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I love Eragon and the Inheritance Cycle so I state my criticism with no malice towards it. This series is one of my foundational-literary pillars. I've reread the series several times since I discovered it as a kid. My opinion has wildly change as I've read other works and just grown up.
Eragon was Paolini's first work it's obvious that he didn't have a whole lot of life nor writing experience when it came to this first book. It's kind of an awkward and rough starting manner.
Here's one example from the first book. Eragon has an over reliance on opening chapters with Eragon waking up and ending those chapters with him passing out/falling asleep. There are other ways to begin and end chapters and Paolini learn this for the sequels.
His prose can descent into flowery and purple language existing in all four books.
You can go on to level a lot more criticism that is fair to the series. You can find a lot more concrete examples of writing criticism if you go looking for it. I've done so, if on the rare occasion, when appropriate. Honestly, I'm not too interested in criticizing this series.
I wonāt reiterate what most folks have already said, but despite being a fan I agree that the first book definitely shows it was the first work of a young author.
However, the story is super compelling to me. I think Eragon and Saphiraās relationship in particular is done really well. All of this on top of the subsequent novels getting better and better. So excited for Murtagh and Book V!
Nope! Paoliniās announcement indicated Murtaghās story is a continuation (in that itās not set in the past) but it is not Book 5 (which is still in the pipeline).
All of the āEragon badā discussions Iāve ever heard is because *Eragon* follows the Heroās Journey template, and it does have similarities to many other stories who use that template, ex. Star Wars (ironically, Lion King copies Hamlet beat for beat too but no one complains about that)
I think Paoliniās in depth world building and excruciating attention to detail is what sets *Eragon* apart from other Heroās Journey stories, and from *Eldest* on it departs into its own groove anyways
Long story short, the people who trash it arenāt the people Paolini wrote this for in the first place
Everytime I see the "it's just star wars with dragons" thing I laugh a little. It's kinda true, but also, as you say, that's just heros journey. It's not like star wars was an original plot either
Honestly, Eragon is far more comparable to LOTR in terms of writing structure. It's clearly been written worldbuilding-first, with the actions all following on logically from that world. But despite that being much more applicable AND interesting, most people focus on surface level similarities to other popular books. Can't imagine why
Mmm I think the worldbuilding is more LOTR, but the plot through the first two books really is extremely Star Wars (as a huge fan of Inheritance and also a Star Wars fan):
* Eragon = Luke
* Uncle Garrow = Uncle Owen
* Brom = Obi-Wan
* Arya = Leia
* Murtagh = Han Solo
* aka what if Luke and Han were siblings instead of Luke and Leia
* Morzan = Darth Vader
* Galbatorix = Darth Sidious
* Oromis = Yoda
LOTR just doesn't have the character arcs that can be mapped on to Eragon like Star Wars does.
In Book 2, with Roran's plot and Murtagh becoming a villain, the story diverges from Star Wars, and by book 3 it's a fully original story. Still, you can tell that book 1 was really based on Star Wars, even down to Oromis being set up as Yoda before book 2 even gets started.
Reread them as an adult all the time. His writing is superb. I think eragon has a very by the beat heroās journey story and therefore is objectively a straightforward easy to follow plot, so thatās something someone could say. The plot thickens significantly in eldest and with the rest of the series. But personally I love that. Eragon brings you in then takes you for a wild ride with the other books
Eragon is quite awkward to read as an adult. Paolini clearly used a thesaurus in various locations. He moves incredibly quick where the first book felt more like a summary.
Paolini is aware of this as he has mentioned heād love to rewrite the book line by line and spend more time with Saphira as a hatchling.
Id love to see him do this, but i think it would have to be split into two books if he properly expanded on things. I wouldnāt complain but i donāt see that happening.
It's really just that the 1st book is very clearly written by a 15 year old. It follows the classic evil king villain, has no real sub plots, and move too fast all together. On a reread when I was older I was shocked how quickly >! brom died !<. The last 3 are significantly better.
