Eragon

by Christopher Paolini

As a parent of teenagers, I could hardly have gone through this year without hearing about this book. As a homeschooling parent, it was even more likely that I would hear about the author: a home-schooled child prodigy who began writing this novel after graduating from correspondence school when he was fifteen. My kids devoured this book and wouldn't let up until I read it too.

Christopher Paolini is a very gifted kid who has an undeniable flair for writing. With time, he may mature into a great author. It is extremely impressive that this book was written by a teenager. The characters are rich and interesting. The words flow well. The book is a real page turner. It's an easy read that keeps the reader well engaged throughout. I enjoyed reading it.

But here's the catch: unless you've been living under a rock for the last few decades (or, like my children, you weren't living at all until roughly a decade ago) you've heard this story before. I won't go so far as to call it plagiarism but it comes mighty close. The main plot line and major characters bear more than a passing resemblance to a certain space opera by a guy named George Lucas. (Perhaps you've heard of him?) The magic system, the mind-link between boy and dragon, the travelling adventure, even most (if not all) of the major settings in the book are all lifted almost directly from other major works of fantasy. And that's where this book falls very, very short indeed: it's not even remotely original. I can't think of a single original element in the entire story. The whole way through this book I found myself unerringly able to predict what would happen next and to whom. There were quite literally no surprises at all.

The saving grace is that, while it's all extremely cliché and formulaic, it is rather well written and it is a very fast read. It's not terribly meaty but it is sweet and it tastes pretty good, just like a good dessert. If you have nothing better to do, you could do much worse than to read this book. But I would also strongly recommend that you first read Tolkien, Donaldson, and McCaffrey (I'm assuming you've already seen Star Wars). After all, they are the ones who wrote this stuff first.

Update: I just got back from seeing the movie and all I'm gonna say is this: Rotten Tomatoes currently rates it at 13%. Enough said.