Saphira: Sacrificing "Character likability" for "World-building"?

[derrick_mace]

Reading some posts in Shurtugal.com and reading various reviews on the Inheritance series, I came across an important observation:

Is Paolini sacrificing any chance for a reader to like Saphira for staying true to the "Wild dragon lifestyle"?

"Keep Eragon here if you want. However his commitments are not mine, and I, for one, have decided to

Comments

[mouseycat]

I get a little more omnicidal every time I read/hear someone saying '(Insert character) is the best ever! You can't judge them!' in complete seriousness.

Must... resist... joining... don't want to be another name on their banhammered page... don't want to have to use library just to read idiots...

[derrick_mace]

We should have a mascot for Anti-Shurtugal.

I suggest an Urgal wearing a sweater. And fitting words that justify our position: "Does not compute. Does not compute!"

[venusrain]

Must... not... blow out brains... in response to extreme stupid...

God, even I'll admit that the characters I like can be complete psychos. One of my favorite OCs displays a remarkable lack of disregard for human life, but s/he's shown as having reasons to like hir,and not "s/he's a god, YOU MUST LIKE HER RARWG". >(

[derrick_mace]

The main bone I have to pick with Saphira isn't her being ferocious, but her being inconsistent towards reader expectation. In Eragon (the movie) I liked Saphira when she hatched, and thought, "Great! Now we have two heroes-in-making!", but that was before she took a Rare Candy and jumped a few levels to a big dragon, and any personality, fears have melted away into a talking mount with no purpose save to: Be stronger, fly with Eragon, and move the plot forward.

[kevias]

I like the movie. I'll have to read this novelization of Willow and see just how bad it is.

I think the "humans are dumb" meme is closely associated with the "Western Civilization is bad" meme. Everyone else (except dwarves, because they're industrial) tends to get stereotyped into harmless "love nature" or "be true" or "honorable warrior" parts which, ironically, only reestablish the power of the supposedly inferior central group by allowing them to scoop up the lessons of the others and go back to ruling the world. Only more "enlightened" this time.

[kevias]

The Hobbit wizard was entertaining in the movie. He's pretty much a fraud. When Willow goes to him to get his fortune told to make a decision, he casts the bones, ponders them carefully, then whispers to Willow, "The bones say nothing. What do you desire?" So Willow tells him, then he jumps up and announces "The bones have spoken!" so that everyone will think his mumbo-jumbo actually worked.

Cherlindrea....I can't recall who that is. Couldn't have had that big a role in the movie.