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Immolatus
Junior Member
USA
135 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Mar 2006 : 13:19:33
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| I have not read this book due to the fact that all of my spare reading time is spent on DL. However, I have heard various people discussing the book and was struck by one thing. It is my understanding that the premise of the book is that there is a kid who shares a mental link with a dragon. This seems like a blatant rip off of the DL Barbarians trilogy with the dragon Duranix. Anyone read this book and have any thoughts on this? |
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Sirch
Advanced Member
USA
2668 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2006 : 22:17:50
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Ive read it.... as far as i know the premise is pretty unique in its case... Dragon and Dragonrider... They are linked mentally and almost physically in a sense and the whole dragon idea in these books is totally different. Its high fantasy though so of course it has its simiarities to the DL series etc.
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Golden_eyes
Member
Canada
702 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2006 : 23:58:04
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I have it and I’ve read about 40 pages so far. From what I can tell, it is noticeably written by a young writer because the sentence structure is very short and choppy; I hope that clears up later in the story, and also that the characters will be better developed. It’s hard to tell because I’m not very far, but it wasn’t #1 for nothing.
I’ve heard also that it resembles many books including Dragonlance, Shannara, the Dragonriders of Pern books, Star Wars, and others as well. But then again, what author hasn't shaped their stories after Tolkien? I think it’s a pretty big accomplishment to get published at his age. Apparently, there is also a movie being made.
“We pity him. We hate him. We fear him – all because there is a little of him in each of us, though we admit it to ourselves only in the darkest part of the night.”—Justarius |
Edited by - Golden_eyes on 07 Mar 2006 23:59:27 |
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Sirch
Advanced Member
USA
2668 Posts |
Posted - 08 Mar 2006 : 01:49:33
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The thing is he started writing that when he was 15 and finished when he was around 19... I think just about all his writing skills get better by the end of the book. Again because of the style of fantasy hes writing in i think its inveitable for there to be similarities easily made...
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Immolatus
Junior Member
USA
135 Posts |
Posted - 09 Mar 2006 : 22:48:44
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| Your posts have only convinced me further that his material has only been hijacked from other sources. Dragons sharing a mental link with dragon riders? That is something I've never heard of before, er, um, I mean. Does he deserve credit for simply changing some names and places but using material created by other people? I think not. |
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Sirch
Advanced Member
USA
2668 Posts |
Posted - 10 Mar 2006 : 03:26:35
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You are being rather harsh on a young man who has spent enough time to create his own language for the stories. His characters are unique enough but his plot follows a rather... stylized epic adventure sort of story arc. Theres not a lot he can change about that i dont think.
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Golden_eyes
Member
Canada
702 Posts |
Posted - 10 Mar 2006 : 03:53:01
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Immolatus, why did you start the thread if you don’t really want to read the book? I think borrowing ideas from other authors is fine as long as you make them your own. Perhaps using the idea of a “shade” or a “dragonrider” is being taken a little too seriously in this aspect. If the story’s good then read it. In this case it is apparently an excellent novel and if you want to deprive yourself of this great piece of literature because the author used techniques and ideas from “the greats” of fantasy, then I guess that’s your choice. It would be a little different if Paolini wrote the sequel to one of, say, the Dragonlance novels and stuck his name on it, but it isn’t. All he’s trying to do is tell a story. People criticize him for such things as fantasy clichés—well, think about it for a minute: They’re clichés for a reason! Again, just think of all the authors that have looked to Tolkien over the years and then ended up having their stories resemble his...
Sorry that I rambled on rather angrily there, but the main point of my post is this: you should seriously think about whether or not you want to read this book. If you’re looking for an adventure then read this it and try to not to start off with your judgment already made. Otherwise, if the resemblance is too close for you and it’s one of those things that can drive you up the wall, then don’t. I’d just like to point out that many people think that the Dragonlance novels resemble Tolkien very closely as well. There may even be a thread posted about it....
“We pity him. We hate him. We fear him – all because there is a little of him in each of us, though we admit it to ourselves only in the darkest part of the night.”—Justarius |
Edited by - Golden_eyes on 10 Mar 2006 03:55:39 |
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Immolatus
Junior Member
USA
135 Posts |
Posted - 15 Mar 2006 : 15:21:02
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| Golden Eyes, your second paragraph highlights exactly the dilemma I was hoping to resolve through my posts on this topic. I want to read this book because it has received a lot of attention and positive reviews. However, I feel as though I will not be able to give it a fair shake. I have been overly critical of the book in the hopes of illiciting some kind of reponse from you folks, and it seems to have worked; however I still seem to be planted squarely on the fence. |
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Golden_eyes
Member
Canada
702 Posts |
Posted - 16 Mar 2006 : 06:07:43
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Right, of course—one of the many fallbacks to media. I thought the same way before I bought my book. Are critics just raving about this book because it is a great story and truly worth the praise, or is it because the author who wrote it happens to be incredibly young and intellectual? So, I thought I’d go and pick it up to see for myself...unfortunately I’m no further than I was when I posted the first time  which isn’t much help to you, lol...sorry.
