Eldest

I found the book to be very poorly written. The story is essentially Star Wars without the depth and maturity, and with a little LOTR mixed in. That's not a big probelm for me, since I am a fan of retellings. Howeverm you should be able to disguise it or make it understood that is what you're doing, and Paolini does neither. It also drags on. They spend so much time trying to figure out what to do instead of just doing in. You could see the author trying to figure out the next step along with the characters. The characters were annoying and entirely unbelievable. The main character is a rather weak attempt at the hero archetype, and the dragon behaves in a way that is charming and witty when done by skilled writers, but is just irritating in this book. The pace was awkward, and the narrative style was just fine for a talented teen. However, it is an insult to geniuses when this book is compared with the greatest works of fanatsy fiction. It was written by a boy who has a lot of talent and potential for great things once he's developed his skills, has matured, and has gained a much wider range of experiences and knowledge.

The fact that he reached the bestseller list is the same reason a bad movie can be in the top five on opening weekend: It was well promoted, and not enough people are exposing themselves to higher-quality works. The boy's age was used as a marketing gimmick which he will suffer from for likely his entire career. I had the opportunity to meet an author who wrote his first published book at the age of fifteen. He's now in his mid-thirties, and that is still written in the About-the-Author page, and is mentioned in reviews and interviews, and articles about him. He can't get away from it, and when I asked him, it was easy to see that he didn't like the fact that this is what he is famous for. While the money teens earn through sales, if their book sells well, will help pay for their post-secondary education, it's likely that they would look back and regret starting their career so soon.

The author I met, whose name is Kenneth Oppel, also felt the same way I do about Eregon.

*thunderous applause*

Reichieru, that was very aptly put, exactly how I feel.

However, it is an insult to geniuses when this book is compared with the greatest works of fanatsy fiction. It was written by a boy who has a lot of talent and potential for great things once he's developed his skills, has matured, and has gained a much wider range of experiences and knowledge.

Yes! Exactly! I bow to your insight... Everyone else, listen to that. Yes.

I've naught more to say to that. Although, I might add that Paolini has decided not to go on with post-secondary education, and decided to continue with what he's doing. This is akward, because how much insight went into that decision? In his case, the fame and money are talking.

My god, Silverstar...

Sorry, but I think that you proved your point in saying you hated the book. I respect your first comments, and even the three afterward, but you just seem to be calling everyone who liked this book stupid and [basically] naive. Just because you might not like it doesn't mean someone else does.

If you're really fired up for an argument, you can go to the Debates board.

Gotta say that I'm on yourside with this one. It's unfair to critisize something as subjective as whether or not a book is good. With art and literature, people are always going to have differing opinions and different standards for what is good and not good, and some people are not as descriminating as others and either don't notice the weak points of the novel, or would rather ignore them and just enjoy the adventure.

Notice how I shared my opinion of the novel without purposely contradicting anyone or saying that they were wrong. In a group like this, even in the debate forum, we must respect everyone's point of view and opinion or else every topic will get reduced to flame wars.

Reichieru wrote:Notice how I shared my opinion of the novel without purposely contradicting anyone or saying that they were wrong. In a group like this, even in the debate forum, we must respect everyone's point of view and opinion or else every topic will get reduced to flame wars.

::another round of deafening applause, roaring cheers, ear-piercing whistles, and hats thrown in the air::

Wow, Rei, wow. You have learned the ways of the peaceful warrior.

lol Welcome back by the way.


And I also do agree with the book critisizing thing. No one has to point out how the pace went, how strong or weak each character was, or the choice of words used in sad moments... just enjoy the book, or don't enjoy it. Books aren't made to be disected, have it's parts layed out on a cold steel table and identified. All of that is done before it becomes published.

You can thank St. Lawrence College for that. The program I'm in is for what one of my profs calls a "professional helper", and we're learning to develop all kinds of skills that aid in communication and being a part of a group. But that is off topic. Please return to discussing the book.

And it's true. I may not have enjoyed the book, and would never have gotten through it had I actually read it rather than listening to the audiobook, but that doesn't matter. Books were written to be read, and I would die if I found out a teacher was using one of my books in a classroom in any way other than to enhance studying a social issue I address in my books.

I gotta say, I was disappointed with Eldest. Eragon blew me away, and I expected Eldest to have the same substance as its predecessor. It fell short. It's still a great book, but it has the misfortune of being the middle book in a trilogy, and just like the middle child of a family, it doesn't receive the attention it deserves. It can't begin or conclude anything collosal in the story, so it's stuck advancing details of the plot. This doesn't make it bad, but I was never exactly on the edge of my seat. I was also personally bothered by Eragon. He's not getting any smarter with age, and now he's turned pretty. If he's not careful, I fear that's all we'll be able to say of our hero.

He did a book signing in my nieberhood so I got ma' copy signed!

the middle child of a family...doesn't receive the attention it deserves.

Not so, Jessie! Not so!

That's neat, Z!

Eldest was not the greatest book I have ever read. I got bored several times and had to stop and read something else. The main cause for this is probably because the book is so long. Eragon was the same and it is quite clichèd.
The start of the story was very long and drawn out and having read Eragon so long ago it made it hard to get back into the plot and story.
Although one good point is Paolini is very good at doveloping his characters.

I felt the characters were quite stiff. But then, that's my opinion.

I didn't really like Eldest. I loved Eragon, but I didn't like Eldest really. Especially when Eragon went through his "transformation," I wish he had stayed human, and I found the parts where they flashed back to his brother were extremely boring.

I found the first book, Eragon, to be at least an entertaining read. Sure, it was stereotypical, but I think he actually said somewhere that it was meant to be the typical fantasy adventure peice. He purposfully didn't do anything drastically original. But it was still an original story. The only serious gripe I had about it was one of the plot twist setups for book two was so painfully obvious I thought it was rediculous.

As to Eldest, I believe it was far better than Eragon. The story itself I felt was more original, the characters seemed more or less believable (if not excedingly memorable), and the locations were interesting. Heck, I even like the descriptions. Sure, it slowed down maybe one too many times, but give it some credit. It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but it was still a very enjoyable read that I had a hard time putting down. I'd actually like to read how it all ends, even though the first book kinda gives a little of that away.

They're even making a movie of the first book, with Chris supposedly being involved in produciton. I sure hope they don't scew it up like they have so many other adaptations.

I honestly gave Eragon a chance, but after the first few pages, I literally fell asleep. The book wasn't really that bad, it was just.....flat. Really boring in my opinion and a little cliched.