Is Inheritance terrible enough to be exposed to the Hate Dumb? It has some Hype Backlash, but I don't think Hate Dumb's complaints for this are as feasible as they are often made out to be.
The book does have an inherent plot that is common to most fantasy writing, and the first two books are almost identical to the {{Star Wars}} franchise: young man meets old man with a message from a princess who is under attack by the Big Bad's Dragon and is thrust into a quest for personal revenge, losing his mentor and developing ties as he improves his mastery over magic and his abilities as a warrior. Let's face it though; aside from some more specific points, such as Brom being an Expy of Obi-Wan, it seems lazy to just call this a Star Wars rip-off.
The plot is inherited from several sources, notably Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, but this is not uncommon to most pieces of fantasy writing. The issue that it does suffer from, however, is the issue of Purple Prose and in some instances just plain bad writing. A lot of Brisingr is an attempt to fix major plot issues from the previous books and an attempt to move away from the established Star Wars plot (YMMV as to how well this is done), caused by Eldest being a slow 'You must learn to become stronger' book, and Eragon as the plot establisher.
Beyond these issues however, there is a depth to the novels that Paolini often taps, but is so surrounded by bad that people often fail to pick it up. He acknowledges issues beyond the stereotypical teen angst and posits more philosophical or social issues: religion, economy, and war are prominent among these. What prevents this from being a good book (again, setting aside the amateur writing) is that he fails to actually go into depth with these, forsaking them for a more conventional, sellable writing. The depth is poking at the text, but is ultimately sacrificed in favour of obvious character development and plot de/construction. Characters develop themselves when written properly, but Paolini seems reserved to force a storyline on his writing - a mistake made by many commercial writers (*cough*Steven King).
I wouldn't suggest the series for a more academic or serious reader; this is mainly for people who just want a good casted yarn to read before bed.
Inheritance? Or Inherited?
Is Inheritance terrible enough to be exposed to the Hate Dumb? It has some Hype Backlash, but I don't think Hate Dumb's complaints for this are as feasible as they are often made out to be.
The book does have an inherent plot that is common to most fantasy writing, and the first two books are almost identical to the {{Star Wars}} franchise: young man meets old man with a message from a princess who is under attack by the Big Bad's Dragon and is thrust into a quest for personal revenge, losing his mentor and developing ties as he improves his mastery over magic and his abilities as a warrior. Let's face it though; aside from some more specific points, such as Brom being an Expy of Obi-Wan, it seems lazy to just call this a Star Wars rip-off.
The plot is inherited from several sources, notably Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, but this is not uncommon to most pieces of fantasy writing. The issue that it does suffer from, however, is the issue of Purple Prose and in some instances just plain bad writing. A lot of Brisingr is an attempt to fix major plot issues from the previous books and an attempt to move away from the established Star Wars plot (YMMV as to how well this is done), caused by Eldest being a slow 'You must learn to become stronger' book, and Eragon as the plot establisher.
Beyond these issues however, there is a depth to the novels that Paolini often taps, but is so surrounded by bad that people often fail to pick it up. He acknowledges issues beyond the stereotypical teen angst and posits more philosophical or social issues: religion, economy, and war are prominent among these. What prevents this from being a good book (again, setting aside the amateur writing) is that he fails to actually go into depth with these, forsaking them for a more conventional, sellable writing. The depth is poking at the text, but is ultimately sacrificed in favour of obvious character development and plot de/construction. Characters develop themselves when written properly, but Paolini seems reserved to force a storyline on his writing - a mistake made by many commercial writers (*cough*Steven King).
I wouldn't suggest the series for a more academic or serious reader; this is mainly for people who just want a good casted yarn to read before bed.