Dragon Spelled with an E

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03-22-2010, 09:08 AM
oddler

Dragon Spelled with an E

You know, Eragon. Has anyone here read the book or the series? I've just started in a way; I've finished the first book but have yet to start on Eldest. What did you think?

I thought it wasn't really my taste of high fantasy but I got into it after a while. It took longer to get sucked in compared to others I've read recently, though. And the author started working on it when he was... 16ish, I think? I thought that was pretty impressive. Some of the themes were pretty beyond a normal teenager's grasp, in my opinion. Not as in-depth and explained as well as if he had a little more wisdom beneath his belt but, given his youth, well enough.
03-22-2010, 09:33 AM
Freya

The beginning of Eragon blew. It wasn't until the end that i felt it got good.

Eldest was pretty damn entertaining I felt.

Brisingr was pretty good.... I still haven't finished it cause I've developed like a Book ADD or something lately but you can tell that the writer has aged and it's much much better than when he started.... from what i've read which is half the book...

I like them enough. They are entertaining, I wouldn't say they are my favorite books but they are pretty Good.
03-22-2010, 03:22 PM
MJN SEIFER

Eragon is SO based on a video game...
03-22-2010, 06:03 PM
Ouch!

The first time I tried to read Eragon, I got through two chapters. The second time I made an attempt, I got through two sentences.

It reads like poorly written fanfiction.
03-22-2010, 08:31 PM
Bastian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ouch!

The first time I tried to read Eragon, I got through two chapters. The second time I made an attempt, I got through two sentences.

It reads like poorly written fanfiction.

Yes.

I saw the trailer for the movie and thought, "Oo! I want to see that! I have to get the book and read it before it comes out." And I started the book . . . and it was AWFUL. Ouch! worded it perfectly: it reads like bad fanfic. The deal is the guy wrote it when he was in high school. Which is fine. I wrote a book with my friend in middle school. We even sent it to Tor. Who rejected it. Because it was poorly written. Just like Eragon. The only reason Eragon got published is because his family self-published it and then self-marketed the hell out of it. So of course a major publisher saw that they could make a quick buck off of it by distributing it too.

Now, I'm not saying the book or author are without merit. I'm just saying that he needed a real editor to red-marker the hell out his manuscript.

After (painfully) finishing Eragon, I haven't the heart to read the other two books.
03-22-2010, 09:10 PM
I Took the Red Pill

I thought the first one was pretty awesome, by the time I got to Eldest I was starting to realize it was pretty :bou::bou::bou::bou:tily written, and by the time Brisingr came out I couldn't bring myself to get past the first 200 pages or so.

I call it the Harry Potter Syndrome; one slowly realizes the amateur nature of the writing as one grows older.
03-22-2010, 09:33 PM
Imperfectionist

Oooh this is really weird, I was just talking to my friend about this book! Spooky...

Anyway, I found it was kind of boring. I read Eragon and Eldest, then I got halfway through Brisingr when I just gave up altogether. I felt like I was reading an amalgamation of every single stereotype of the fantasy genre, and it's pretty dull. Impressive for a 16 year old, but I just felt a bit meh about the whole thing.
03-22-2010, 09:41 PM
Bastian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imperfectionist

Impressive for a 16 year old, but I just felt a bit meh about the whole thing.

See . . . and I think that's the issue in a nutshell. It shouldn't matter if it's "impressive for a 16 year old" if it is poorly written. Even if a five year old wrote it it wouldn't matter because it's a poorly written.

That's the whole reason the book got popular. Because it was written by a kid.

Had the same book with the same exact words been written by an adult, it would never have been published.
03-22-2010, 09:50 PM
Imperfectionist

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bastian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imperfectionist

Impressive for a 16 year old, but I just felt a bit meh about the whole thing.

See . . . and I think that's the issue in a nutshell. It shouldn't matter if it's "impressive for a 16 year old" if it is poorly written. Even if a five year old wrote it it wouldn't matter because it's a poorly written.

That's the whole reason the book got popular. Because it was written by a kid.

Had the same book with the same exact words been written by an adult, it would never have been published.

