Eragon

The_Warrior said:
Did anyone like the loacation where they filmed it(I think some where in Slyvokia(sp))? They did lotr in New Zealend(sp?). The loacation seemed alot like Wisconson(and other wildernes states),like a wildernes feel(Go to Wisconsen Dells and you'll se what I'm talking about),but
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Did anyone like the location? Did anyone like the location?! The better question is did anybody like anything about the movie? It was a complete waste of my time and money to go to that theater.
 
Fourth Hunter said:
Did anyone like the location? Did anyone like the location?! The better question is did anybody like anything about the movie? It was a complete waste of my time and money to go to that theater.
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Agreed!!! Waste of money. Not waste of time cause I wasnt going to be doing anything at the time that I did go and see it except watch the cricket so not a waste of time for me. But money yes. I paid $11.50 (Australian) to see that and I dont like to spend my money. I mean I went to K-mart to get my lollies to eat for the movie.
 
dwndrgn said:
Ok Brian, you just said that he should succeed on his own merits. Those who have read the book so far seem to have enjoyed it, without knowing that he may have family in the business. Just because they publish doesn't mean that they wrote it for him either. So, I'll slap your wrist and tell you to read the book itself before saying that you despise the author for something he has no control over. Lecture over :)
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I didn't enjoy it at all. I couldn't get past the first few chapters. One of the problems is I kept hearing it compared to Harry Potter in terms of QUALITY, not just volumes sold. Sadly, no, it isn't Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling is lightyears ahead of Paolini.

I put it down and have been a constant detractor of it ever since. I have two friends who enjoyed it. One of them has read Harry Potter and agrees with me on at least that point. The other won't read it because it isn't "mature fantasy."

I'll just let you all laugh with me there.
 
*laughs* I never heard it compared to Rowling but I did hear it compared to Tolkien and Star Wars. Also the similarities between. People calling this guy the next Tolkien. HAVE THEY EVEN READ ANY?! I dont think so.
 
Majimaune said:
*laughs* I never heard it compared to Rowling but I did hear it compared to Tolkien and Star Wars. Also the similarities between. People calling this guy the next Tolkien. HAVE THEY EVEN READ ANY?! I dont think so.
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I would have a long chat with anyone comparing Paolini to Tolkien, or anyone saying that he is the next Tolkien.

How dense aye?

Tolkien was an amazing innovator. He not only crafted the world he wrote about over twenty years (which coincidentaly is longer than Paolini had been alive at the time of Eragon's release), but he also wrote them out of order to ensure the amazing continuity contained within. He wrote parts of the Two Towers before The Fellowship of the Ring and then jumped ahead to Return of the King. Not to mention that he actually created something like 17 languages (although not 17 completely finished languages) for the books. Take this into consideration along side with that fantasy books weren't around for him to "borrow" from then. While Paolini can pick up a dragonlance book, read it, then decide "Hey, I can do this!" Tolkien wrote some of the first parts of the hobbit and the later trilogy laying in a trench in world war I.

Anyway, I couldn't get into the books is all I'm saying. But the books it was compared with, Potter and LOTR, I loved. So I think it must have something to do with the young audience buying the books and his parent's profession.
 
So I think it must have something to do with the young audience buying the books and his parent's profession.

I have to go along with this comment. This young author was ripe for the limelight--he's a story--Like Opal was for that whatever "How she got shagged, kissed and got a Life" or something book that Little Brown blew up to fantastic proportions, with this mythical $500,000 advance and the rest of the hoopala. It's just way too derivative to me. If you've got fairly good story, sell the human interest aspect to push it over the top.

Tri
 
I think the PLOT of Eragon might have been good if the actual story had been writen well. Other then that it was (words arent fit for some of the younger members that might read this, I leave it purely to the older ones imagination).
 
When I read Eragon I had it in mind that he was an extremely young author, and in many ways I abided faults in the storytelling and characterization I wouldn't have been so kind to forgive had I been reading a mature author, an author that has had time to refine their craft.

Eragon is filled to the teeth with cliches; it's loaded with archetypes that are so fit-to-the-mold that they are, at times, subtly amusing; there's inconsistencies in travel, wherein the cast of characters traverse unbelievable distances in a very short amount of time, with the only descriptions of that journey being that it rained on this day, or that it was hot on the other. The world and its characters feel as if they are right from the imagination of a teenage mind, with an abundant and noticeable lack of creativity riddling the work.

However, having said all that, I still enjoyed it. I enjoyed it for what it was, and I respect the fact that Chris is as young as he is and has put out an excellent piece of work, despite his age; a commendable feat. An argument of merits, or whether or not he deserves the praise, is beside the point. There are worse authors out there that trip over rocks in a rainstorm and get published, and there are those folks that spend a lifetime trying to make a living through writing and have a drawer full of rejection slips to show for it. I think it's a safe bet that most individuals here don't know the story of how several of their favorite authors were published. Though does it really matter?

Eragon has generated sales, and continues to do so. In the literature industry that generally means someone likes the story. We don't have thirty-second teaser trailers to draw us into the bookstore. The marketing departments for publishing companies don't use viral marketing campaigns. Hell, walk through your local bookstore and take a look at the advertisements and you'll understand how difficult it is in this industry to sell books without the all important word-of-mouth. Eragon has found an audience, and that audience enjoys the story, and as such that audience has expanded. Whether or not Chris has the chops in any of our eyes is beside the point. The books are moving, and that's what matters.

