Eldest
Book 2 of The Inheritance Cycle
Language: English
& Magic Animals Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9) Dragons Fantasy Fantasy & Magic Fiction General Juvenile Fiction Magic Mythical Science Fiction Youths' Writings
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Published: Jan 1, 2005
Description:
Amazon.com Review
Surpassing its popular prequel Eragon, this second volume in the Inheritance trilogy shows growing maturity and skill on the part of its very young author, who was only seventeen when the first volume was published in 2003. The story is solidly in the tradition (some might say derivative) of the classic heroic quest fantasy, with the predictable cast of dwarves, elves, and dragons--but also including some imaginatively creepy creatures of evil.
The land of Alagaesia is suffering under the Empire of the wicked Galbatorix, and Eragon and his dragon Saphira, last of the Riders, are the only hope. But Eragon is young and has much to learn, and so he is sent off to the elven forest city of Ellesmera, where he and Saphira are tutored in magic, battle skills, and the ancient language by the wise former Rider Oromis and his elderly dragon Glaedr. Meanwhile, back at Carvahall, Eragon's home, his cousin Roran is the target of a siege by the hideous Ra'zac, and he must lead the villagers on a desperate escape over the mountains. The two narratives move toward a massive battle with the forces of Galbatorix, where Eragon learns a shocking secret about his parentage and commits himself to saving his people.
The sheer size of the novel, as well as its many characters, places with difficult names, and its use of imaginary languages make this a challenging read, even for experienced fantasy readers. It is essential to have the plot threads of the first volume well in mind before beginning--the publisher has provided not only a map, but a helpful synopsis of the first book and a much-needed Language Guide. But no obstacles will deter the many fans of Eragon from diving headfirst into this highly-awaited fantasy. (Ages 12 and up) --Patty Campbell
Meet Author Christopher Paolini
Christopher Paolini’s abiding love of fantasy and science fiction inspired him to begin writing his debut novel, Eragon, when he graduated from high school at age 15.
"Writing is the heart and soul of my being. It is the means through which I bring my stories to life. There is nothing like putting words on a page and knowing that they will summon certain emotions and reactions from the reader. In my writing, I strive for a lyrical beauty somewhere between Tolkien at his best and Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf." --Christopher Paolini
Paolini talks more about the series, and about what inspires him in this video clip.
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The Eragon/Eldest Boxed Set
Want to learn more about the series? Check out our review of Eragon: Here's a great big fantasy that you can pull over your head like a comfy old sweater and disappear into for a whole weekend. Christopher Paolini began Eragon when he was just 15, and the book shows the influence of Tolkien, of course, but also Terry Brooks, Anne McCaffrey, and perhaps even Wagner in its traditional quest structure and the generally agreed-upon nature of dwarves, elves, dragons, and heroic warfare with magic swords. Read more
Order your copy of the boxed set today
Learn the Lingo
Our quickie pronunciation guide will help you get to know some of the names and places in the Inheritance series.
Ajihad
AH-zhi-hod The Leader of the Varden
Argetlam
ARE-jet-lahm Elven word to describe Dragon Riders meaning "silver hand"
Arya
AR-ee-uh A powerful elf who is both beautiful and a master swordswoman
Eragon
EHR-uh-gahn A Dragon Rider from Carvahall
Ra-zac
RAA-zack Evil creatures
Saphira
suh-FEAR-uh Eragon’s dragon
*Art copyright © 2004 John Jude Palencar
From Wikipedia
Eldest is the second book in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini and the sequel to Eragon. Eldest was first published in hardcover on August 23, 2005, and was released in paperback in September 2006. Eldest has been released in an audiobook format, and as an ebook. Like Eragon, Eldest became a New York Times bestseller. A deluxe edition of Eldest was released on September 26, 2006, including new information and art by both the illustrator and the author. Other editions of Eldest are translated into different languages. Eldest begins following several important events in Eragon. The story is the continued adventures of Eragon and his dragon Saphira, centering around their journey to the realm of the Elves in order to further Eragon's training as a Dragon Rider. Other plots in the story focus on Roran, Eragon's cousin, who leads the inhabitants of Carvahall to Surda to join the Varden, and Nasuada as she takes on her father's role as leader of the Varden. Read more - Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia on Amazon
In the article: Plot synopsis | Critical reaction | Themes | Literary style and genre | Film adaptation | Limited edition
Product Details
Reading level: Young Adult
Mass Market Paperback: 1056 pages
Publisher: Laurel Leaf; Reprint edition (August 26, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0440238498
ISBN-13: 978-0440238492
Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1,584 customer reviews)
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36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Get a clue., April 19, 2006
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) (Hardcover)
This review mostly goes to Spencer Bauer or "Zmoney" who has reviewed before me. He's a moron.
