Eldest (Limited Edition) |  | Author: Christopher Paolini
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
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Rating:  1554 reviews
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Edition: Limited
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 736
Number Of Items: 1
ASIN: B000JMKVEY
Publication Date: September 26, 2006
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Amazon.com Review
Surpassing its popular prequel Eragon, this second volume in the Inheritance trilogy shows growing maturity and skill on the part of its very young author, who was only seventeen when the first volume was published in 2003. The story is solidly in the tradition (some might say derivative) of the classic heroic quest fantasy, with the predictable cast of dwarves, elves, and dragons--but also including some imaginatively creepy creatures of evil. The land of Alagaesia is suffering under the Empire of the wicked Galbatorix, and Eragon and his dragon Saphira, last of the Riders, are the only hope. But Eragon is young and has much to learn, and so he is sent off to the elven forest city of Ellesmera, where he and Saphira are tutored in magic, battle skills, and the ancient language by the wise former Rider Oromis and his elderly dragon Glaedr. Meanwhile, back at Carvahall, Eragon's home, his cousin Roran is the target of a siege by the hideous Ra'zac, and he must lead the villagers on a desperate escape over the mountains. The two narratives move toward a massive battle with the forces of Galbatorix, where Eragon learns a shocking secret about his parentage and commits himself to saving his people. The sheer size of the novel, as well as its many characters, places with difficult names, and its use of imaginary languages make this a challenging read, even for experienced fantasy readers. It is essential to have the plot threads of the first volume well in mind before beginning--the publisher has provided not only a map, but a helpful synopsis of the first book and a much-needed Language Guide. But no obstacles will deter the many fans of Eragon from diving headfirst into this highly-awaited fantasy. (Ages 12 and up) --Patty Campbell
Meet Author Christopher Paolini
 Christopher Paolinis abiding love of fantasy and science fiction inspired him to begin writing his debut novel, Eragon, when he graduated from high school at age 15.
"Writing is the heart and soul of my being. It is the means through which I bring my stories to life. There is nothing like putting words on a page and knowing that they will summon certain emotions and reactions from the reader. In my writing, I strive for a lyrical beauty somewhere between Tolkien at his best and Seamus Heaneys translation of Beowulf." --Christopher Paolini Paolini talks more about the series, and about what inspires him in this video clip.
Watch the video (high bandwith)
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The Eragon/Eldest Boxed Set
Want to learn more about the series? Check out our review of Eragon: Here's a great big fantasy that you can pull over your head like a comfy old sweater and disappear into for a whole weekend. Christopher Paolini began Eragon when he was just 15, and the book shows the influence of Tolkien, of course, but also Terry Brooks, Anne McCaffrey, and perhaps even Wagner in its traditional quest structure and the generally agreed-upon nature of dwarves, elves, dragons, and heroic warfare with magic swords. Read more
Order your copy of the boxed set today
Learn the Lingo
 Our quickie pronunciation guide will help you get to know some of the names and places in the Inheritance series.
| Ajihad | AH-zhi-hod | The Leader of the Varden | | Argetlam | ARE-jet-lahm | Elven word to describe Dragon Riders meaning "silver hand" | | Arya | AR-ee-uh | A powerful elf who is both beautiful and a master swordswoman | | Eragon | EHR-uh-gahn | A Dragon Rider from Carvahall | | Ra-zac | RAA-zack | Evil creatures | | Saphira | suh-FEAR-uh | Eragons dragon | | *Art copyright © 2004 John Jude Palencar |
Product DescriptionThis deluxe edition of the runaway international bestseller includes:
·A sneak peek at Book III
·An exclusive, full-color foldout poster of Glaedr by award-winning artist John Jude Palencar
·A revealing excerpt of the history of Alagaësia
·Never-before-seen art by the author, including an image of Bromâs elf ring
·A complete and comprehensive list of people, places, things, and dwarf clans
Darkness falls. . . . Swords clash. . . . Evil reigns.
Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now Eragon must travel to Ellesméra, land of the elves, for further training in magic and swordsmanship, the vital skills of the Dragon Rider. It is the journey of a lifetime, filled with awe-inspiring new places and people, each day a fresh adventure. But chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and Eragon isnât sure whom he can trust.
