I haven't finished reading Eragon, and I probably won't ever, but I'm curious - since almost every forum I've ever been apart of had a similar discussion - about what people around here thought of it.

Is it a piece of derivative clap-trap? Or is it no worse than any other fantasy book that's been released since Tolkien and Lewis?

Didn't read it, just watch the movie which seems really under the level of the book. Anyway I think it's a good fanasty book and have good element. Maybe a teen Lotr book but with more fantasy details and easier reading.
It'll never replace some books legend but its good to see some fantasy with some new details anyway. Its a good mix.

• I really don't think that Eragon is anymore a Lord of the Rings rip-off than is Harry Potter, or any of the Susan Cooper books.
  Sure, there are a few parallels, but there are parallels in other sorts of stories, as well, and of course they all involve some sort of magic, but that's inherent of the Fantasy genre.

I would say Eragon is as far from LoTR as any book of the same genre could be.

I think it's a fun book with an intriguing story and excellent characterization. It's definitely not on the same level as JRR Tolkien or C.S. Lewis, but then you have to remember the author was barely out of highschool when he wrote it, and can only get better as he writes more.

And for people who enjoyed Eragon, the second book, Eldest, is definitely worth checking out. And stay away from the movie, it's horrible.

I've read Eragon, and liked the book although I did think there were some similarities with LOTR but I still thought it was a pretty good book.

As for the Eragon movie... I haven't seen it yet, although from some of the reviews I've seen, the only thing that went along with the book was the boy's name was Eragon and he found a dragon egg.

LotR? I would've thought it was more of a DRoP knock-off...
Which would be good, since Anne McCaffrey is so uptight about anything that smacks of her precious Pern universe.

I used to be part of a good DRoP roleplaying group... until she dropped the hatchet on them all.

I've been planning on reading the books, but I get embarrassed about buying them since I'm a 22-year old woman lurking around the kid's section. X3
The next time I see my favourite Borders clerk in the store, I'll slink up front and get my dragony goodness.

I liked the book Eragon but it got dull in some places [ as well in the second one, Eldest, after 7th or 8th chapter ] I really didnt like the movie all that much.

i havnt read them. i want to though.

I read the book and somewhat enjoyed it, but I actually skipped through some parts. I never skip parts in books. Considering the author's age, I think it's a great piece of writing for someone that young, but as a work of fiction, I think it's somewhat derivative. That said, it's got original elements and I can see why people like it.

However, in the same way that I don't care for His Dark Materials, it just didn't grab my interest. I don't think it's the Best Work Ever, but others may.


I don't think it's an LoTR rip off as much as it is a ripoff of stories like Dragonheart, Anne McCaffrey books, and a whole host of other dracon-centric stories.

And really, the argument could be made that every fantasy novel since LoTR is a ripoff of LoTR. Because it really was the forerunner of the genre. XD

I loved Eragon! I hated the Gya movie though! I thought that the movie completely changed the story line, the only thing that they kept from the story, was that there was a boy named Eragon, and a dragon. They screwed up everything else! But, the book was hardcore awesome! I cried on a few parts though, but I almost passed out laughing in a lot of other parts. So... basically, Eragon is cool. If I was to rate it, I'd give it a 10/10!

• I haven't read it, but it sounds interesting. :mrgreen:

I loved the book, it's one of my favourites! Nothing like LOTR at all!! Plus you haven't finished the book yet so I don't understand what you're talking about saying that it's a rip when you haven't even finished the book!!


Eldest is not so good, lots of plot holes, but Eragon is fantastic.

I'm still reading Eldest. I wonder when the last book of the trilogy will come out. I personally really like the story and don't see much of LotR in it. I like the characters and some of the minor details I've found.

I thought it was very derivative of Lord of the Rings in terms of worldbuilding - invented language, names, races etc. It was a bit too distracting for me - I like books I read to be both interesting and original (although I accept in fantasy there are derivative works everywhere).

I don't really see his age at the time of writing as an excuse (though I suppose it's a somewhat mitigating factor) - bad writing is bad writing, and lifting ideas is lifting ideas.

And really, the argument could be made that every fantasy novel since LoTR is a ripoff of LoTR. Because it really was the forerunner of the genre.

True, but that doesn't mean people should do it ;)

Originally Posted by Jupiter

True, but that doesn't mean people should do it ;)

An even better point. Touche. I admit I would have liked the books more had he been a bit more original.

I liked the treatment of the dragon, however. I found that to be original and well written enough to be enjoyable.