I guess Sirch is the only one of us that has actually read the book…
As for me, I’m reading two series written by Terry Brooks right now that I have to complete in the very near future. 0 down, 8 to go... When I’m done those I’ll get around to reading Eragon again.
On the plus side, when I was reading in the library a girl came up to me and started ranting about how great Eragon was. It was awkward... In any case, it sounds like most people like it, and the only true way to find out if you like it is to read it.
Sirch, do you think Eragon is worth buying?
“We pity him. We hate him. We fear him – all because there is a little of him in each of us, though we admit it to ourselves only in the darkest part of the night.”—Justarius |
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Sirch
Advanced Member
USA
2668 Posts |
Posted - 16 Mar 2006 : 12:15:08
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I think it was worth my time... I bought it when it came out enjoyed it enough to buy Eldest when it came out. When the third book comes out ill be buying that too... in hardcover so they all match  . Ill tell you what... im eargerly awaiting it to come out.
I cant speak everyone on this though because im aware after reading soe reveiws that theres a lot of flaming that goes on for this book. It seems as if 70% of the people love 10% think its ok and 20% absolutely hate its guts. Yea dont qoute me on those numbers cause there probaly not exact  . If you wanna see about it maybe get it out at a library to read it and decide from that if you want to continue with the book and start buying. Its of course... always up to the reader to decide. 
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Neddo-35
New Member
87 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2006 : 03:32:48
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hey, i just gota say that it is a good book. i have read eragon and eldest, and cant wait for the next to come out, or the movie and game. i started reading these before i found DL ind i have to defend it. sur it might have many similarities to other fantasy books, but compared to how many there are it would be hard not to have similarities. and i would recomend the book to u it is fairly good, but i think the sequil is better.
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Tasslehoff
Junior Member
Canada
424 Posts |
Posted - 12 Sep 2006 : 20:38:09
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Whaaaaaaat? From what you guys are telling me it is a rip off of DL and it gets live action before us?
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Golden_eyes
Member
Canada
702 Posts |
Posted - 12 Sep 2006 : 23:01:31
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I don’t know if he ripped off his material from other authors or not. It didn’t really seem like he did--I mean, there are a few similarities, but critics can certainly blow things out of proportion to emphasis their points. For example, I remember reading a critique saying that he copied Lord of the Rings partly because his main character’s name was “Eragon” and that it was close in spelling to “Aragorn” and the same thing with “Arya” and “Arwen”…I think people may be scrutinizing this novel a little too closely, don’t you think?
As for my thoughts, since you asked, I think it’s a wonderful novel—it’s not the best but it’s certainly worth picking up and reading. The only thing that irked me, though, was when he stated that someone was going to speak before they actually did, if you know what I mean. For example, he would put a sentence like, “Then Eragon said, ‘…’” Instead of something like, “‘…’ said Eragon.” I guess I’m just particular about those kinds of things.
“We pity him. We hate him. We fear him – all because there is a little of him in each of us, though we admit it to ourselves only in the darkest part of the night.”—Justarius |
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MrStatesTheObvious
Senior Member
USA
1188 Posts |
Posted - 14 Sep 2006 : 09:16:39
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Immolatus, you might be interested in this site: http://www.anti-shurtugal.com/ They disect the book and draw comparisons from the novels Eragon appears to be based off of.
In any case, if a published work is garnering so much criticism, it's gotten me to strive to improve my own writing.
There's no "I" in "team," but there is an "I" in "pie." |
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Vassor Doss
Advanced Member
USA
2224 Posts |
Posted - 16 Sep 2006 : 07:49:14
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I only read the first few chapters. I couldn't get past the whole "Star Wars" rip off, I never even focused on any DL similarities. I'm glad I didn't.
"Run? From this rabble?" |
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Dakemesh
Starting Member
USA
11 Posts |
Posted - 23 Sep 2006 : 17:24:18
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I've read Eragon and I enjoyed it. It does borrow basic themes from other stories, but what novel doesn't. I hate to burst any bubbles, but Dragonlance is hardly original. It was a role-playing module brought to life. They took all kinds of tidbits from other sources - LOTR being the founding father of medieval companion campaigning. That being said, Weis and Hickman did a great job of taking all those established concepts and weaving them into a story and world that was different than what came before. They developed good characters and made something that was greater than the collection of parts.
Eragon is similar in that there are only so many ways to write about swords and sorcery and dragons - but the author did a good job of adding some new twists and made a great story over all. The fact that he started it when he was 15 is even more impressive.
I'm not so sure about the upcoming movie though. Jeremy Irons AND John Malkovich? And the actor playing Eragon has the personality of a fence post in the trailer. Ugh, it looks like they managed to remove the interesting bits and turn it INTO a generic story. |
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Eragon