Before you start complaining about the critics of this book, I highly reccomend that you get your facts straight. You claim that only a few of the names were ripped-off from the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. Let me start with LOTR:
miladris-Imladris
Vanilor-Valinor
Ardwen-Arwen
Ceranthor-Caranthir
Bierland-Beleriand
Narda-Varda
Isenstar-Isengaurd
Melian-Melian
Mithrim-Mithrim
Isidar-Isildur
Turin-T?rin
I'd say that's more than a few "ZMoney."
As for your review: Don't complain because some people think it was poorly written. It's their opinion and you can't call them stupid for it. At least most of them can put coherent sentences together.
As for the charge of plagiarism: I would say it's a valid complaint. As I just demonstrated, Paolini did in fact copy numerous names from "Lord of the Rings." He also used the line "Two eyes, whenever I can spare them" which is directly out of LOTR. The plot line is ripped from a variety of other stories, which, if you ever read above a second grade level, you will know. For example, "Dragonriders of Pern," comes to mind. Also check out Ursula Le Guin's "Earthsea" series. Paolini's system of magic may become a little more familiar to you and hey! You may even learn something!
As for the story itself. It is very sloppy and it is full of cheap tricks and escapes. Take Eragon's transformation into the elf. Instead of coping with his injury or overcoming his shortcomings as a human being, Paolini merely makes Eragon change into something he is not...a superhuman of sorts. I felt cheated when I read that. That's a good lesson. When the going get's rough change into another person. It discredits everything that happened in "Eragon." It made me sick.
Now take Murtagh. Anyone who didn't realize he was a villain wasn't reading closely enough. The ending was obvious and cliche. I also find it hard to believe that in such a short period of time, even with the help of Galbatorix, that Murtagh could become so powerful. What happened to Eragon? He trained and trained and he even turned into an elf-like creature and he still was no match for Murtagh? Hmmmm.
I also found the themes of vegitarianism and atheism quite annoying. I myself am an atheist but for the love of God, (or no God for that matter), please stop trying to force your opinions on all of us! And the whole vegitarian thing? Eragon 'converts' due to the cruelty against animals but apparently a leather scabbard is no problem for him. Please Paolini. Give me a break. Stop preaching and tell us a story. The book would have been 200 pages shorter if you knew what it was you were talking about. If I wanted to hear that philosophy I would move to San Fransico and join PETA.
The dialogue is ridiculous. Eragon, a poor farm boy, talks as if he's some learned scholar. Everyword that is said is stilted and forced. Half of what is said adds nothing to the plot and Paolini seems to have forgotten the golden rule of writing: "Show, don't tell." Most of the feeble plot is driven by explanatory dialogue. That is very annoying.
I know ask you "ZMoney" what it was about Paolini's world that you found new and refreshing. Was it the system of magic? Nope...that's Le Guin. Was it the dragons? Nope...that's Mcaffery. Was it the places and names? Nope...Tolkien there. There is nothing in the book that is new. It is scraps torn away from other books, thrown in a blender, and set for "cheap bestseller." There is nothing new here. I repeat. There is nothing new.
So "ZMoney," stop complaining about the critcs. If you want to call us stupid, make sure you know what you are talking about. Otherwise you simply look foolish. If you think this is such a great book than enjoy the last in the series. But don't whine about what other's think. I will say this. The plot is cliche. The characters are flimsy. The writing is poor. Get over it...it's my opinion. Oh and by the way I won't "shut up and be GRATFUL" for the language guide. It doesn't make up for a crappy story. I give Paolini credit for trying. He failed but at least he tried. Thank you. Goodnight.
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36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars The Bad, The Ugly and The...Wait, There Isn't Anything Good!, January 15, 2006
By
Jordan "Yaoi Perve" (Adelaide, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) (Hardcover)
Instead of a lengthy review on how terrible this book is, I will give you points on the good and bad aspects of the book. Let's begin with the good side, shall we?
Good
-Murtagh. You have to wait nearly the entirety of the book for him to reappear again, but it's worth it. He's the only character I get excited over in this entire trilogy nowadays, and that's because he's now more mysterious than ever. I do wish that he'd described Murtagh's tormenting by the Twins rather than the exceedingly boring tales of Moses Roran. Murtagh is the reason why this book recieves two stars.
Sadly enough, that's all the good points I have!
Bad
-Predictable, there's nothing you haven't seen before in Eldest. I figured out Eragon's relationship with Murtagh as soon as Murtagh retold his childhood, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. All you have to do is watch Star Wars.
