one of your helpless females to run away whenever there is danger.”
― Christopher Paolini, Eragon

A quick note about Arya as well before I start wrapping this up. For most of the book, she was the damsel in distress in need of saving. I did not appreciate this portrayal of one of the few females in the story. However, once she was rescued and awake she very clearly did not need rescuing and was no longer a damsel but a warrior who kicked everyone’s ass. I loved this shift of the narrative. Eragon did not love it as much. I think he expected she would need rescuing constantly and I laughed at his thoughts of holding off during a sword fight. Durza The Shade must have done some awful things to her to reduce her to the condition of a damsel. That makes me more scared of him that I was until the moment Arya became herself again. We didn’t know her until she terrified the Slimy Twins and beat up Eragon. I loved that she broke the Star Sapphire to rescue Eragon in the end. SHe and Saphira ]truly made an entrance and I cheered because Girl Power even if one of the girls is a dragon.

“Books are my friends, my companions. They make me laugh and cry and find meaning in life.”
― Christopher Paolini, Eragon

This was truly a book all about Eragon and his journey so we did not get a whole lot of the Varden, the dwarves, the elves, or even the rest of the empire. We got an introduction to everyone and everything but just like Eragon, we have a lot to learn. I have many questions about Shades for example. They creeped me out no question, but I would like to know about what those spirits are that they summon. Are the spirits’ evil? Do the spirits turn evil out of anger for being summoned and bound. Why all the red? Is it just an aesthetic choice for dramatic effect? I must know. I also have many questions about where humans and elves came from if they are not native to the land. Dragons and Dwarve were native to the land… so can I get some elaboration on this? Dragons can persons seeing miracles, like turning a stone into a diamond and preserving a body forever, but is this something that comes from them, or is it tied to the land? If they left Aligesia would this spontaneous ability disappear? How does that work? 

Okay, we are out of SPOILER LAND. SPOILER LAND is behind us. We have made it safely I hope. 

I hope you enjoyed this blast from the past.  Know these books were all the rage for a while and they truly deserve a comeback. They are good and are overlooked. I blame the new covers. They just don’t look as majestic as the original covers. If you want a great dragon story with dynamic characters I highly recommend this one. I had a blast reading this. If you are a fan of dragons I also recommend these. The dragons here are individuals with an agency of their own. 

This is all for today, thank you for joining me on my dragon rambles. I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it. See you all next time, which according to the once again remade schedule is on Thursday. I am doing my best to follow through on the schedule but I always end up having more to do on the weekends than I thought and following behind. I could use a magic spell for sleep substitution. 

Anna