I'm aware of the publication history of the book. Consequently, the reason that Knopf (the traditional publisher) published the novel to a wider market was because the author Carl Hiaasen, whose step-son happened to be at one of the schools that Paolini was visiting on his marketing tour, brought the book to Knopf's attention. Probably the step-son liked it, and so Hiaasen recommended it. Again, the publisher probably read it and thought of it as a good way to cash in on all the LOTR mania that was going around at that time, by publishing a book that would be 'LOTR for kids', in effect. Of course, I'm speculating a lot here, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if that was the case.
There's always been a lot of tension between Lois and me, and it's not so much that I want to kill her, it's just, I want her to not be alive anymore.
Yes. And it is generally regarded that this sort of self publishing route (self publishing a book, which then comes to the attention of a traditional publisher) is actually harder work than the traditional method. Other authors have managed to do it too, but not many.
Even if your 'LOTR mania' theory is correct (and it may well be), the result would be the same had Paolini sent the manuscript to Knopf via the post. So it doesn't really make any difference.
So, simply saying that Paolini only got published because his parents' own a publishing company simply isn't true. Had he sent his work to publisher through the post, he may not have been successful (as luck plays a fair part in publishing) but his chances of success would actually have been greater.
I saw the film the other day. It wasn't quite as bad as I've heard, but it certainly wasn't good. The random American accents of two of the characters, amongst all the British ones just didn't sound good. Also, the line from Galbatorix: "Where is my egg. I suffer without my egg." Well, I found myself laughing at a moment when I really should not have been. The pace was far too fast, you hardly had a clue what was going on. Basically, I think it was just trying to be another LOTR, but failing miserably.
There's always been a lot of tension between Lois and me, and it's not so much that I want to kill her, it's just, I want her to not be alive anymore.
I, actually, kinda liked Eragon...once I got past how much I kept wanting to call him Aragorn! He really did copy LOTR, but after reading LOTR it's hard to write fantasy any other way! I used to love to write fantasy, but I couldn't stop sounding like Tolkien so I stopped trying. I'm trying to come up with something agian and I think I'm making some headway! *success* I'll post it when I've written some! So look for it.
But back to Eragon. The ending to this book was sparadic and annoying. When I started to read Eldest, I couldn't stand Roran and all that boring mess so much that I gave up completely. Oh well, I just got The Children of Hurin form the library, so that's my fantasy. (oh and I love Terry Brooks)
Paolini has openly said he put ideas taken from Dragonriders of Pern, Star Wars, LOTR and other books and melded them together into Eragon. Basically it's an insanely large fanfic.
I think it's kind of sad because I think he does have potential. I just don't think he should have started off with a whole trilogy, which I think requires a lot more experience in writing stories. He should have started of with something smaller first and experimented more with his writing style.
BTW, a little off-topic...has anyone ever taken a peek at "Eragon's" myspace page?
Blimey, all those comments on his page look like satirical reviews for bad fanfiction. "U so rock!!!!!! i luv u! u r AWESOME say hi to Saphira for me!! wen's the next book comin out? u no u rock right?????"
*bleah*
Makes me consider making a MySpace for my characters.
"TV makes sense. It has logic, structure, rules, and likeable leading men. In life, we have this."
What's been annoying me immensely lately is the fact that Galbotorix is the king of an empire. Is Paolini a complete idiot, to have absolutely no idea whatsoever of monarchial titles? Urgh, he irrtates me more and more. (And before anyone says, in refernece to the British Empire, the monarch would have been king/queen of the United Kingdom, but emperor/empress of the British Empire)
As to 'Eragon's' MySpace... *cough*... somebody has a little too much time on their hands. Also, it does not fit in with the Inheritance continuity. Despite having little or no education, 'Eragon' seems to be remarkably advanced in the English language.
And the comments - bleargh. One I found particularly amusing was 'hey i think ur books are great but just wondering if u have any rough estimate of wen the third book cums out'. Well, he's only the author.
There's always been a lot of tension between Lois and me, and it's not so much that I want to kill her, it's just, I want her to not be alive anymore.
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