Christopher Paolini
Author of Eragon
About the Author
Christopher Paolini was born in Southern California on November 17, 1983, but grew up primarily in Paradise Valley, Montana. He was home schooled and at the age of 15, graduated from high school through an accredited correspondence course at American School in Chicago, Illinois. He decided to write show more a book and after three years of writing and editing, Eragon was self-published in 2001. The Paolini family spent the following year promoting the book themselves by giving presentations to the local library and high school and then eventually branching out to libraries, bookstores, and schools across the United States. After his step-son read a copy of the book, author Carl Hiaasen brought Eragon to the attention of publisher Alfred A. Knopf, who acquired the rights to publish Eragon and the rest of the Inheritance Cycle in 2003. The other books in the cycle include Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. Eragon was made into a movie in December 2006. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Christopher Paolini en 2019
Series
Works by Christopher Paolini
Associated Works
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights (1976) — Foreword, some editions — 3,253 copies, 56 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Paolini, Christopher James
- Birthdate
- 1983-11-17
- Gender
- male
- Education
- homeschooled (American School of Correspondence)
- Occupations
- novelist
- Relationships
- Paolini, Kenneth (father)
Hodgkinson, Talita (mother)
Paolini, Angela (sister) - Short biography
- Paolini was raised in the Paradise Valley, Montana area. His family members include his parents, Kenneth Paolini and Talita Hodgkinson, and his sister, Angela Paolini. Home schooled for the duration of his education, Paolini graduated from high school at the age of 15 through a set of accredited correspondence courses from American School in Chicago, Illinois. Following graduation, he started his work on what would become the novel Eragon and its sequel Eldest, both set in the kingdom of Alagaësia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christop...Christopher James Paolini (born November 17, 1983) is an American author. He is best known for The Inheritance Cycle, which consists of the books Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance, and the follow up short story collection The Fork, the Witch and the Worm. His first science fiction novel, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, will be published on September 15, 2020. He lives in Paradise Valley, Montana, where he wrote his first book.
Following his high school graduation, he started his work on what would become the novel Eragon, the first of a four-book series set in the mythical land of Alagaësia.
In 2002, Eragon was published for the first time by Paolini International LLC, Paolini's parents' publishing company. To promote the book, Paolini toured over 135 schools and libraries, discussing reading and writing, all the while dressed in "a medieval costume of red shirt, billowy black pants, lace-up boots, and a jaunty black cap." He drew the cover art for the first edition of Eragon, which featured Saphira's eye, along with the maps on the inside covers of his books. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Places of residence
- California, USA
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Paradise Valley, Montana, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Discussions
Warrior Boy and Dragon Girl do pointless things (Brisingr) thread. ***SPOILER WARNING!*** in Hogwarts Express (February 2009)
Reviews
Overrated and underwhelming, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars shows that Eragon author Christopher Paolini has not matured as a writer since penning his way to a claim to fame at the age of 15. Almost 20 years later, the only thing that has changed is that now his characters swear. Like, a lot.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a bland 800+ page story that, like Paolini's other novels, borrows heavily from things that came before. It's part Alien/Prometheus, part Venom (you know, the Spider-Man show more villain), part Witchblade, part StarCraft, and all Mary Sue.
Kira is a xenobiologist who while xenobiologisting discovers an alien artifact that gives her an alien symbiote that, at first, kills everybody she cares about, but also basically makes her a space goddess, so she's able to get over that pretty quickly, only occasionally delving into survivor guilt when the narrative needs that trusty plot handbrake to keep from getting to the end faster. She teams up with wave after wave of redshirts tracking down plot coupons and having pointless conversations that only act as filler before the next wave of cryosleep en route across the galaxy only to find out that most of the plot coupons have already expired. The big bad ultimately deflates like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a not-so-slow leak, and you never are given any reason to care about the characters in the book (and maybe sometimes find yourself rooting for the giant space squid, if only to make the story end sooner).
In addition to being a slough of despondency to get through, the character of Kira is written with all the grace and sensitivity of somebody who lacks the grace and sensitivity to write believable female characters and is too afraid to ask anybody if she seems believable. Like many men writing women, Kira comes off as more the parody or a fantasy of a woman than a woman herself.