-"Borrowing" ideas from the likes of Tolkein and other fantasy greats. The elegant and beautiful elves in the enchanted forests and the mountain dwelling, axe wielding, beer chugging dwarves are all too familiar. As are the Urglas similarity to the Orcs. I could name many other things, but most of you get the idea by now.
-Preaching: Unlike the Orcs, Urgals are suddenly given an intelligent brain in order for C. Paolini to get all preachy on us about not being racist against monsters that kill babies and throw them on top of mounds of dead, innocent villagers' bodies just because Galbatorix promises to help them. I'm sorry, but I don't feel any sympathy for murderers, Mr Paolini. Also, he forces the all too corny ideals of eleves upon his unwitting readers. While vegetarianism is fine, it is slightly tedious to read about Eragon and his vegetarian struggles, because it's so unbelievable and two-dimensional.
-Arya and romance. Please, spare us Paolini, from your horrible, unrealistic romances and all of your horrible cliches! Hero falling for perfect elven princess, it is at first unrequited...heard it all before. Please, come up with something new and unique! Plus, you don't feel for Arya either, because she's unlikeable. She's cold, removed, and down right annoying. She's supposed to be mysterious, but she comes off as "try-hard". Perfection rarely works in making a character popular. You just wish she'd accidently get squashed underneath Saphira in one of her drunken adventures.
-Eragon. He is boring. So very, very boring. There is nothing unique about his character. You don't sympathesize with him, because you know that he too, underneath his forced "flaws" (oh my goodness, he has a scar on his back from no fault of his own and he accidently cursed a girl but he can now reverse it so it doesn't make much of a difference) that Paolini has added just to make him seem more realistic, is just another unbearable "perfect" character. He will succeed at everything, and everyone will love him and obey him eventually. I stopped feeling for him all together when he changed into an elf. If there's a better way to kill off a readers connection and compassion for a character, then please, do tell me.
-Cliche. For once, why can't a male be kidnapped? I'd love that! Poor, helpless male needs rescuing, what an original idea! Now, I'm no feminist, but the whole damsel-in-distress thing is getting really old. And boring. When Katrina gets kidnapped, you just go "here we go again...". You don't feel enough for Katrina and Roran as a couple to actually be upset when she is captured, as their romance is severely underdeveloped, despite the fact that it is made mind numbingly clear Roran will do anything for her. Most people would do anything for the person they loved, it's generally a given thing, not something special to the two of them.
So, in conclusion (finally!) if you would like to read this book, you're probably better off borrowing it. Just like Paolini borrowed all of his ideas from others. If you'd like a giggle, make sure to read Paolini's so called 'romances', and prepare to laugh like you've never laughed before!
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars A step back for the series, February 15, 2006
By
C. E. Phillips "Reader" (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) (Hardcover)
As an adult I realize that my years may put me beyond the age of the target audience. So let me say that if the reader is around 12 then the rating is 3 stars because its faults would not be so obvious to the inexperienced. I would give the book 1 star if the reader is over 18.
When reading the first book, "Eragon" it was not hard to notice the lack of experience of the author. However, his youthful enthusiasm and his desire to please pulled me through the story. Sadly in the second book, "Eldest", the writing has not gotten better, it has gotten much worse. Some of the dialog between Eragon and Arya is as cringe inducing as the love scenes in the more recent Star Wars movies. The elves are drawn from Tolkien I assume, but they are so blandly drawn that I never felt a desire to walk among them as I did with their cousins in Middle Earth. I could complain about the unoriginality of many of the plot elements or the heavy handed moralizing but I don't think these are the book's greatest flaws.
The greatest flaw is this: Good fantasy books are not about the author's ability to tell a fantastic tale as much as his ability to make the reader feel the wonder of his fantasy. Paolini obviously has been much time and thought into his fantasy world filling it with lots of details. However he never realizes that the elaborate physical descriptions and carefully worked out plots and sub-plots are mere devices to feed the fire of a reader's imagination. If the story teller's skill can not ignite the spark, they are just a big pile of words.
I do have one question for Mr. Paolini: You called your Elves "Elves" and your Dwarves "Dwarves", so why did you call your Orcs "Urgals"?
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Customers Also Bought Items ByFront Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
ancient lan guage, haired elf, other dwarves, other elves
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Dragon Wing, Palancar Valley, Council of Elders, King Orrin, Saphira Eragon, Jiet River, Burning Plains, Eragon Orik, Lady Nasuada, Black Hand, Saphira They, Red Boar, Eragon Eragon, Arya Eragon, Saphira Arya, Oromis Eragon, Eragon Shadeslayer, Dras Leona, Rider Eragon, After Eragon, Borromeo Castle, Isidar Mithrim, Saphira After, Arya Svit, Hadarac Desert
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