Personally, I kind of had to force myself to finish it. The writing is decent for a writer of that age...but as for a published book? Really SUB-par in my opinion...especially with all of the other books on the market that have much more interesting plot lines and more polished writing.

I wouldn't waste the $8 or so buying the book, but if you're gonna get it from the library and have a few hours to throw in the trash, I say why the hell not? XD Just to see what all the buzz and claptrap crap is about? :D

i'd say Eragon is inspired by LoTR not a rip-off of it.

i've read both books and they're ok, the fact that the author is young is painfully evident, especially in the first book, but they're still quite an enjoyable read.

i did find myself wondering how they would have turned out if written by someone with a bit more maturity, as i found the teenage petulance in the first book a little trying at times, words coming from adults' mouths that just would not happen in RL, but again this didn't detract from the overall story.

this kid should develop into a top class story teller as he gets a few more years beneath his belt and i shall be interested to see what he produces.

Ho-hum, I have to say that its not like LOtR series just, as stated before me, has some things in common. But when dealing with Fantasy, it's kind of expected. Unless you want to come up with thousands of new races, you must dip your hands into mythology and whatever else you can find, thus pulling up some of the same aspects~ If I'm making any sense with my rant! Tired so i shouldn't really be typing anything. But I Think the Eragon is good. It has the right mix of Gory and dark for me. I agree with jellysundae when it comes to the writing though. I think that when the author ages just a bit more, his story's could be as legendary as LOtR's at least in my eyes. Nanni, I just have to say, I detested the movie when compared to the book. It just.. didn't reflect the book well enough. It was made for children instead of teens through adults. I would have liked to see more of the characters as well, even if the movie had taken longer.

I read it and really liked it, and am currently reading Eldest. I could tell right away he got a lot of his ideas/imagery from LOTR (the elves, the dwarves..) but who doesn't get ideas from somewhere? And a lot of his dragonrider ideas are similar to Anne McCaffrey's, but that's ok with me too. He's a young author, and I think did SUPERBLY for his first "practice" novel (he wrote it just to see if he could, and it would be his "practice" book, but it wound up being a NY Times Bestseller!)

His whole plot is unique, as are the characters, and what he does with his ideas and imagery deserves applause, imo. And to accomplish something like THAT which gets turned into a great movie and a game at such a young age, now that IS outstanding!

Originally Posted by mesic

LI've been planning on reading the books, but I get embarrassed about buying them since I'm a 22-year old woman lurking around the kid's section. X3

Oh, don't be! I wouldn't consider it a "kids book" at all! I think it's a must-read for all avid fiction/fantasy readers.

I was surprised at first that I had to look in the young readers section for all my Artemis Fowl books, but then I guess that makes sense because of the simpler writing in them, but I still love them!

Mmm, I disagree with you all about the movie. I think it was really well done, if you were going to turn the story into a movie, keep it entertaining, not too long, and have it make sense, they really did well with the changes they had to make. It followed the story start to finish well enough, but of course they have to change details (true of pretty much any book made into a movie!) or people who only watch the movie won't understand things they don't have time to introduce/show/explain properly.

If you think about it from a movie-maker's point of view, yeah, you have to leave out the twins, and Katrina, and the dwarves' red sapphire, and Tronjheim, or it'll just be too much packed in that you can't spend enough time on. (And if they'd left Arya to be unconscious through the whole journey, you'd never get any dialogue/character out of her!) My in-laws all watched it with us last night, and everybody enjoyed it, whether they'd read the book or not.

i haven't seen the movie, but if they miss that much out i think i'd find it confusing!

it's the same as LoTR i suppose, great swathes of stoery and whole characters missing from that.

i think the only real way to get the most from a fantasy story when transfering it to a screen is to animate it, and make it a series of animations, so you don't have to miss huge pieces of the story out.

also, animation cuts out problems of difficult to recreate places such as Tronjheim. And for LoTR, characters could look as they should, 3 ft high with hairy feet, not human!

I have not read the Eragon series but my daughter has. I have seen the movie. Now without ever reading the book I did not not know that there was stuff left out but honestly I left the movie thinking... "well..that sucked".

She left the movie complaining how this was left out and that was left out and they never tell you what he had to go through to learn his magic and she went on and on about it. She said the only thing cool about it was the dragon.

I tried to explain to her that sometimes movies don't follow the book. They just take the original concept and then go off on their own. She wasn't hearing it.

Movie adaptation always have to put aside lots of book element but most of time they manage to do it well.

actual Eragon reminds me of the dragon rider book collection by Anne McCaffrey