Eragon is the first book in The Inheritance Cycle by American fantasy writer Christopher Paolini. Paolini, born in 1983, began writing the novel after graduating from home school at the age of fifteen.[1] After writing the first draft for a year, Paolini spent a second year rewriting and fleshing out the story and characters. His parents saw the final manuscript and in 2001 decided to self-publish Eragon;[2] Paolini spent a year traveling around the United States promoting the novel. The book was discovered by novelist Carl Hiaasen, who brought it to the attention of Alfred A. Knopf. The re-published version was released on August 26, 2003.
The book tells the story of a farm boy named Eragon, who finds a mysterious stone in the mountains. The stone is revealed to be a dragon egg, and a dragon he later names Saphira hatches from it. When the evil King Galbatorix finds out about the egg, he sends monstrous servants to acquire it, making Eragon and Saphira flee from their hometown with a storyteller named Brom. Brom, an old member of an extinct group called the Dragon Riders, teaches Eragon about 'The Ways of the Rider.'
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Eragon was the third-best-selling children's hardback book of 2003, and the second-best-selling paperback of 2005. It placed on the New York Times Children's Books Best Seller list for 121 weeks and was adapted as a feature film of the same name that was released on December 15, 2006.
Christopher Paolini started reading fantasy books when he was 10 years old. At the age of 14, as a hobby, he started writing the first novel in a series of four books, but he could not get beyond a few pages because he had "no idea" where he was going. He began reading everything he could about the "art of writing", and then plotted the whole Inheritance Cycle book series. After a month of planning out the series, he started writing the draft of Eragon by hand. It was finished a year later, and Paolini began writing the second draft of the book.[3] After another year of editing, Paolini's parents saw the final manuscript. They immediately saw its potential and decided to publish the book through their small, home-based publishing company, Paolini International.[4] Paolini created the cover art for this edition of Eragon, which featured Saphira's eye on the cover. He also drew the maps inside the book.[5]
The ancient language used by the elves in Eragon is based "almost entirely" on Old Norse, German, Anglo Saxon, and Russian myth.[9] Paolini commented: "[I] did a god-awful amount of research into the subject when I was composing it. I found that it gave the world a much richer feel, a much older feel, using these words that had been around for centuries and centuries. I had a lot of fun with that."[10] Picking the right names for the characters and places was a process that could take "days, weeks, or even years". Paolini said: "if I have difficulty choosing the correct moniker, I use a placeholder name until a replacement suggests itself."[4] He added that he was "really lucky" with the name Eragon, "because it's just dragon with one letter changed." Also, Paolini commented that he thought of both parts of the name "Eragon" - "era" and "gone" - as if the name itself changes the era in which the character lives. He thought the name fit the book perfectly, but some of the other names caused him "real headaches".[10]
The landscape in Eragon is based on the "wild territory" of Paolini's home state, Montana.[3] He said in an interview: "I go hiking a lot, and oftentimes when I'm in the forest or in the mountains, sitting down and seeing some of those little details makes the difference between having an okay description and having a unique description."[10] Paolini also said that Paradise Valley, Montana is "one of the main sources" of his inspiration for the landscape in the book (Eragon takes place in the fictional continent Alagaësia). Paolini "roughed out" the main history of the land before he wrote the book, but he did not draw a map of it until it became important to see where Eragon was traveling. He then started to get history and plot ideas from seeing the landscape depicted.[10]
Paolini chose to have Eragon mature throughout the book because, "for one thing, it's one of the archetypal fantasy elements". He thought Eragon's growth and maturation throughout the book "sort of mirrored my own growing abilities as a writer and as a person, too. So it was a very personal choice for that book."[10] Eragon's dragon, Saphira, was imagined as "the perfect friend" by Paolini.[3] He decided to go in a more "human direction" with her because she is raised away from her own species, in "close mental contact" with a human. "I considered making the dragon more dragon-like, if you will, in its own society, but I haven't had a chance to explore that. I went with a more human element with Saphira while still trying to get a bit of the magic, the alien, of her race."[10] Paolini made Saphira the "best friend anyone could have: loyal, funny, brave, intelligent, and noble. She transcended that, however, and became her own person, fiercely independent and proud."[4] Saphira's blue tinted vision was in turn inspired by Paolini's own color-blindness.[11]
Eragon received generally mixed reviews and was criticized for its derivative nature. Liz Rosenberg of The New York Times Book Review criticized Eragon for having "clichéd descriptions", "B-movie dialogue", "awkward and gangly prose". However, she concluded the review by noting that "for all its flaws, it is an authentic work of great talent."[14] School Library Journal wrote that in Eragon "sometimes the magic solutions are just too convenient for getting out of difficult situations."[15] Common Sense Media called Eragon's dialogue "long-winded" and "clichéd", with a plot "straight out of Star Wars by way of The Lord of the Rings, with bits of other great fantasies thrown in here and there.." The website did concede that the book is a notable achievement for such a young author, and that it would be "appreciated" by younger fans.[13]
Favorable reviews of Eragon often focused on the book's characters and plot. IGN's Matt Casamassina called the book "entertaining", and added that "Paolini demonstrates that he understands how to hold the reader's eyes and this is what ultimately separates Eragon from countless other me-too fantasy novels."[16] Chris Lawrence of About.com thought the book had all the "traditional ingredients" that make a fantasy novel "enjoyable". The book was a "fun read" for him because it is "quick and exciting" and "packed" with action and magic. Lawrence concluded his review by giving the book a rating of 3.8/5, commenting that "the characters are interesting, the plot is engrossing, and you know the good guy will win in the end."[17]
Eragon was the third best-selling children's hardback book of 2003,[18] and the second best-selling children's paperback of 2005.[19] It placed on the New York Times Children's Books Best Seller list for 121 weeks.[20] In 2006, the novel was awarded with a Nene Award by the children of Hawaii.[21] It won the Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award[22] and the Young Reader's Choice Award the same year.[23]
In June 2021, Christopher Paolini tweeted #EragonRemake in an effort to get Disney, the intellectual rights holders following their acquisition of 21st Century Fox, to revamp the book series into a possible television show for Disney+. Within hours, the hashtag began to trend with fans pushing for a proper adaptation.[49] On July 25, 2022, Variety reported that a live action television series adaptation of Eragon was in early development for Disney+, with Paolini serving as a co-writer on the series, and with Bert Salke executive producing.[50] 2ff7e9595c
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