From Publishers Marketplace/Publishers Lunch comes “Jonah’s Picks”, reviews of fiction for young adults, in this case, the sequel to the fantasy bestseller, ERAGON.
“Almost two years ago to the day, pre-publication enthusiasm for Christopher Paolini’s ERAGON inspired the creation of our occasional review column for children’s books, “Jonah’s Picks.” At least 100 books wiser and already well into a stack of fall galleys for summer reading, our reviewer returns with his assessment of ELDEST, set for release on August 23.
- ELDEST
By Christopher Paolini
When ELDEST picks up, no time has passed since the end of Eragon. The budding dragon rider Eragon is setting out with his dragon Saphira to continue his quest to defeat the evil monarch. And he starts training to become a full-fledged rider. In the book Eragon makes unexpected allies and many new friends; he overcomes a disability that prevents him from fighting, and in the end, he stands up to a friend turned foe, and unleashes all he has got.
From Publishers Marketplace/Publishers Lunch comes “Jonah’s Picks”, reviews of fiction for young adults, in this case, the sequel to the fantasy bestseller, ERAGON.
“Almost two years ago to the day, pre-publication enthusiasm for Christopher Paolini’s ERAGON inspired the creation of our occasional review column for children’s books, “Jonah’s Picks.” At least 100 books wiser and already well into a stack of fall galleys for summer reading, our reviewer returns with his assessment of ELDEST, set for release on August 23.
- ELDEST
By Christopher Paolini
When ELDEST picks up, no time has passed since the end of Eragon. The budding dragon rider Eragon is setting out with his dragon Saphira to continue his quest to defeat the evil monarch. And he starts training to become a full-fledged rider. In the book Eragon makes unexpected allies and many new friends; he overcomes a disability that prevents him from fighting, and in the end, he stands up to a friend turned foe, and unleashes all he has got.
I liked ELDEST even more than ERAGON. Paolini has developed his own, quite good style of writing. He writes his characters very vividly and alive. Because they are written in such a way, you come to really care for the characters, rejoice at their happiness, and mourn their losses and personal griefs. The plot of ELDEST is much thicker than that of ERAGON. You cannot tell what will be on the next page, except for the fact that it will be filled with fantasy, adventure, and action. Unlike some of the other books that I have read, in Eldest you can never really know how the book will end, because it takes some unexpected turns.
There is a great deal of anticipation among my friends for ELDEST to come out. They are basically going nuts. They can’t wait to find out what will happen to their hero in the book two of the inheritance trilogy. To understand ELDEST though, you have to have read ERAGON first. (But if the next book had some sort of lexicon of the main characters and their traits, and a quick summary of the last two books, it could be independent, and part of a series at the same time.) I am already looking forward to the third book.” – Jonah
I read Eragon…
and while I like it just fine, I kept wondering what the big deal was about it being written by a teenager. Because to me, it read like a novel written by a teenager.
He may be as good as Rowling someday, but I am not holding my breath until that happens.
purple prose
The sequel is somewhat better, but only because it’s ever so slightly less derivative. But it’s reeking with purple prose and about 200 pages of the 700 page tome need to be excised for irrelevance. He needs an editor, and because of his fame — due to his age, primarily — he’ll never get a good one.
Also there’s a Blazing Saddles joke in the sequel which is just inappropriate, imho.
Yup
Transparent who his friend is…
— Ender, Duke_of_URL