Additionally, Paolini takes great effort to explain the science that he researched in writing the book. Such great effort that even simple ideas come off as needlessly complex. I'm reminded of that quote often attributed to Einstein: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it." Paolini stated that all his friends and family were telling him as he wrote this book that it wasn't working. Then he claims to have made a breakthrough. He was wrong. It still isn't working.
If you liked his other books, you might like this. If you like bland, uninspired sci-fi, you might also like this. Otherwise, you may be briefly amused by the subtle references to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Red Dwarf, but in the end, like the attempts at humor in this book, it all falls flat.
Not recommended. show less
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a bland 800+ page story that, like Paolini's other novels, borrows heavily from things that came before. It's part Alien/Prometheus, part Venom (you know, the Spider-Man show more villain), part Witchblade, part StarCraft, and all Mary Sue.
Kira is a xenobiologist who while xenobiologisting discovers an alien artifact that gives her an alien symbiote that, at first, kills everybody she cares about, but also basically makes her a space goddess, so she's able to get over that pretty quickly, only occasionally delving into survivor guilt when the narrative needs that trusty plot handbrake to keep from getting to the end faster. She teams up with wave after wave of redshirts tracking down plot coupons and having pointless conversations that only act as filler before the next wave of cryosleep en route across the galaxy only to find out that most of the plot coupons have already expired. The big bad ultimately deflates like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with a not-so-slow leak, and you never are given any reason to care about the characters in the book (and maybe sometimes find yourself rooting for the giant space squid, if only to make the story end sooner).
In addition to being a slough of despondency to get through, the character of Kira is written with all the grace and sensitivity of somebody who lacks the grace and sensitivity to write believable female characters and is too afraid to ask anybody if she seems believable. Like many men writing women, Kira comes off as more the parody or a fantasy of a woman than a woman herself.
Additionally, Paolini takes great effort to explain the science that he researched in writing the book. Such great effort that even simple ideas come off as needlessly complex. I'm reminded of that quote often attributed to Einstein: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it." Paolini stated that all his friends and family were telling him as he wrote this book that it wasn't working. Then he claims to have made a breakthrough. He was wrong. It still isn't working.
If you liked his other books, you might like this. If you like bland, uninspired sci-fi, you might also like this. Otherwise, you may be briefly amused by the subtle references to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Red Dwarf, but in the end, like the attempts at humor in this book, it all falls flat.
Not recommended. show less
A big, warm, intoxicating fantasy adventure that knows exactly how to hook the part of your brain that still believes in dragons.
Eragon starts as a farm boy who finds a mysterious blue stone in the woods. It hatches. Suddenly he is bound to a dragon and shoved out of his ordinary life and into an Empire built on fear, magic, and a king who wants absolute control.
What makes this book work is the bond at the center of it. Eragon’s growth is not just about power leveling into a hero. It is show more about being terrified, being stubborn, being lonely, and being forced to become someone worthy of the creature who chose him. Saphira is not a pet or a plot device. She has presence. Pride. Temper. The relationship feels like two minds learning each other in real time, and that keeps the story emotionally grounded even when the stakes go mythic.
The mentor figure, Brom, is another strength. He carries that old storyteller gravitas without turning into a cardboard wise man, and the way he pushes Eragon feels less like training montage and more like an argument about what responsibility costs. The book keeps returning to that question. What does it mean to have power and still be a decent person. What does it mean to inherit a legacy you did not ask for. What do you owe to strangers when the world is burning.
The prose is straightforward, sometimes almost earnest to a fault, and the early pacing can feel like it is carefully laying track before the train finally decides to move. When it hits its stride, it delivers. The action reads clean. The world has texture. The sense of journey is unputdownable.
One critique. The story leans hard into familiar mythic shapes, and some side characters, especially the women, can feel more like symbols than fully lived in people at this stage.
Still, I finished this book wanting the next one immediately. show less
Eragon starts as a farm boy who finds a mysterious blue stone in the woods. It hatches. Suddenly he is bound to a dragon and shoved out of his ordinary life and into an Empire built on fear, magic, and a king who wants absolute control.
What makes this book work is the bond at the center of it. Eragon’s growth is not just about power leveling into a hero. It is show more about being terrified, being stubborn, being lonely, and being forced to become someone worthy of the creature who chose him. Saphira is not a pet or a plot device. She has presence. Pride. Temper. The relationship feels like two minds learning each other in real time, and that keeps the story emotionally grounded even when the stakes go mythic.
