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Jan 6, 2010, 12:46pm

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Kaythara
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Opinions on Eldest **Spoilers**
« Thread Started on Jan 16, 2007, 7:59pm »

Spoiler Warning!

Personally, I wasn't all that impressed with Eldest. I'm going to try and give it a second chance by rereading it, excluding the first chapter. I suspect that it was that, well, dreadful chapter that ruined my initial opinion.

What say you lot?

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Elessar
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Re: Opinions on Eldest **Spoilers**
« Reply #1 on Jan 18, 2007, 2:18pm »

Well, I read it in French. :-[

So I don't know what his writing is like. (My dad bought it in English and I have yet to read it.) But it's true that it wasn't that good. I think Paolini lays his magic system out too clearly, and he makes a mistake that I think is typical for a fantasy reader. When we read a book, it always irritates us when the magician refuses to use his powers, saying it's for the "good cause." I do think it's a good idea to get Eragon to use magic a little more but not go off to war and end up killing thousands of soldiers with a single word. For me, in fantasy, that's the opposite of a good magician.

Also, I didn't think it was very intricately written. He's lays out the story plot pretty simply and there isn't that much mystery. Of course you wonder what happened to Murtagh (don't want to reveal anything here) but besides a few other things that's it.

And there aren't enough complications. In fantasy, often one of the characters is always doing something stupid or someone is always there to slow down the protagonist(s).

But of course it is his first book, so we must be indulgent !

If you disagree with anything here, please say so ! It's been a while since I read the book.

Anyway, I still like the author because he started writing when he was 15 and I think that gives all of us a little hope !

Elessar

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Kaythara
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Re: Opinions on Eldest **Spoilers**
« Reply #2 on Jan 18, 2007, 2:31pm »

Yes, that he has managed to become so successful so quickly is something that we can all admire.

Yet, his inexperience shows through clearly in Eldest. Frankly, I'm surprised that the publishers didn't convince him to make that infamous first chapter less cringe worthy. I found it very contrived, as if he just threw it together after the rest of the book was finished.

As for the magic, I think Paolini made an attempt to give it a little mystery, though it admittedly didn't work all that well. By that, I mean that he had Eragon constantly making mistakes while his current mentor did not so much teach him what was right, but scolded him for what he did wrong. That method both keeps the reader from knowing precisely how it works and takes away the desire to know.

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Squishy
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Re: Opinions on Eldest **Spoilers**
« Reply #3 on Jan 18, 2007, 3:24pm »

I have much I would like to say about this book, but for the sake of not melting your brains out I will just mention a few things.

TOO LONG. I think he just wanted his novel to look big and impressive when it was printed. I mean, who doesn't like to see a great big fat book brimming with stuff about magic and dragons. But on the inside he just pumped it with useless filler like preachy vegetarian gunk and how every single elf is perfect and beautiful (so stereotypical I could barf). It's much the same result you get when you eat a chicken on steroids. It may be big and fat, but there is no taste to it.

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Kaythara
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Re: Opinions on Eldest **Spoilers**
« Reply #4 on Jan 18, 2007, 6:32pm »

Excellent metaphor, Squishy, and I agree. The length of the book pleased me until I realized that there wasn't much to those words. I too am disappointed that he strayed into the cliche elven perfection, but even the yammering about how much better they are than humans wasn't as hard to read as Eragon's unrequited love. Seeing him get shot down repeatedly drew more than one sigh and eye roll from me. When it took a force of will to keep myself from skipping over chunks of a novel, I started to dread the inevitable romance of book three.

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Squishy
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Re: Opinions on Eldest **Spoilers**
« Reply #5 on Jan 18, 2007, 7:49pm »

You know, the strange thing is, I could not put Eldest down. I kept reading and reading, hoping that something actually meaningful would happen. I was so hoping that this book would get better, but it was like a flat line. The same throughout. I'm surprised that the publishers didn't want to have a talk with Paolini. The fact that his first novel was so successful is probably the reason for this. Some people can get pretty cocksure when they first taste such praise. Anything they produce thereafter, they are are confident will equal the predecessor, and that's when they start getting sloppy.

« Last Edit: Jan 19, 2007, 4:29pm by Squishy »

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Ranger47
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Re: Opinions on Eldest **Spoilers**
« Reply #6 on Feb 4, 2007, 6:54pm »

I've read it. Quite recently actually. I thougt it was good, but there was a lot of hype emitting from the ending. Personally, I didn't think it was such a shocker. I knew that murtagh was the evil guy after finsisjing eragon. I'm not saying that the ending was bad, I just thought that it wasn't a huge shocker. Overall, I think the book would get an 8 out of 10.

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