Eragon finds his Geas (Eragon - Christopher Paolini)

Member Name: shroud

Product:	Eragon - Christopher Paolini
Date:	23/12/07 (140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: excellent characterisation, coherent storylines, epic, gripping read

Disadvantages: need to be able to sink into the psyche of a 15 year old boy or the style may initially unnerve you

Having heard nothing but praise for this book from my own teenaged sons and my young adult step daughter, and reading the rave reviews critics gave this children's book, I became curious. This turned to an intense desire to read this book when I discovered that it was written by a fifteeen year old boy who was home educated all his life, and soon to be a motion picture. Before I sat down to read it, the film came out and was panned by many, so I gave it a miss, and dismissed the book from my mind. That is, until it came back up quite recently in conversation, and the book and its film adaption was placed firmly in my hands.

Being stricken shortly after by illness, I had cause to linger in bed, unfit to do much excpet read and gaze at the idiot box, so it seemed as good a time as any to open the large tome and have a read. The first thing that struck me was how lovely the endpapers were detailed. This may seem trivial to many, but upon realising that the maps presented upon the end papers are so meticulously detailed and well executed, as well as being credited to the 15 year old author, gave me pause for admiration. A youngling he may have been at the time of the penning of this novel, but it quickly became obvious that the young man had richly imagined the world his characters lived in. This became even more evident as I turned the pages.

Christopher Paolini had indeed imagined a richly detailed world. His use of descriptive language quickly overwhelemed my outer senses, and a few pages in, I was hooked. Admittedly, the style of writing during some passages lack exact grammatical correctness, but this tended to occur more when the action was swift, adding to the mood of choppy suddeness in a way that harked back to the days of grand pulp fantasy. At times nodding its head to the Lord of the Rings in style and essence, at others I sensed a hit of sci fi's MacCaffrey, especially in the details of the bond bewteen dragon and rider. To say it is derivative, however, would be a grave disservice, for this story is Paolini' s alone, and is well worth the praise it has been heaped with. Many an adult writer should bow their head in shame at the paltriness of their offerings in this genre when compared to the vivid imaginings of this 15 year old boy; his first effort shows great promise for what shall surely follow.

He does perhaps have an edge, here, however. Being only 15 at the time, he did not have to imagine too hard what a boy the same age might feel upon being thrust into this adventure. All the cockiness, and awkwardness are there, ringing true in a way that speaks not of memory, but personal recent experience, and adds realism and poignancy to the tale. So what, precisely, is the tale?

Well, it is about a 15 year old boy. named Eragon. He lives in a remote village on the outskirts of a forest that is a sort of no man's land called the Spine.He goes out hunting for meat for his family one day, and a flash of light spooks away the deer he has nocked his arrow at. So instead of food for their growling bellies, he gets a strange blue stone that appears in the spot where the deer had previously stood. Only it is not a stone, but an ancient dragon's egg, which will only hatch when it finds its rider. Hatch it does, and the lad is taken on a journey that is as much a rite of passage to his adulthood, as it is a mission to free his land of a dark magic and an evil tyrant. The story is through his eyes, and his callow youth and following maturity speak out as the story advances onward in a natural progression, making this a refreshing read.

We get elves, dwarves, sorecers, dragons, witches, and even a were cat; all familar stock type characters in the genre, but it is what he does with them that makes this special. It is no great wonder that after only a single self printing, a major publisher snapped the book up and distributed it amid much excitement. Nor is it surprising given the epic proprtions of his story that a film maker snapped up the rights to it. Sadly, that particular Hollywood effort lacks the lustre that shines from within the pages of the book so brightly, but that is another review.

I can however, highly reccommend this book for those who enjoy epic fantasy. If you love Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, and similar tomes, this will prove a treat. I do not howver advise it for the under 12's, as it is not only quite long but has many distressing scenes that may upset younger, more sensitive souls. I myself have now added the book to my own shelf, and soon hope to read (and review) the sequel, Eldest. I just hope its as jolly a romp through battles and skies as this was.

Summary: A callow youth finds a dragon's egg whilst hunting, and finds he has become a legend