Eragon

There is a lot of hype around this book, but I think when you take it at face value it is an okay start to a great series.

I had read it in middle school when it first became popular and remembered liking it. But Paolini took so long between books that I didn't finish past the first two because I had forgotten everything that had already happened by the time the later ones came out.

Flash forward fifteen years, after reading all of Agatha Christie's mysteries, I was looking for something different so I thought I would return to it. I am very glad I did. The story is engaging, and while I don't ordinarily enjoy books where you can read people's thoughts, I don't mind so much with this series, perhaps because the way magic is set up. I also loved getting a feel for the world, characters, and the cultures, which are thorough and complex.

My biggest gripe with the first one is that it is clearly written by an inexperienced writer. Perhaps it is fitting, because it is about a young and immature man, and it is written by one too. But I almost didn't make it through the prologue thinking I had made a bad choice. I am glad I stuck with it, though Paolini is lucky he had the connections he did to get it published in the first place. He doesn't really hit his stride until the third one, by which point I think his writing is quite good.