goodmorning

I have three tests next week. I should be studying.

But who wants to do that? Besides, I've only got thirty minutes before I have to leave so I figured I'd use this time to write my review of Eldest, book two in Paolini's Inheritance trilogy (which is apparently changing to a cycle instead, with four books…what’s with that?!?).

Ah...letsee

First sentence/last sentence- I gotta say, not impressed. But Paolini's not really one for dramatic statements in the narrative, so it's not terribly missed.

Plot: quite good. Not very complicated, but not simple either. I made three predictions throughout the course of it and they all came true, which I attribute to my intuitiveness as a writer rather than Paolini's failure to hide key elements. Really, it was quite well done. Most of it. He did absolutely shock me at one point (okay, maybe not absolutely, but enough that I hadn't remotely seen it coming and did let loose an 'omygosh'). Half the shock was severe disappointment and anger because hi!, this was my favorite character, and I did not like where he was going. Paolini did make it evident, however, that he is on his way to redeeming himself (himself being the author: I felt he had betrayed me).

Now, throughout the whole middle of the book, most of the action was carried by Roran, rather than Eragon, but it was no less interesting. A little slow, in parts. How it ended, revealing meaning behind a couple of seeds Paolini had planted along the way, the book title(s) in particular, certainly had a touch of brilliance. I had wondered in the back of my head why in the world it was called 'eldest', and now I know. Quite good, really. Now I want to change the title of the third Amisresai'n (currently The Weight of the Veil). Anywho...

Characters: Eragon deepens, which is good. Saphira, not so much (although I was somewhat pleased with her flirtacious behaviour to Glaedr; it showed a certain immaturity that hadn't really been brought out before and I thought was important to note. He played the dragons well). I was most pleased with Roran, I think. His character deepened by leaps and bounds and I think it was a great move. I really like him, he's so dark and troubled (still, not my favorite character).

It seems to me, however, that Paolini has but a weak grasp on his female characters. He has not tried much to deepen them. Nasuada is more a figurehead than a person, and Arya is so distant and reserved there doesn't have to be much to her...yet (although it would be wise of Paolini to reveal something of her deeper character, or else give up Eragon's tumultuous feelings for her altogether. Really, it's starting to irritate me, what would really rock the readers would be to do a little spot on Arya, revealing some of her inner feelings, not just by proxy through Oromis explaining why she's behaving the way she is, and so on...). The one female character that shows real spunk is Angela, who is interestingly modeled after Paolini's sister. He ought to do that more often. Angela is different, lovable, and realistic.

::EDIT:: I forgot to mention Elva! Dark and creepy! I liked the fact that everybody shuddered the first time they heard her voice. Very effective. I don't like her; not hardly at all, but she's a good character, and the reason she is the way she is is pretty cool. ::EDIT::

Setting: same as Eragon. Umm...he didn't seem to spend as much time describing in this one, but maybe I'm just getting used to it. I got a fairly good mental picture of Ellesmera, so I'm happy.

Theme: um. Well, the 'religious' beliefs of the elves I found alarming. Paolini left room to redeem himself but does not show much sign of doing so.  I'm not particularly fond of Paolini elves. They're kind of like...I don't know, zen materialists, if such a thing is possible. New Age atheists. Stuck-up, soulless artists. Yes, I think that describes them well. Perhaps a bit too harsh?

He touched on the purpose of war and why it is sometimes necessary, which I appreciated, but he did not argue it as eloquently as I think I would have preferred.

I'm still impressed at his keeping Galbatorix, the antagonist, at a distance. You never see or hear from him directly, so he simply grows in this cloud of unknown maliciousness. We become slowly aware of how powerful he really must be, and still retain the feeling that once Eragon meets him we will find we underestimated the king's power. There's a certain...I don't know, wisdom in keeping the enemy distant, as that is often how we view enemies in the real world. 

Ending: sufficient bang and doubt. Could not at all stand alone and I’m glad that it won’t. I kind of sat around in my head after finishing it going “what am I gonna read now?”, despite the fact that I’m currently reading Out to Canaan and The Prestige, because once you get a taste of pure adventure you want to stick with it forever. Thusly, I’m reading The Disappearing Dwarf (sequel to Blaylock’s The Elfin Ship), which is insanely delightful and promises to make me crave cheese.

Style: same as before…which I suppose shows consistency. Used a few fancy, really vague words that I could only hope, for his sake, were used correctly. I could’ve looked them up but I’m never near a dictionary when I’m reading, and it would waste valuable reading time… Got a bit modern with a few things…some of the dialogue seemed to me a little juvenile (reminded me of my stuff, haha), and he had one huge ‘no no’ that provided wonderful entertainment for my entire family and (one) friend, who I read it to specifically to get a laugh. (I refer to a line of dialogue having to do with barges). I mean, this thing was painfully bad. But since, on the whole, the book was good, I guess it just goes to show what kind of ridiculousness you can get away with if you’re a good writer.

Overall: then, of course I have good things to say. Eldest revealed that Eragon was actually better than I thought. The two together are much better than the one; I only hope the third (Brisingr) and fourth (?) do the same thing for Inheritance.

Well, Paolini, does this count as round two? I haven’t yet gotten anything published, but I think, despite your talent, the barges have fallen such that it is yet another draw.

Until next time, my worthy opponent.

later.