'Eragon' and 'Eldest' by Christopher Paolini, 2003 and 2005
See here and here for plot outlines and links to reviews.
I really wanted to like these books. The first was written by a guy in his teens and made into a movie... surely it can't be that bad. Well, they certainly aren't great. The writing style isn't as noticeably pretentious as I expected; there are some passages that have been written thesaurus in hand however. A lot of the dialogue is worse than Star Wars and does not sound real at all.
The story, characters, events all feel very familiar. In fact it borrows heavily from Star Wars and LOTR and falls into all the cliches of "epic fantasy". Its even going to be a trilogy - the biggest cliche of all! To be fair I found it compelling reading at times and I often wanted to find out what would happen next, even though I had a pretty good idea. The idea of using magic instead of shaing I found original (and rather sensible) but that was the one original idea. As usual the books are filled with made up names for people and places.... apart from Angela, whose name sticks out like a sore thumb!
I suppose I will read the final installment at some point but I won't be too disappointed if I forget.
If you like your epic-fantasy cliched and unoriginal then you may enjoy this. Otherwise, see the movie - it will be over quicker.
I really wanted to like these books. The first was written by a guy in his teens and made into a movie... surely it can't be that bad. Well, they certainly aren't great. The writing style isn't as noticeably pretentious as I expected; there are some passages that have been written thesaurus in hand however. A lot of the dialogue is worse than Star Wars and does not sound real at all.
The story, characters, events all feel very familiar. In fact it borrows heavily from Star Wars and LOTR and falls into all the cliches of "epic fantasy". Its even going to be a trilogy - the biggest cliche of all! To be fair I found it compelling reading at times and I often wanted to find out what would happen next, even though I had a pretty good idea. The idea of using magic instead of shaing I found original (and rather sensible) but that was the one original idea. As usual the books are filled with made up names for people and places.... apart from Angela, whose name sticks out like a sore thumb!
I suppose I will read the final installment at some point but I won't be too disappointed if I forget.
If you like your epic-fantasy cliched and unoriginal then you may enjoy this. Otherwise, see the movie - it will be over quicker.
Labels: christopher paolini, fantasy, movie
posted by Social Work Dad at 9:02 AM
3 Comments:
using magic for shaing (I think maybe the goblins stole a letter there! or would that be elves?)
This comment has been removed by the author.
May the goblins care for themselves. I think.
The Mr. Paolini's book is weak in all aspects one can think of in relation to literature. His command of language fails him, as he freely uses words that sound all too modern.
Then much too often it feels like he was just too bored to go into detail and write the full dialogues. As a result, all the characters are nearly boring. They are equally solemn, gloomy and plain. Maybe except for Murtagh.
In the "Eldest" there are some hints at sexuality. But also those are not too elaborate. It should influence a young man's world view much more than shown here.
If the general lines of the plot may be nearly well arranged, they are poorly followed by the author himself.
And the names. Why Galbatorix? Why this seemingly Celtic name, mocking the real old ones in the same manner as Asterix? Then, elves in my stereotypical perception are more linked with the Celtic culture, still there language appears to show the same Nordic substratum as the Dwarvish. Why?
And the greatest sin of all those the author has not been able to avoid - there is no emotion in the book. An angry cousin walks up to his cousin and hits him on the face. In cold blood. That's it. If there are emotions, the reader must extract them him-/herself from the situation.
This book is somehow dead. It leaves no satisfaction after being read, just some bitter feeling that a plot like that could have been told in a better manner.
And now comes the greatest insult, though I bet Mr. Paolini will never come this low from his cliff of Uru'baen,- If he considers himself an human of excellence, than I am an average elf. Though English by far is not my native tongue.
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