atreides451

Well, since this board is almost lifeless, and it seemed like people had some difference opinions of Eragon and Eldest, I figured I might start this topic for some civilized debate and discussion about the books.

I'll start it off by saying that from what I've read and heard about Inheritance, it's dreadfully unoriginal with mediocre prose (the first lines of Eragon=terrible).

If this isn't a good topic to make I appologize, but I'm feeling bored and want there to be discussion about more than just WWZ which I haven't read at all.

panther-anthro

Heh, your right, Eragon isn't that good regardless of how old Christopher is, I think he's extremely inept at making truly compelling characters and weaving together a underlying plot-line it just feels like, "Good guy with dragon quests to defeat evil dragon lord", it's been done before, and it's not even original in anyway. Also, his writing style is simplistic at best, and his imagery could use some serious work.*mental imagery*

"welcome to Pollama.com the Embodiment of Wc3sear.ch's Esence and avatar of its Rebirth"

HeroOfLegends

First off, I'd like either of you to write books that long. I personally like the Inheritance trilogy. Yes it is somewhat unoriginal, but the way he mixes magic, dragons, and everything else. It's original in that way because it's somewhat of a blend of a lot of different things. The character relations are complex, and it's cool to see how Eragon learns and matures. Also panther, there's a lot of surprises in Eragon and Eldest that you would never suspect and their all leading towards some point. Although I don't want this to happen, one of the more likely scenarios is that Christopher ends up killing off Eragon and either Ayra or Orik finish off Galbatorix. What I am personally inclined to think however is that Eragon will end up about to die, and Murtagh save Eragon and kill Galbatorix.

Overall, it is not the greatest complex book ever, but I really like it.

Note: I'm going to make a poll and then merge this topic with it so that we can have a poll.

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HeroOfLegends

What are your views on Eragon, Eldest, and E_____.

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MrApples

I thought it was a great book. They gave a much better description of magic then most other books. And since panther hates it, and atreides didn't even read it, I bet most people liked it also.

The movie however sucked completely.

HeroOfLegends

The movie did suck completely, I"ll make a new movie topic for just the movie, (btw apples, we need an Inheritance Trilogy sub board....)

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panther-anthro

Really, I do intend on writing a book, how did you guess that Hero?

"welcome to Pollama.com the Embodiment of Wc3sear.ch's Esence and avatar of its Rebirth"

HeroOfLegends

I guess I'm just a genius. Only reason there could be.

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atreides451

I've read some parts at my cousin's house, and heard lots about the rest. The prose was decent from what I read in some parts, but the first sentence of Eragon was especially bad. I've also heard that he keeps a dictionary around when he writes, so he can seem as fancy as possible. Not needed. And the final battle at the end of Eldest was lame as hell. Now I can't comment since I haven't read, but having people disapear is a clear sign that they aren't dead. And from what I know if it, the elven transformation ceremony seemed like a pretty cheap cop out. And hell, Eragon's such an annoying character. Mary-Sues abound. The plot is actually nearly identical to Star Wars. I could go on rambling more, but I will get around to reading it at some point and then repost my opinions. I promise. Even if it means spending money on the books.

And you don't need to be able to write a book to judge one. I don't think I could write a book that well, because well, I suck at creativity and large writing assignments. But that doesn't mean that I can't see ****ty sentences like "The Shade lifted his nose, and smelled a scent that would change the world". Or however it goes.

Note, my source is anti-shurtugal.com and [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Ciuciaro

Well, most of the negative comment on eragon is true i guess.. Not original and all, simple storyline, but... I loved it.

King Stubby

I sort of like it, but it's a lot like some of the other books i've read. And yes, the movie was horrible.

atreides451

I agree with the plot-Star Wars did have a good plot after all. I might not have read the books cover to cover, but I've read enough summaries and talked to my cousin whos read the books, so I do know the plot outline. And it is almost the same as the Star Wars plot. Which is where the plagiarism argument comes from.

1) The plot. Copied from anti-shurtugal.com "A boy of foggy origins lives with his uncle in a remote place of a vast empire headed by an evil Emperor and his right hand man, who was once prominent in an ancient order of guardians with mystical powers.

Through fate or luck, depending on your point of view, this boy comes into the possession of an object vital to a rebellion against the Empire; this object was inadvertently sent to him by a princess in the rebellion, who had attempted to send said object to an old man who once belonged to the same order of guardians as the Emperor’s right-hand man.

