Paolini, Christopher. Eragon. 2003. Knopf Books for Young Readers. New York.

Genre: Fantasy

Themes: Dragons, Battles/Fighting, Elves, Magic

Age / Grade Appropriateness: Upper Elementary, Middle School, High School

Awards: New York Times Best Seller List (121 weeks), NENE award, 2004 Book Sense Book of the Year

Censorship Issues: There was violence in this book, but nothing that would be scary or offensive. The language was appropriate for the age group. There are no issues that I would have concerns about or censor.

Plot Summary:
Eragon, a 15 year old boy named after the first Dragon Rider, finds a strange blue stone while in the mountains near his home. He thought that finding the stone was just good luck, as he was a poor farm boy. The stone then hatched and a dragon emerged from it. Dragons were believed to be extinct and this was the first one in many, many years. Eragon names the dragon Saphira and keeps her a secret and raises her privately. One day, two Ra’zac come looking for the stone, and Eragon and Saphira go to the forest to hide. Eragon’s uncle is killed, it changes Eragon and he gets a vengeance against the Ra’zac. He becomes a Dragon Rider and goes on a journey. He is determined to defeat the Ra’zac. Eragon meets Bram who becomes his mentor. Bram gets hurt and right before he died, he told Eragon that he was once a Dragon Rider and his dragon was murdered by Gaslbatrix. Eragon was captured and was imprisoned with a mysterious female elf, who he had previously had dreams about. Saphira rescues both ragon and the elf, but during this, they awaken Shade, a horrible creature. They begin their trek to Varden and have many mishaps and battles along the way, with an army of Urgals chasing them. They get to Varden and prepare for the Urgals arrival and a battle. The Urgals almost win the battle, until Eragon defeats the Shade. Shade is in great pain and horribly disfigured. As this battle ends, Eragon is going to study with the other elves.

Critique: does it fit the bill of a YA book, also my opinion of the book
The narrative aspect and the likable hero in Eragon, a wonderfully written story, are just part of the reason that it is classified as a young adult book. Although the author was very young when he began writing this book, it is still very well-written. Some parts of the story do not seem very original, they seem to be a lot alike Tolkien’s books and parts of Star Wars, but they are still appealing and do not seem boring or exactly the same. Readers seem to become part of this book and immersed in the imaginary world. It is action packed and the writing is lavish with great detail. This book definitely leave readers eager for the next book in the trilogy. There are numerous names of characters and places to remember while reading, which can be quite confusing at times; according to one site on the internet, there are 65 names of people, horses, and dragons. There are also phrases in the ancient language and things that the dwarfs and Urgalls say that are all a little confusing. There are maps and glossaries that help and by the end of the story, the reader really seems to understand.

Curriculum Uses:
This book would be a great choice for librarians or teachers to recommend to students when they are looking for a new series to start or if they are looking for something new to read. This series would evoke so much imagination and creativity in students, they would get entranced in it and love it.
This book would also be a great choice for an English or Literature teacher to use as encouragement for students to write. The author of this book began at age sixteen, the age of many highschool students. This would be a great experience for students to realize that an amazing book was written by someone their same age.

Boy finds dragon egg, dragon hatches, boy goes on grand adventure. Actually, boy spends most of book fleeing for his life, when suddenly a random Big Battle is tacked on the end to add some sort of climax, with a convenient deus ex machina to tie things up and make way for the sequel. It's not that it's poorly written, just utterly generic. Now, if I didn't like fantasy stereotypes I wouldn't read fantasy, but I was even able to pick out specific universes from which much of the stuff was cribbed (McCaffrey's Pern, Tolkien's Middle Earth, etc.). All in all, pretty forgettable. A young newcomer to fantasy might enjoy this, but a fans of the genre will find nothing new here. ( )

Amazing story considering the youth of the author - hope the movie doesn't ruin this kids career! ( )

This book is extremely derivitive. Paolini may be a good writer in about 10 years time. ( )

Eragon a young farm boy on teh virge of man hood is scouting in the Spine a forest. He must locate food for his family. He notches a arrow onto his bow pointing it at his prey, a small deer with a limp that has fallen behind the herd. Suddenly the ground near the deer explodes in brilliant light. The deer takes off running. I liked Eragon because it mixes adventure, suspence, and action where a farm boy must save a kingdom. ( )