Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy--until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save--or destroy--the Empire. "An authentic work of great talent."--The New York Times Book Review "Christopher Paolini make[s] literary magic with his precocious debut."--People "Unusual, powerful, fresh, and fluid."--Booklist, Starred "An auspicious beginning to both career and series."--Publishers Weekly A New York Times Bestseller A USA Today Bestseller A Wall Street Journal Bestseller A Book Sense Bestseller From the Hardcover edition.
Here's a great big fantasy that you can pull over your head like a comfy old sweater and disappear into for a whole weekend. Christopher Paolini began Eragon when he was just 15, and the book shows the influence of Tolkien, of course, but also Terry Brooks, Anne McCaffrey, and perhaps even Wagner in its traditional quest structure and the generally agreed-upon nature of dwarves, elves, dragons, and heroic warfare with magic swords.
Eragon, a young farm boy, finds a marvelous blue stone in a mystical mountain place. Before he can trade it for food to get his family through the hard winter, it hatches a beautiful sapphire-blue dragon, a race thought to be extinct. Eragon bonds with the dragon, and when his family is killed by the marauding Ra'zac, he discovers that he is the last of the Dragon Riders, fated to play a decisive part in the coming war between the human but hidden Varden, dwarves, elves, the diabolical Shades and their neanderthal Urgalls, all pitted against and allied with each other and the evil King Galbatorix. Eragon and his dragon Saphira set out to find their role, growing in magic power and understanding of the complex political situation as they endure perilous travels and sudden battles, dire wounds, capture and escape.
In spite of the engrossing action, this is not a book for the casual fantasy reader. There are 65 names of people, horses, and dragons to be remembered and lots of pseudo-Celtic places, magic words, and phrases in the Ancient Language as well as the speech of the dwarfs and the Urgalls. But the maps and glossaries help, and by the end, readers will be utterly dedicated and eager for the next book, Eldest. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
have been told to read these books for a long time now:
my uncle and my cousins are super into these books, i hear they are awesome.
Loved this world:
I found myself thinking of these characters when I wasn't reading the books. Great read.
Interesting:
This book has a nice pace. However, most of the characters are somewhat flat and the dragon could have been more involved with the story.
Another Teen in Love with Dragons:
This review was written by my daughter, Sarah Gossett: Throughout our education, we are assigned books to read that are not our interest and are often times very dull. After reading "Eragon," I found that once in awhile you can find a very intriguing story. Eragon proved this to me. Christopher Paolini is a thriving young author who writes great books. In this story, a young farm boy, Eragon, stumbles upon a stone while hunting. This "stone" soon hatches into a very real dragon while he names Saphira.... more info
