Synopsis
Whilst out hunting for food for his family in an area of land thought cursed by his people, impoverished farm boy Eragon comes across a strange blue stone. The stone is in fact a dragon egg, stolen from the evil King Galbatorix by a group of rebels, and when Eragon unwittingly causes it to hatch the dragon inside forms a bond with him. Forced to flee his village in the company of a mysterious Bard named Brom, Eragon learns that he has inherited a powerful legacy and will soon be forced to choose whether to serve the King in slavery or oppose him, putting everyone and everything he loves in danger…
Review
The curse of writing fantasy in this day and age is that, whether it is by an over-zealous publisher or an exceptionally lazy journalist, sooner or later your work will be compared to THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Most of the time this kind of comparison is baseless and commercially-fuelled, but in the case of Christopher Paolini’s ERAGON Tolkien’s epic is probably a good place to start. After all, that’s clearly what the author did.
For the three of you who haven’t heard the story behind ERAGON’s success, allow me to fill you in; Paolini, a fifteen year-old, home schooled child prodigy and erstwhile fantasy fan from Southern California, USA, decided one day to write himself a novel that reflected his love of the genre. By a tremendous stroke of luck (er, that being that his parents ran a small publishing firm) he was able to get his book published at the age of 17, and the media went ballistic. Paolini is now in his twenties and, with two sequels (one as yet unpublished) and a movie adaptation of his first book to his name, is still living quite happily with his parents. Yeah, some people get all the breaks…
Three things strike you the first time you read ERAGON. The first is how much it cribs from Tolkien, McCaffrey, LeGuin and George Lucas’ STAR WARS trilogy. The second is a style of prose which is remarkably mature and consistent, even if Paolini does slip in big words in a bid to appear learned far too often. And the third is that is, without a shadow of a doubt, really quite good. The book impresses early on with its rather sedate pacing; Paolini is in no hurry to get from A to B, and so takes the time to really develop his setting – the fantasy world of Alagaësia – in the mind’s eye of his reader. This serves the dual purpose of not only affording more time in which to gently slip back-plot exposition, but also to allow the reader to grow comfortable and even fond of the characters and places that surround the protagonist so that when, inevitably, Eragon’s world is turned upside down you’re right there with him, just as unsettled and just as unsure of the future. This success is dampened only by a slight hiccough in pacing towards the end of the book in which, after gearing so slowly and smoothly towards an inevitable battle, the whole climax – including a showdown with one of the villains – is over and done with in about thirty pages, leaving the reader on what feels like a ridiculously forced cliffhanger, and all (one would imagine) to secure more sales for book two.
On the plus side, Paolini is someone who has clearly thought long and hard about the rules and history of his universe before putting pen to paper. Everything about Alagaësia, from the fables and stories told by men to the history of the Dragon Riders and the relationships, past and present, between the different races has been intricately plotted, and whilst he does wear his influences on his sleeve this doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of his story (save perhaps for needlessly telegraphing a few plot twists). There is also an eye for character and for dialogue here, with most players having voices so distinct that you could easily pick their lines of dialogue out of a crowd without the need for clues, although Paolini’s particular triumph is the dragon, Saphira, with her wry sense of humour, her stout heart and her proud demeanour making you fall in love with her even as the protagonist does – no matter how hard-hearted you think you are, by the end of the third chapter you will want a dragon of your own!
Overall, ERAGON stands out as a superlative example of family fiction, achieving a HARRY POTTER-like balance of presenting a story that is suited to children without it being childish, and one that is comprehensible to younger readers without over-simplifying or dumbing-down. Whether you have kids or not, read it before the inevitable hack-job of a movie comes along and spoils it.
Buy the audiobook here to listen to on your iPod
Matt Dillon