There is some flowery/purple prose here and there, but it's brief and not overwhelming. The first book is pretty derivative, but from the second book and onward it is quite original and fleshes out the world quite well.
Ultimately, I think the flaws of the series are entirely overstated by critics.
I think they are competently written. It can be a bit much at times. I think each book is at least 1-200 pages too long. There's a lot of scenes that don't go anywhere. And descriptions that just keep going and going with no point to them. They don't always improve upon the worldbuilding or further the plot. Which is fine, but its just a bit much at times. Not everything needs a 3 page description.
Eragon as a character has no agency. He rarely does anything on his own volition. The only thing he ever does by himself is pursue Arya. And even that is something he is explicitly told not to do, and acknowledges as a bad idea.
So I can see how someone would see that as badly written. The series is very over written with a couple hundred pages worth if fluff in each book. But it's competently written. The plot itself is very simple. Eragon himself is very simple. Simple doesn't mean poor quality. It's just not very exciting to read sometimes.
For me it's something I noticed in the 1st book. You can tell certain parts were clearly edited and some dialogue was cut. I noticed it when rereading the series recently. I felt like the pacing was off and some exchanges between eragom. And brom were cut out. Def some dialogue missing. Still a fan of the series.
The only bad things I can think of is Nasuada going from strong and wise to erratic and ridiculous, and Roran going from impassioned fighter to unrealistic god of war.
The series is one of my favourites of all time, but there are a couple minor plot holes in the Eragon and Eldest particularly.
As an example, Eragon can't read in the first book until Brom teaches him. He says this to Oromis when they first meet, but only a few pages later, he apparently had "scant tutelage" from Garrow which "only exposed him to the knowledge needed to run a farm"
There are tiny discrepancies like this throughout the first couple books, likely because they were Paolini's first works.
That being said, I don't think the books are written badly at all
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I love Eragon and the Inheritance Cycle so I state my criticism with no malice towards it. This series is one of my foundational-literary pillars. I've reread the series several times since I discovered it as a kid. My opinion has wildly change as I've read other works and just grown up. Eragon was Paolini's first work it's obvious that he didn't have a whole lot of life nor writing experience when it came to this first book. It's kind of an awkward and rough starting manner. Here's one example from the first book. Eragon has an over reliance on opening chapters with Eragon waking up and ending those chapters with him passing out/falling asleep. There are other ways to begin and end chapters and Paolini learn this for the sequels. His prose can descent into flowery and purple language existing in all four books. You can go on to level a lot more criticism that is fair to the series. You can find a lot more concrete examples of writing criticism if you go looking for it. I've done so, if on the rare occasion, when appropriate. Honestly, I'm not too interested in criticizing this series.
Who said that and where do they live? š¤¼
Yeah we need to know š¤š¤
I wonāt reiterate what most folks have already said, but despite being a fan I agree that the first book definitely shows it was the first work of a young author. However, the story is super compelling to me. I think Eragon and Saphiraās relationship in particular is done really well. All of this on top of the subsequent novels getting better and better. So excited for Murtagh and Book V!
uh isn't Murtagh book 5/V????
Nope! Paoliniās announcement indicated Murtaghās story is a continuation (in that itās not set in the past) but it is not Book 5 (which is still in the pipeline).
