A favorite genre of mine is the fantasy genre. Fantasy can be partially fiction or entirely made up, giving the writer all the freedom that his or her heart desires. Younger people tend to appreciate fictional fantasy more than older, more serious folk. Fantasy-based stories generally appeal to younger generations due to the wild imaginations they all seem to possess. It certainly takes an imaginative and creative mind to be able to write stories pertaining to the genre of fantasy-fiction. Given this logic, it makes sense that to truly capture the essence of fantasy-fiction, the writer must be youthful to some extent. This is no exception when it comes to the young and very successful Christopher Paolini, author of the Inheritance Cycle, which includes the books Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and an unnamed fourth book in the making. Christopher Paolini makes Eldest a wonderfully enjoyable read by smoothly maneuvering his readers through a flowing and eventful plot, by effectively utilizing diction in his story, and by allowing his readers to connect with other popular fantasy works, such as Lord Of The Rings.

    The plot of Eldest is strong and well-developed from beginning to end. It follows a dual perspective format, with some chapters focusing on Eragon and then switching to Roran, Eragon’s cousin, for two or three chapters. The story of Eldest starts, of course, with the previous novel, Eragon. A poor fifteen-year-old farm boy named Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the mountain range called The Spine. It hatches and he realizes that it’s not a stone, but an egg; a dragon egg! Because Saphira (the dragon) hatched for him, Eragon becomes one of the formerly extinct Dragon Riders. The Riders, along with the Varden (a rebel group set against the Empire and it’s evil King, Galbatorix) share one goal; to protect the land of Alagaësia and defeat Galbatorix and his followers. In Eragon’s first journey, he was accompanying Brom, an old man everyone thought was just a storyteller, until he revealed himself to Eragon as an ex-Rider. In his earlier days, Brom killed a fellow Rider named Morzan, an awful man who betrayed the rest of the Riders to Galbatorix. Morzan just happened to be the father of a young man who Eragon encounters, and later befriends on his journey, called Murtagh. Brom took Morzan’s sword Zar’roc upon slaying him, and later gave the sword to Eragon. Eragon defeated the dark Shade, Durza, during the battle of Farthen-Dûr, the Dwarf city. He was scarred on his back from the battle, leaving him partially disabled. Eragon then realizes that he is an awfully inadequate swordsman and that he beat Durza before out of sheer luck. Now his obligation is to travel to Ellesméra, the city of the Elves, to continue his training. Eldest kicks off right about here, when Eragon wakes up from his injury after receiving messages in his dreams about someone called Togira Ikonoka – ‘the Cripple Who Is Whole’ – an Elf (later referred to as Oromis) who will further his training. Soon after, Eragon finds that the leader of the Varden, Ajihad, was killed after the battle of Farthen-Dûr by warrior-like monsters called Urgals. Eragon’s best friend Murtagh is also captured by the Urgals, and up to this point is believed to be dead. Nasuada, Ajihad’s daughter, is elected as the next leader of the Varden. Eragon, Saphira, their Dwarf friend Orik, and the Elf (Eragon’s love interest) Arya all exit out of the Beor Mountains that hold Farthen-Dûr, and head North toward the elven forest Du Weldenvarden, to the city of Ellesméra. During Eragon’s long journey, Roran returns to Carvahall from lands unknown, only to find that his town is falling apart. He has no farm or money, and because of this may never be able to marry Katrina, the love of his life, because her father wouldn’t approve. He goes against the town’s custom and asks to marry her anyway and, ironically enough, she is captured by the Ra’zac that very same night. Roran gathers up the villagers of Carvahall and prepares to follow the Ra’zac’s trail to retrieve his wife-to-be. He has absolutely no idea that his cousin, Eragon, is a Dragon Rider, for Eragon kept Saphira a secret and had to flee when the Ra’zac came to Carvahall looking for Saphira’s egg. They killed Eragon’s uncle, Garrow (Roran’s father), and destroyed their house and farmland in Eragon. Meanwhile, Eragon is in Ellesméra taking lessons from Oromis who, at first unknown to Eragon, is also a Rider. Eragon is so thrilled to hear that he is not alone anymore, and thankful Saphira will have another dragon (named Glaedr) to converse with. His training really goes quite well; Eragon is a fast learner and his previous lessons with Brom prevailed. However, his back injury hinders him from fighting to his full potential, as it splits open again and again, paining him so severely he passes out every time. Nevertheless, Eragon is consistent in his training with Oromis and Glaedr up until the Blood-oath