The mentor figure, Brom, is another strength. He carries that old storyteller gravitas without turning into a cardboard wise man, and the way he pushes Eragon feels less like training montage and more like an argument about what responsibility costs. The book keeps returning to that question. What does it mean to have power and still be a decent person. What does it mean to inherit a legacy you did not ask for. What do you owe to strangers when the world is burning.
The prose is straightforward, sometimes almost earnest to a fault, and the early pacing can feel like it is carefully laying track before the train finally decides to move. When it hits its stride, it delivers. The action reads clean. The world has texture. The sense of journey is unputdownable.
One critique. The story leans hard into familiar mythic shapes, and some side characters, especially the women, can feel more like symbols than fully lived in people at this stage.
Still, I finished this book wanting the next one immediately. show less
So when I first heard about this book, it was the story that lured me in. I had read some of the Eragon series but the author wasn't the reason I wanted to read it. I then heard some negative feedback which made me hesitate momentarily about reading but boy am I glad I took the plunge. This was a fantastic, large scale science fiction story which I have not had the pleasure of reading for some time. The characters are well written, developed and relatable.
Kira, the main character was so show more great getting to know. She really ended up being a real bad ass super hero!
I felt like the Matrix soundtrack could be playing while she fought aliens! LOL
I really loved the crew of the Wallfish. When Kira met up with them and got them involved with her journey I really got a "Firefly" vibe off of the ragtag crew. The characters were funny and engaging. Their relationships were believable.
Without saying anything about how it ended, well it was mind blowing. I really felt that it left an opening for there to be more to the story but it could easily work as a stand alone story. I highly recommend this book. show less
Kira, the main character was so show more great getting to know. She really ended up being a real bad ass super hero!
I felt like the Matrix soundtrack could be playing while she fought aliens! LOL
I really loved the crew of the Wallfish. When Kira met up with them and got them involved with her journey I really got a "Firefly" vibe off of the ragtag crew. The characters were funny and engaging. Their relationships were believable.
Without saying anything about how it ended, well it was mind blowing. I really felt that it left an opening for there to be more to the story but it could easily work as a stand alone story. I highly recommend this book. show less
Christopher Paolini's "Murtagh" exceeded my expectations. Beyond the impressive world building ( set in a world developed over four previous volumes ), populated with all sorts of fascinating creatures such as werecats, dragons and urgals, the story of Murtagh and his dragon mate, Thorn, progresses at a relentless pace. There are no wasted chapters or story arcs as which undermine so many other epic fantasy novels.
What I most liked about this novel was the character of Murtagh and his show more relationship, forged in suffering, with the dragon, Thorn. The bond between these two protagonists represents the highest form of friendship -- the mutual compassion and willingness to risk all for the well-being of the other. We also see Murtagh repeatedly confronted with the choice of self-preservation over "love for the neighbour" as he risks his life for innocent and helpless victims of evil. Ultimately, Murtagh presents a Christ figure when faced with the temptation to achieve supreme glory for himself if only he forsakes his own suffering by choosing to submit to the allegiance of evil incarnate. Readers familiar with Luke's account of the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness will recognise this parallel.
I look forward to future instalments of the Murtagh story and to see the resolution to the various story threads left unfinished in this novel. show less
What I most liked about this novel was the character of Murtagh and his show more relationship, forged in suffering, with the dragon, Thorn. The bond between these two protagonists represents the highest form of friendship -- the mutual compassion and willingness to risk all for the well-being of the other. We also see Murtagh repeatedly confronted with the choice of self-preservation over "love for the neighbour" as he risks his life for innocent and helpless victims of evil. Ultimately, Murtagh presents a Christ figure when faced with the temptation to achieve supreme glory for himself if only he forsakes his own suffering by choosing to submit to the allegiance of evil incarnate. Readers familiar with Luke's account of the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness will recognise this parallel.
I look forward to future instalments of the Murtagh story and to see the resolution to the various story threads left unfinished in this novel. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Lists
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Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 36
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 106,645
- Popularity
- #83
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 1,602
- ISBNs
- 875
- Languages
- 34
- Favorited
- 208
