Eragon: I Liked It

For some reason, im getting the feeling some tropers just hate The Inheritance Cycle.....and I liked it.....is there something wrong with me?

edited 12th Jul '10 12:51:32 AM by Owenisawesomness2

^No, you are in the right. Tropers just have an irrational hatred for Eragon. I mean, the book is honestly the fifth best fantasy story ever written. After Lord Of The Rings, The Chronicles Of Narnia, The Worm Ouroboros, The Twelve Kingdoms, and The Wizard Of Oz.

Just to clarify before this turns into a flame war, I don't consider Harry Potter proper fantasy, because it is set in the real world. And bookstores agree with me, so there.

edited 12th Jul '10 6:01:52 AM by Bioelectricclam

Eragon got better in Brisingr when it stopped being a Star Wars and Dragonriders Of Pern crossover.

Eragon got better in Brisingr when it stopped being a Star Wars and Dragonriders Of Pern crossover.

Oh Mapi not you too! The book really isn't like Star Wars, unless you consider all stories that start off with a farm boy who eventually goes on to save the world a Star Wars clone. If anything, both Star Wars and Eragon are really just metaphors for the American Dream and the importance of Capitalism over a Controlled Economy. Which really just makes Star Wars a rip-off of Atlas Shrugged.

Also, replace The Wizard Of Oz on that list with A Song Of Ice And Fire, then switch A Song Of Ice And Fire with The Twelve Kingdoms. Not sure how I forgot about George R.R. Martin.

I found Eragon decent. It doesn't seem original, and I'm pretty sure I heard a lot of complaints similar to the ones from Sword Of Truth, but I only read it superficially, and not every work needs to be ground-breakingly revolutionary.

^^ Don't get me wrong; I liked Eragon, but I really got a lot of rip vibes from the first two books. At least Brisingr made me stop feeling guilty for liking the series.

I'm staying out of this debate, since I haven't read Eragon. (I probably will at some point.)

But I take issue with the idea that Harry Potter isn't fantasy just because it's set in the real world (with functional magic, and dragons, and centaurs, and giants, and...). You can only have so many changes from the world as we know it before it becomes a fantasy world, even if it's still named Earth.

Anyway, Lord Of The Rings also takes place on Earth in prehistoric times. Nobody's saying that it's not a fantasy, are they?

edited 12th Jul '10 6:21:09 AM by DoktorvonEurotrash

I thought Brisingr was the most boring book, actually. There's lots of places where I just teal deered, where I actually read Eldest and Eragon entirely.

I read Eragon, but I gave up after about the 700th cliche. The problem with that book, for me, is that the author used tropes like some people bake cookies. Flour, sugar, chocolate chips, oil, butter baking soda, put in the oven and you're done. Trouble is, there are a million chocolate chip cookies out there, and only a few bakers use some craft an originality, like adding nutmeg, or making the mentor evil or substituting oil (elves) with caramel (something entirely different, PLEASE). Eragon was just another chocolate chip cookie. Not to say it was a terrible book. So Ok, it's Average. Nothing wrong with that.

edited 12th Jul '10 10:17:27 AM by Amarys

good, then im not alone.......but some people complain that the titular character in the book is a sociopath, while I found no evidence of this...is there something wrong with me in that department?

edited 12th Jul '10 10:18:21 AM by Owenisawesomness2

^ From what I hear, Eragon's sociopathy only really surfaces in Brisingr (although he does have a severe case of Designated Hero before that). Having not read the latter two books, I don't know how obvious it would be.

As for whether or not something's wrong with you for liking Eragon: Nope. Reasonably intelligent people like dumb shit all the time (God knows I treat G Gundam like the second coming of Christ)

Yep, I totally love Eragon. I mean, it's Star Wars in a fantasy setting. What's not to like?

Is there any examples of said sociopathy? I must have not been paying attention.

-sigh of relief- Oh thank God. I thought I was like the only troper who honestly liked the Eragon series! Kinda relieving to see at least a few more folks who don't hate it.

^^Haven't read the books, only going by in-depth summaries here, but in Brisingr, Eragon kills an enemy soldier who is unarmed and begging for mercy.

He also treats a blinded and helpless enemy pretty harshly, sending him walking through the desert all by himself (did I mention the guy is blind?), but the cruelty of that is debatable, as Eragon's actions give the guy a shot at redemption and healing.

(If I got anything wrong, do correct me if you've read the book.)

edited 12th Jul '10 2:15:28 PM by Doktor von Eurotrash

I mean, the book is honestly the fifth best fantasy story ever written.

I haven't read the series and am willing to believe that it isn't nearly as bad as the hatedom claims, but that's a gross exageration. No A Wizard of Earthsea, Dying Earth, Gormenghast, or any of the numerous other titles that could fill that spot?

edited 12th Jul '10 2:20:48 PM by Jordan

I doubt it's even the fifth best highly derivative fantasy series out there. Fifth best series period is entirely out of the question.

And no, I'm not part of the hatedom — there's some exceptionally bad fantasy out there. Eragon is only moderately bad.

edited 12th Jul '10 2:25:30 PM by Nornagest

^^To be fair I haven't read those second two. As for the first one, I've never managed to get past the first few chapters before feeling really bored. Leguin's description of pirate battles near the beginning of the book felt more like I was reading an encyclopedia article than an actual story. And it was stuffy Britannica over fun and perky Wikipedia to boot.

I (Dreamer) thought Eragon was an okay book but not interesting enough for me to read the other two. I have found much better series. I will not say it's horrible, it is still better than some of the "Masters of Modern Fantasy"'s (according to the Dragon Book) stories I have read but only because a lot of Fan Fiction is also better than them. Some of the masters deserve the title but a lot of the other "Masters'" stories were poorly written and screamed Mary Sue (out of boredom I ran a few through the litmus test and out came Uber-Sue as the result). But I digress. Eragon is borderline but not worth the hype-backlash or hatedom.

I felt Eragon was cliched, but I don't get what it has to do with Star Wars. If anything, it's in the same family as Dragonlance and such. And the first book, at least, is hard to describe as being bad for any reason other than being derivative, because any criticisms of the stuff it stole apply equally well to the well-respected stuff it stole from. (I don't know about the later books, not having read them.)

To anyone who's wondering, alot of the sociopath stuff comes from his treatment of Sloan, who he sentenced to walk the land while blind until he made it to a certain place, wherein he would be forced to stay there, albeit in comfortable conditions. A lot of people think this is unnecessarily cruel. Personally, it doesn't seem worse than killing him (he was spelled so wild animals would not hurt him and would bring him food, and he automatically knew which way to go). Eragon's only real motivation for that was First keeping him out of Roran's way, Second not killing him, and Third keeping some semblence of justice. All the anti-heroes that tropers seem to love so much do worse on a daily basis.

As for the quality of the series, Paolini's writing sucks. Its overly formal, stiff and clunky, and sounds like some high school student's idea of what fantasy SHOULD sound like, rather than a natural tone of voice. The plot itself is only boring in that it is unoriginal, but his settings are pretty creative (if restricted by the damn map), and his characters have potential (which is restricted by the damn clunky mode of speech). That said, I like it, even if I have an objectively low opinion of it. Most people in the world probably have similar feelings towards their younger siblings.

You know, I can't help but think that everyone who says Eragon isn't similar to Star Wars never bothered to read the plot summary on the Eragon page.

^ Eragon also pretty much Mind Raped Sloan for no good reason. And enjoyed it.

edited 13th Jul '10 10:02:25 PM by Jerrik

It's Star Wars in the same way Harry Potter is Wizard's Hall—they use a lot of the same tropes, but in completely different ways. Eragon definitely isn't a Luke Skywalker Expy, and the empire is more Tolkien-esque than it is Lucas-esque.

edited 14th Jul '10 1:11:03 AM by feotakahari

@ Bioelectricclam: Harry Potter isn't proper fantasy? because it's set in "the real world"?

Allow me to educate you, my fine chum.

To anyone who's wondering, alot of the sociopath stuff comes from his treatment of Sloan

IIRC, it's also his attitude towards Empire soldiers. Notice in Eldest that Roran makes a big deal over killing people, but Eragon doesn't seem to care.