Paolini's "Eldest"

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "bumbledore" <bumbledore at c...>
wrote:
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "dumbledore11214" <dumbledore11214 at y...>
> Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Paolini's "Eldest"
> 
> 
> > Have anybody finished the Eldest? I am curious to know what others 
> > think.
> > 
> > If I were to sum up my impressions, I would say that I did enjoy
> > the story - I had  a hard time putting the book down, but I would 
> > wish for  more in character development department.
> > 
> > To me, even Eragon does not have truly multifaceted personality.
> > 
> > JMO,
> > 
> > Alla.
> > 


> Well, im about 3/4 done with it, just started reading it oh, this
> morning.. I sure hope Ronan has somehting to do with it all.
>
> bumbledore

bboyminn:

First, I thought Ronan's story was just as epic and heroic as
Eragon's, and it seems that it must continue into the last book.
Eragon and Ronan together fighyting for justice.

As to the accusation of other that Eragon/Eldest is a 'Lord of the
Rings' rip-off, I think any story that has battles, elves, dwarves,
and other semi-humanoid creatures, plus magic and takes place in a
made-up place at a made-up time is always going to be accused of being
'borrowed' from 'The Rings'. But I see very little similarity in the
plot or story. 

Take Dwarves for example, in most literature dwarves have common
characteristics. They are not uniformly the same but they are
typically associcated with tunneling, but I think that come for
general myth and fairtales, not from Lord of the Rings. The same is
true of elves. While there are many creatures that are called elves
that do not resemble elves in The Rings, there are many myths and
legends where they do. I don't think Tolken invented those concept. He
borrowed them, made them unique, and placed them in his unique world.

There are various myth, fairtales, and legends around magic. JKR
borrows them in one form and Paolini borrows them in another, and
Jonathan Stroud (Bartimaeus) creates a third, but they are all based
on previous versions of existing myths. For example, in Stroud and
Paolini's version of magic, knowing someone's true name is
significant; in JKR's version it's not. But concept of the
significants of knowing a person's true name comes from general legend
surrounding mythical magic.

So, I think all these author are drawing from the same pool of general
knowledge. 

As far as the books by Paolini, I also found them to be 'can't put
them down' books. The stories are action-packed, never-a-dull-moment
books. 

As far as character development, I found all the primary characters
very well developed. In some ways even better than in 'The Rings'. I
feel as if I know all these characters, as if I know them very
personally, and that is the true test of character development. The
character's have personality, they all speak in a unique voice, they
all are distinct. At least they are to me.

The biggest disappointment in this last books is finishing it and
knowing how terribly long I am going to have to wait to find out what
happens. My desperate desire to know what happens next is one of the
strongest tributes to the author. 

So, while I admit some slight shortcomings, overal these are great
books that I will read again and again. Thrilling tales of heroic
struggles against overwhelming odds.

We recently discussed these book, so if you search the group for
'Eldest', you will certainly find our most recent discussion.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn