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I got curious recently and decided to read the inheritance cycle since a friend of mine said they were his favorite books.
Paolini’s interesting.
In some ways, he seems amateur. I wonder what type of editor he had to let some of his bad style slip past (I’m very cynical about editors). At the same time, though, not only do I want to finish the book, but I want to finish the series. (I’m halfway through book two, by the way, so don’t go talking about something that happens later on.) At first, I really wondered why I was getting drawn in, since the things he did wrong were more obvious than the things he did right. After thinking about it for a while, though, I believe I know the #1 thing Paolini has mastered that makes his books enjoyable.
It’s interaction.
Think about it. Not only is Eragon never by himself, he’s always interacting with someone. Always, as in almost every single paragraph. Conversation is the main way this happens. The great thing about that is that both sides almost always have differing opinions, making the conversation dynamic. And here is where Paolini really cheats: he links Saphira to Eragon’s mind. By doing so, he makes even Eragon’s internal monologue interactionary.
That’s the number one reason Paolini works, but I thought of three other significant ones.
1. His world building is pretty interesting.
2. His characters are always well motivated. They have reasons for what they do and those reasons are very personal to them.
3. Paolini places a lot of emphasis on problem-solving. Every chapter there are little fun intellectual games where the characters have to overcome constant obstacles. It’s stimulating.Those are my main observations. If you have any of your own observations, positive or negative, I’d like to hear them.
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Oh this topic is gonna be good. Wait till Kate gets here. She’s going to have the time of her life. 😉
If you’re only on the second book and you’re liking it, wait till you get to the last one. It’s the best for sure.
I don’t just love the series as a whole, but I adore certain aspects. I can’t stand Paolini’s writing style, and yes I wondered how it got past editors too. 😛
I agree with what you said about interaction—I hadn’t really thought it through, but I know what you mean. Also the three other points—and he’s pretty good with minor characters too.
But the worst thing I think is how cliche and…Star Wars! it seems. The plot just isn’t really that original, and neither is Eragon. It’s just full of cliches. Several other characters are really good though. (Not least being Sapphira. 😀 )
There is this one character though who is the most totally awesome, and when you finish I think you’ll know who I mean. *sly grin* You wait.
Another objection is how terribly violent and unecessarily gory the fighting descriptions are. It’s really over the top. 🙁
Also the accepted world view by the end is…kinda dissappointing.
And there a kind of minor but not exactly thing that happens with Roran and Katrina, which is not portrayed as bad, and I hate it. I’m not really able to figure Paolini’s worldview from reading these books, which is not good, I think.
But definitely finish the series, and then when you’re done tell what you think, and especially who’s your favorite character! 😀 😀Alright @emma-flournoy, I’ll have my eyes peeled for this mystery person.
Right now I was thinking either Sloan or Katrina for my favorite.
*Patiently waits*
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Sloan? Honestly? 😛 I don’t really like Katrina either. What about Roran? Do you like him?
ACK!! MOST LOVELY TOPIC IN THE HISTORY OF EVER!!! *devours it*
I have been waiting for a chance to go off on this for AGES. Thank you, @Daeus! *thunderous applause*Okay. So yeah. I basically agree with all your points. I have a love/hate relationship with the Inheritance Cycle. There were some really, really awesome elements, and then there were some bits that just made me cringe. But it says a lot for Paolini that he was able to botch his style so… impressively 😛 and still keep me reading. Because I’m a stickler for style and well-done emotions, and (in the first book especially) Eragon’s emotions really suffered from lack of careful handling. But I still finished the series. And not only that, I still go now and then and take them down from the shelf and brush the dust off and read my favorite bits over… and over… and over…
I think the main reason I kept going was for the characters. Especially Murtagh and Roran. All the characters (with the occasional exception of Eragon, which is a problem) were very well done and well motivated, as you said.
Also, as you get further into the series, you get more of the cultural make-up of the world and a lot of really fascinating cultural differences/prejudices/misconceptions that really add thematic depth, though in my opinion that wasn’t exactly capitalized on as it should have been.The biggest weakness for the IC, I would say, is the style. It was amateur, as you said. Muddled in places. Confused. Weird. A lot of that, I’m guessing, has to do with the fact that he published them through his parent’s publishing house and so didn’t hire a professional editor (and obviously didn’t know how to do it himself.) Then they became crazy popular, and other publishing houses picked them up, and so on…
I’m probably going to hit submit and find Emma has already mentioned this, 😉 but the word ‘stymied’ in particular was waaaaaaayyyyyyy overused. 1: it’s an odd word to begin with. 2: I had to look up what it meant, and my vocabulary isn’t exactly small, and 3: no odd word should be used more than once or twice in the span of a single book.But I still love them. They offer a very rich experience, if not wholly a realistic one. Don’t know if you’ve come across any of the major battle-scenes yet, but they’re so unrealistic it’s just… laughable. They were written like a modern action-movie. Enough said. XD
Emma probably also complained about the plot… how typical it is… and while I agree it is, I think Paolini did a great job of living in the moment and keeping us invested there instead of trying to hook us on the awesomeness of his highly original plot. Please note sarcasm. 😉
See, it’s the characters of any story that make the plot worth undertaking (sometimes suffering through. :P). No plot is ever gonna be all that original. It’s the characters that make the story, and in the case of the Inheritance Cycle, the characters and their motivations are the one thing Paolini nailed.So look how far interesting characters and complex interaction can take you, authors and authoresses. 😉
Oh and something I meant to say: if you value your sanity, DO. NOT. WATCH. THE. MOVIE. It’s awful. 😛 It’s basically only the first book, but it’s terrible. *groan*
It would be so nice to have a good one!!Yeah. The movie was bad.
