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The Snalgli? *shudders* Ugh. I’d tried to forget those, @Sierra-R. Thanks a lot. 😛
Great points about Paolini’s weak worldview. I agree. Which is really sad, because a strong theme could really have made that series several LAYERS of more awesomeness. I basically had to look to the supporting characters for applicable life-lessons, and even then I had to squint and twist myself into weird hypotheticals to get anything worth even thinking over.
and we mocked poor Eragon dreadfully for his awkwardness and hopeless pining after Aria
YES! Oh, that drove me insane. 😛 There was no substance— literally nothing it was built on except attraction, and fascination on Eragon’s part. And for pity’s sake, if you’re so fascinated, TALK TO THE GIRL!!! Or her mother… that would have been better. *glares*
*ahem* Yes. I got a little carried away.
That’s another thing though. Arya wasn’t all that great; we’ve already agreed that Katrina was… hm… a ‘rotten ball of styrefoam’, and Islanzadi… just… no. The only two female characters in that series worth anything were Angela and Nasuada.
In my opinion, at least. Didn’t I state it so humbly? 😉Anyway, yes. Great points.
I read the Eragon series a few years ago, and I liked them. I liked most of the characters, although many were stereotypical.
@daeus That’s interesting. I never noticed what exactly made me want to keep reading the books before now.
@emma-flournoy Yeah, many of the characters were stereotypical (Arya, invincible female fighter with sad past, Eragon, “chosen” one, Brom, gruff guide, etc) but yes, I did like Sapphira a lot 🙂
I liked Angela and all her mysteries, and I was so glad not all of them were explained at the end. I haven’t read enough fantasy to know if she’s cliche or not, but I still liked her 🙂
Yeah, if anyone wants to know all of the cliches in fantasy, just tell them to read the Inheritance Cycle 😛
I didn’t like the gore either. It was like he was describing a war in a screenplay for an R-rated movie :\ The worldview was very disappointing, yeah 🙁
I hated that part *rage emoticon because I don’t know how to make one*. I didn’t like Katrina at all (less emotion than a brick), and, until he was separated from her, I didn’t like Roran either. She just seemed to only be there as his motivation to do anything.
Oh my goodness. I watched the movie with my family before I read the books (after my brother read them), and I got nightmares. My brother told me the books were nothing like the movie, and now that I’ve read the books, I resent it even more. Arya, for one, was just completely “redone” in the most awful way possible. She got worse. Ugh.
Eragon did drive me nuts a lot *coughEldestcough* but he seemed more relatable because he was more human than many of the others, though stereotypical.
@kate-flournoy I love well-done emotions. High five, fellow NFP 😉 I love how much worldbuilding Paolini did. Each culture was amazing.
Those battle scenes, yeah. Ha. Ha.
Oh yes, @Sierra-R @kate-flournoy I kept yelling at Eragon during that entire book. Glad he got a *bit* more mature later on. Yeah, Arya is that stereotypical “fighter girl with a tortured past.” I wish there were less of those and more normal people with a tortured past.
Yeah. I hate when books blur the line between good and evil and make their characters win because they’re “good people.” Books that show that no one is inherently a “good person” need to be written.
Yessss! Nasuada and Angela. Probably my favorite characters (besides Sapphira).Read to explore worlds, write to create them.
I only read the first book. It was a good story overall, but his writing style was a bit…
different.The major thing I didn’t like about the series was how dark the magic was. I usually don’t have a problem with magic in writing if the writer does not really delve into it. After reading book 1, I felt kinda corrupted, to be honest. I have a friend of mine who read the whole series, and felt the same way. I guess that is because Paolini grew up in a cult…
However, what I DO like about the book would have to be the world building. He delves greatly into the different races and countries, and made me fear the villain.
I do have to admit, he definitely lived up to many fantasy cliches.
1. The four races — Human, Elf, Dwarf, and Orc (Urgal). However, I have to admit, I actually do not mind this cliche at all. Nothing better than a good Orc battle, right? 🙂
2. The wizard mentor. Brom wasn’t technically a wizard, but he knew enough magic to train Eragon. Of course (spoiler alert), he died not long into the book. Typical.Despite these, I found Eragon to be a fun read, even though not the most wholesome or literary read possible.
