Other people I've met who liked it seem to be a) looking for something to read after Harry Potter and b) haven't read much else. So they aren't as able to identify the fantasy cliches. Don't get me wrong, I love fantasy cliches as long as they're well-written and aren't in works that are totally devoid of any originality.

Anyway this was my long-winded way of saying I agree with you entirely about the book and I really enjoyed reading your review.

RoonilWazlib: I've just finished reading your essay on Brisingr, and had to comment! I thought it was well thought-out, informative and had me cracking up in places! I have learnt a lot, but also had fun whilst reading. :)

I loved your art gallery analogy that you used in response to hate mail; Paolini's route to being published actually hindered him, in my opinion. If he had to deal with proper editing and rejection letters, he might have polished his craft a little better. Who knows how good he could've been, if he hadn't been treated like some sort of child prodigy!

I look forward to your Inheritance essay; I, too, will be reading for a sense of completion, and hope that the series ends satisfactorily (though my hopes will probably be in vain!). Arya will most likely end up with Eragon, even though he is a sociopathic jerk.

One last note; I really enjoyed the excerpt from your story Bad Fairy. It sounds a very promising concept. I loved Wicked as a portrayal of a "baddie" and her story. I wish you luck with it!

Anastasia: This is a very well thought-out and well written essay and it made for an enjoyable read. Myself I really liked the book when I first got it I 2005 (I'm going to summon up the defense that I was 11 and it was the first "high fantasy" book I'd ever read, a genre I absolutely love now). The only clue I got it wasn't the greatest thing ever put on paper was when my brother read it too (He was 15) and told me it wasn't the worst book he'd ever read but it was definitely in the top ten. After I said I liked it he made sure I was more properly introduced to good literature; he has a preference for historical fiction but he still had pretty much every book Stephen King ever wrote, a few Oscar Wilde works (It's pretty hard to get where we live) and the Lord Of The Rings books; anyway I was recently offered Eldest and Brisingr books, I still remembered Eragon fondly so I happily started reading Eldest and began to get the nagging feeling a few pages in that this wasn't a good book, In fact it was a pretty bad book, the characters were bland and uninteresting, the dialogue was clunky and unnatural and the story was very predictable. Jaded I re-read Eragon and saw the same flaws. Flaws you pointed out better than I ever could, I think I will simply re-direct to your site friends who ask me why I dislike the Inheritance Cycle so much.
Wow, so much written just to say "good job!" I think I'll wrap it up now. I like the way you write and present your points and I'll be accompanying this site.

Bye for now

Anastasia

Beatrice: Hello! I just read all your Inheritance Cycle essays even though I haven't read the actual books, and I can say I enjoyed your take on them a lot. I remember I almost wanted to read them back in primary school, because a friend liked Eragon and I was looking for a Harry Potter substitute, but I'm glad I didn't after all.

Anyway, I love your other essays as well, so I'm always looking forward to new stuff you write. :)

michael: The book was pretty disappointing. i was expecting the true dragon rider book. a rider story that was never before seen or heard of. but i guess big expectation leads to huge disappointment. let me get side tracked and comment on the Avatar as well. that shouldn't have won any prizes. it was exact copy of Pocahontas! i mean seriously? if not have any great idea nor story plots, he shouldn't even start writing it. he asked for all these criticism he gets. furthermore, i also feel that he should not have mixed up Jedi, Lord of the Rings, or other stories that you have mentioned. it's been done! everyone i talked with said it was great story! i'm just glad i'm not the only one who feels that way. and thank you for bravely speaking up!

