This book is a jewel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( )

Eldest. Gah. The book that would.not.end. Marginally more interesting than Eragon (particularly the last half) but still a slog. Mediocre at best - I still can't figure out why this series has been such a hit. I imagine when the final installment of the trilogy is released, I'm going to want to know what happens - but maybe I'll be able to find a detailed synopsis online somewhere. Not looking forward to struggling through more of Christopher Paolini's overwrought prose....

Eragon and Eldest were some of the greatest books I have ever read. They have action, adventure, and lots of other cool stuff. Eragon begins with a young man out hunting in the mountains. He then stumbles upon a giant blue rock and takes it home. It turns out that out of that rock (which is an egg) hatches a dragon.

In Eldest Eragon (the young boy) begins his real training to become a draon rider. ( )

Though the writing style of the first book (Eragon) could be better the storyline is excellent. The characters are realistic, and they easily win over the emotions of the reader. Even better, this series is one of the few young adult novels with a male main character. The book has some great descriptions, but this can make certain scenes a little slow. Still, I enjoyed the book, and I would recommend it to teens. ( )

I'd heard so much about this series, the next great fantasy epic and so on and so forth, that when the omnibus of the first two books was on sale, I figured I'd check it out. And I'd take all of the hype with a grain of salt.

Even so, I was extremely disappointed. Paolini rambles on and on to the point that I think he fancies himself the next JRR Tolkien. Except Tolkien was original, and his passion for detail completely sucked me in to his books, rather than boring me.

Aside from the obvious derivation from Middle Earth, the story is pretty derivative of other fantasy and SF - even Star Wars and the Karate Kid. Shortly after Murtaugh was introduced in the first book I predicted to myself what revelations there would eventually be about himself and Eragon. And I was right, even though I had to wait until almost the end of the second book to confirm it.

I finished because I hate not finishing a book, but I wouldn't recommend it. ( )