There’s just something about this series that makes me froth at the mouth in anger. I know this is completely unfair, but I think it’s because of the author. I mean really, this kid got where he is because his family owns a publishing company, and thinks Eragon is some kind of masterpiece. Look, I like writing, and one day I hope to be published, but I’m not so arrogant to think I was worthy of praise at fifteen with my pathetic attempt at an epic fantasy.

Every time I read even a paragraph of an Inheritance book, I could just feel it oozing with self-importance. He over-describes every little thing, filled with unnecessary details of war and animals and plants and flying and chairs and food and rocks and cutlery and it adds nothing to the plot, not that there usually is one. It’s so bogged down by filler that I couldn’t really even concentrate on what’s happening because there’s no present. It takes forever for anything to happen because first we need to know the standing position the character is in, what time of day it is, where he stands in reference to other characters, what he is thinking and feeling and what options there are available and you get my point? It’s just no fun.

Another thing Paolini is always criticized over is his use of clichés. I haven’t actually read Lord of the Rings (I know, commence the gasps now) but you don’t need to to know that there is nothing in this that hasn’t been done a million times before, without adding anything new to the mix. To be honest, I don’t really care if it’s derivative or not, since I know everything is from something else, but it’s *boring*. It’s so predictable, and Paolini seems to think this ridiculously long series is worth a great reveal, but you already know what’s going to happen. The big reveals of Eragon’s lineage are probably the only surprising thing, but are so lame and overdone that I didn’t even really care. A book can be predictable and still entertaining, but since Paolini is always trying to be epic and deep, it’s pretty hard to have any fun since there are no light parts and filled pseudo-philosophy he fails to understand.

If a fifteen-year-old came up to me with Eragon then yes, I would be impressed. Most fifteen-year-old boys can’t spell properly, much less right an entire book, and *for a fifteen-year-old* this is good. But for a published book claiming to be amazing, this is a complete fail. This is not a great fantasy, it’s just trying to be.