Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I teach Gifted middle school students and was urged by many students to read this. So I picked up a copy and was almost instantly transported to a magical, far-off land- Middle Earth, with a fantastical storyline- Star Wars. Yes, it is admirable for a 17 year old, but fiction cannot be measured against the age of the author, it must be measured against other great books, regardless of author's age. When I spoke to one of my students about how similar this storyline was to Star Wars, he asked how. So, I started a two-column list as I read. I now present this to you: Warning: SPOILERS!! DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW! ****Keep in mind that it is not EXACT, but that many circumstances are similar. For instance, another character is the son of a bad guy, but the "son of the bad guy" is still in this story. Also keep in mind that this list was created as I read, so several revelations happen in the order they occurred. 1. 1st scene: Female elf magically transports a dragon egg, hiding it from evil doers. (Princess Leia sends a droid to an escape pod, hiding it from evil doers.) 2. Eragon lives on farm with uncle. (Luke lives on farm with aunt and uncle.) 3. Eragon's parentage unknown. (Luke's parentage unknown.) 4. Riders possess magical powers and were wiped out by Galbatorix. (Jedi possess magical powers and were wiped out by Vader and the Emperor.) 5. Galbatorix is a former Rider who enlisted another to destroy Riders. (Vader is a former Jedi who was enlisted to destroy the Jedi.) 6. The Empire rules all and it threatened by a small, mysterious band (Vardens) who "constantly raided and attacked the Empire." (The Empire rules all and is threatened by a small, mysterious band, the Rebel Alliance.) 7. Galbatorix learned "dark secrets" from a Shade. (Vader and Palpatine learned the dark side from their mentors.) 8. Vrael defeated Galbatorix but "hesitated with the final blow." (Obi-Wan defeated Vader but did not kill him.) 9. Eragon stumbles upon the egg. (Luke stumbles upon the droid.) 10. The dragon hatches, releasing powers Eragon didn't know he had. (The droid runs away, leading Luke on a journey that releases powers he didn't know he had.) 11. Evil men looking for the egg burn Eragon's farm, killing his uncle. (Evil men looking for the droid burn Luke's farm, killing his aunt and uncle. 12. Eragon goes out for revenge and old, gray Brom goes, too. (Luke goes out to return the droid and old, gray Obi-Wan goes, too.) 13. Brom speaks to dragons. (Obi-Wan has powers, too.) 14. Brom presents a sword to Eragon. (Obi-Wan presents a lightsaber to Luke.) 15. Brom secures horses for transport. (Obi-Wan secures the Falcon for transport). 16. Eragon is the first in a new line of Riders. (Luke is the first in a new line of Jedi.) 17. On the journey, Brom teaches Eragon to fight. (On the journey, Obi-Wan teaches Luke to fight.) 18. They come across a destroyed village, all inhabitants dead. (They come across a destroyed planet, all inhabitants dead.) 19. Brom asks Eragon to levitate a rock. (Luke's training included levitating rocks.( 20. The egg was supposed to be sent to Brom. (The droid was supposed to be sent to Obi-Wan.) 21. Brom lived incognito in Carvahall to look after Eragon. (Obi-Wan lived incognito on Tatooine to look after Luke.) 22. Brom reveals himself to have been a Dragon Rider. (Obi-Wan reveals himself to be a Jedi.) 23. Brom and Eragon cross paths with Murtagh, slightly older than Eragon, who does not "owe allegiance to anyone but" himself. (Obi-Wan and Luke cross paths with Han Solo, slightly older than Luke who only looks after himself.) 24. Brom sacrifices himself to the Ra'zac to save Eragon. (Obi-Wan sacrifices himself to save Luke.) 25. Brom was friends with Morzan, a Rider who turned to evil. (Obi-Wan was friends with Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi who turned to evil.) 26. Brom took Morzan's sword after he defeated him in battle and gave it to Eragon. (Obi-Wan took Anakin's lightsaber after he defeated him in battle and gave it to Luke.) 27. Eragon wants to find a beautiful, mysterious woman who is being held prisoner. (Luke wants to find a beautiful, mysterious woman who is being held prisoner.) 28. Eragon and Murtagh rescue an elf woman from prison. (Luke and Han rescue Princess Leia from prison.) 29. Arya holds information vital to the success of the Varden. (Leia holds information vital to the success of the Rebels.) 30. Arya was ruthlessly tortured to reveal the location of the Varden. (Leia is ruthlessly tortured to reveal the location of the Rebel base.) 31. Attempting to return Arya to the Varden, Eragon and Murtagh are pursued all the way to the secret base, which takes them in. (Attempting to return Leia to the Rebels, Luke and Han are pursued all the way to the secret base, which takes them in. 32. It turns out that Arya was the one who sent the egg to the Spine. (Leia was the one who sent R2-D2 to Tatooine. 33. Murtagh reveals that he is the secret son of Morzan, Galbatorix's most faithful follower. (Darth Vader, the Emperor's most faithful follower, reveals himself to be Luke's father.) 34. Urgals advance on Tronjheim. (The Death Star advances on Yavin.) 35. Eragon destroys the Shade. (Luke destroys the Death Star.) This doesn't mean it's not an entertaining story. Of course it is! Star Wars is entertaining, isn't it? I'm just so surprised that Paolini's editors didn't see that almost every element of this story has been borrowed from other sources, like Tolkien, McAffrey and others. Very little is original. Cutting and pasting from different books and screenplays does not make an original story.