I've read Eragon books and they're better than the movie! -the movie is good only because of Ed Speleers!! I believe that the author has taken ideas from Tolkien but after all, almost all fantasy books authors are influenced by Tolkien... and don't forget, he was 15 when he started writing Eragon!

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~LIV TYLER MYSPACE PAGE~

I've read Eragon books and they're better than the movie! -the movie is good only because of Ed Speleers!! :P I believe that the author has taken ideas from Tolkien but after all, almost all fantasy books authors are influenced by Tolkien... and don't forget, he was 15 when he started writing Eragon!

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~LIV TYLER MYSPACE PAGE~

sorry i posted it so many times... there was a problem and i didn't realize it was submitted...

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~LIV TYLER MYSPACE PAGE~

I read the first two books of Eragon, gotta get round to the third.

Didn't like the movie at all, didn't match with the book, didn't open up for a sequel, and when you put it next to LOTR, you really do see what a measure of dedication does.

Its like how after LotR was finished New Line punched out about 5 fantasies that made squat.

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~Old lurker from '06 crawling back for another adventure.~

You may call me Cazz.

The inheritance series has a lot in common with LOTR.. I think Cristopher Paolini was inspired by Tolkien or something..

and the movie on Eragon.. man!! they butchered the story

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Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo

To put it simply, Eragon....is horrible. Christoper (the name of the author) might as well of ripped off the cover of Lord of the Rings, got some glue and crayons, and scribbled "Eragon" on the cover, published it, and it would have had the same effect. Now, don't get me wrong; the guy is a truly wondereful writer, but it's competley wasted on him since he thinks of such plain ideas and such bland characters.

At first I thought the same, but if you really think about it, it's difficult to write a fantasy novel of this type nowadays without being accused of "ripping off Tolkien". Seriously - he wasn't. He appears to have gotten his influences from the same sources though. I definitely can identify a TON of influences from Norse mythology in Eragon. Same with LotR. Tolkien doesn't own those sources just because he used them first. And I don't think it's fair to accuse Paolini of "copying" him. Because even if you look at both stories... they're really different...

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That's true, but I just think the ideas where overdone somehow. Like when Eragorn saw Arya in his dreams, I immediately knew they were going to be lovers. The over-predictable ideas just made the story seem dull IMO. Maybe it's just me.

I think the problem with Eragon is that it's just poorly executed and unoriginal. I wouldn't say it's a direct Tolkein rip-off, rather it seems it plays upon the old fantasy stereotypes of a young boy with no family tries to complete/help with some special task, falls in love with a princess and saves the world along the way.

I would agree with Haldir, in that nearly all fantasy novelists are now compared in some way with Tolkein. CS Lewis is constantly compared to Tolkein cause the two were colleagues, I've heard HP being called a rip off of LotR too, and most descriptions I've seen of ASoIaF/ Game of Thrones is Middle Earth with sex. I think Tolkein set the standard of Epic fantasy literature, and until (or if ever) something else has such greater legacy then it always will be.

That being said, Chris Paoloini does acknowledge that he uses & includes aspects of other Sci Fi/ Fantasy literature- in his foreward/Authors notes to Brisingr he says that including Doctor Who (Some line about a lonely god or something) in Alagaesia was intentional- so it wouldn't surprise me if LotR was a huge on him and he found, what he thought was an original way to reference that.

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Let's keep in mind that Paolini was only 18 when he wrote Eragon, whereas Tolkien was already an old man with lots and lots of experience. I don't think a lot of 18 year olds could write a story so hugely successful as the Inheritance cycle has been.
Also, if you look for similarities, you will always be able to find them. One must learn to appreciate the story independently. I'm not saying everything about Eragon is perfect, far from it, but all things considered I think it's a really good story and entertaining to read. Yes there are things that are similar to LotR, but Paolini has still created a completely different world and is telling a completely different story.

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by Lembas

I've been thinking about these similarities between Tolkien's and Paolini's works too.
I read the Inheritance Cycle before LotR, and enjoyed it very much. It reminded me of Narnia in a sense, but was decidedly different. The concepts were new to me too.
Then I read LotR and realized how many things were similar between the two. The Inheritance Cycle lost a bit of its luster for me because I thought it pulled way too many things from Tolkien and lacked something absolutely new. sure, Paolini crafted new things for his stories, and I'll give him credit for the success of his books and the amount of time he must have spent on it. (!) but like Lembas said, so many things about it are kind of generic. (boy is parentless, thus gaining our sympathy, boy dreams about girl, then meets her and rescues her, boy saves world...)
I'm not saying the Inheritance Cycle shouldn't be read because of that. I still like it. I just wish it wasn't so similar to Tolkien.
however, if the best has already been written, there's nothing anyone can do to surpass it!

the kicker for me, though, was the fact that Eragon sounded too much like Aragorn, and that Arya means Arwen in Elvish! names are a sticking point for me. I like names to evoke images of who and what I want to see in a particular person. sorry, but I wish Paolini had been more creative with those. (besides, Eragon looks too much like dragon, lol.)

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thanks for the Hobbit Team banner, Lembas!

This.

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Personally, I always found Eragon more similar to Star Wars than to LotR. It's really only the names (and races) that are like LotR. But there's enough similarity to numerous fantasy stories that it becomes its own. And since I don't expect it to be the best book ever written, I enjoy reading it.

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going on a journey through my old claims

Eragon isn't like lotr at all!! The story is totally different. The names of the towns and stuff, seem to be like the ones in lotr.
How can you say a book about a boy and a dragon is anything like a book where they're trying to destroy a ring??
Yeah, he did copy the elves, but Tolkien's idea of elves is so much better than those little santa elves, so why would he use them?
(Would you really want Arya to be a short little dorky thing?)
I think all the books are great! The movie, on the other hand, is boring, even if you haven't read the book first. (It would be cool if someone else, more dedicated, would re-do the movie, and make it better. You don't really get to know the characters at all. Baby Saphira is adorable though!)

To be honest I've warmed up to Eragon a little since I last ranted about it. The shiny dragons are really starting to get to me. I might have to swallow my pride and take the first volume back out of the trash and try it again. (In other words, re-buy the books)

I for one LOVED the books but HATED the movies. They completely slaughtered it!!! GRRRRRR!!!!!

BYE!!!!!