Book Reviews: Eragon, Eldest

Christopher Paolini was only 15 when he began writing Eragon, the best-selling book that would change his life. The book was published when he was 19, causing book reviewers to enthusiastically call him a whiz kid and teenage sensation.

Mr Paolini's young age, however, is never once betrayed in his writing. In fact, the book seems mature beyond his age.

Eragon is the story of a boy who grows up in Alagaesia, a fictional world created on the lines of J.R.R Tolkien's Middle Earth. He discovers a polished blue stone out of which a dragon hatches, changing Eragon's life and causing his entire family to be wiped out with the exception of his cousin Roran.

Paolini borrows from the existing stock characters and legends of the elves, the dwarves and the humans. But creates a few of his own characters too like Durza, the Shade and the Ra'zac.

Thirsting for revenge for his family's death, Eragon begins a chase through the desert in which he is accompanied by the storyteller of Carvahall, Brom.

A movie, based on the book Eragon, is to be released on December 15 and it features Jeremy Irons as Brom and Robert Carlyle as Durza. Alagaesia is ruled by the evil King Galbotrix, who is played in the movie by that wonderful actor John Malkovich. But in the two books written so far in the so-called Inheritance Trilogy Galbotrix doesn't even have a speaking part.

Much like Frodo, Eragon is also brought up by his uncle. The influence of Star Wars is also visible and comparisons can be made between Luke Skywalker and Eragon. Both don't know who their father is when the series begins. In fact, later in the second book, Eldest, it is revealed that the father is an evil man, who is killed by Eragon himself.

Remember - "You killed my father. No, I am your father" from Star Wars?

Like in the Harry Potter series, magic has a big role to play in Eragon. But magic in this series comes with a law of energy conservation. A person using magic to achieve a task has to spend the energy he would otherwise use up if he had to do the same task without magic. Is that a bit like the Robotic laws from I, Robot?

But the book is also deeply philosophical - at least it has pretensions to be - and here is where Paolini slips. He doesn't have the sweeping style of Tolkien and lacks the plotting genius of a JK Rowling. And certainly, he is no philosopher.

While this is the story of the land of the Alagaesia and its fate, it is also the story of Eragon's family.

Eldest - the second book - isn't half as good as Eragon. There is something unbearably thrilling in a relationship that we can imagine between a boy and a pet dragon. Saphira, the dragon, is quite well realized too. But as we enter the second book, much of this charm and the novelty has worn out on us. However, I plodded through, turning page after page of details that overlap in a mind numbing fashion.

Roran plays a big role in Eragon and I couldn't help but remember Mel Gibson in Braveheart. In the way that Roran is conceived as this raw and powerful character he is much like William Wallace. It is Roran who rescues the entire village of Carvahall from Galbrotrix's clutches.

Meanwhile, Eragon is being trained as the rider who can save Alagaesia from Galbotrix. He is trained at Ellesmera by the Elves and last of the Riders Orromis. Meditation and understanding the life of animals and plants is a big part of the training. But much of the book is spent recovering from a wound that Eragon receives in battle. Some of this repetitive and is overwritten.

And however I try to understand it, I can't really see the differences that separate Lord of the Rings from books like these two. LOTR was undeniably great. So are books like Dune. But somewhere there is this huge difference between those books and Eragon. Quite what it is, honestly speaking, I don't know.

The third and concluding part of the series may be called Empire and is on the cards.