ERAGON by Christopher Paolini
published by Alfred A Knopf
Fantasy: for young readers
Ah, Christmas time, when you reap what your mouth has spoken. I remember mentioning seeing this book at Costgo. What drew me was the title since it was close to Aragorn, one of the heroes of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I knew immediately that it was a fantasy. Unlike Tolkien’s work, this book has as its main readership older children to young teens, aimed more at males. Little did I ever expect to find this book hidden in the toe of my Christmas stocking.
Ever since J.K. Rowling wrote her first story about Harry Potter children have been picking up full fledged novels and reading them with a voracious appetite. This has opened the door for others to write novels aimed at a younger audience. Christopher Paolini has done a very good job creating his own fantasy world. It does however lean heavily on the current ideas of what are: witchcraft, sorcery, dragon lore, elves and of course dwarves.
The main character is a mid teen from a rural community. By circumstance and a bit of magic he comes into possession of a strange rock. Later, lo and behold… it was an egg with a dragon inside. At this point you can understand that this teen is going to become the “messiah” of the story. There are many characters introduced into the story. Most of them are good and of course some are evil. I won’t get into the story because some will want to read it I am sure. At the end of this book good eventually triumphs over a sinister evil but leaves the central bad guy fully intact. That is probably the subject of book two of the series.
Like many fantasy books this story portrays an alternate reality. Characters that were once associated with evil have, in this version, become the good guys. God is never mentioned in the book. If you thought that J.K. Rowling’s book was a primer to educate young children into the darkness that surrounds Satan… well I believe you will come to the same conclusion with Eragon. Having the book I read it. I found it a light read and enjoyed the telling of the story. I can however see the propaganda of the enemy weaving its way through the telling of the story to influence young minds. I have no idea whether Paolini intended it to be this way… perhaps he simply wrote a good story to make some money. We know however the enemy of Christ will use whatever and whoever he can to take the darkness and make it appear as light.
This book has been released as a movie. I have no idea how well it has been received. Though I personally enjoyed the book I do not recommend reading this tale. This goes specially for easily influenced children.
I have a childlike mind, does that count? I probably shouldn’t read it either.
Howdy Guru, I fell lucky that I located this post while browsing for eragon movie. I am with you on the topic of ERAGON by Christopher Paolini. Ironically, I was just putting a lot of thought into this last Tuesday.