Eragon
First of all, belated thanks go to julie_weasley and priwskywalker for their Christmas cards. I was not too Christmas-ey this year, that's why I didn't send any cards. Sorry guys, I will try to be more excited next year.
I know I've been MIA this past few days, but first, it was Christmas, although a quiet - and thankfully also peaceful - one spend home with my mother and sister, and then, there was book reading.
Since there was a movie adaptation of Eragon going out this Christmas, I decided to buy the book and read it a few weeks ago. Midway through it I got bored by it, but eventually finished, saw the movie and bought book 2, Eldest.
The book is NOT OMGTHATWASAWESOME and it's NOT a total FAILURE either, it's just...ok. That probably means a lot, becase as rjann always says, I either LOVE stuff or HATE them, and this was one of the few things that was simply ok. Yes, it's a fantasy book, and one with dragons, but there was a few things that annoyed me. Mainly, the fact that it feels to me as a copy of various other fandoms/stories/books/movies. Come on! It's like reading a LOTR fanfic! AND I have never read any of those famous dragons books, but I'm sure if any of you have - starpiper you read some, didn't you? - you could point out similarities to those as well! Just read the following (incomplete, for sure) list and tell me if you agree with me or not!
Dragon Riders, keepers of justice and peace before the Empire = Jedi Knights
Uncle Garrow = Uncle Owen
Eragon = Luke Skywalker
Teirm, with a castle higher than the houses surrounding it, which in their turn are arranged in various height levels, and has never EVER been taken over by enemies before = Minas Tirith
Farthen Dûr/Tronjheim, a dwarf city with a magic door hidden in stone that opens up to an ancient saying/language next to a lake = Moria
Brom = Obi-Wan
Arya = a mixture of Arwen's and Eowyn's best traits
Urgals = Orcs
Stronger Urgals or Krulls = Uruk=hai
Oromis = Yoda
Now, all this similarities actually make me laught out loud - as was the case with Oromis, and his speech about patience and Eragon's meditation to feel the Force surrounding and penetrating us all life surrounding him.
The second book is better than the first - at least so far - because *gasp* of Roran's side story. I love secondary characters! And his, Katrina's, and Carvahall's story are very interesting!
And the movie was enjoyable - they shortened Eragon and Brom's journey, which to me was the boring part with they going around in circles and solving nothing, and I liked what they did with Brom - better killed by the Shade than a Raz'zac, and it served a good purpose - make Eragon even angrier at the Shade before their final battle - but not so much what they did with Murtagh. And Arya is completely off character. But it's entertaining. :)
I know I've been MIA this past few days, but first, it was Christmas, although a quiet - and thankfully also peaceful - one spend home with my mother and sister, and then, there was book reading.
Since there was a movie adaptation of Eragon going out this Christmas, I decided to buy the book and read it a few weeks ago. Midway through it I got bored by it, but eventually finished, saw the movie and bought book 2, Eldest.
The book is NOT OMGTHATWASAWESOME and it's NOT a total FAILURE either, it's just...ok. That probably means a lot, becase as rjann always says, I either LOVE stuff or HATE them, and this was one of the few things that was simply ok. Yes, it's a fantasy book, and one with dragons, but there was a few things that annoyed me. Mainly, the fact that it feels to me as a copy of various other fandoms/stories/books/movies. Come on! It's like reading a LOTR fanfic! AND I have never read any of those famous dragons books, but I'm sure if any of you have - starpiper you read some, didn't you? - you could point out similarities to those as well! Just read the following (incomplete, for sure) list and tell me if you agree with me or not!
Dragon Riders, keepers of justice and peace before the Empire = Jedi Knights
Uncle Garrow = Uncle Owen
Eragon = Luke Skywalker
Teirm, with a castle higher than the houses surrounding it, which in their turn are arranged in various height levels, and has never EVER been taken over by enemies before = Minas Tirith
Farthen Dûr/Tronjheim, a dwarf city with a magic door hidden in stone that opens up to an ancient saying/language next to a lake = Moria
Brom = Obi-Wan
Arya = a mixture of Arwen's and Eowyn's best traits
Urgals = Orcs
Stronger Urgals or Krulls = Uruk=hai
Oromis = Yoda
Now, all this similarities actually make me laught out loud - as was the case with Oromis, and his speech about patience and Eragon's meditation to feel the Force surrounding and penetrating us all life surrounding him.
The second book is better than the first - at least so far - because *gasp* of Roran's side story. I love secondary characters! And his, Katrina's, and Carvahall's story are very interesting!
And the movie was enjoyable - they shortened Eragon and Brom's journey, which to me was the boring part with they going around in circles and solving nothing, and I liked what they did with Brom - better killed by the Shade than a Raz'zac, and it served a good purpose - make Eragon even angrier at the Shade before their final battle - but not so much what they did with Murtagh. And Arya is completely off character. But it's entertaining. :)