I don’t like Roran. I thought I would at first, but then when he actually became a MC, I was like, “blah”. He, Sloan, and Katrina are the worst characters in my opinion. And Brom was terrible to begin with, but after a few chapters I started to like him.
That cripple rider, Orimis I think his name is, is probably my favorite character so far.
You know, I never even noticed that the plot was cliche. I guess that’s because he kept my attention away from it, like you said.
I doubt Paolini is a christian personally. Whatever opinions the characters accept, he’s already supported situational ethics several times (I mean by example).
I’m looking forward to the next books. Here goes.
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@Daeus wow, really. I thought you would like Roran for sure. Oromis… I hate Oromis. 😛 I guess it’s just a matter of taste.
Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s sad too, because he was homeschooled. 🙁
Come to think of it, none of the elves really did much for me. They just kept getting weirder and weirder… I do like Orik though. 😀
I have a love-hate relationship with fantasy so consider this an outsider’s view. Also, last time I read Eragon was five years ago (12 yrs. old). And I haven’t read your comments so . . .
I hated it. No, I didn’t. Not the books. The movie. And rightly so.
As far as the books go. I read Eragon. I was obsessed with it, but, by the end of the book I had zero interest in it. I didn’t want to continue the series at all. Strange considering that I really liked the book. Also, peer pressure wanted me to continue the series, but I had zero interest in reading the rest of the books. I don’t really know why. Maybe you guys can diagnose my problem. But here’re some reasons why I believe I liked it and didn’t.
The positive:
-Really good writing. I remember the story really flowing well. And I was a 12 year old addicted to action-movie eye candy (Transformers)
-Good story world. I remember liking the language stuff and the whole setting idea.
-Characters. The guy who was bad but not really. You know who I’m talking about. He’s the best.The negative:
-Even when I was 12, I viewed Paolini as a master DJ who remixed a lot of fantasy series. I see a lot of Tolkien in his world and I hated it.
-I didn’t like the magic rules. To me magic should be a mysterious thing that isn’t fully understood. Like science today. Probably a pet peeve.
-I didn’t like the storyline. I saw it as a generic hero’s journey/this is your destiny/chosen one type of thing.So just imagine a 12 year old listing out these reasons for why they don’t like Paolini. Any lessons? Anyone? No? Okay then . . .
But here’s a ray of hope. I heard that they’re planning to develop a TV series based on the Inheritance Cycle. Don’t know how old this rumor is but I believe (very strongly) that all fantasy stories should be translated either into long movie series (Harry Potter) or TV series. Lord of the Rings would’ve worked better as a TV series IMO.
@daeus @emma-flournoy @kate-flournoyI blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
@Mark-Kamibaya Murtagh. You’re probably talking about Murtagh. Excellent choice. 😉
And as for diagnosing your problem, it’s probably just a question of what kind of reader you are. There are two types of readers (and incidentally two types of writers). Those who care most about the characters and relationships and subtext, and those who care more about the structure/action/pace/plot/originality of the overall story. I would categorize you as the latter, in which case it isn’t surprising at all you didn’t want to finish it. That was where the first book was most weak and unimpressive. The action’ll keep you grounded in the moment, as we were talking about, but once the action leaves, the plot isn’t much. It’s just a matter of what you’re picky about as a reader.
A…a TV series based on the Inheritance Cycle? Um… wow, that could be really good or reeeeaaallllyyyy bad. 😛 Let’s hope for the best, shall we?
@Daeus Okay. Should’ve known you were kidding. 😛 What specifically don’t you like about Roran? I don’t think he’s just awesome myself, but I like other characters less, including Oromis. I don’t like the elves. Do you like Eragon or Sapphira? (Say no about Eragon. He’s just meh.)
I know, I don’t think he’s a Christian either. *sniff*
@Mark-Kamibaya Um, um yes, good choice on favorite character. 😀 But if you only read the first book and stopped; it does get better by the last one.Hm…a TV series. Yeah, that could be great or terrible. *fingers crossed*
Oh and @Daeus, how did you like Murtagh?
I’ve also heard they might do a tv series. My friend had the idea (the super fantastic idea) that they should end each series by doing a full length movie just showing the battles at the end.
@emma-flournoy
Well, mainly he doesn’t interact as much. He had a lot of internal monologue, of which I am one of the greatest sceptics even though I use it.Plus, I don’t like how he’s portrayed as being the perfect hero guy to the villagers and then loves such a rotten ball of styrofoam. For some reason, that combination just really doesn’t go well with me. Plus he acted pretty idiotic with Sloan which was only exacerbated by Sloan’s irrational betrayal which is something I always dislike — making the bad guy be the worst jerk in the world just to justify the hero. Very distasteful. Who knows though. Maybe Roran will get better.
Between Eragon and Saphira is a hard choice, but I actually think I’d choose Eragon. I don’t know why, I just would.
@kate-flournoy I think I liked Orimis because he seemed like a good coach figure and I like coaches.Though now that Mark mentioned reminded me of him, Murtagh was actually my favorit character
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Murtagh was actually my favorite character
Well good. You’re not totally without hope then. 😉
Roran does get better— now that you reminded me of how muddy his beginning as a hero was, I remember disliking him intensely as well. His journey was interesting; not a typical one. Finish the series, then tell me what you thought.
And I don’t like coaches, so that explains it. XD Actually, my only problem with coaches is they give the MC all the answers and make it too easy for them. *arches eyebrow severely*
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