Comparisons to an author twenty to thirty years his senior is rather silly. Comparisons to Rowling are especially humorous - Tolkien even more so, given the fact there are hundreds of competent adult authors that are at a loss trying to emulate the spirit of Tolkien's work.

I guess I'm a fan. Though, admittedly, I'm a bit unusual in the sense that I judge author's by a different scale. The majority of the time I don't just pick up a book and read it. I often research the author, to try and get a better understanding of what type of person they are. Sometimes this helps me relate to the story a bit more. In a way, I feel like knowing the author helps me invest more, emotionally, in a particular story. I guess this is why I can sit down and read an extremely wide range of literature. I probably wouldn't have picked up Inkheart if I hadn't learned more about Cornelia Funke; I might have passed on Artemis Fowl had I not looked into Eoin Colfer; and despite its popularity, I would never have given Harry Potter a chance if I hadn't come to understand more about Rowling or the adversity she'd been facing at the time she wrote the first book. In this same way, I found Eragon to be a very satisfying read, knowing how young the author was.
 
By the way, I've got a terrible cold and am under the influence of several medications, so if the above is a tad rant-ish (more so than my usual longwindednes) you'll have to excuse me.

I'm wearing mismatched socks right now, and drinking a cup of tea accidently flavored with salt, if that tells you anything.
 
Right.....I think it is time to show you guys my feeble attempt at writing. I also got the link to here for doing so. How bout that? I was 12 when I started and deleted it all off my computer not too long ago, keeping character profiles and such. But it is on the internet (well the first two chapters anyway) and I think we should just compare it to Eragon. I know the chapters are relatively short so it wont take long to read. Click HERE
 
I'm going to repost something I wrote at the eragon movie forums at rottentomatoes.com



First of all, Paolini didn't write his book at 15, he STARTED to write it at 15, finishing it three years later. So if you want to be totally honest not only did he did write it when he was 15, he also wrote it when he was 16, and 17, and 18.

Second of all, he didn't just send in his novel to Knopf. No, first he had had his daddy, who owns his own publishing company, print out some copies for his son(you can even find them on ebay for a few bills now that CP is famous). Then CP dressed up in a medieval costume and hit the fairs and schools hawking his book. One of the school kids that got it for himself liked it and showed it to his daddy, a Knopf bigwig, who then signed a contract with CP.

Now that's facts. That is what happened. He was in the right place at the right time, and it was his family's money that made it possible for him to get noticed, so already talking about it like he changed the world or beat the system based solely on the merit of his novel is just crazy.

But why did Knopf sign Paolini if it wasn't for the kickas$ery that Eragon is? Well, lets keep going.

Amazon lists Eragon hardcover to have been published in mid 2003. What else came out in 2003? Return of the King, the last part of Tolkien's trilogy hit the screens at the end of 2003.

Isn't it interesting how at the same time as sales of Tolkien's novels were going throught the roof, and the public packed theatres solid to see what happens to Frodo an the One Ring, Knopf went on a massive PR campaing promoting CP, whom they referred to as a child prodigy and a teen Tolkien?

Was is really a coincidence? Or was it a shrewed marketing ploy?

You don't have to be the brightest crayon in the box to know which, now that you know the back story.

Knopf saw the potential of putting another fantasy series out on the market now that LOTR was such a commercial success both in print and on screen. Many people saw and read LOTR for the first time, liked LOTR, and were pleasantly surprised by the fantasy genre, and went to the bookstores, asking the salespeople for "something like the Lord of the Rings." And Knopf delivered. Delivered a book that had extremely similar elements to LOTR, and which was also "written by a 15 year child prodigy, a teen Tolkien really." And hearing this, your average soccer mom would say "oh wow, really? Ok I'll buy it for my 14 year old."

It was made into a film for the same reason. Since LOTR and Narnia did so well, Eragon was pooped out by the film company guaranteed to ride the coattails of success of those movies and of the book itself. (I can just picture your average family sitting around the TV, watching the Eragon trailer, and saying that how the movie looks like LOTR and that they should go see it)

Publishing Eragon was a smart move on Knopf's part. But it did well not because it's such a literary achievement. It did well simply because it was so timely and marketable.




Also, check out Anti-Shur'tugal -- Where bleach is used up by the gallons!

It's a website run by aspiring writers who really pick apart the faults of Eragon in hilarious detail. If you're an aspiring writer yourself, check out The Epistles section in particular, so that you learn how not to write Eragon-caliber ridiculous things in your own fantasy novel. In particular the First Epistle describes the reasons why young unpublished writers everywhere hate his guts.
 
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Revelation said:
Also, check out Anti-Shur'tugal -- Where bleach is used up by the gallons!

It's a website run by aspiring writers who really pick apart the faults of Eragon in hilarious detail. If you're an aspiring writer yourself, check out The Epistles section in particular, so that you learn how not to write Eragon-caliber ridiculous things in your own fantasy novel. In particular the First Epistle describes the reasons why young unpublished writers everywhere hate his guts.
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Love the site! Thanks for posting it. It articulates all of the gripes I've had with the books and others I hadn't really considered.
 
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