This boy seeks the old man to learn of the ways of this ancient order, but eventually has to return to his uncle’s farm, which, the boy finds, has been destroyed by fire, and his uncle killed. The boy then sets off with the old hermit, who also gives him a sword which belonged to his father. As they travel, they train. The boy meets up with a rogue who is full of surprises, but turns out to be fiercely loyal, for all his proclaimed selfishness. The boy also begins "seeing" a beautiful woman imprisoned and in need of help.

The boy decides that he needs to rescue her, even though he doesn't know her; further, he thinks of her only as beautiful (Luke's first words are, "Who is she? She's beautiful?" Eragon can't stop thinking about her beauty). Long story short, the old hermit dies to protect the boy, the boy and the rogue help the beautiful damsel escape.

They then set off to the rebellion to give important information and return the object which the princess had sent the boy. They were followed by the Empire, and prepare for a giant battle that will either save the rebellion or annihilate them.

The boy proves his worth with heroics during the battle, but his crowning achievement is his destruction of a noun of much power that has the ability to destroy lots of things. The boy is aided in this by one of his friends, who arrives at precisely the right moment.
The boy is lauded a hero.

The boy has a hallucination of a powerful master who can teach him more of the ancient order. The boy travels to the powerful master to learn the ways of the ancient order's mystical power. While there, he grows very powerful. While he is away, the Rebellion regroups in a new area.

Just when the boy is on a roll with his training, and has grown very powerful, he has a vision of his friends in great danger. He decides he must go to help them. His master warns him not to go. The boy promises that he will return. He leaves.

He finds his friends just in time and is able to distract the enemy so that his friends will remain safe. He finds out that his father was the right-hand man of the Emperor--his father was the one who betrayed the ancient order and helped kill them.

The boy is shocked and ultimately defeated, but not killed. He finds out that someone dear to him has been taken by evil people, and promises to find this person."

2) Names. Looking at the map alone there are at least a half dozen names straight from Tolkien, or clearly very inspired from his works.

3) Pelennor fields-wait, I mean Buning Plains. They are different, but there are several striking similarities. Good and Evil fight. Good is outnumbered badly outnumbered, when Good's allies arrive just in time to sway the tide of battle. Then an flying evil rider appears and slays that force's king. Then, another force of Good arrives from the sea, and finishes the rout of evil. Not exactly the same, as I said, but theres no reason why Paoloni can't make up original battle sequences. Maybe he should've spent more time reading history as to get inspiration...

The writing: from what I read, it was decent in places, good in some descriptions, and terrible in others (such as the first sentence). I will expand on this after I've read the books end to end.

capt_jim122

the only reason people didn't call out eragon for being plagiarized crap from the beginning was because it was written by a younger guy.

King Stubby

medieval fantasy starwars! with dragons!

HeroOfLegends

The Star-Wars plot has became the basic Good vs Evil plot. A lot of stories are like it now, because it's like the default plot-line. The only reason people fuss over Eragon and Eldest is because it's so popular. And that is because Paloni actually did a GREAT job of changing things up enough so you have to actually look very closely to see that it goes along the same basic lines of the standard (star wars) good vs evil, emperor vs rebellion, plot.

I honestly saw no similarities the first few times I read Eragon and Eldest to star wars, and you wouldn't have either Atriedes unless people had told you.

So actually please Atreides, don't post in this thread, your opinions are influenced by people who have studied the book continuously and searched for this kind of thing, then they wrote bad summaries about it so you really have no true opinion, and a tainted opinion at best. So I'm sorry but don't post again in this thread.

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Kuramawhip

And if he DID take a lot from the StarWars and LotR? It doesn't matter. It's still a good series, with an original twist. I love them, and can't wait for the next.

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MoonRazer

Wow, like i said i really loved both books, but LOL i just read that relation to star wars and OMG ITS THE SAME!!!!!!! its totaly insane how similar those two are.....that amazes me. but i still think he had his own twist to it and plenty of side plots so it definitly wasn't plagerism, but i see how similar those two are....

Hey if anybody needs any triggering done or has any questions about it just PM it to me and i will help you to the best of my ability.

Ciuciaro

/don't care

King Stubby

/necro

I personally like the series, But it's amazing how the books actually get BETTER as the series progresses!

PS: It's a cycle now instead of a trilogy

Ciuciaro

Yea, loves the new book too, Brisingr

King Stubby

apparently, a 4th book is otw.

Ciuciaro

Yep, i always wondered how he could possibly fit the rest of the story in one book after i read eldest.

Anyway, it really sucks that it always takes 1-2 years before the next book comes