Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2)
by Christopher Paolini
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.85 You Save: $15.15 (72%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.09 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2)
Book Review: Another wonderful dive into a masterfully crafted world.
Summary: 5 Stars
In my opinion, I think the success or failure of Eldest depends on what the reader expected from the book. If a reader was looking for a fast-paced read full of action, battles, and quick-paced chases (like Eragon was) then they will be sorely disappointed. This I can completely understand, because Eldest is, for the most part, slowly paced and concentrates more on building the characters and world than an actual plot. That being said, I don't blame the author for this at all, because Eldest isn't supposed to be the same thing as Eragon. As the second book in the Trilogy, meant to build up suspense for the conclusion, it did its job magnificently.
If the reader was looking to emerge him or herself into a deep and fully fleshed-out world, then there couldn't be a better book for it. Eldest offers multitudes of information about the magical world we were first introduced to in Eragon. It builds on Eragon so much (which is a good thing, in my opinion) that for anyone who hasn't read Eragon, it will be one of the worst books they've ever read.
My advice to readers is to read Eragon right before you read Eldest. Even if you've read Eragon before (as I had) read it again so that every detail of the book is fresh in your mind. While the summary of Eragon at the beginning of Eldest does help a little bit, anyone who hasn't read Eragon before will be completely confused by the huge amounts of characters, places, races, and history of this world. If you read Eragon right before Eldest, almost counting them as simply two parts of the same book, then Eldest will be a truly incredible read.
While the chapters involving Roran bring readers the suspenseful and exciting action characteristic of Eragon, the chapters involving Eragon (and even Nasuada) will work on building the world, its history, its rules and its characters. The world that Christopher Paolini created is a wonderful (if not always peaceful) world to live in, and the huge amount of pages just means we get to stay a little bit longer in this vacation from real life.
The central focus of Eldest is learning. In order for readers to comprehend the enormous land of Alagaesia, and the rules that come along with it, it was necessary to have Eragon spend so much time among the elves, and learning from the Mourning Sage. During each of Eragon's lessons, I felt as if I was the one learning something about my own world, and the discussions between teacher and student left me thinking so hard that I actually had to put the book down for a few minutes before continuing.
Thankfully, Roran's POV delivers needed breaks from Eragon's lessons, similar to a recess between lessons at school. Everyone (readers especially) needs a break from learning, giving them time to reflect on what they learned, and readying them to receive more information, even when they're learning about something they love.
In conclusion, I think that Eragon is the perfect sequel to Eragon. It' plot takes the best elements from other stories, mixes them together, and places them among a deep and incredible world that feels like it was made by a god, rather than a teenager. The excellent climax, and huge revelations (although I did see them coming) are the perfect ending to this second novel, and increases the suspense tenfold for the third book. So kudos to Mr. Paolini, and thank you for creating this wonderful story in an even better world, in which readers can take a needed vacation from real life.
Book Review: Life isn't perfect...so why are the characters in this Book?
Summary: 2 Stars
"Life isn't perfect" is a mantra that's drummed into our heads from an early age. You get put in tume-out for reading to fast (I'm still mad about that), you have to do dishes when it's not your night (you'll pay for that, David), or you get a low grade on a geometry test that you studied really hard for (how do you get a C if you did fifty practice problems the night before?!).
If life is so unfair, why does Paolini think that he can get away with making these perfect characters with perfect lives for whom everything will turn out alright in the end? It's disgusting! Eragon finally had a weakness - the scar on his back - but then some dragons fixed it. Basically what Paolini is saying is that if you have an unwanted physical feature you can fix it with magic. What I want to know is: where's the magic pimple cream? If you try to find a single flaw in Eragon, you won't. I've looked and looked. At the beginning when he was a farm boy he had some, but in the space of a year he's learned how to read two languages (and speak like some kind of lord in both) use a sword better than an elf who's been doing it for fifty years, make magic that is very powerful, and basically master anything or any subject that he feels like in a matter of days. I wish we were all like that, then maybe I could get an A in English.
At first, Eragon was a human, that was clear. At the end of Eldest, he's not. He speaks in the elf-language and looks a little bit like one but has some human features. Then he becomes a dwarf noble with all the special rights that the ruling clan gets. Not to mention the fact that he's also second-in-command of the varden, which means he's at least partly human. And Saphira is something like a part of his soul so he's part dragon, he commands a bunch of Urgals in the battle, his father is Morzan...what's he going to be next, a jedi with a sexy pink lightsaber? Oops, wrong story. The point is that Paolini loves his characters and his places so much that he can't decide where to put the protagonist. THis is a fatal error because as Eragon becomes more perfect and acquires more titles, we lose sight of who he is, which distances him from the reader and the reader loses interest in the character and in the book. What could be worse?