Celebration, or the Agaetí Blödhren. Eragon’s ailment is miraculously cured at this Elvish ceremony. In addition, he goes through a wide variety of transformations, from his appearance to his intellectual abilities. He confronts Arya in an attempt to tell her how he feels about her, and, to his dismay, she has no interest in him as a lover. She says that even if she did, he can’t afford any distractions from his sole responsibility: to save Alagaësia. By an obscured twist of fate, Eragon and Roran are reunited when Eragon finds out he has to head back down south to Surda, the new location of the Varden. A war between the Varden and the human soldiers of the Empire takes place at the Burning Plains, which is on the border of Surda and the outskirts of Urû’baen, where Galbatorix lives. Simultaneously, Roran and his followers travel south by boat; this is when Roran finds out that Eragon is a Dragon Rider. Roran’s anger toward Eragon was prevalent, since Roran was left with the impression that Eragon ran away out of cowardice, or because he didn’t want to accept the fact that Garrow was dead. While Roran is heading South to the fighting grounds, Eragon encounters his old friend Murtagh, whom he believed was dead. What’s even more surprising about this meeting is that Murtagh obtained one of the remaining three Dragon Eggs in all of Alagaësia, and got it to hatch for him, making him a rider as well. During Murtagh’s absence, he was forced to swear fealty to Galbatorix, making him one of the “Forsworn” (evil Dragon Riders) like Morzan, Murtagh’s late father. And as if this moment could hold no more surprises, it is revealed to Eragon that he and Murtagh are brothers, and that Morzan is Eragon’s biological father. In denial and ashamed, Eragon lets Murtagh claim  his sword, Zar’roc, without a fight. Murtagh flies off with the sword, his rightful inheritance. Eragon and Roran meet up and swear to avenge their father Garrow, as well as to retrieve Katrina.

    Christopher Paolini uses diction throughout this novel in many ways. The books in the Inheritance Cycle are all based in the land of Alagaësia, in which three different races reside. Humans live in the West of Alagaësia, the Elves inhabit the North, and the Dwarves are down South. Each of these races have their own languages, but they all speak English for the writer’s and readers’ convenience. The Humans, of course, speak English. The Dwarves speak their own language, the Dwarf Language, obviously named according to their race. The Elvish speak the Ancient Language, which is a very mysterious language, sort of the trademark of Alagaësia. It has connections to magic, and therefore is the language that allows spell weavers and magicians to summon the magic itself. During Eragon’s training, his teacher Oromis gives him a very useful piece of advice. “I think it best if, from now on, you endeavor to speak only in the Ancient Language. We have little time at our disposal, and this is the fastest way for you to learn” (358-359). By becoming fluent in this language, Eragon’s spells become more precise and powerful. It was revealed in Eragon, Christopher Paolini’s first novel, that Eragon was fifteen years old before he learned to read or write. In a sense, he is still a beginner in all forms of literacy. While in Farthen-Dûr (before Eragon’s in-depth training in Ellesméra), Eragon attempts to bless a child using the Ancient Language that he is hardly proficient in. “[Eragon says] ‘…the most I ever said in the Ancient Language was…’ ‘…when I blessed an orphan in Farthen-Dûr.’ [Oromis says] ‘Recite it for me.’ Eragon did so, and a look of pure terror engulfed Oromis. he exclaimed, ‘You used Skölir! Are you sure? Wasn’t it sköliro?’ Eragon frowned. ‘No, skölir. Why shouldn’t I have used it? Skölir means shielded. “…and may you be shielded from misfortune.” It was a good blessing.’ [Oromis says] ‘That was no blessing, but a curse’” (294). Eragon’s ignorance of the Ancient Language makes himself and those around him susceptible to danger. To become the great Dragon Rider everyone anticipates Eragon to be, his knowledge must expand. Another example within Eldest that I found intriguing was Eragon’s relationship with Saphira. “Eragon tentatively lowered the barriers around his mind and reached out with his consciousness, like he did when trying to contact Saphira at a great distance” (290). Ever since that fateful day when Saphira hatched and Eragon became a Dragon Rider, a special bond was forged between the two of them. I think it was a great idea to have such a connection between the two characters, but the context itself was brilliant. To be able to identify the text as what’s going through Eragon’s and Saphira’s mind, Christopher Paolini put the text in italics. It’s an easily accomplished feat, but the simplicity of the idea only pronounces the genius of the act. Not very many books I’ve read  have utilized another literary element in quite the same way as Christopher Paolini did in Eldest.

