Eragon The inheritance cycle 1 by Christopher Paolini - Book Review

In a world where magic has been suppressed and ruled over by a tyrant king, a young boy’s destiny is changed forever when he comes across an egg. Eragon is a simple farm boy whose entire life is turned upside down when he comes across a dragon egg, and it hatches, revealing him to be the last of a once-great race known as the dragon riders.

Armed with an ancient sword, and an ancient storyteller, he must navigate a world of power, destiny, and magic and hunted by a powerful king who will stop at nothing to hunt him down.

Paolini came up with the concept in his teens then proceed to rewrite and flesh out the characters before he self-published until a publishing house discovered him.

With his distinctive voice, one that harkens back to writers such as Tolkien and Pullman, Paolini shows a unique and deep understanding of his subject matter, breathing life into a genre that is often overlooked. He writes with a certain flair for the dramatic.

However, the first book leaves a lot to be desired, with moments of inconsistency, and plenty of choppy sentences, but it is clear that Paolini is both authentic, and in possession of a singular voice and great talent, with all the imagination to back it up, and simply in need of time and experience to become better.

Eragon, in particular, is the kind of hero with humble origins and a great destiny that people wrote for and write songs about, but he needs only proper character development and suitable progression to elevate him.

Enjoyable, and with plenty of the familiar troupes we love, Eragon is a well-crafted story about taking charge of your own destiny, and the timeless battle between good and evil.