“Through the slits of his brightly polished helm, his blue eyes bored into Eragon, pinning him into place, like an arrow through a rabbit. He lifted his free hand and held it out toward Eragon. ‘My son, come with me. Together, we can destroy the Varden, kill Galbatorix, and conquer all of Alagaesia. But give me your heart, and we shall be invincible.’”
- Brisingr, p. 487
There are a lot of made up words in Brisingr, so I’m considering the correlation with the graph. There’s even an attempt at an appendix in the back, complete with pronunciation guide. But here’s the deal:
Let’s say that you got past the Eragon/Aragorn, Arya/Arwen, Old Brom (Dragon Rider in exile)/Old Ben (Jedi Master in exile), Empire burning down the farm boy’s aunt and uncle and farm/Empire burning down the farm boy’s aunt and uncle and farm, Paolini still doesn’t stop.
Is there any epic where an armored villain is not someone’s dad? And the middle of an aerial combat is not the best place to have a Dr. Phil “if you believe in yourself, you can re-invent yourself and rise above your circumstances” conversation. The whole middle of the book is “whose gods are real, the nomads’ or the dwarves’, or are the elves right and there are no gods?” philosophy rants. It sounded very anachronistic when he’s talking about “all of the gods are good and we all point to something”.
The end was cool because characters died, and when Eragon has a sword named Fire, every time he says its name it ignites on accident.
The part that made me laugh but was not a deal-breaker? The power of the evil king (which, wasn’t it an empire?) comes from a dragon’s heart of hearts: a tiny crystal colored the same as their scales and egg. How does a dragon give you their heart? By vomiting it at your feet. Yeah, a page dedicated to a regurgitating ceremony.
And there are some awkward moments where Eragon and his dragon, Sapphira, have some intimate interactions. Is she like a mom or are they even closer? I don’t know. Kinda weird.
Mix all this in with self-mutilation and heroes that drain the life energy out of people/unsuspecting creatures “for the greater good”, and it took some effort to finish the book.
Semi-related posts:
Ha ha… I’m glad someone else noticed how terrifyingly similar the books are to every other popular sci-fi/fantasy series. Now all we need is a correlation between the Eragon stories and Harry Potter. My sister yells “blasphemy!” as Brom sacrilegiously says he will “keep both eyes on him [Eragon], whenever he can spare them”. I would have thought Gandalf’s witty words would have been copyrighted by now…
I find myself liking certain parts and then realizing that the only parts I like he stole from other places. He has a whole section on sword-making that’s almost word-for-word from a Japanese forging book. It reads like it, too, and interrupts the narrative.
I swear I’m not usually this picky, but there are so many authors that get looked over and this one gets elevated.
wow! I cant wait till I read it! Sounds not quite as good as it could be though.:( What a disappointment. R U Having Fun? I Cant Spell Rite. I need 2 work on that!!!!!!!! My supper hero persona need 2 have a dictionary that tells her the rite spelling when she needs it!!!! Also I think I need orange juice to squirt out of my hands but Im getting of topic!!!!!!!!! He really shouldn’t copy other peoples stuff I thought that was cladeurisum??????? Another example of my bad spelling!!!!!!!!!!!!! I should learn from my books that I read!!!!!! My 6th grade teacher said I learned 2 read wrong and thats why I cant spell!!!! How dose that work????????? I should figure this out!!!!!!!!!!!! Hows life? r u have an awesome time on ur trip?????????? I missed u sunday!!!!!!!!!!! When do u get back??????????? life is grate
– venom
Plagiarism is copying other people’s work. Brisingr is pretty close.
Sounds like its realy close!!!!! I’m still 55 of 290 people waiting to read the book from the library!!!!!!! So thats how its spelled I could not figure it out!!!!!!!! I need more suggestions of books 2 read I’m running out fast!!!!!!!
-venom
I finally have the book on hold but I dont know if I acctually want to read it. I dont really have time eather. should I or will it ruin my view of the series? IDK but thats ok.
-venom
[sound of arena chanting] Hunger Games! Hunger Games! [/sound of arena chanting]
I am not reading brisinger or somthing wiked, ! I think brisinger (sp) will stink and ruin the series, ant 2 somthing wicked sound creapy and scary not as awesome as something rotten.
-venom
I got hunger games on hold!!!! only 42 people in front of me:)
I would agree with your Something Wicked assumption. Definitely more of a high school book.
Try Gone by Michael Grant or The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan while you wait.