Eldest
Christopher Paolini & Kerry Shale
Language: English
Action & Adventure Animals Books Dragons Elves Epic Fantasy Fantasy & Magic Fantasy Fiction Fiction General Imaginary Places Juvenile Fiction Mythical Young Men Youths' Writings
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Published: Jan 1, 2005
Description:
Amazon.com Review
Surpassing its popular prequel Eragon, this second volume in the Inheritance trilogy shows growing maturity and skill on the part of its very young author, who was only seventeen when the first volume was published in 2003. The story is solidly in the tradition (some might say derivative) of the classic heroic quest fantasy, with the predictable cast of dwarves, elves, and dragons--but also including some imaginatively creepy creatures of evil.
The land of Alagaesia is suffering under the Empire of the wicked Galbatorix, and Eragon and his dragon Saphira, last of the Riders, are the only hope. But Eragon is young and has much to learn, and so he is sent off to the elven forest city of Ellesmera, where he and Saphira are tutored in magic, battle skills, and the ancient language by the wise former Rider Oromis and his elderly dragon Glaedr. Meanwhile, back at Carvahall, Eragon's home, his cousin Roran is the target of a siege by the hideous Ra'zac, and he must lead the villagers on a desperate escape over the mountains. The two narratives move toward a massive battle with the forces of Galbatorix, where Eragon learns a shocking secret about his parentage and commits himself to saving his people.
The sheer size of the novel, as well as its many characters, places with difficult names, and its use of imaginary languages make this a challenging read, even for experienced fantasy readers. It is essential to have the plot threads of the first volume well in mind before beginning--the publisher has provided not only a map, but a helpful synopsis of the first book and a much-needed Language Guide. But no obstacles will deter the many fans of Eragon from diving headfirst into this highly-awaited fantasy. (Ages 12 and up) --Patty Campbell
Meet Author Christopher Paolini
Christopher Paolini’s abiding love of fantasy and science fiction inspired him to begin writing his debut novel, Eragon, when he graduated from high school at age 15.
"Writing is the heart and soul of my being. It is the means through which I bring my stories to life. There is nothing like putting words on a page and knowing that they will summon certain emotions and reactions from the reader. In my writing, I strive for a lyrical beauty somewhere between Tolkien at his best and Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf." --Christopher Paolini
Paolini talks more about the series, and about what inspires him in this video clip.
Watch the video (high bandwith)
Watch the video (low bandwith)
The Eragon/Eldest Boxed Set
Want to learn more about the series? Check out our review of Eragon: Here's a great big fantasy that you can pull over your head like a comfy old sweater and disappear into for a whole weekend. Christopher Paolini began Eragon when he was just 15, and the book shows the influence of Tolkien, of course, but also Terry Brooks, Anne McCaffrey, and perhaps even Wagner in its traditional quest structure and the generally agreed-upon nature of dwarves, elves, dragons, and heroic warfare with magic swords. Read more
Order your copy of the boxed set today
Learn the Lingo
Our quickie pronunciation guide will help you get to know some of the names and places in the Inheritance series.
Ajihad
AH-zhi-hod The Leader of the Varden
Argetlam
ARE-jet-lahm Elven word to describe Dragon Riders meaning "silver hand"
Arya
AR-ee-uh A powerful elf who is both beautiful and a master swordswoman
Eragon
EHR-uh-gahn A Dragon Rider from Carvahall
Ra-zac
RAA-zack Evil creatures
Saphira
suh-FEAR-uh Eragon’s dragon
*Art copyright © 2004 John Jude Palencar
From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up–Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have survived the battle at Tronjheim, but their challenges are not over. Galbatorix, the corrupt emperor, still rules Alagaesia and is looking for them. The magically bonded pair must help the rebellious Varden regroup after their leader is slain. Eragon helps deal with the resulting diplomatic complexities and then leaves for Du Weldenvarden, the home of the Elves, in order to finish his training as a Dragon Rider. Meanwhile, his cousin Roran must unite the small town of Carvahall as it is battered by Galbatorix's forces, including the nasty Ra'zac. The story alternates between Eragon and Saphira and their political maneuvering and Roran and his more traditional adventure over land and sea. Paolini provides a worthy companion to _Eragon (Knopf, 2003), though it does not stand alone (a summary of the first book will be included in the final edition). The plot–indeed, most of the fantasy conventions–is heavily inspired by Tolkien, McCaffrey, and especially George Lucas. The momentum of the narrative is steady and consistent: a problem presents itself and is neatly (and conveniently) solved before the next one arises, making it appealing to some adventure-quest fantasy fans and runescape.com players. Eragon's journey to maturity is well handled. He wrestles earnestly with definitions for good and evil, and he thoughtfully examines the question of good at what price.While there's nothing particularly original here, the book will find its fan-base.–Sarah Couri, New York Public Library_
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Details
Reading level: Ages 12 and up
Paperback: 704 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; Trade Paperback Edition edition (March 13, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375840400
ISBN-13: 978-0375840401
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.5 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1,589 customer reviews)
1,589 Reviews
5 star:
(707)
4 star:
(302)
3 star:
(158)
2 star:
(141)
1 star:
(281)
› See all 1,589 customer reviews...