Anon: I just wanted to mention, you missed some glaring points. Particularly in the 'borrowing' section... I'd like to point out the huge amount which Paolini stole from Eddings. In Eldest, the scene where Eragon learns to draw energy from his surroundings is copied almost straight from the Belgariad, when Garion learns how to, get this, 'use the energy around him in the Will and the Word'. (Incidentally, CP also refers to his magic as 'the will and a word' in Inheritance, a glaring point that anyone who knew the Belgariad, like he does, would notice.) In the end of the series *SPOILERS HERE ON OUT* Galbatorix dies from using the spell 'Be not.' This was exactly the same spell that Ctuchik used, accidentally killing himself, in Magician's Gambit. Main difference? Eddings foreshadowed it cleverly.

tl;dr: There's a huge amount borrowed from Eddings, which I honestly thing would reinforce your point. Otherwise, I completely agree. Lovely essays, incidentally.

swankivy: I don't read Eddings. Not pointing out influences from books I haven't read does not constitute "missing" them.

Fireshark: (This refers only to the Inheritance Book 4 essay. The drop-down list didn't get that specific).

Now, we all know that Paolini loves rocks. But if we count your section breaks, there are over 1000 rocks in the essay! Paolini must have possessed you! Quick! Do something to change your true name!

That said, this was a great essay. I also like that you did find some good things; you really judged the book fairly.

I think you could have went into the ending more. Fans hated it, and many on Shur'tugal said that "It's fantasy! Of course Eragon should get the girl and live happily ever after!" They talked about escapism as a good reason to read the series. So, it would be interesting to hear your take on whether Paolini was right to give a more bittersweet ending, or whether he should have written an ending that better matched the series and its fans.

I think you are judging the true-name sharing a bit harshly. Yes, it is supposed to be more intimate than sex, but it is not specifically romantic. I mean, you can be emotionally close to someone who's not a sexual partner. What Eragon and Arya did was very intimate, but I don't think it would be comparable to falling in love and/or having sex. However, I suppose it might be easy to read that way because Eragon has been lusting after Arya for so long.

Renoir: Loved the essay, as always.

I... WHAT? So Eragon basically turned into freaking GOD here? What the heck... @_____@

So. Uh. About Murtagh and Nasuada. How long was Nasuada held captive, exactly? I mean, whatever it is between them is supposedly so strong that it made Murtagh's true name change. So, another case of BAM! Insta-love? Augghh...

I feel like this book is pretty much trolling us all. The bad stuff far overweighs the good that I'm starting to think Paolini himself is thinking "Screw this book, I'M DONE!" when writing. It's just... I don't know.

Curtis Klein: I have to say that I totally agree with you on every point. Unfortunately I stuck around and just recently finished the last book. The idea for the book was a cool idea, just horribly written. The last book was a joke. It went on and on with nothing of importance. For as long as the book was you would think that the author would tie up some loose ends. Well he tried to tie up every loose end in the series in a couple rushed chapters. I have to say that I am not happy I paid money for this book.

Leah: Let me start by saying that while I only read your review for Inheritance, I enjoyed it very much. I had never really given the series much thought until reading your essay. The first book was given to me as a gift and the next two I really ended up reading by happenstance. The fourth one was the only one I bought myself because I wanted to see how it all ended. I'm not going to lie; I enjoyed reading the books, if only because they were easy to read which was exactly what I needed at the time. However there were more things wrong with this series than there were right and it was fantastic to read your take on many of those issues and also think about the new ones you pointed out that I hadn't noticed before. I didn't agree with all the points you made but even when I didn't agree with you your arguments were always very entertaining. There were few things I was surprised not to come across in your essay. I couldn't believe you didn't talk about how predictable it was for Arya to become the rider of the green dragon. In fact I find it so hard to believe that I'm almost certain you must have wrote about it and I just somehow missed it. I was also surprised you didn't comment on when someone yells out "...the werecats are coming! The werecats are coming!" when "The eagles are coming! The eagles are coming!" is such an iconic phrase from the hobbit, but maybe that's something only uber nerds like me automatically notice. Regardless I still thoroughly enjoyed your essay and would like to thanks you for the time and effort you put into writing it. I have bookmarked this website and will come back and read more some time.