Jackson E. Graham
http://jacksonegraham.wixsite.com/jackson-e-grahamHe was raised a cult? I guess that makes sense.
It didn’t disturb me in book one, but I just read the chapter about the blood oath celebration and that was pretty occult. Very disturbing. Anybody know if there are any other scenes like that later on? I’d want to skip something like that again.
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@Daeus ewwww, yes. The priests of the Ra’zac, I forgot about those. I don’t think there are any scenes as nasty as that one, though there are a few (in Brisingr, if my memory serves me?) where the priests play a pretty major part. Nothing terribly gross like that first scene; just… those guys are nasty wherever they turn up.
Oh dear @WarrioroftheRealm. What cult?
@Sierra-R @SleepwalkingMK So yes to everything you said!! Though Adora, I think Katrina has a more emotion than a brick, it’s just whiny and selfish emotion… 😛I don’t know exactly what cult Paolini was raised in, but you can definitely see the occult influence in his writing.
I know what you mean @WarrioroftheRealm.
That diagnosis would align well with my past symptoms. I do find myself paying attention to the story structure and themes a bit more than character dichotomy and relationship ties.
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
And this shows why Paolini seems a bit cliche in the story.
Copied off of Wikipedia:
Paolini’s literary inspirations include the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, E. R. Eddison as well as the epic poem Beowulf.[4] Paolini said that Eragon was “specifically inspired” by Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, by Bruce Coville.[10] Other literary influences include David Eddings,[10] Andre Norton,[10] Brian Jacques,[10] Anne McCaffrey,[10] Raymond E. Feist,[10] Mervyn Peake,[10] Ursula K. Le Guin and Frank Herbert.[10] Other favorite books include works by Jane Yolen, Philip Pullman,[10] Terry Brooks,[11] and Garth Nix.[4]
Nature influences much of Paolini’s writing. In an interview with Philip Pullman and Tamora Pierce, Paolini said that Paradise Valley, Montana is “one of the main sources” of his inspiration.
In the acknowledgments of Brisingr, Paolini acknowledged the influence of Leon and Hiroko Kapp’s The Craft of the Japanese Sword for his description of the forging of Eragon’s sword.[12] Additionally, Paolini admitted he is a Doctor Who fan, which inspired his reference to the “lonely god” (the epithet given to the Doctor by the Face of Boe in the episode “New Earth”),[13][14] to “rooms that are bigger on the inside than the outside” (from “Questions Unanswered” in Inheritance), as well as to Raxacoricofallapatorius, the home of the Doctor Who Slitheen (“Blood Price” in Inheritance).[15]
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
And I haven’t seen any evidence of Paolini’s occult background. Personally, the magic in Eragon didn’t seem too bad. I could compare it to Lord of the Rings. But if Paolini is indeed influenced by the occult (which would be easy for a fantasy writer) I still woulnd’t see that as evidence that the occult themes are prevalent in his writings.
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
Wow! He was raised by a cult! Laughing at myself now.
Paolini was raised by the Church Universal and Triumphant. It’s a cult in Paradise Valley, Montana. However, it’s pretty interesting (in a bad way). It focuses on the relationship between humans and past Ascended Masters (Jesus, Sanat Kamara etc.) So I can see how that influenced his thinking. It actually kind of seems like that influenced his thinking that led to the human-dragon connection. Bad stuff.
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
Okay. He was raised by a cult. Not the occult. Just being clear there. Occult is like satanic stuff.
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
@mark-kamibaya I suspect you are right. Some people who are into New Age and believe in Ascended Masters and all that actually believe that dragons are real, supernatural creatures that can interact with them. Although I think they are just demons in disguise.
@Sarah-H it’s very possible they believe that, and I think that’s disgusting. However, in my experience most dragon legends come from dinosaurs. How much have you read on that? It’s actually fascinating.
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