Would you like to update product info, give feedback on images, or tell us about a lower price?
Customer Reviews
1,589 Reviews
5 star:
(707)
4 star:
(302)
3 star:
(158)
2 star:
(141)
1 star:
(281)
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (1,589 customer reviews)
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars For the person who hated the book because of atheism, March 21, 2006
By
Bickazer "MapleStory" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) (Hardcover)
Isn't that a stupid reason to give a book 1 star? Just because it promotes atheism? I myself hate Narnia because of its Biblical themes but I admit that they're still pretty good books that enthralled me as a child...
Not to say Eldest is a good and enthralling book. Not due to any anti-religious themes that may have been shoved there by stupid Chris trying to act cool, but because...the entire book is just stupid Chris trying to act cool.
Eldest is...boring. There isn't an original thought in it. It's all the exact same fantasy archetypes you see all of the time, in every fantasy book, and even then most books make a futile effort to spice up their stereotypes by adding original points. I can't think of a single thing that makes Eragon original. Dragon riders, elves, ancient language...it's all pretty much been done before. Eldest feels like Paolini was writing a textbook ABOUT writing fantasy, not actually writing a fantasy book.
Eldest itself is even worse than Eragon. Eragon, at the very least, showed proper proofreading--Eldest is riddled with grammatical errors and pacing problems, and is about 500 pages longer than it should be. Eldest feels, like one reviewer said, like reading a phonebook. Nothing of any importance happens in it at all. It's a case of "middle-book syndrome"--at its worst. Much of Eldest just felt like the guys at Knopf were afraid of hurting poor Paolini's comments because of course the boy doesn't listen to criticism, so they let him publish Eldest in draft form.
All in all, Eldest is an exceedingly bad sequel to an exceedingly bad book in an exceedingly bad trilogy that is pretty much a weird mixture of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Dragon Riders of Pern, chopped up, tossed into a blender, and neatly labeled "Inheritance". Eragon gets two stars for at least having some youthful vigor; Eldest would get zero stars (but Amazon won't let me) for no longer possessing any of that vigor.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Report abuse | Permalink
Comment Comment
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Don't be taken in by the hype, January 28, 2006
By
Kilan (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) (Hardcover)
I liked Eragon well enough and I was looking forward to this book coming out. As it turns out, it's a good thing I waited for the library copy and didn't buy it, because owning it would have been pointless. The prose is really rather tedious and immature, not to mention how unnecessarily LONG it is. I won't summarize; just know that the "influence" of other writers is starkly visible. There's little originality in the writing, and the text is ridden with mistakes that a good editor should have eliminated (e.g., the incorrect and completely arbitrary substitution of words like "mine" and "thy/thine" for "my" and "yours"). Overall, the dialogue is probably the most awkard part, with the next most irksome thing being the superfluous scenes. Side note: anyone interested in joining a rescue mission to free the author's thesaurus? The preachiness really got to me, too; the author seems to dream of a society full of vegetarian atheists who practice elf yoga daily and takes "mates" whenever they want to without any commitment. And yes, "aye" is used with obscene frequency.
However -
I did read the whole book, and I wanted to find out what happened to Eragon even after the stupid training period in Ellesmera that was probably supposed to be formative (actually it just ends with us having to accept that Eragon is amazingly powerful and talented). So, I must say -- with reluctance? -- that this book wasn't a total waste of time. No, it is not good, but I wanted to know what happened.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Report abuse | Permalink
Comment Comment
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely hilarious - - But in a really BAD way, September 29, 2005
By
Rianyn (Red Forest) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) (Hardcover)
This book was laughably bad. It was boring as hell, but it sucked to the point that I found myself laughing outloud at some of the antics that Paolini tries to pull.