Meanwhile, his cousin Roran must fight a new battle back home in Carvahallâone that puts Eragon in even graver danger.
Will the king's dark hand strangle all resistance? Eragon may not escape with even his life. . . .
From the Hardcover edition.
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 1554
 Fantasy Series Worth Reading August 6, 2010
jin chu
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Modern day version of Lord of The Rings. Descriptive (but imaginative!) prose with dynamic characters and intriguing fantasy references. Brilliant, as well as impressive, epic written by somebody who's only in his early 20s! The movie does this book no justice! Can't wait for the 3rd and final installment.
 great read for sure August 5, 2010
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
i read eragon of course and alot of new facters and past stories fell into the plot even at the end of the story. but the way eldest was i was shocked by the different turns and it made me always want to keep reading im impressed.
 Dragging on...and on...and on.... and on- need I continue? August 1, 2010
Xina Reviewa
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Spoilers!
I have read series where the second book is terrible compared to the rest in the series, but this wins the prize for being the worst. I liked the first book, but this... this was not worth me staying up until 4 in the morning to finish it. We are given detailed descriptions about descriptions, each little step he takes, thoughts, and every piece of sand or rock he sees.
His thoughts are simplistic, and when we finally manage to get to Ellesmera (where Eragon will be taught magic), I think things will pick up when we find out Arya is a princess (Duh! Prophecy, chosen to be an ambassador, so distant, does he need any other clues?), and we find out that there is another Rider and Dragon. How wrong I was. Instead of just telling us that Eragon learned everything, we have to learn it to! If I had wanted to learn this language I would have asked Paolini for a course in the Ancient Language.
And then when he gets turned into a part elf, words cannot even describe how I felt about that scene. The only time we really saw any of Eragon's emotions were when he made his Farith of Arya and when he talked to her after the "scene." I really felt that that was the only time we ever got to know Eragon, and maybe when he found out that his blessing to Elva turned out to be a curse.
Then he leaves Ellesmera to fight in the best scene in the book, the battle. This is clearly what Paolini has been driving at for the whole book. Did we really have to read 700+ pages just to get to one chapter of action? The most action we had before this was when Eragon got beaten by that other elf whose name started with a V ( can't remember).
And then, throughout this whole book, we hear about Roran and his brave feats to rescue Katrina. While very over dramatic with "come" scene, it was still rather thrilling, and I think that Roran is probably the only real life in this story.
Overall, I would rate this for ages 12 and up, and I would recommend it because while it does drag on, it is worth reading.
 The writings of Eragon are the lamentations of the reader July 28, 2010
Crystal Starr Light (Here)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
NOTE: I listened to this on audiobook, so names and places are probably hideously misspelled.
Eragon and the Vardan have defeated Galbatorix's forces at Farthen Dur. But Eragon's journey has only begun. He must now travel to Ellesmera to learn the ways of the dragon riders from the last remaining dragon rider, a crazy old Elf, Oromis. Meanwhile, his cousin, Roran, must defend his home of Carvahall from the Raz'ac and retrieve Katrina, his true love, from their clutches.
Alternatively:
Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance have defeated the Empire's Death Star. But Luke's journey has only begun. He must now travel to Dagobah to learn the ways of the Jedi from the last remaining Jedi Master, a crazy old alien, Yoda. Meanwhile, Leia must defend the Millennium Falcon from Darth Vader and retrieve Han, her true love, from his clutches.
I strove hard and long to find something admirable, enjoyable about this book. In the end, I could come up only with this: Oromis teaching Eragon magic. There was something about that scene that really interested me. Oh, and having Vanna (White) the Elf smack Eragon around. That was amusing.
Otherwise, I found the "story" painful to listen to, hour after agonizing hour. I must be an ascetic, for mustering through almost 24 hours of this mess. Actually, I probably listened to less, as I tended to wander off mentally only to return and find that absolutely nothing had happened! It's sad, when you're reading a novel only to learn that half of what you are reading isn't even important to the story. It's a big, red warning sign that the author is writing piles and piles of fluff and that the editor fell asleep while editing the draft.
As we saw in Eragon, the characters in Eldest are terrible, starting with Eragon, a pitifully concealed variant of Aragorn but more like a Luke Skywalker. Unlike either Aragorn or Luke, he is the most boring, bland, uninteresting, emotionless, stupid, insipid (yes, I can use big words too!) protagonists I've ever read. Eragon never feels anything, he just cries out in anger or pain. The audience never feels any of his anger or pain, we are just told he has it. We suffer through his never-ending descriptions of descriptions of descriptions of everything around him, told with wide-eyed awe that made me wonder if this guy had been locked in a box as a child. We grimace as he stumbles over wooing Arya. We wince as things that are obvious, such as whether the Twins are traitors (they are, it's not a secret, you could tell in Eragon), are completely beyond him. We are belabored with reading him study such anachronistic subjects like electricity, magnetism, modern physics (Gravity!), and microbiology (milk spoils because of tiny organisms). This only shows how "enlightened" the Elves and Eragon are, to be studying these odd subjects (Medieval Elves know about microorganisms that spoil milk? People don't think electricity and magnetism are magic?). My head spent most of these sessions impacting a desk. And when Eragon becomes an Elf in the most contrived manner...I am still recovering from that one.
Then we have Arwen--I mean, Arya. We learn here that she is--GASP!--a princess. Really, did no one see that coming? She is the most distant, cold, uninviting character (not Elf, not female, not protagonist, character) I've ever encountered. How are we supposed to want Eragon to fall in love with her when I've seen granite with more personality?! How are we supposed to think she is so much better than dwarves when she is the one to start a fight with a dwarf about religion (she barges into their temple and begins to tell them how stupid they are to believe in gods with no provocation)? Why are we supposed to feel anything when she reunites with her mother, Queen Iszlanzardi? And what the heck was the beef between them anyway? Why bother to bring it up if there isn't even going to be a fight or a growth or a purpose to the difference of opinion?
Then we have the poor forsaken Gimli-clone that accompanies Eragon. He is almost completely forgotten in the book, so much so that the author at one point finally remembers him and has Eragon comment on it. Really good planning...let's have characters that you can't remember hang around. Brilliant!
Then we have all the characters that are basically carbon-copies of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings (most obviously Paolini's favorite film franchises). Eragon is Luke with Aragorn's name, Arya is Arwen/Leia, Murtagh is Han, Galbatorix is the Emperor/Darth Vader (ruler of the Empire, but betrayer of the Dragon Riders), Morzan is Darth Vader (second hand-man to the Emperor), Brom is Obi-Wan, Nasuada is Eowyn, Ajihad is Theoden, the Twins are Wormtongue, Orik is Chewbacca (hangs around in the back, is forgotten in the crowd), Oromis is Yoda, Roran is Leia...about the only character that could possibly be considered his own is Angela, but even she is supposedly based off his sister. That doesn't even include the Dwarves, Elves and Orcs (called Urgals) from Lord of the Rings. In the hands of a good author, this could be done decently, so that the characters pay homage to Star Wars and Lord of the Rings without being half-@ssed rip offs, but Paolini is far from a good author.
Worse than the characters, which I could at least stand in Eragon (I'll admit, Brom was my favorite and it was shame when he died), the story is hideously, mind-numbingly boring. Absolutely nothing happens throughout the book! It's all a long, boring retelling of journeys: one of Eragon's and another of Roran's.
Eragon is sent to Dagobah--I mean, Ellesmera--to learn the ways of the Jedi--I mean, Dragon Riders--under the tutelage of Yoda--dang, Oromis--the actual last Dragon Rider. Okay, fine, Paolini stole A New Hope for Eragon, I'm used to the theft in plots. But Eragon doesn't even reach Ellesmera until like Chapter 27. Those in between chapters detail each agonizing step of the journey. I wouldn't be surprised if Paolini detailed each day of the journey. Every stop is given in excruciating detail. Every race Eragon meets gives him long, boring lectures about their culture, their language, their religion, their clothes...anything and everything to pad this story out. Every trip down a river, every haul up a hill is recounted. It's a wonder I paid attention to any of the "story".
