It was also written for young teenagers by a teenager whose parents owned a publishing company. It did do a few small things I liked, but in general, it was a massive "MEH" sounding fart overall.
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Galbatorix not showing up until the last book was actually a really good move by Paolini. He built up a significant amount of suspense that way. The way he integrated elements of real warfare like fallout from nuclear detonation into a setting with high fantasy magic was awesome.
aug 21, 2025, 11:47 am • 1 0 • view
I also appreciated the fleshing out of his dwarves as an actual culture, the fact he didn't just go full boring copy and replaced orcs as a villain with another race was also cool. The fact that there was actual magic racism that got overcome towards the end was really nice too.
aug 21, 2025, 11:49 am • 0 0 • view
But all in all, its a book series I have had zero inclination to go back and re-read, and I do that with series I've fallen in love with. One I'm doing it with right now is Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erickson, which is absolutely phenomenal and is the best modern fantasy work, period.
aug 21, 2025, 11:50 am • 0 0 • view
Its got the attention to detail of Game of Thrones, its got grimness in it, its got significant empires duking it out, its got magic and high fantasy, but also complex political aspects. Erickson is an anthropologist and he's a good one at that, so he understands cultures to an extreme.
aug 21, 2025, 11:51 am • 0 0 • view
If you're looking for not just a good series to read, but probably the greatest of the modern era of fantasy, read Malazan. It is an absolutely phenomenal read.
aug 21, 2025, 11:53 am • 0 0 • view
I read about 100 pages of eragon in 2007, I just think the cover was good
aug 21, 2025, 12:13 pm • 1 0 • view