Eragon

Author:  Christopher Paolini

I have a bit of news for you about the format of my blog.  For now, after every five movie reviews/reflections, I’m going to post a review for a favorite book of mine.  Since I have reached that five-movie mark, my first book review is for Eragon.  I hope that you love the book as much as I do (and I hope too that if you haven’t read the book you’ll want to)!  Whatever your thoughts, I’d love to hear from you!  [A fun fact:  The author himself drew the impressive map at the beginning of the book!]

Eragon is about a 15-year old boy (whose name is actually Eragon) who lives on a farm in a small village with his uncle and cousin, since his mom disappeared when he was younger and no one knows who his dad is.  Eragon has a pretty “normal” life until one day he finds a mysterious gem in the woods that ends up hatching into a baby dragon!  Eragon names the dragon Saphira and raises her secretly but her origins are still a mystery.  When Eragon’s uncle is killed by a dangerous group, the Ra’zac, servants of the evil king Galbatorix, Eragon escapes from the home he’s always known to take revenge on the Ra’zac (with the help of Saphira and Brom the village storyteller) for killing the only family he’s ever had.  This coming of age book has some good messages, like how you should fight for what’s right, and is perfect for dragon lovers like me; and, despite the mixed reviews it got when it first came out, I really enjoyed it.  As a fan of fantasy writing, I thought the writing was good and the way that Paolini writes makes you feel almost as if you’re in the book itself.  His writing is most especially impressive since he was a teenager when he first wrote Eragon.  I can’t wait to read the next book in this series (which is called The Inheritance Cycle)!  However, this book can get pretty violent (such as a scene where a whole village is killed, including children, which I think is the only part of the book that disturbed me a bit) and it also has some mild bad language; so, I don’t think it is appropriate for young kids, even though I’ve heard about kids as young as 10-years old reading it.  Personally, I’d recommend it for teens only due to the violence and language.  Perhaps my favorite lesson from Eragon is that, after the death of Eragon’s uncle, when it appears as if he is an orphan all over again, it seems that he realizes Saphira and Brom, though not biological family, are his family indeed!  And that just goes to show family isn’t blood—it’s the people who love and accept who you are, no matter what; that is family!

“Books are my friends, my companions. They make me laugh and cry and find meaning in life.”

-Jeod, an old friend of Brom’s

[This is one my most favorite quotes from Eragon because I feel like it describes me perfectly!]