I disagree. I didn't even know how young he was til I bought the thing, I just like dragons and stuff :p

You're right, though, if he was an adult I wouldn't be quite so kind but he wasn't, and that makes it impressive for someone of his age but not impressive in terms of literature as a whole. Doesn't mean you can't appreciate it at all.
03-22-2010, 09:53 PM
Madonna

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ouch!

It reads like poorly written fanfiction.

Yes; when a friend shoved first shoved Eragon my way, I could not help but shudder the same! While "original" in the general sense, I got the feeling it was a fan-fiction for the entire fantasy genre rather than adding it!

I did read all the currently published books, if only to shut up a certain someone, and despite how thick these books are, they are strikingly shallow in every sense! There is no epic-world building here, no great hidden history to read; everything is hastily constructed around the idea of one Dragon Rider and his destiny to save the world! Eragon moves from plot point to plot point in the series and few things exist beyond them! If you read a name, know that Eragon will encounter that character! If someone is described as remotely suspect, know too they shall turn on Eragon! The obvious goes on and on; you may as well feed me glass for my pains!
03-22-2010, 10:05 PM
Bastian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imperfectionist

You're right, though, if he was an adult I wouldn't be quite so kind but he wasn't, and that makes it impressive for someone of his age but not impressive in terms of literature as a whole. Doesn't mean you can't appreciate it at all.

I disagree. What's so impressive about writing a bad book and your family fighting tooth-and-nail to self publish it and self market it? I guess the impressive thing is that his family put that much effort into it. But I used to belong to several "writers' clubs" when I was a kid and as a result I read far more impressive stuff by far younger writers. None of them were published (last I heard) and neither would Eragon have been had his family not spent all that money to get it out there and get it marketed to begin with.
03-22-2010, 10:19 PM
Freya

I don't understand what was so bad about it. It wasn't the best but not as horrible as you lot are making it out to be. It IS a fantasy book and once you go into a fantasy book you're going to come across some similar things.
03-22-2010, 11:51 PM
Raistlin

I read Eragon back in high school, and it was entertaining enough, I guess. Didn't he write it when he was 16? That by itself made it impressive, but otherwise was average. I did not care enough to read the series further.
03-23-2010, 12:31 AM
Bastian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raistlin

Didn't he write it when he was 16? That by itself made it impressive, but otherwise was average.

*facepalm*

And I disagree with Freya that just because it's fantasy we should expect it to be cliche. I've read a LOT of fantasy, and Eragon was probably the most generic book I'd ever read. It didn't present even ONE unique idea. EVERYTHING seemed to be lifted from one famous fantasy series or another. And the writing style was utterly bland and fell into the traps that all bad writers fall into (telling, not showing; too plot-point to plot-point; there was ZERO sense of history, it just seemed like a generic timeless "fantasy world"). I could tell as I was reading it that he was young and inexperienced.
03-23-2010, 12:42 AM
Freya

Well I disagree with your disagreement. I feel most fantasy worlds have a lot of the same things. Hello, dragons for one? How many fantasy stories make dragons a center creature of their stories? Yeah his characters and lore wasn't as thought out but i've read a few books like that, some are even ones people feel are good.
03-23-2010, 12:53 AM
Bastian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freya

Well I disagree with your disagreement. I feel most fantasy worlds have a lot of the same things. Hello, dragons for one? How many fantasy stories make dragons a center creature of their stories? Yeah his characters and lore wasn't as thought out but i've read a few books like that, some are even ones people feel are good.

Well, I disagree with your disagreeing of my disagreement! So there! :P

There are ZERO dragons in my fav fantasy series The Wayfarer Redemption. And if I remember correctly, there are no dragons in the Valdemar Saga (my other favorite series) nor in the Ingary books (Howl's Moving Castle). There ARE dragons in my other favorite fantasy series Death Gate Cycle and also there are in Earthsea. And every single one of those series has at least one thing not found in any other fantasy series. Eragon has zilch.

I just hated it from a good/bad writing standpoint. I'm sure it could have been a decent book had it been properly edited, but it wasn't. As it is, it makes a decent popcorn movie in one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book.
03-23-2010, 01:52 AM
Raistlin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bastian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raistlin

Didn't he write it when he was 16? That by itself made it impressive, but otherwise was average.

