by Anna Ford

Created on: August 13, 2010

I have always had a love for adventurous and cunning books and "Eragon" was exactly the type of book that will get your heart pumping. It is a must read for all "Lord of the Ring", or "Narnia" fans. The young author, Christopher Paolini, did an amazing job of description. Some of the scenes are so real to you that you feel as though you're there with the characters. One thing I really did enjoy as I was reading this book was also listening to it on audio. The reader was very energetic and it made the book all the more fun to hear all the different voices.

Here is a list of characters and their roles in this book so you can better understand who I am speaking of:

*Eragon- Dragon rider, once a simple farm boy; Main character

*Saphira- Eragon’s Dragon and friend

*Galbatorix- An evil Dragon Rider that took over all of Alagaesia

*Durza- The Shade sent by Galbatorix to kill Eragon

*Arya- Elf that was made to transport Saphira’s egg

*Brom- Old storyteller, trained Eragon to use magic and the sword

*Ajihad- Leader of the Varden, a rebellion against Galbatorix

*Urgals- Terrible, ugly creatures who fight for Galbatorix

*Hrothgar- King of the Dwarves

*Murtagh- Helped Eragon escape from prison, friend

Paolini does a wonderful job of showing how a dragon and its rider are able to communicate by through their thoughts. Since they cannot hide things from each other, they have a very close relationship and are connected in a way that others are not. Through this entire book, Eragon learns to use the ancient language of the elves to his advantage. To use magic you must speak what you want to happen in the ancient language. The first word that Eragon learns is Brisingr, which means fire. All magic has its limits though. Whatever you do with magic will drain your energy as if you had done it with your hands. If you were to use too much magic and you did not have enough energy, then you would die. So you cannot raise someone from the dead or do something that is too drastic.

Another thing that I really loved about this book is that it really kept you guessing. Just when I thought I knew who Brom really was, Paolini surprised me. Murtagh also has some secrets that left me staring at the book with wondor. Sadly, I was disappointed with the movie. It left several of my favorite scenes out and didn't capture the true relationships as in the book. All in all this was definitely a very good read, and I am already looking forward to the sequel, Eldest.

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