And now we come to Arya. Man, I hate her. She's stuck up and cruel. Even though we keep getting all these descriptions of how pretty she is, all I ever think of about her is Saphira's comment about her face looking like a horse's. I hope that Eragon falls in love with someone else and they get hitched and then Arya comes crawling back and professes her undying love for him. But that won't happen, because we know that Eragon is going to marry royalty (Arya) and their going to sail to Valinor (no, wait, that's LOTR...whatever) and live happily ever after. The part that I do appreciate is that Paolini has gotten himself into a fix. He can either make Arya change her mind which would wreck what little substance the character has left, or make Eragon fall for someone else, which would pretty much wreck the storyline up to that point. I can't wait to see what option he takes, but I have a hunch it will be the first one. Though who could EVER fall for that guy is nuts in my mind.
So there you have it. In a nutshell, Paolini, since you won't take the time to read this or any other reviews:
NOBODY'S PERFECT!!! NOT EVEN YOU!!!
Book Review: Call Me, Christopher. You Need an Editor.
Summary: 2 Stars
ERAGON, despite it's plodding nature, had some wonderfully imaginative scenes making the read worthwhile.
ELDEST, I fear, will not reach that goal.
Contemporary smart-ass-kid phrases such as, "define normal" pepper volume two, removing the reader from the enchanted land where they wish to be or they would not have picked up the book.
My sons, aged 14 and 16, had both dumped ELDEST by chapter seven. I convinced them to try again by promising backrubs as I read it out loud.
We managed to make it through the tedious dwarf language by skipping it completely, and calling one character, 'the dwarf with four names' rather than stumbling through it each time he was mentioned.
My eldest summed it up like this: "J.R.R., he's not."
In one particularly tiresome stretch, the boys begged me to "skip over this tripe" but I soldiered on, until reading aloud the phrase, "Her hair flew back in liquid ripples, rolling down her neck and framing merry amethyst eyes." MERRY amethyst eyes? Even I snorted over that one, and we all dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Paolini's next sentence was equally bad, describing a delicate moment which he ruined completely by including the disasterous word, 'chunk.'
"It's his word choice," I concluded as an explaination for my boys. "He's a young author; give him a break."
"No, Mom," said my 16-year-old. "He's a total Geek. He's 21-years-old and has obviously never had a girlfriend. He's one of those guys who sits in his room all day, and only stands up to play with his swords. I'm outa here."
"Me, too," said my 14-year-old, deciding a game of basketball, even with a broken arm, would be better than ELDEST.
I plan to wade through to the bitter end, and will probably read his final installment of this Trilogy. I think he shows promise as a writer, though I wish to heaven he would email me before he sends the next one to press.
You need to listen to your critics, Chris. It's the only way you'll become the writer you were born to be some day. Take it from another published author who started at fifteen, and had to change her name because she didn't want to admit the first works were hers. (P.S. I'm now 51.)
kjirstin(at)gmail(dot)com. PLEASE! Consider me. I'm a fan.
Remember, you don't want to surround yourself with Yes-Men. Many will gush over your 'greatness' for the simple fact that you're now wealthy. (Good looking and single, too.) Nobody needs that, and an honest answer will save you a ton of later grief.
That, or become content with a fan base of eight to eleven-year-old girls.
EDIT UPDATE Sept. 17th 2005
I finished ELDEST, and yes, it was plagerized, banal and boring, but I enjoyed parts of it. Other parts...here's a hint, Christopher--do a word search for "three-quarters" before it goes to press next time. Take them all out. That, and "Yes, Master" about drove me over the edge.
This author is a golden example of what happens in a world where children are praised and given trophies for everything they do, regardless of true merit. The sad part is, a good publicist can convince others to jump on the band-wagon, causing an avalanche, and making me wonder what truly great works will never be published simply because this was...
Book Review: I enjoyed the characters evolution
Summary: 4 Stars
There seems to be a lot of bitterness and a lot of stretching in many of the reviews I've read posted here. It seems some reviewers hold Poalini's youth -- or the hype it garners his work -- against him. Either that, or they envy the position he was in having parents who could publish his first book for him. I enjoy writing myself, and know I would love having such access to the publishing world. But Poalini's age and his fortune shouldn't matter when judging the books he writes.
Eldest may not be the most original story ever, but the truth is, in this type of fantasy the overall arc of the story never is. There are conventions that have been applied to this genre by authors for years, by Tolkien and Brooks and Goodkind and Salvadore that fans have accepted and endorsed, and what Poalini does with Eragon or Eldest is certainly no more agregious than what many other authors in this genre have done before him.
