Paolini's "Eldest" SPOILERS

[dumbledore11214]

Steve:
> 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.



Alla:

To be quite honest ( and please believe me when I say it ), even 
though I love LOTR very much, I find   the characters to be quite  
undeveloped  for the most part. ( Alla  runs and hides). I truly 
admire Tolkien genuis, the book sounds like music to me, but none of 
the characters ( except maybe Boromir) touched me as much as JKR 
characters do.

I find Tolkine's world, his ideas to be much more developed than 
Potterverse would ever be, but people who live in those worlds - 
well, I certainly like characters of Potterverse much more.

Just me of course.

Yes, so, back to Eldest. I don't find comparison  to LOTR characters 
to be a true test of  character as well developed. :-)
Again, IMO.

Take Eragon for example. He is a good guy,who strives to be even 
better guy , or Rider to win the war, right? He fells in love with 
Aria.

What else do I know about him? I want to know more about his 
struggles and doubts, I want to know what else he desires, I want to 
see more of his pain when discovers that Morgan is his father, etc, 
etc.




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

Alla:

I remember seeing that discussion, but for some reason I thought 
that this was prior to Eldest hitting  the stores.

I guess I was confused. :-)


Laura:

> I finished it a couple of weeks ago.  I did it in one sitting, so 
I 
> certainly argee that it was a hard-to-put-down book.  On the other 
> hand, aspects of Paolini's writing remain distinctly immature -- 
he's 
> grown a *lot* since ERAGON, but he's still got a ways to go 
(especially 
> in, as you say, the character development department).

Alla:

I agree, YES. I did not found the characters to be complex at all.



Laura: 
> However, the biggest problem *I* have with his writing is how 
heavily 
> he 'borrows' from other fantasies, notably THE LORD OF THE RINGS.  
Now, 
> don't get me wrong, I'm all for borrowing.  No new stories, &c.  
The 
> trick is to make it your own to the extent that the reader doesn't 
> *notice* any strong similarities.  IMO, Paolini really failed at 
this 
> in ERAGON and, to some extent, in ELDEST too.


Alla:

You know, it is funny. For some reason that did not bother me much. 
maybe because as Steve said I am used to Elves and Dwarves having 
similar qualities now throughout many books of this genre.

I think that Tolkien influenced the genre so profundly that it is 
impossible to find the book which is not touched by it in one way or 
another. They key of course as you say to make it your own. 



Laura:
> It's kinda too bad, IMO, that he started so young.  Maybe if he 
were 
> older, he would have had the confidence and experience to be able 
to 
> write the Inheritance trilogy the way it *could* have been 
written.  As 
> it is, I doubt he'll get another shot at writing an epic fantasy 
that 
> is popular with the masses.
> 

Alla:

Why not? Maybe  his other book will be even more popular?

> 
> P.S. His vocabulary makes me giggle like a schoolgirl.

Alla:

Please forgive me, but could you explain why? I missed the joke. :-)


Alla.