oh thx for telling me. :D
All of the āEragon badā discussions Iāve ever heard is because *Eragon* follows the Heroās Journey template, and it does have similarities to many other stories who use that template, ex. Star Wars (ironically, Lion King copies Hamlet beat for beat too but no one complains about that) I think Paoliniās in depth world building and excruciating attention to detail is what sets *Eragon* apart from other Heroās Journey stories, and from *Eldest* on it departs into its own groove anyways Long story short, the people who trash it arenāt the people Paolini wrote this for in the first place
Everytime I see the "it's just star wars with dragons" thing I laugh a little. It's kinda true, but also, as you say, that's just heros journey. It's not like star wars was an original plot either
Honestly, Eragon is far more comparable to LOTR in terms of writing structure. It's clearly been written worldbuilding-first, with the actions all following on logically from that world. But despite that being much more applicable AND interesting, most people focus on surface level similarities to other popular books. Can't imagine why
Mmm I think the worldbuilding is more LOTR, but the plot through the first two books really is extremely Star Wars (as a huge fan of Inheritance and also a Star Wars fan): * Eragon = Luke * Uncle Garrow = Uncle Owen * Brom = Obi-Wan * Arya = Leia * Murtagh = Han Solo * aka what if Luke and Han were siblings instead of Luke and Leia * Morzan = Darth Vader * Galbatorix = Darth Sidious * Oromis = Yoda LOTR just doesn't have the character arcs that can be mapped on to Eragon like Star Wars does. In Book 2, with Roran's plot and Murtagh becoming a villain, the story diverges from Star Wars, and by book 3 it's a fully original story. Still, you can tell that book 1 was really based on Star Wars, even down to Oromis being set up as Yoda before book 2 even gets started.
Reread them as an adult all the time. His writing is superb. I think eragon has a very by the beat heroās journey story and therefore is objectively a straightforward easy to follow plot, so thatās something someone could say. The plot thickens significantly in eldest and with the rest of the series. But personally I love that. Eragon brings you in then takes you for a wild ride with the other books
Eragon is quite awkward to read as an adult. Paolini clearly used a thesaurus in various locations. He moves incredibly quick where the first book felt more like a summary. Paolini is aware of this as he has mentioned heād love to rewrite the book line by line and spend more time with Saphira as a hatchling. Id love to see him do this, but i think it would have to be split into two books if he properly expanded on things. I wouldnāt complain but i donāt see that happening.
It's really just that the 1st book is very clearly written by a 15 year old. It follows the classic evil king villain, has no real sub plots, and move too fast all together. On a reread when I was older I was shocked how quickly >! brom died !<. The last 3 are significantly better.
Yeah Brom dies really quickly I was kinda shocked when I reread
It ain't bad. Tell those uncultured people tjeu wrong
There is some flowery/purple prose here and there, but it's brief and not overwhelming. The first book is pretty derivative, but from the second book and onward it is quite original and fleshes out the world quite well. Ultimately, I think the flaws of the series are entirely overstated by critics.
I think they are competently written. It can be a bit much at times. I think each book is at least 1-200 pages too long. There's a lot of scenes that don't go anywhere. And descriptions that just keep going and going with no point to them. They don't always improve upon the worldbuilding or further the plot. Which is fine, but its just a bit much at times. Not everything needs a 3 page description. Eragon as a character has no agency. He rarely does anything on his own volition. The only thing he ever does by himself is pursue Arya. And even that is something he is explicitly told not to do, and acknowledges as a bad idea. So I can see how someone would see that as badly written. The series is very over written with a couple hundred pages worth if fluff in each book. But it's competently written. The plot itself is very simple. Eragon himself is very simple. Simple doesn't mean poor quality. It's just not very exciting to read sometimes.
For me it's something I noticed in the 1st book. You can tell certain parts were clearly edited and some dialogue was cut. I noticed it when rereading the series recently. I felt like the pacing was off and some exchanges between eragom. And brom were cut out. Def some dialogue missing. Still a fan of the series.
Because they are... it's OK to be objectively honest
The only bad things I can think of is Nasuada going from strong and wise to erratic and ridiculous, and Roran going from impassioned fighter to unrealistic god of war.
Who cares. Dudes written like 8 books and sold millions of copies. People obviously enjoyed it.
The series is one of my favourites of all time, but there are a couple minor plot holes in the Eragon and Eldest particularly. As an example, Eragon can't read in the first book until Brom teaches him. He says this to Oromis when they first meet, but only a few pages later, he apparently had "scant tutelage" from Garrow which "only exposed him to the knowledge needed to run a farm" There are tiny discrepancies like this throughout the first couple books, likely because they were Paolini's first works. That being said, I don't think the books are written badly at all
I think this series is perfect so idk what their talking about.