Eragon

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Eragon is a great first book for any author, especially when you think about the fact that this first book was in fact self-published. It gives hope for all of us writers. We can make a breakout. It tells the story of Eragon, a farm boy who finds a dragon egg and therefore becomes the last of the dragon riders. Of course as is typical with these sorts of novels, Eragon develops a telepathic connection with his dragon, Saphira. There is also an evil king that has to be overcome later on in the series. Although they fight the first battle in this book, this is very much a coming of age novel where our hero starts on the first few steps of his hero quest in order to defeat said evil king.

Eragon (2006)

Many people found fault in this movie adaptation. I happened to watch it before I read the book, so I didn’t have quite the negative reaction as some people, but after reading the book I could see where people objected. The casting as described in the book was off. I also felt that Eragon himself was a lot whinier in the movie than he was in the book. Provided, with everything that is happening to him, he has a good excuse to whine. Still you have a dragon! Stop whining and get on with your epic heroic quest boy! It was fun the first time I watched it, but I don’t think I would ever watch it again unless it was on instant play on Netflix, it was pouring down rain, and I was totally and completely bored.