On Eragon and Eldest
As of today, just now in fact, I’ve finished book number 18 for the year. Giving recaps and opinions on 18 books sounds like a lot, but I’d like to give my thoughts on what I’ve read so far since people ask me for recommendations all the time and it might be nice to get an organized review somewhere. The opinions that follow are entirely mine and might be tinted by nostalgia, especially for these two books, but if you have thoughts or questions and you know me outside of the internet, you know where to find me and are welcome to ask away.
Also, before I give some brief ramblings, here’s this year’s reading list so far:
Games Untold [Jennifer Lynn Barnes; 2024] (1/1/25 - 1/12/25)
Azula in the Spirit Temple [Faith Erin Hicks; 2023] (1/12/25)
The Bounty Hunter and The Tea Brewer [Faith Erin Hicks; 2024] (1/12/25)
Komi Can’t Communicate - 31 [Tomohito Oda; 2024] (1/12/25 - 1/13/25)
Komi Can’t Communicate - 32 [Tomohito Oda; 2025] (1/13/25 - 1/14/25)
Stone Blind [Natalie Haynes; 2022] (1/15/25 - 2/7/25)
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes [Suzanne Collins; 2020] (2/7/25 - 2/21/25)
The Hunger Games [Suzanne Collins; 2008] (2/21/25 - 2/28/25)
Catching Fire [Suzanne Collins; 2009] (2/28/25 - 3/10/25)
Mockingjay [Suzanne Collins; 2010] (3/10/25 - 3/17/25)
Sunrise on the Reaping [Suzanne Collins; 2025] (3/18/25 - 3/20/25)
The Sunlit Curse [J. B. Spector; 2016] (3/20/25 - 3/26/25)
The Amethyst Tower [J. B. Spector; 2020] (3/27/25 - 3/30/25)
The Coral Castle [J. B. Spector; 2024] (3/30/25 - 4/7/25)
Ashes of the Academy [Faith Erin Hicks; 2025] (4/9/25)
The Mystery of Penquan Island [Kiku Hughes; 2025] (4/9/25)
Eragon [Christopher Paolini; 2002] (4/10/25 - 5/18/25)
Eldest [Christopher Paolini; 2005] (5/19/25 - 7/5/25)
So, yeah. If you don’t know anything about books or genres, that’s a lot of YA (Young Adult), comics and manga. So far only one book has been genuine adult-oriented reading. I’m blaming a need for comfort books, especially post-march. My TBR (to-be read) list has a lot diversity to it, so if the above aren’t your cup of tea, sorry! I’m always open to book recommendations, and maybe I’ll share the full TBR if anyone’s interested. Anyway, here’s my thoughts on the latest two: Eragon and Eldest. Light spoilers ahead!!
Eragon
The first book in the Inheritance Cycle, Eragon follows a young boy of the same name as he faces a catastrophic life change - he finds a mysterious stone while hunting in the woods which turns out to be a dragon egg. Unfortunate events unfold as Eragon and his newly bonded dragon Saphira travel across the country under the mentorship of Brom, the local storyteller, in search of safety while training to grow stronger and eventually challenge the distant and malicious king Galbatorix. The book starts with Eragon as a weak, innocent, naive child and closes with his growth as a Rider - he is, albeit still rather young and misguided at times, the best chance that the resistance has at finding justice and freedom among a harsh and unsympathetic government.
The book is well written enough, considering Paolini was homeschooled and wrote it at 15 after graduating. There are times that the book seems wordy for the sake of being wordy or seeming smart - Eldest also suffers from this fate - which made it a challenging but motivating read when I was younger. Just to backtrack for clarity: I read this series as a middle schooler after my mom bought me the series in late 2012 after the fourth book in the series (Inheritance) came out. I was given the first three in paperback and the final book in hard cover that Christmas after I saw it on a trip with her to Walmart and begged her for them. At the time I was obsessed with dragons and fairies and myths. She wrapped them up as a set of four in a clothing box and on Christmas morning I set off on my journey. Yes. I remember it as clear as day. Anyway. The book feels cozy once you’re into it; the adventure finally kicks off about 130 pages into the book and until then it can be a bit of a push to really get good. In my notes for this book I realized that it hit its stride about 300 pages in. You feel for Eragon and everything he’s going through as it may make you think back to a childhood or teenage challenge, though I’m sure nothing as tough as losing family and gaining magic abilities and learning several skills all at once in an attempt to overthrow a monarch. The characters are likable but complex and only the most ancillary characters seem static. The world and characters seem very well rounded and thought out, especially when you make connections in later books to earlier books. The book is huge and Paolini is clearly getting his feet wet with real writing, but it’s a good book despite that. The hardcover is just over 500 pages, so understand that you’re getting into a hefty read before picking this up. Overall I’d give it a 3/5 in writing quality (mostly because it’s wordy and a bit dull at times), but a 4/5 for both the strength of characters and plot (because in hindsight I know what I’m getting into, and things are set into place even this early). Key favorite characters are Saphira the dragon, Brom - for everything he is in essence, and Arya. Read if you like dragons and long books or series, but not if you’re not committed to a long-haul.
Eldest
It’s going to be hard to make connections and review here without giving the last 100 or so pages away, but this book is undoubtedly better than the first. Eldest follows Eragon after his success with the Varden - the rebel group opposing Galbatorix - and as he begins his formal training as a Rider. This book is increasingly wordy, especially after Eragon meets the elves. It’s almost as if as he becomes more well-read, he becomes a wordier thinker. Frustrating at times as it seems out of character for this farm boy turned magician and dragon rider, but oh well. Paolini was just barely an elder teen as he wrote this, so I can’t help but feel like he was trying to prove that he was indeed a grown up writer. That being said, the book is non-stop action. One of my most thankful observations includes the fact that Paolini simply puts a recap prologue at the front of the book instead of peppering in details for new readers to fill them in on the events of the first book. If he hadn’t done this, Eldest would’ve been an easy 800 pages instead of the similarly hefty 694.
Eragon travels from the dwarves to the elves in relative simplicity, receives training by someone who should not (but thankfully does) exist, and flubs his way through several simple but important trials. There are real growing pains here. You can tell Eragon is earnestly shifting from child to teen over these pages while gaining a supernatural level of physical and magical ability, wisdom, and prowess. There’s a lot of build up to a battle at the end which manages to be climactic enough to feel somewhat successful for Eragon and the Varden despite being quite the surprise, cliffhanger, and loss. Another thing I have to appreciate here is the fact that Paolini sparingly switches from Eragon’s story to Roran’s (Eragon’s cousin) and Nasuada’s (the leader of the Varden). This comes together toward the end of the book but gives the reader the advantage of seeing some things that are happening simultaneously and adding to the depth and gravity of the plot. This books gets a solid 4/5 all around in terms of the quality of writing, strength of characters and plot. It could be better, and I know it gets better, but it’s still a great read. It took me overly long, but once I put some effort into it, the book flowed by.
All in all, I’m enjoying the Inheritance Cycle. All of this is in hopes that I get to wrap it up with the newest book in this world: Murtagh. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you (likely in a month) for the next book!