I must say that I have like the book to a certain extent, not so much of the "adventures" but more to the extent of finding "easter eggs".

ie, ohhh i recognise that bit from here, and that bit from there, and it gets me thinking about those books and how much a genuinly enjoyed reading those.

I will most probably carry on reading through books 2 and 3 the see if it really does fall into the "departure/initiation/return" category.
I expect it will.

I will most certainly be interested to how the film pans out December 2006, with a budget of £100 million.

Ivy, over to you :)

Aegus: Hi, I read your essay and I'd like to say that I agree with what was said. Nevertheless I found both Eragon and Eldest to be entertaining. Not the most original or well written books, but enjoyable to me.

p.s. Sardonyx- Realise is the UK English way of writing realize.

Anonymous: wat r u a english freak:

[Snip long quote from my essay where I talk about the permutations of the word "said"]

swankivy: No address was left, but I think I have very little to say to someone who accuses me of being "a english freak" when I already said I was an editor. I think that's a PAID English freak to you, buddy. I love how jackasses write stuff like this to try to make ME look ridiculous, as if because I rooted out all these glitches then I'm a loser rather than a legitimate critic. Hello, these amateurish uses of language are part of what contributed to my dislike of the book, so it makes sense to discuss them in an essay that's about . . . well, my dislike of the book. . . .

Kellie: Finally, another sane human being! I actually thought I was the only existing person who loathed Eragon, but it's great to know that there are others who find it an atrocity also. I'm surprised you reviewed over the entire novel while I only read a few chapters and then shut it for good. Anyways, I enjoyed reading your hilarious essay on the too honest truth about this badly sewn (as you say) example of plagarism. Thanks for the laughs!

Isaac Murray: While I actually enjoyed Eragon, I spent half my time groaning. I'm VERY easily amused, and have read both of the books out so far, but almost cast Eldest aside in disgust-typical cliche fantasy, although well-written, to an extent. The final plot twist in Eldest is LITERALLY "Luke! I am your father!", although delivered by the EBIL older brother, instead of the father himself (that guy's dead.) Man, that alone, I'm gonna need convincing to buy Empire. And the main character, quite honestly, I would have fought this kid. Probably would have won, too, assuming the dragon stayed out. All that said, give the guy a break. He started it when he was fifteen, and was trapped by his own mistakes, to a certain extent. It's strange-I know it's basically Tolkien rehashed with a zillion cliches thrown in, but I enjoyed it, even knowing that given this kid's skill with words, I could have done far, far better. I mean, jeez, at least come up with something better than orcs given a different name!

Robin Careless: Well, all i have to say, is that you OBVIOUSLY either have never read the books, or you went into reading them with the expectation that they wouldnt be any good. I, for one, have read all of the Lord Of the Rings Series, as well as millions of fantasy books, and i entirely enjoyed these books.

So if you are going to post a biased Essay, at least have the curtisy to place a disclaimer that says that it is SEVERLY biased.

Sincearly Yours;

Robin Careless

swankivy: Yeah I've never read the book, which is why I've written an in-depth account of all the things I didn't like about it, with examples. And I have so much to gain from dissing this book for no apparent reason besides the one I name (i.e., it sucks). Yup, got me there. Next!

Grant Macpherson: I originally picked up on this book because a friend of mine (who worked in the bookshop) recommended it to me. Several times. Eventually, I thought "What the hell, it must be good if he's pressing me into reading it".

However, upon reading it I wished I'd read it the first time said friend recommended it.

Almost all of the points in this essay are valid, however, when one reads a book, one does not usually intentionally search it for the sole purpose of descrying misinformation.

It's a very good book, and although I agree with much of what you say (especially the scene where Saphira can't close her wings), I tend to ignore that, because as I stated earlier - one doesn't read a book for the purpose of denouncing it.

Before I read this review. I found myself thinking much of what you mentioned - Brom's similarity to Obi-wan or Gandalf and so on.

One thing that really got on my nerves, however, was the author's stereotypical description of dwarves and elves.

Elves have always been described as highly magical, beutiful creatures and so on, as in the situation of dwarves we have grumpy smiths with axes. GIVE US SOMETHING NEW!

Didn't any single person get irritated by the repetiveness (not even a word, see how agitated I am?) of the elves and dwarves description?

Another thing I noticed is that the author is giving himself a hell of a lot of loose ends to tie up. Some of them were answered in the second book, but it also introduced so many more that the author will need a to-do list of mysteries to tie up. Maybe he should just publish an Alagaesia encyclopeadia. In book three, if he so much as forgets one little detail, I'm pouncing on him with it and will encourage anyone I can to bombard him with hate-mail and demanding an explanation :)

In total, taking into account all the book's foibles and the obvious youth of the author, I'd rate the book 6/10. As a series, taking into account books one and two, i'd give it an 8/10.

To the author of the essay: Please e-mail me with any more of your reviews, this was highly amusing reading - I read it on the local library's PC and was stared at for laughing out loud.

I can be contacted at [e-mail 1] or [e-mail 2]

Thanks for a great laugh!

(PS, does anyone else find it pretentious that he greets people with his own made-up language?)

Chris Nolfer: This stuff is very important! The third book other than Earagon and Eldest is either Elements or Evalutions. :)

Christopher Paolini: This essay does not seem to me like the greatest essay. On MY own book, it is easy to see that absolutely no connection is made between Eragon and that other novel, Lord of the Rings, which makes Eragon prevail over any other.

Signed with loathing,

CP

swankivy: Funny, guys. I somehow doubt that CP writes in barely coherent sentences and claims that there's NO connection to a book he's mentioned in many interviews as being an inspiration to him. Good try, kid--well, not really.

Veronica: At my opinon i think the book was great!!!!!!!! So i stongly disagry with u. But that is my opinon. But i still disagry. The book is great!!!!!