And don't get me wrong--I am not one of those Eragon-haters that's just out to write bad reviews. Honestly, I thought that Eragon was an okay book, nothing great, but okay. On the surface level, I even found it enjoyable. But Eldest was HORRIBLE!!! I am well-read in fantasy and happen to be a fan of Star Wars, so the continued contrivances in Eldest (not to mention the more blatant ones in Eragon) were just too much for me to take.
The writing was just bad. The description was sometimes ridiculously overwrought, and of course, I laughed. The only time that the description was good was when Paolini described something from LOTR, like Lothlorien, wait, I mean Ellesmera. If I were Paolini's editor, I would be ASHAMED to have let this piece of crap go on to publication. Just because Eragon was so popular doesn't mean that Paolini is allowed to get away with murder, actually plagerism, as well as just bloated bad writing and an empty bloated plot, and worthless plot-device characters. The whole book was just a waste of time. I hate myself for spending money on it. I had actually thought that Paolini might improve in his writing, but the joke's on me this time. I laughed anyway.
But I haven't even gotten to the dialogue yet. Now THAT was funny. How much more unrealistic can you get? I have never heard anyone talk in the manner that the people in the book talk. Like the script to a C action movie. It sucks! And through the dialogue, it was impossible to discern between characters, just because it had no life and no distinction whatsoever. All of the characters started to become the same in my head, kind of like all the unnecessary characters in the later Wheel of Time books. But both the dialogue (I mean the C-movie script) and the cahracters that recite it are awful. I wanted Eragon to die by the end. Same with all the other characters.
And I mustn't forget AYE! AYE! AYE! AYE! AYE! AYE! AYE! AYE! AYE! AYE! AYE! AYE! AYE! If you guys think that's annoying, then you are in for a surprise. The painfully irritating repetion of the word 'aye' in place of 'yes' was kind of funny in a pathetic way at first, but after the hundreth time, it's not really that funny anymore, and you will want to throw the book out the window or perform some other passive-aggressive act upon it.
And vegetarianism becomes one giant ongoing joke within this book. I don't think I can ever take a vegetarian seriously again. This is just philosophy that is so dumb that it's just intrinsically funny.
I'll stop now, or else ... or else....I don't know. And more importantly, I DON'T CARE!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Report abuse | Permalink
Comment Comment
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
› See all 1,589 customer reviews...
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed
I liked this book very much. I can hardly wait to see where the series will go. I hope it continues to get better.
Published 4 days ago by michael j sager
3.0 out of 5 stars Good, clean YA fantasy read
"Eldest" is the second story in "The Inheritance Cycle." This was a long read, and it felt like Paolini was overly focused on world building as he spent a lot of time describing... Read more
Published 5 days ago by Kyle L. Rhynerson
5.0 out of 5 stars great
i dont know why people are giving it 1 or 2 stars... i loved the book and i am very egar for the lst book to come out...again i loved it
Published 6 days ago by Robert J Connolly
4.0 out of 5 stars Lot of info
Book is filled with alot of training. Does more than makes up for it by splitting the book with another character. Has to be done the story needs this info. Read more
Published 8 days ago by FantasyFan
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
Arrived on time and was in awesome condition for a used paperback. Most of the time a used paperback means that they are all kinds of torn up and stuff around the edges. Read more
Published 13 days ago by Heather Olsen
5.0 out of 5 stars Happy
I am happy with my purchase. It was in great condition and came quickly. I am willing to order from here again. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Kelly Bailey
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the wait
This series is worth the read for any ages if you like myth and the idea of dragons. I am currently reading the third book and have pre-ordered book four which will come out in... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Helen-Jean
1.0 out of 5 stars Preachy, political, and predictable, the "three Ps of doom"
Okay, I confess, I liked the first book. While Christopher has the rather annoying habit of what I will call "simile overload" (so many creative similes in each and every sentence... Read more
Published 1 month ago by A. Chai
5.0 out of 5 stars great series
first off, you need to know that of the five hundred pages of reviews the majority of them (like, 90 percent) are five stars. this is a well written series. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dan
3.0 out of 5 stars Unoriginal but fun-ish
When I first read Eragon, I really liked it. Of course, that's probably because I was 12. When I read Eldest, I enjoyed it too. Same with Brisingr. Read more
Published 1 month ago by AnnaR
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews
› See all 1,589 customer reviews...