To tell the truth, I gave up reading fantasy for many years because I got tired of how every straight fanstasy novel I picked up was a get from here to there story, and how every evil tyrant in those straight fantasy novels had a farm boy somewhere who could kill him once the farm boy received training from a mysterious old man who was always more than he seemed.
I thought Eldest started out somewhat slow, and at first I had trouble really feeling anything for any of the characters despite having grown to like them in the first book, but as the book progressed I was impressed by the level of detail applied to Eragon's training, and to the changes he underwent. The growth of Eragon and Saphira in terms of their battle powers was done believably and well. Many fantasy novels allow their characters to stagnate, not allowing them to evolve as they need to, but Poalini didn't have that problem with Eragon. Once the story got going, I found myself entertained, and went through the last two thirds of the novel fairly quickly. And while many of the elements of Paolini's story seemed familiar from other authors, he applied some interesting twists, and came up with a well structured world.
I also felt this novel did a good job setting up the third and final book in the series, and I look forward to reading it when it comes out.
As to all the Star Wars comparisons -- again, I think some of it is valid in that they are the same type of story, but some of it is stretching -- comparing any character in Eragon or Eldest to Han Solo, for example, is quite a leap. I've only recently returned to fantasy -- Harry Potter, The Wheel of Time (which I got into when book six was published,) A Song of Ice and Fire, Terry Brook's Running with the Demon series, and Terry Pratchett's Discworld were the books that brought me back after many years away from Fantasy, but the mainstream fantasy genre will almost always be get from here to there stories with farmboy hero's and powerful figures maskerading as story tellers or old fools. Jordan's Wheel of Time even started that way, although it has since moved very far beyond that.
Anyway, I think it may be fair to point out the obvious influences in Poalinis' (or any author's) work, but it just seems in this case people are going out of their way to find influences that may or may not exist, and the only reason I can find behind it would be envy at the breaks Poalini has received.
Book Review: Markedly improved writing. Still flawed.
Summary: 3 Stars
It isn't very difficult to point out errors in this book. Paolini mistakes the difference between predictable and unpredictable. He thinks that when bad things happen to a character...it's a surprise. I'll give him credit for trying to address the problems that were riddled in the first book, but he still has much to learn about writing. Don't get me wrong, he isn't bad, actually he might be one of the best fantasy writers of his age (I actually can't name anyone else his age)
******Might be some spoilers through here*******
Paolini tries to tackle the difficulties of writing a 700 page book, a very difficult task. I finished a week ago, and now that I look back at the book, not very much happened. Especially in Eragon's story. We spend a hundred pages watching Eragon hike from the mountains to the forest, during which very little happens of consequence. All because 1 dwarf has to tag along.
Eragon's infatuation with Arya is just space filler...what we only need to hear once is repeated about 5 times. If Eragon is becoming so learned and accomplished, why does he act like a 5 year old when it comes to a woman?
1) To Paolini: Make sure every side-story makes your book better, not longer.
2) Paolini: Finish sub-plots before your book ends. If you think about the audience the book is inteded for, they would like to see more action, and less charity.
3) GET MORE EXPERIENCE IN WRITING A LOVE STORY BEFORE TRYING TO DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHARACTERS. It was so overkill that by the end of the book, I was skipping over parts that mentioned Arya because they were so unbelievably bad. You are no Tolkien yet, so do not try to attempt to much at one time.
We spent way too much time in Du Weldenvarden and accomplish little. Eragon spends a bunch of time 'learning' just to be made superhuman by a couple of tatoo dragons? And then he, predictably, loses in a battle with another rider. Why not let Eragon accomplish his own feats instead of allowing everyone else to do it for him.
4) Make your enemies more evil. I for one lost interest when Murtagh is revealed as not wanting to hurt Eragon. Where is the excitement in that?
5) To Paolini: Try to have your characters accomplish something of their own. Remember that the reader FEELS like the protagonist. If you hand someone everything. They will get bored of it. They want to achieve things themselves.
6) Paolini: Be more sensible. Having Eragon go from a 15 year-old villager to a 16 year old Dragon Rider Hero with all the knowledge of magic and ancient language, that goes a little bit overboard.
So you might be wondering why I gave it three stars. I gave Eragon 3 stars, and Paolini has definitely improved his writing. However, he has not reached the point yet where he can experiment successfully with all of the challenges of a large epic. I am assuming of course that Paolini is not writing merely for the pocket-book benefit. I would really like to see how the writing style evolves as Paolini learns more about writing. I also think that he has a good story backed with lore, he just hasn't perfected the story-telling aspect of it. I do look forward to seeing more of his writing. And I hope for a more solid experience next time.