dislikes

[silverwolf]

Well, of couse everyone here lieks the Eragon books (which is why we are on this site in the first place) but I just wanted to get some other thoughts. I think everyone has something that they dislike about the story and/or concept. Well, what is it?

[Vavrinec]

I do not like that Paolini killed off Durza in the first book. I think everyone that knows me well enough knows why I say this, heh. But other than that, there is nothing for me to complain about. Other than Arya being such a stuck up little priss. She knows she wants Eragon, why deny it?

[Damien]

No complaint about the writing (as far as I know anyway), but the elves are too strong. In the movie trailers, though, there was one scene where Eragon says "I'm the rider, and I say we go!". It struck me as obnoxious.

[Kaala]

Also it made him seem like a spoiled brat and that irritates me...

[adurnaslytha]

well, he isn't perfect. it's about Eragon's journey not only through the dangers of being a Rider, but him growing up from that farmboy no one knew to a big Rider with responsibilities.

(um. crap. should stop before I get all english-class-analyzation-y. =w=;;

[silverwolf]

True. Elves are WAY too strong. And something that REALLY bugs me is the concept of magic. There are WAY too many rules about what you can and cant do with it. I think Paolini made it a lot more complicated than it should have been. Like, how you cant use magic from afar or you'll get tired right away, or how you have to say EXACTLY the right words or you'll do something wrong. To me, magic should be a lot more free.

[Nihael]

He made it more scientific in that sense, and I prefer it that way. To do so,mehting over a longer range requires much more energy, and if you don't get things exactly right, it screws up. Mind you, alot of Fantasy books have it so that you have to do it just so. Ever heard of spells backfiring in D&D?

[adurnaslytha]

it would be too crazy if everyone could use spells really easily, and also making it more difficult to master gives the "masters" more discipline and strength.

[silverwolf]

Magic should be something to use relatively freely. I didnt say completely rule-free, I said not so many rules. If you cant levitate something from 10 feet away, you might as well not have magic at all. It should have SOME rules, yes, but not a bunch. Like, if you say something in spanish to someone in Mexico, but with a little bt of speech impairment, then they can still understand you. Magic should reflect the personalitys of people. And unless you're a computer, you're gonna have some mistakes.

[Damien]

Paolini did give us a reason as to why the elves are stronger than humans (the bond with the effing dragons), but it makes no sense. How come dragons would make a contract to begin with, especially since the wild ones are portrayed as savage? They also seem quite vengeful, and more likely to so 'SMITE!' than write up a contract with the same creatures who killed their babies. The first Eragon and his dragon would be traitors to both their races, not heralds of peace.

And why do elves end up prettier than humans, instead of scalier? Having more magic and being more powerful I can sort of understand, but the power difference makes it unfair. And elves are far too strong. Not to mention shades, who don't even use spirits anymore. Even though there are comparatively fewer shades.

[Elrik Konun]

First of all, as much as I love Saphira, she can be kind of a brat. Second of all, Angela can be a total bitch! She chews out Eragon when he made an honest mistake with good intentions and any half brained monkey could tell you that he had every intention of fixing it. I also don't get why Thorn's egg did hatch for Murtagh sooner, I mean they must have tried that when he was living at the castle.

[silverwolf]

I thought that part was funny. It gives my an image of an old woman who is about 3 feet tall yelling at this warrior-looking guy.

[Fadriendel Augcastil]

I thought that Eragon was a robot for most of the books. If you want proof of this, read his reaction to discovering that Morzan is his father. It is barely a paragraph, he barely speaks of it again, and he processes it like a computer. Eragon was okay, but Eldest, I disliked. I think that Paolini uses FAR too much purple prose, and I thought the entire Roran saga could have been way shorter and less boring. I think that Eragon and Saphira's "bond" is shallow and Murtagh was destroyed as a character, because it's obvious what's gonna what to him next. I think Eragon is a talentless git who counts on other people to carry him, worship him, then clean up all his messes. With a smile on their faces.

I think Paolini dropped the ball in a serious way, but I like the premise of the books, so I do the RPGs. If you want a more detailed account, just ask. Me and my mom debate this alot, because she loves him and I despise him. He's not a genius, he's barely a c-list celebrity, and he thinks he's a better writer than J.K. Rowling, which is a joke, in my opinion.

Okay, I feel better, now.

P.S. - Eragon in a Gary-Stu character in the books. (Here he seems pretty okay) And the Inheritance series is mostly wish-fulfilling trite. Feel free to question my attack. Er... opinion.

[dannylam4]

I think the books need to be redone. The storyline is pretty amazing, in my opinion... but I don't like his writing. It's rather buggy and could use some work. If you've spoken to me about Paolini's writing within the last few months, you'd have heard me say this already: I think Paolini got away with poor writing or whatnot because his parents are publishers. After I knew this fact and reread the book, I realized that's totally correct.

I forget which book it was, but he was throwing paragraph descriptions like it was no one's business. Okay, the land is beautiful, I get it. I think it was Eldest now that I think about it... you have no idea how much I skimmed in that book. "The blue water in the river glistened, reflecting the beautiful sunlight that came down from the golden sky. Below the water swam elegant fishes, red like roses and green as grass." Okay, not taken from the book, but that's certainly what it felt like...

[Nihael]

Fadriendel, did I ever tell you you're a cool guy? Heh heh heh.
Yay more people who think the same way.

[Fadriendel Augcastil]

I love you, too.

But anyways, what you're talking about there, danny, is Purple Prose. You can find a great example of that when Arya is introduced. He stresses that she has black hair twice within two sentences. Why? No one knows. Paolini needed to take a few extra years to complete Eragon and his whole world, because it all sounds very good, but severely underdeveloped. I'm writing, right now, a six book series. I'm on the last chapter of the first draft of the first book, and I've got at least 800 pages of backstory, no joke, no exaggeration. I've been working on this since I was 13. I'm nineteen. My backstory isn't halfway done being written, but it's all in my head, and I forget nothing, so I feel I have enough to continue the manuscript.

Paolini has a really complicated world here, with alot of backstory and cultures to go through. He started when he was sixteen and got his parents to publish him when he was eighteen? No! Bad Christopher! His backstory isn't even all worked out, read the account by the "Monk" of a non-existent religion who was burned for no reason by a King (Of an Empire and not a Kingdom) who shouldn't have even cared.

Here's something that may stir up a few of you: If you read the books objectively, you will find that the King is not purely at fault, the war is caused by the Varden, who are terrorists, and Eragon was very very wrong to join them. Eragon is nothing more than a terrorist.

[dannylam4]

Eragon's also a god modder >> stupid "I became more powerful than all the elves because of a magic dragon spirit" cheating.

[Fadriendel Augcastil]

And another thing! Before I forget, why is EVERYONE immortal? Why did Paolini take someone, slap a black hat on him and say, "Get him, him bad!". Galbatorix has no visible personality, motive, or any sort of clear backstory!

Wow...I feel like ten pounds lighter...that was a relief.

[dannylam4]

And the whole thing is a mix between LotR, Star Wars, and Pern >> *coughs* But yeah, I dunno what's up with Galbatorix... from person who loses his mind to genius, sane conquerer of the world. I still wanna know what happens with his silver... symbol scar thinger.

[Damien]

You know, I've always thought that purple prose is mainly thesaurus-rape. Then again, I skipped over all the very descriptive parts of the book (except Oromis', which I showed to a friend and made us giggle).