THE ERAGON SERIES
HASNYN'S COMMENTS:
THOSE WHO LOVE HARRY POTTER AND FANTASIES WOULD REALLY GONNA LOVE THE SERIES....:-)
DESCRIPTION:
This description fits hundreds of "high fantasies", and it is also an exact outline of Eragon . Christopher Paolini was only 15 when he wrote it, so it is not surprising that the story is very derivative. The surprising thing is how often Paolini has wrestled the ponderous clichés into a clear and forceful narrative.
He is particularly good with all things to do with the dragon Saphira, whom Eragon rears from an egg. The relationship is full of original strokes, from the moment when Eragon upends the fledgling to discover its sex, and the dragon objects. There is an episode when Saphira tries to land in a gale and keeps being forced into the air again - which, you feel, is exactly what would happen - and the originality continues in the gradual development of the dragon from a dependent to a sort of bossy elder sister and on into an irascible but loyal friend. Eragon and his dragon mature together, believably. But better still, Paolini has achieved a portrayal of true affection between boy and dragon, without ever labouring the point, and this shows real skill.
Seeing all this, I can't help feeling that the adulation and publicity heaped on Paolini has done him a grave disservice. He must now be under huge pressure to go on doing the same thing - even unto the fourth and fifth volumes of his series - whereas he should be left alone to discover where his real gifts lie and develop them.
Still, Eragon is published for children, most of whom will be meeting this kind of fantasy for the first time. As Paolini writes like someone gripped by his own story, he will grip his readers as well. There are tremendous moments, too, such as when the dragon rescues Eragon by pulling the roof off a barracks, or in descriptions of the dwarven fastness, which will chime so clearly with such moments in the Lord of the Rings films that this tired old genre is going to be given a new, youthful boost. What a pity, never mind
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