Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle #1) in Around the Year in 52 Books

Jul 04, 2017 Book Concierge rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dragons, audio, adventure, series, young-adult, library, concierge, fantasy

Audiobook narrated by Gerard Doyle

From the book jacket: When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the Audiobook narrated by Gerard Doyle

From the book jacket: When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

My reactions
This is # 1 in The Inheritance Cycle series. I am clearly not the target audience for this fantasy novel. I found the continued “danger – fight – use of magic - flight” sequence repetitive.

However, kudos to Paolini for creating this complex world, with many characters and beings, mythology, history, diverse landscape, and complex social structure. I liked the central relationship between Eragon and his dragon, Saphira. I also liked the relationships Eragon forged with both Brom and Murtagh – two men who genuinely help the youngster on his quest.

The final battle scene is exciting and innovative in some aspects, though I found the use of magic a little bit of a “cheat” to get the characters out of the impossible situation Paolini had put them in. That’s a small quibble, though – I DO recognize that this is a fantasy novel. The open-ended finale is an obvious attempt to get readers to buy/read the next installment. Totally understandable in this kind of series, but it irritates me nonetheless.

I definitely see the appeal for the intended audience, even if it’s not really my cup of tea. I’ll have to ask my nephew if he read it.

Gerard Doyle does a fine job narrating the audio book, although I thought the voice he used for Saphira was unnecessarily “growly” (can’t think of a better adjective). He especially does a fine job of narrating the battle scenes, adding a sense of apprehension, danger and excitement all at once. ...more

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Jun 15, 2010 SamZ rated it liked it

This book has been on my to-read list FOREVER. Pretty much since it came out, but I just couldn't motivate myself to read it. Finally, I just sat down and pushed through - and I really did have to keep pushing. It wasn't boring, but it didn't hold my attention. It wasn't difficult to read, but even in the midst of the book, I didn't want to keep going. I don't care if there are similarities to other stories: it's pretty rare anymore to find a story that isn't influenced by something else. And St ...more

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