Honestly - What is Eragon?

[Angel Tarragon]

Sure, it sounds vaguely familiar and I've seen the poster at the theater but I don't know anything beyond that. Can someone please fill me in without spoiling too much of it?

 

[Klaus]

Series of books by an author that was 15 when he started it.

Fantasy land. Dragons are thought to be extinct. Dragon Riders, the peacekeepers, are no more. Boy finds last dragon. Boy sets out to become a Dragon Rider.

 

[Meloncov]

Fantasy land. Dragons are thought to be extinct. Dragon Riders, the peacekeepers, are no more. Boy finds last dragon. Boy sets out to become a Dragon Rider.

Except its not as good as Klaus's summary.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I haven't read any of the books, but I must say, I was far from impressed with the trailer. It's got good production values, it seems, and I may see it just to support another fantasy release. But even in the trailer, it seemed there was no fantasy cliche left unturned. I can only imagine how rife the whole movie must be with them.

 

[Mark Hope]

Except its not as good as Klaus's summary.

For some reason, this has made me laugh uncontrollably. As I have a rather nasty flu at the moment, I am consequently in considerable pain. Bastard.

I was given the book as a gift when it came out in hardback. The brief plot summary alone on the dust jacket put me off reading it, and I haven't picked it up since. This goes against all of my book-readin' principles, but there you go. I had enough of cliched fantasy garbage when I read the first two Shannara books back in the 80s and have no desire to revisit it.

Like Mouseferatu said, I watched the trailer thinking, ooh looks cool. And then found myself ticking off the boxes as the trailer progressed. Young boy of uncertain parentage? Check. Evil dark lord? Check. Grizzled mentor? Check. Evil monster army? Check. Mind-numbing predictability? Check.

Oh well. I'm sure my kids will like it.

 

[Bonzi]

I guess I'm a lot different than many others here. Not every book or movie has to bring something new to the table for me to enjoy it. I found the books to be average but not because of the storyline or plot but because of the somewhat weak writing. Based on the trailer, the movie looks like it will be pretty average as well.

 

[Enforcer]

Count me in the "Eragon sucks" camp. I tried reading it, I really did, but gave up half-way through. In my opinion, it's absolutely terrible.

 

[Berandor]

Eragon, to me, is a typical marketing sensation. It was written by a fifteen-year-old – that's the hook for buying it, even though the average fifteen-year-old writer (which isn't even the average fifteen-year-old kid) isn't a very good writer.

From what I understand, Eragon is certainly above average for a writer this age, and if I still was fifteen years old myself, I'd probably like the book. But compared to even fantasy books as a whole, it's just average. It's got a lot, if not most tired tropes of the genre, little to no female characters, a somewhat hackneyed plot, and not a good grasp of technique. Which doesn't surprise me. Also, people tell me that the sequel was a let-down even from this average level of quality.

But hey – a fifteen-year-old boy wrote it! Must buy!

(yeah, I'm cynical)

 

[Merlion]

I haven't read any of the books, but I must say, I was far from impressed with the trailer. It's got good production values, it seems, and I may see it just to support another fantasy release. But even in the trailer, it seemed there was no fantasy cliche left unturned. I can only imagine how rife the whole movie must be with them.

How exactly is that a bad thing?

Mind you, I'm just as much in search of new and inventive stuff as the next person who's been reading and watching fantasy/horror/sci fi for years, but that doesnt mean the old ideas arent still great.

Eragon, to me, is a typical marketing sensation. It was written by a fifteen-year-old – that's the hook for buying it, even though the average fifteen-year-old writer (which isn't even the average fifteen-year-old kid) isn't a very good writer.

Personally I think we should be trying to encourage this sort of thing. The very fact that a 15 year old went ahead and spent the time and energy...and had the interest...to write a book, and then spent the time and energy to actually get it published, should be applauded.

Theres also no reason to believe that the writting quality...good or bad...has anything to do with age. A 15 year old isnt really all that much different than a 21 year old when it comes down to it.

I really wish that I had gone ahead and started pursuing writing when I was 15, instead of waiting till I was in my 20s, but I didnt because I thought I couldnt, and I regret it now.


EDIT: Its also been my understanding that the boy who wrote Eragon was homeschooled...as I was...and to me its also an example of what even a very young person can achieve when they have time to actually LIVE instead of having to spend every moment memorizing bits of information in order to past test.

It probably isnt the best-structured story ever, but I still feel people like us should be supporting such efforts, and offering constructive criticism, rather than putting them down

 

[Mark Hope]

How exactly is that a bad thing?

Mind you, I'm just as much in search of new and inventive stuff as the next person who's been reading and watching fantasy/horror/sci fi for years, but that doesnt mean the old ideas arent still great.

No, but if you want originality, Eragon is not the place to look for it. It's a legitimate complaint.

Personally I think we should be trying to encourage this sort of thing. The very fact that a 15 year old went ahead and spent the time and energy...and had the interest...to write a book, and then spent the time and energy to actually get it published, should be applauded.

Except that he didn't spend the time and energy to actually get it published. His parents are publishers, and they published it for him, and then used their contacts to get it sold to a larger publishing house, with the accompanying hype. Besides, just because a kid goes to the trouble of writing something, that doesn't make it good, worthwhile or deserving of appreciation (and if it does, then I have a sequel to LotR that I wrote when I was 10 that deserves a Hugo award or two... )

Theres also no reason to believe that the writting quality...good or bad...has anything to do with age. A 15 year old isnt really all that much different than a 21 year old when it comes down to it.

Um, what?

EDIT: Its also been my understanding that the boy who wrote Eragon was homeschooled...as I was...and to me its also an example of what even a very young person can achieve when they have time to actually LIVE instead of having to spend every moment memorizing bits of information in order to past test.

It probably isnt the best-structured story ever, but I still feel people like us should be supporting such efforts, and offering constructive criticism, rather than putting them down

Bah. Humbug. No free lunches. If you can't take the heat, stay out of the furnace. You can't break an omelette without counting a few eggs. Let sleeping dogs leap. And other mangled figures of eight. Speech. I mean speech.