*facepalm*

You seem to be ignoring the point of those comments: they're not saying the book is more impressive, but the kid was fairly impressive for writing it in the first place -- it references the kid's ability, not the book's quality. Obviously the book itself is no more or less worthwhile to read because of it. I even said the book was average.

Or at least, that's what I meant by the comment.
03-23-2010, 01:57 AM
Imperfectionist

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bastian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raistlin

Didn't he write it when he was 16? That by itself made it impressive, but otherwise was average.

*facepalm*

Bahha that made me laugh so much :p

But yeah pretty much what Raistlin said. I understand the book itself isn't that impressive, but to write an entire book like that at 16? That's impressive. At least, it is to me anyway, i'm not as well read in fantasy fiction as you are and certainly not in fantasy fiction written by young people.
03-23-2010, 02:47 AM
G13

I read Eragon back when it first came out. I think I was 14 or 15. I loved it. Now when I re-read them, as much as I don't want to admit it, I can totally see how badly written it is. The story is entertaining enough but I liked it more in Star Wars.

I really lost faith when the movie came out. My god that was a mountain of horsesarsaparilla. Never again.
03-23-2010, 08:21 AM
Bastian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raistlin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bastian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raistlin

Didn't he write it when he was 16? That by itself made it impressive, but otherwise was average.

*facepalm*

You seem to be ignoring the point of those comments: they're not saying the book is more impressive, but the kid was fairly impressive for writing it in the first place -- it references the kid's ability, not the book's quality. Obviously the book itself is no more or less worthwhile to read because of it. I even said the book was average.

Or at least, that's what I meant by the comment.

And what I'm saying that you're ignoring is that it is NOT impressive for a kid to write it in the first place. I know many people who wrote novel-length manuscripts as kids. They were poorly written. And not professionally publishable. I don't see what's so impressive for him to have written a bad book. Had the book been good, then I would concede that it's impressive for a teenager to write a good fantasy book. But he didn't. He did what I and several other people I know did: decided as a teen to write a book, finished it, it was awful. The only difference is that his family self-published it and marketed the hell out of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imperfectionist

I understand the book itself isn't that impressive, but to write an entire book like that at 16? That's impressive.

I just don't get that.
That's like saying, "Gee, he played that piano concerto really terribly, but, hey, at least he got through the whole thing!" There's nothing impressive about doing anything poorly. Just because it's something that you don't do at all doesn't mean that it's impressive for someone else to do it badly.

Maybe I'm just not easily impressed. Or maybe it's because I also wrote an awful book as a teen. But if I were to watch a soccer game and they let a 14 year old play with the professional team, and he did an awful job, I wouldn't find it impressive that he played just because he was 14.

Or some other better analogy.

At least, it is to me anyway, i'm not as well read in fantasy fiction as you are and certainly not in fantasy fiction written by young people.[/QUOTE]
03-23-2010, 04:29 PM
Freya

The thing is, it's not as bad as you're making it out to be! IT was targeted for younger audiences and it hit those as well. As a youth book, it was good. As said, looking at it from an adult perspective it's not so good. So to release a decent book for a targeted audience yes it is impressive.
03-23-2010, 06:13 PM
Madonna

That is all fine and great, but he thinks it is crap, it is painful to read, and there you go! Let people to their opinions!
03-23-2010, 07:40 PM
Freya

Can I not have my own Lynx?! I had my own opinion that differed from his! Let people to their opinions!
03-23-2010, 08:38 PM
Bastian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freya

Can I not have my own Lynx?! I had my own opinion that differed from his! Let people to their opinions!

No, my opinion is superior to yours because I'm right!
I'm kidding.

So, the second book is better?
03-23-2010, 08:58 PM
Madonna

No.
03-23-2010, 10:42 PM
Freya

I felt that way yes. The second one his writing started to get better, not the best but better. Third one was much better compared to the first and if that's the way he's going he will make a good author eventually! :D
03-24-2010, 11:38 PM
demondude

I actually really enjoyed the first, thought the second was meh, and the third was terrible. I read Eragon a long time ago and Eldest and Brisingr about a year ago. It's a shame because Eragon used to be like, my favorite thing ever. I thought the main problem was the fact that there was too much cliched description and not enough actual, interesting plot points. The setting is also really lifeless and boring imo.