Even when we finally get to Ellesmera, the story doesn't pick up. Instead, we trudge through Eragon's thoughts about ants, Oromis' mind-boggling lessons on morality and ethics (I so don't want Elves teaching me ethics), and Paolini's barely concealed opinions on religion, veganism, and marriage. No wonder my favorite part was where Vanna whips Eragon.
The second "story" is Roran's story of what happened in Carvahall. I am still trying to figure out why the audience needs to know what happened to Eragon's cousin. He was shuffled off at the beginning of Eragon, never to be seen again, but now his story is important? Roran leads his people, Moses-like, out of Carvahall to the South to the safety of the Vardan. I have loads of insults for the stupidity of the townfolk, leaving their village at the whim of one man, to the clichéd motivational speech Roran gives, to yet another damsel-in-distress (women in these novels are just terrible, they can't keep themselves from being kidnapped for the life of them), to another horrible, awkward romance, to the complete misunderstanding of how the world works, but I really don't care enough about this part to dredge them up. Suffice it to say this part was completely worthless and only included to further the similarities between Eldest and Empire Strikes Back.
By the way, has anyone noticed that there is little explanation to why the Empire is bad? Okay, so we have the Raz'ac killing the folks of Carvahall, but that is only because of Eragon/Roran and only because the dragon egg was stolen from Galbatorix. If given the mind, one could reason that the Vardan are the enemies, for stealing, for being terrorists, and for being traitors to the government (and with how corrupt the Council are, it's not a hard thought to wrap your head around). If you are going to make bad guys, you show them being bad guys. You show Galbatorix and Morzan being bad guys, killing people, oppressing people, etc., not just tell the audience they are bad and expect us to root for Eragon and the Vardan.
Now we get to the fun part: the writing style. Paolini is very aware he's trying to write an epic, because it sounds just like an epic should. Only problem? It doesn't read like an epic at all. Too much time is spent on needless descriptions (Oh, yes, let's describe each of the Dwarves gods and goddesses!), padded wording, and clichéd phrases. Some of the worst passages I've found include:
"Slippers flashing beneath her dress, like mice darting from a hole." How do slippers "flash" from beneath a dress? How are mice like slippers? How is "like mice darting from a hole" really adding anything other than confusion to "slippers flashing beneath her dress"? This has got to be one of the worst descriptions I've ever read.
"Eragon surreptitiously watched the Elf, curious to what he looked like without his clothes." Uh, and why is Eragon hitting on Arya? Bad way to try to describe a naked Elf, Paolini.
"Eragon savored the epics as he might a well-cooked meal." Who said you couldn't eat what you read?
"Anxiety ran through his voice like a taut bow string." What does this even mean?
"gyrating walls of ebony water" No, I would say "purple", as in "purple prose".
And then, of course, as I've briefly touched on earlier, Paolini breaks some of the author's Golden Rules. "Show, don't tell". "Good prose should be invisible". "Don't lose the pacing by trying to describe your setting". "The word `said' is your best friend in dialogue." And so on.
And now, I get into the audiobook. Most of the time, I don't bother to comment, as the narrators do a good job at narrating. But I absolutely hated one thing about this narrator: his voices. They weren't bad, even if the women were nearly impossible to tell apart from the men, but the absolute low point was the dragons. For the dragons, the narrator growled in a low, deep, raspy voice. This wasn't bad for a short sentence here and there, but for long, long, long passages (which Paolini writes a lot of), it was so bad, I was very close to skipping over the section, just to stop listening to the horrible voice.
If you are interested in reading a cross-over fan fiction of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, I recommend you go to Fan Fiction . net. If you want to read horrible characters, unending descriptions, bad romance, and a thin as plastic wrap plot stretched over 71 chapters that reads like Star Wars with characters and settings from Lord of the Rings, read Eldest. If you didn't like Eragon, Eldest will only make you madder.
Brought to you by:
*C.S. Light*
Great book July 9, 2010
bikerchic
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you liked Eragon, then you will like this sequel. All the books in this series are great! Can't wait for the final book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 1554
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