All Lists & Registries
› Wish List
› Gift Organizer
› Wedding Registry
› Baby Registry
› Amazon Remembers
Unlimited Instant Videos
Unlimited streaming of thousands of
movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime
Rent or buy hit movies and TV shows
to stream or download
Your movies and TV shows
stored in the cloud
Watch instantly on your TV,
Blu-ray player, or set-top box
17 million songs, play anywhere
Shop 17 million songs
Play from any browser
For your Android phone or tablet
For BlackBerry and Palm
5 GB of free storage
Anything digital, securely stored,
available anywhere
Kindle
Lighter, smaller, faster
Simple-to-use touchscreen
The top-of-the-line e-reader
Vibrant color, movies, apps, and more
Read your Kindle books in a browser
For PC, iPad, iPhone, Android, and more
Your content, devices, settings, and more
Get a premium app for free today
Try thousands of apps and games right now
Kindle, mobile shopping, MP3, and more
View your apps and manage your devices
Digital Games & Software
For PC and Mac
For PC and Mac
Audible Audiobooks
Get to know Audible
Books
Books
Kindle Books
Children's Books
Textbooks
Audiobooks
Magazines
Movies, Music & Games
Electronics & Computers
External drives, mice, networking & more
Home, Garden & Tools
Grocery, Health & Beauty
Toys, Kids & Baby
Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry
Sports & Outdoors
Automotive & Industrial
Customers Also Bought Items ByFront Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
ancient lan guage, haired elf, other dwarves, other elves
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Dragon Wing, Palancar Valley, Council of Elders, King Orrin, Saphira Eragon, Jiet River, Burning Plains, Eragon Orik, Lady Nasuada, Black Hand, Saphira They, Red Boar, Eragon Eragon, Arya Eragon, Saphira Arya, Oromis Eragon, Eragon Shadeslayer, Dras Leona, Rider Eragon, After Eragon, Borromeo Castle, Isidar Mithrim, Saphira After, Arya Svit, Hadarac Desert
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
$13.98
4.2 out of 5 stars (68)
$10.75
3.8 out of 5 stars (2,965)
$10.98
3.8 out of 5 stars (763)
$10.19
› Explore similar items
Tag this product
(What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
› Explore product tags
Search Products Tagged with
See most popular tags
Like 1318167888 false -1 81 81 80 (81)
Customer Discussions
This product's forum
› See all 59 discussions...
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
Look for Similar Items by Category
Look for Similar Items by Subject
Search Books by subject:
Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)
Dragons
Fantasy
Fiction
Youths' writings
Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction
Juvenile Fiction
Action & Adventure - General
Juvenile Fiction / Fantasy & Magic
Fantasy & Magic
i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
Feedback
If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
Would you like to update product info, give feedback on images, or tell us about a lower price?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide? Click here
Your comments can help make our site better for everyone. Please note that we are unable to respond directly to all feedback submitted via this form, but we'll ask you to sign in so we can contact you if needed. Feedback is limited to 1000 characters.
Feedback
Thanks for your feedback.
We appreciate your effort to make our site better. Please note that we are unable to respond directly to all submissions made via this form.
Your Recent History
(What's this?)
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.
› View and edit your browsing history
After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.
› View and edit your browsing history
Get to Know Us
Make Money with Us
Let Us Help You
Canada China France Germany Italy Japan Spain United Kingdom
AbeBooks
Rare Books
& Textbooks AmazonLocal
Great Local Deals
in Your City AmazonWireless
Cellphones &
Wireless Plans Askville
Community
Answers Audible
Download
Audio Books Diapers.com
Everything
But The Baby DPReview
Digital
Photography Endless
Shoes
& More Fabric
Sewing, Quilting
& Knitting
IMDb
Movies, TV
& Celebrities MYHABIT
Private Fashion
Designer Sales Shopbop
Designer
Fashion Brands Small Parts
Industrial
Supplies Soap.com
Health, Beauty &
Home Essentials Warehouse Deals
Open-Box
Discounts Woot
Never Gonna
Give You Up Zappos
Shoes &
Clothing
Conditions of Use Privacy Notice © 1996-2011, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates