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purplecatI was expecting to post loads of stuff on Sunday (when I had a 12 hour stopover at Chicago Airport) but somehow couldn't face the concentration involved in actually composing a coherent post.
I did read Eragon however...
I had read extremely divergent reviews of Eragon from the extremely enthusiastic (hence the reason it went on my Amazon wish list and subsequently appeared under the tree at Christmas) to the extremely derisory (of the film but a fair amount of criticism was directed at the book as well). So I approached reading it with some trepidation.
When you open a book to find on the first page a map that contains the Haradac desert, Bierland and Furnost you know your author has been reading Tolkien. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, although more experienced authors put more effort into concealing (or perhaps I should say something like developing, or growing upon) their inspirations, but there is a reason why I don't read post-Tolkien multi-part swords-n-sorcery fantasy epics which is that without exception the few I have read have been bloated beyond my tolerance and at least half have been derivative drivel not worth the time I spent reading them. In fact I wouldn't have picked up Eragon if I had realised it was only the first part in a series. So the good news is that there isn't too much padding. There are a few sequences I'd have deleted had I had the choice put it moves along in a pretty pacy fashion and most of the events served some purpose either in terms of plot or character. On the other hand it is extremely derivative. Whole themes and interactions are lifted wholesale from Lord of the Rings, Pern and Star Wars and I suspect that if I had read more multi-part sword-n-sorcery (I'm going to abbreviate this to MPSNS) stuff I'd have picked up a lot more influences: Ra'zac's sniff for our hero who is mysteriously struck helpless while they do so; dragons hatch from their eggs and bond to their chosen teenager; and the last remaining dragon rider who has been in hiding for many years tutors the young apprentice in the ways of magic. It's not drivel though, by a long shot, the plot makes sense and the main protagonist while often irritating in a 16-year-old boy kind of a way at least isn't a total idiot (although several plot revelations - including some that have not taken place by the end of the book - are so glaringly obvious that most of the characters seem at least slightly dumb) and has many likeable qualities. It's the most readable of the small amount of MPSNS stuff I've seen although George R. R. Martin's Ice and Fire sequence (of which I read several books before becoming bored with the padding about half through A Storm of Swords) is undeniably more original and much better crafted but then I'm comparing the work of a mature writer here with the efforts of someone who wasn't out of their teens at the time of writing.
I don't think I shall be reading the rest of the trilogy but if Christopher Paolini ever publishes a stand-alone novel (especially once his writing has had a few years to mature) I may well give him a second chance since there is much here to like.
I did read Eragon however...
I had read extremely divergent reviews of Eragon from the extremely enthusiastic (hence the reason it went on my Amazon wish list and subsequently appeared under the tree at Christmas) to the extremely derisory (of the film but a fair amount of criticism was directed at the book as well). So I approached reading it with some trepidation.
When you open a book to find on the first page a map that contains the Haradac desert, Bierland and Furnost you know your author has been reading Tolkien. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, although more experienced authors put more effort into concealing (or perhaps I should say something like developing, or growing upon) their inspirations, but there is a reason why I don't read post-Tolkien multi-part swords-n-sorcery fantasy epics which is that without exception the few I have read have been bloated beyond my tolerance and at least half have been derivative drivel not worth the time I spent reading them. In fact I wouldn't have picked up Eragon if I had realised it was only the first part in a series. So the good news is that there isn't too much padding. There are a few sequences I'd have deleted had I had the choice put it moves along in a pretty pacy fashion and most of the events served some purpose either in terms of plot or character. On the other hand it is extremely derivative. Whole themes and interactions are lifted wholesale from Lord of the Rings, Pern and Star Wars and I suspect that if I had read more multi-part sword-n-sorcery (I'm going to abbreviate this to MPSNS) stuff I'd have picked up a lot more influences: Ra'zac's sniff for our hero who is mysteriously struck helpless while they do so; dragons hatch from their eggs and bond to their chosen teenager; and the last remaining dragon rider who has been in hiding for many years tutors the young apprentice in the ways of magic. It's not drivel though, by a long shot, the plot makes sense and the main protagonist while often irritating in a 16-year-old boy kind of a way at least isn't a total idiot (although several plot revelations - including some that have not taken place by the end of the book - are so glaringly obvious that most of the characters seem at least slightly dumb) and has many likeable qualities. It's the most readable of the small amount of MPSNS stuff I've seen although George R. R. Martin's Ice and Fire sequence (of which I read several books before becoming bored with the padding about half through A Storm of Swords) is undeniably more original and much better crafted but then I'm comparing the work of a mature writer here with the efforts of someone who wasn't out of their teens at the time of writing.
I don't think I shall be reading the rest of the trilogy but if Christopher Paolini ever publishes a stand-alone novel (especially once his writing has had a few years to mature) I may well give him a second chance since there is much here to like.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-22 07:32 pm (UTC)Maybe it's my German heritage, but I immediately thought of this as a country where they drink lots of lager...
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-22 07:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-23 09:02 am (UTC)Just saying.
MPSNS
Date: 2007-05-27 12:38 am (UTC)At some point I should write a review or two of all the Banks Culture novels.
P.S. How about the Bernard Cornwell Arthur novels? Are they Sharpe meets Excalibur?
Re: MPSNS
Date: 2007-05-28 09:24 am (UTC)I've not read any Sharpe and only read the start of one of the Bernard Cornwell Arthur novels so I can't really comment. I can't even recall whey I didn't finish the Bernard Cornwell.