    Eldest truly is one of a kind; however, I can’t help but to acknowlede the similarities concerning the story line of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings. On the inside cover of Eldest (and throughout the whole Inheritance Cycle) is a map of Alagaësia, the mythical  place where this epic tale takes place. The first thing I noticed was that many of the names are similar to names from the Lord Of The Rings. Obviously Eragon’s name sounds awfully like the name of a major protagonist in the Lord Of The Rings: Aragorn. In addition, the names of many of the places make me wonder where Christopher Paolini got influenced from. For example, Ardwen is the name of a lake in Du Weldenvarden while Arwen is the name of an Elf in Lord Of The Rings. The land of Surda is a place much like the land of Mordor from Lord Of The Rings, in the sense that the final battle of both these stories take place in these locations, respectively. Although there are certain creative touches on this map like the monstrous mountain range The Spine, the likeness to Lord Of The Rings practically jumps out at me! The plots themselves are relatively similar, too. A young man, whom nobody expects to achieve greatness, becomes ‘the chosen one’ by whatever means (Eragon/Frodo). The fate of the whole world is in their hands now, and will be determined by their every action. Both main characters become mortally wounded, and later are saved by Elves. Eragon’s adventures are different from Frodo’s in many respects, but they both travel great distances to foreign lands where the constant evil is brewing. Another similarity between these two is in the whole three languages and races subject. Excluding the race of Hobbits in Lord Of The Rings, both series contain characters that are Humans, Elves, and Dwarves. There are many other miscellaneous likenesses between Lord Of The Rings and Eldest, such as the existence of an evil, scary entity whose goal is to seek out the hero and do away with him. In Lord Of The Rings they are called Ring-wraiths; in Eldest they are the Ra’zac. The group of human-killing abominations known as Urgals in Eldest share many of the same traits with the Orcs from Lord Of The Rings, which have the same purpose: to kill and destroy. Most writers tend to completely rip off others’ ideas, but not Christopher Paolini. He uses what information he knows to his advantage and builds on it, making a story that is comparable to the exceptionally-written Lord Of The Rings trilogy, but not a carbon copy of it. Therefore, I can conclude that Christopher Paolini obtained a great deal of his story line based on inspiration from the Lord Of The Rings series.

    Eldest has an intricate plot, great usage of diction within the text, and a story line that all Lord Of The Rings fans can relate to and enjoy; Christopher Paolini deserves an award for creating such an engrossing story! Seriously, who wouldn’t want to read a captivating tale about a young man’s adventures with his telepathic dragon in a land where anything is possible? Eragon and Saphira travel across Alagaësia in hope of saving its inhabitants from the destructive ways of the evil king, Galbatorix. Surely Eldest is one of the finer examples of the work of young writers, though few young writers are ever even published. Most of them have quite a ways to go if their competition is Christopher Paolini. The majority of fantasy-fiction fans are young in their years, and now thanks to Christopher Paolini’s brilliance, I have reestablished myself as one of these fans. I would definitely recommend this book, and not just to the younger crowd. I recommend Eldest to anyone who wants a good read and likes stories about adventure, discovery, or magic. This book is relatively easy to read through (for a high-school student), and has its fair share of grown-up topics that appeals to the older generation of readers. Eldest left me wanting more, and I simply can’t wait to get my hands on the next book, Brisingr!