Eragon


I read the book Eragon by Christopher Paolini. This novel was written in 2002 and was published by Alfred A. Knopf. It is 497 pages long and is in the fantasy genre. I loved this book because it was exciting and had action, but it wasn’t like there was a fight every other page. It actually had a very good storyline, and kept me guessing what would happen next.

The book starts with fifteen year old Eragon hunting in the mountains for his family when he comes across a mysterious blue stone. A few nights later, the stone, which was actually an egg, hatched. Out of the egg came a small blue dragon. I did not see this coming, and it caught my attention. It made me want to read on.

Unfortunately, the appearance of the dragon, which Eragon names Saphira, attracts some unwanted attention. Two cloaked men appear in the nearby village and begin questioning the villagers if they have seen a blue stone, which was Saphira’s egg. Eventually, someone tells these mysterious figures that they saw Eragon returning with one from the mountains a few days before. The men then go to Eragon’s home. Eragon was gone at the time, but his uncle wasn’t so lucky. The men kill him and destroy the house. Eragon, Saphira, and Brom, the town’s storyteller, leave the village and decide to pursuit these murderers, who were in fact two of a vicious, bird-like race called the Ra’zac. On the way, Brom teaches Eragon how to fight and use magic, so that he would be prepared when they caught up to the Ra’zac.

They go to a town called Dras-Leona, where they believe the Ra’zac are located. The Ra’zac ambushed them before they could think of a decent plan. Just when everything seemed hopeless, a man named Murtagh rescued them, and drove away the Ra’zac. One of the Ra’zac, however, threw a dagger at Brom, which eventually killed him.

With Murtagh by their side, Eragon and Saphira bury Brom and travel to the Varden, a large group of rebels fighting against the ruler of the kingdom, the tyrannical Galbatorix. On the way, Eragon rescues an elf named Arya, and discovers that a shade, a dark sorcerer possessed by evil spirits, is at large. Eragon narrowly escapes the shade, and crosses the Hadarac desert to reach the Varden. Once there, they find that an army of deadly monsters called Urgals were approaching the Beor Mountains, the mountain range where the dwarves and Varden were hiding. Eragon warns them in time, and a large battle takes place: the Varden and dwarves against the Urgals. Eragon locates and confronts the shade that is leading the Urgals, and they battle to the death. Eragon wins, but it comes with a price. Before it died, the shade thrust its sword into Eragon’s back, crippling him. In the end, Eragon and Saphira decide to travel to the Elven city of Ellesmaria.

I thought the book was incredible, and I never wanted to put the book down. It always kept me interested, and it has become my favorite book series. I would recommend this book to anyone.