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A review by _readwithash
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
5.0
Rating for the entire series, but this book is probably 2 stars.
I have said again and again, "I'm not reading another series where 'you just have to get through the first book and then it gets better'" but this is an exception. Eragon is not good. It reads like an outline of the hero's journey, with a few really great ideas interspersed, but it's not remarkable within today's YA books. When I first read this in 2003 though, it was the best age appropriate book I had ever read. (And yes, that includes a particular work that is so incredibly overrated, and one that we don't mention anymore.)
If you're reading Eragon for the first time though, and you're having trouble getting into it, I can assure you that the rest of the series is better. And I know you've heard that with series like Throne of Glass, and, if like me, you're screaming "I WON'T FALL FOR THAT AGAIN" keep this in mind: Eragon is immature and bland, but that creates a world for some of the most creative and interesting stories and character growth I've read in fantasy. You can see Paolini grow from "teenager's first epic fantasy" to an actual writer, and the books grow with him. By the end of this series, your world will be rocked.
I have said again and again, "I'm not reading another series where 'you just have to get through the first book and then it gets better'" but this is an exception. Eragon is not good. It reads like an outline of the hero's journey, with a few really great ideas interspersed, but it's not remarkable within today's YA books. When I first read this in 2003 though, it was the best age appropriate book I had ever read. (And yes, that includes a particular work that is so incredibly overrated, and one that we don't mention anymore.)
If you're reading Eragon for the first time though, and you're having trouble getting into it, I can assure you that the rest of the series is better. And I know you've heard that with series like Throne of Glass, and, if like me, you're screaming "I WON'T FALL FOR THAT AGAIN" keep this in mind: Eragon is immature and bland, but that creates a world for some of the most creative and interesting stories and character growth I've read in fantasy. You can see Paolini grow from "teenager's first epic fantasy" to an actual writer, and the books grow with him. By the end of this series, your world will be rocked.