Eragon by Christopher Paolini, Audio narrated by Gerard Doyle
Inheritance Cycle #1
YA Fiction, SciFi/Fantasy, Published 2005
Challenges: Audio Book Challenge, 2010 YA Reading Challenge, Once Upon a Time IV, Series Challenge IV
Read April 2010, March 2005
Story: 4.5/5, Narration: 4/5
From the Cover:
When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.
Overnight his simple life is shattered, and his is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.
Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands…
Review:
Eragon is a fast paced adventure tale that has it all: dragons, dragon riders, magic, elves, dwarves, an evil king, and even a werecat, who is one of my favorite characters. I’ve been wanting to finally get to the third of the series, Brisingr, but it has been so long since I read the first two, I thought I should get a refresher on the storyline. The narrator does a great job holding the pace and my attention in the car. The only thing that weirded me out was his interpretation of Saphira’s voice – something like a creepy Yoda/Grover growlish voice…I mean I realize she’s a dragon, but she’s a girl dragon and it really made me wince every time she spoke. That, however, is my only complaint with the story or audio version, so not too bad.
In this first book of the yet-to-be-released 4 book cycle, Eragon first encounters a dragon, his dragon, loses his uncle who has taken care of him most of his life, and sets out on a life changing quest with Brom to avenge his uncle’s death by the Ra’zac, and ultimately track down the Varden to help further their cause against the King and his Empire. Brom, the town’s storyteller, has concealed the truth about his past and why he had settled in Carvahall, Eragon’s village, in the first place. Together, Brom and Eragon set out with Saphira across the Empire and run into many dark and evil forces.
My favorite characters:
- Solembum: Along the way, however, Eragon and Brom stop in the coastal village of Teirm to search shipping records to track down the Ra’zac and Eragon happens upon an herbal shop, run by Angela and her werecat, Solembum.
- Murtagh: An unlikely comrad, especially as more and more of his history is revealed, but Murtagh remains loyal to Eragon’s cause throughout this book and much more of his story is continued in the next books of the cycle.
- Brom: He leaves too quickly in the story, although he has taught Eragon so much, much of his story remains to be told.
Quotes:
I will add in some favorites later…
