Eragon

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Oops, didnt see that. Must have been before my time.


Still, I thought the Paolini quote was worth repeating since a few people (including me) have bandied the word 'derivative about'.

I think shall check this book out - oddly, it's all over other cities here but hasn't reached the place I live yet.

 

[Elysium]

technically the elves arn't Tolkien's and niether are the dwarves as for the languages I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that he created them him self except for one which was based on nordic.

Oh I didn't mean that he was copying. I meant that he was using the same archetypes. Judging by the quote below your post he was aware of it though. It's a good way to grow as a writer to explore the styles of the past. I do it all the time.
The book kept reminding me of other great fantasy books I've read. But I liked that, in a strange way. It was like strolling through memory lane. Only the memories were arranged in a new and creative way with other additions. I can't wait for the next book.
I read that interview- those are two of my favorite authors he was speaking with. Tamora Peirce was what got me started on speculative fiction as a kid.

 

[tergen]

Just Finished this book .

Yes I too felt that the author had a lot of Anne McCaffrey (Pern), Tolkien (LOTR/HOBBIT), and even some R A Salvatore (Drow), Plus others influences to this novel. He is young and a good writer and I think he will develop his own style in time.

Think about how long Fantasy has been around. There is a lot of stuff out there and almost all of it overlaps somewhat. Almost all Fanasty has the same plot:
1. Hero
2. Friends
3. Great evil or deed
4. Hardships/tasks the hero goes through to truimph.

Its what happens to the people in thier quest that changes and keeps you reading the different authors. He has created some interesting Characters that people enjoy watching them Grow.

I enjoyed this novel tremendously and eagerly await his next Novel in the trilogy (The Eldest). I like the Idea of Eragon and Saphira bonding, Growing, Learning and trusting in each other and what they can accomplish together that they could never do seperately.

And Obivously there are some Movie production people who are also interested in this:

from the following website: http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/eragon/news.htm
I hope it makes it.
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Eragon Coming to a Screen Near You![/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Some great news for all die-hard Eragon fans! Fox 2000, a division of 20th Century Fox announced that they have bought the rights for Eragon and are scheduled to release the film in 2005.[/font]



[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"We read the book very early in manuscript form when the family was trying to self-publish it," says Elizabeth Gabler, president of Fox 2000 said in an article in USA Today (1/20/04). "We found the core relationship between a boy and a dragon who share a telepathic connection a strong concept for a movie."[/font]

 

[Brian G Turner]

Hi tergen, and welcome to the chronicles-network.

 

[Cartazon]

My husband was given this book as a birthday gift in November, from someone who doesn't read fantasy but had heard "good things" about it.

He couldn't go further than 20 pages.

Me, I couldn't get past the first.

"Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world."

What the hell. What slush pile editor would look further than that before tossing the book in the reject pile?

"The weapon was thin enough to slip between a pair of ribs, yet stout enough to hack through the hardest armor."

Yeah, right. That's where I stopped. Then I flipped to the back and read the Author's Note. Ahah! It was published by mom and dad, and they spent a full year traveling around promoting the book in person, until eventually someone at Knopf took note and decided to take advantage of the marketing ball the Paolini's had already started rolling. The book sold not because of it's literary merits, but because of the novelty of a teen author made a nice gimmick.

Don't get me wrong: Paolini is a competent writer, and may develop into a good writer as he gets older, but his prose reads very much like a 15-year-old's prose and it just burns me to think how many already good writers are being overlooked in the marketing hype about Eragon. It's just not worth it.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Thanks for the opinion, Cartazon. Although I have not read this work, so I cannot comment, I am glad to see that I am not the only cynic around here.

Though, of course, one person's treasure is another's trash - and vice versa.

And before someone quotes Oscar Wilde before me: "A cynic knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing."

 

[Myla Starchild]

I read Eragon and it just seemed like another LOTR rip-off to me at first, however I think the story may develop in the second and thrid books. With the story I'm writing I made the first few chapters seem like that, then added twists to make it original.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

BTW, Myla, I checked your site out - I rather liked what I saw. Do feel free to share anything you might want an opnion or two on with us! I can't guarantee great critiques, but it might be fun at least.

 

[Myla Starchild]

Thanks for visiting my site I probably will put something up eventually once I have more time, I'm busy now and probably shouldn't be on here.

Back to Eragon, I agree it's very much a teenage writer's prose. I'm fifteen and a writer also, though most people who've read it say I write much older which is flattering but probably not true. I'm going for publishing and worried people are only gonna buy my book for the same novelty.

 

[sawbonz]

I would like to see what books Cartazon and her husband like. I have read Eragon and enjoyed it. It's certainly not on a level of George RR Martin, but then few books are. Whether you have parents that are publishers or not, I was impressed that a teenager wrote this. I did feel that the book got better as it progressed- maybe he was improving. There are a lot of worse books out there. My problem is I run out of new things to read, so I love to see new authors. I also don't agree that it rips off the "Pern" books. Other than there are dragons in each, I don't see many similarities.

 

[Marianne]

There is nothing new under the sun...only a refreshing way of repeating what we already know. That said, I bought Eragon yesterday for the grandson...but first I am going to read it. :0 Christopher Paolini( I hope that is right) self published his book(as many of us do) then after many sales it was noticed by a large publishing company(I think Random House) They published it and have sold the movie rights...so this is one of those rare instances when a self published book does well enough to attract the attention of one of the big guys. There are some good books out there that are self published. Since only 1% of the books published in a given year are written by first time novelists, the rest of the us need to get published somehow.

 

[Dead Riverdragon]

(I just pressed the quick reply button for this post-hoping I've not just touched some forbidden McGuffin in my technological ignorance)

I read the Eragon prologue that's been doing the rounds on the internet, and it must be far and away the most dire bit of published writing I've read. However, a friend of mine has read a bit more and reckons that overall the book's worth reading. Is the rest really so very different from the prologue? If so I wonder whether Paolini actually bothered editing the story at all, and instead the whole thing is a reflection of his development as a writer, which doesn't fill me with confidence as to his professionalism...

 

[Brian G Turner]

On the issue of dire writing - I used to make a point of visiting Waterstones and reading the first sentence/paragraph of various sff/f works. There was often a great variation in quality even among the big authors.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

This book certainly seems to be polarising opnions...I suspect this means I shall have to read it for myself.

 

[dwndrgn]

Oh yeah, I'll be reading it too, just as soon as I can get a copy on the cheap. As far as the prologue goes, I've not read it but I can say that I really don't like prologues too much. They seem to be more afterthought than anything, as if the author is saying, oh, I guess the reader can't follow the story too well - let me add something here to help them along...

In any case, I'm sure this discussion will continue as more of us read the book. Definitely not a bad thing!

 

[Myla Starchild]

I'd definately recommend Eragon because, while I wasn't that impressed with the first book, I think the other two in the trilogy will alow Paolini's story and writing to develop.

 

[Esioul]

To some extent I agree with Brian- I'm not sure I always beleive in coincidence. Mind you, he does seem to be a child prodigy, and I am probably influenced by my problem with child prodigys. I've not actually read the book so I can't really make a judgement on it, but I've had a look at the book and at the site and I didn't think it was anything original or well written enough for me to spend my money or time on. Of course, it is impressive that he's published a book at such a young age, but I do think that writing skill improves with maturity, so as others have said it will be intersting to watch him

 

[Brian G Turner]

Of course, it is impressive that he's published a book at such a young age, but I do think that writing skill improves with maturity, so as others have said it will be intersting to watch him

I actually really think it's a curse to be published so young.

He's got all sorts of things potentially working against him. For example - what sort of life experience has he got? If he were a 19-year old Bosnian who fled penniless to the USA after the Balkans War, then I'd figure his got some real life experience to work with. If he's a general middle-class suburban 19-year old then there's a very good chance that his lack of life experience is going to give his writing a very shallow feel.

At the moment he's probably revelling in the success he's having, and why not. But this success is ephemeral, and he certainly shouldn't care to wallow in any critical acclaim he may be getting because IMO critical opinion is worthless and only good for stoking egos - not creativity.

And because he has initial success he has a lot of expectation riding on his shoulders - his publishers will demand a good book a year from him. He wants to work or study in a field that interests him? Tough - he has deadlines to meet and he'd better meet them if he wants to stay in the industry. (I'm commenting on an industry POV there, btw).

I still imagine a person in that position slowly becoming disillusioned with age at what they've stepped into, and with that disillusionment comes a new cerative drive - to be different, to be ground-breaking, and to explore themes he shouldn't be able to in a commercial environment - to experiment with style and form in a way that sudden success has denied him.

All of us who are older can look back on our earlier writings and see that, although there may indeed have been great moments in them, they ultimately lacked a depth and detail that only life experience and growing understanding/observation of humanity can bring. That doesn't just take experience, but also years of practice and exploration of finding our most natural voice for what we wish to tell.

2c.

 

[Esioul]

The thing is, his book may seem pretty amazing because it's written by such a young person, but really that makes very little difference to the book itself. The reader doesn't really care about the age of the author, he/she cares about how good the book is, so it's probably not a good idea for him to base his success on the fact that he's young. In 10 years time it might not seem so impressive, if you see what I mean.

When I look back at stories I wrote only a year ago I realise how awful they are, which means I must be improving my writing over time. I imagine its the same for everyone, even for child prodigies.

 

[Dead Riverdragon]

Whether or not the story itself is any good, I find the idea that Paolini managed to get published at such a young age inspiring in itself. While I think Brian's points about the pitfalls of early success carry a lot of weight, for someone like me who is still of an age with Paolini and is yet to come up with any career aspirations beyond writing, the fact that it's at least a possibility is reassuring.