Review: Eragon by Christopher Paolini

June 25th, 2010 | 3.5-4 Treasure Chests, Action & Adventure, Fantasy, Guest Review, P-R

by Cook Cutlery, guest reviewer

Title: Eragon
Author: Christopher Paolini
Format: Papberback
Page Count: 497
Reading Grade Level: 7th-9th Grade

Summary: A normal farm boy was hunting in the forest and when he saw a huge flash of blue light. An invesitagtion led to a big sapphire stone which he brought home. But it wasn't a big sapphire gem at all. It was actually a dragon egg. When it hatched for him, Eragon became the last of the Dragon Riders. Many thought the Dragon Riders had been killed off and thought the eggs were gone and that the Age of the Dragons would never rise again. But word of a new Dragon Rider spread fast and soon the existence of Eragon and his dragon, Sapphira, had reached Galbatorix and the Elves, Varden, and the Dwarves. Now Eragon is in a race to stay alive and keep his dragon safe. He has only two choices to succeed and one is unacceptable. He won't serve Galbatorix so he must find the Varden.

Why I started this book:

I started Eragon because it was lying around. I bought it a few years back and hadn't gotten around to it before now. Plus, I had seen the movie and like it. So I thought why not?

Likes:

What I liked about this book was that it had a lot of action. Once you settled in to read, the world sucked you in from one thrilling chase to the next harrowing adventure. It was really hard to put the book down when you got to a really good part.
I really liked Sapphira a lot because she had a lot of wisdom when she spoke to him even though she was younger than him in physical years she was still wiser and older in her mind.

Dislikes:

I didn’t like that the author had a ton of made up words in the story even though it had a dictionary in the back of the book saying what they meant. It was very tedious looking back to see what they meant all the time.
I didn’t like the fact that Brom died. I thought he was a very good character and served as a really good mentor.

Differences between the book and the movie:

In the movie we don't know why Sapphira got her name. Eragon bestows it on her after he went to talk to Brom and got the history of the name from him.
In the movie it doesn’t tell how Eragon came to Palancar Valley. But when his mother was pregnant with him she was very poor and went to her brother Garrow (Eragon’s Uncle) asking if he would help her until the baby was born and then take care of it after it was born. Once she gave birth to Eragon a while later she left him with Garrow and never returned.

Buy: Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)

Rating: I give this book 4 out of 5 treasure chests.