Alrighty *cracks knuckles* Here we go...

The myth which I believe you all are referring to is Der Ring des Nibelungen; part of Germanic folklore, turned into a four-part opera later on.
It IS about a magic ring, but rings in themselves are magic. Tolkien was writing a myth; he used reality, history, and human culture. Rings have been around FOREVER and have all kinds of connotations, which is probably why he used it.

Paolini was writing a story. I like stories. I've no problem with stories.

I have a problem with people taking plots, names, and cultures from other people's stories and getting their's published.

I have a problem with people "making up a language" which they can't speak themselves and calling it one.

Paolini took stuff he thought was cool and meshed it with purple prose.

In my opinion.
Not trying to offend anyone.
Very willing to discuss, despite appearances.

/Paolini Rant

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excuseme but is dragon rider an eragon book?

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No, Dragon Rider is by a different author and I think is at a younger reading level

The minute I picked up Eragon I could tell the similarities....Arya reminds me of Arwen...and then there are the Urgals which are really Orcs However, I don't really care I love the Eragon series and LotR, and if Paolini did copy Tolkien, that's probably why I like the books so much

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It's not too bad. a fun read. I read it on the bus to florida a few years ago. I'm looking forward to the 3rd book.

I'm with Gilraen. It's a good story, nice to relax to. LotR is more complex, and gets you thinking more. Sometimes I just want a book to read and zone out with. It's fantasy, similar to LotR. So I love it.

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The thing that annoys me about Eragon is I can never seem to get the plot straight in my head. I read it once every six months or year, and every time I read it it's as though I've completely forgotten everything that has happened and need to totally refresh my memory. I'm looking forward to the movie, maybe that'll help me get it straight.

Anyway, yeah, name similarities in particular REALLY annoy me. I mean, didn't Paolini anticipate someone saying to a buddy, "Have you read Eragon?" and it coming out like, "Have you read Aragon?" and then getting a confused look and a response like, "Isn't it Aragorn?" I've done this several times with various friends, and they all give me confused looks and wonder why I'm pronouncing Aragorn wrong when practically all I do is coach them on pronunciation of LotR names. And what was with Elessari? That's really blatant, buddy. If you're going to use LotR names, at least use obscure ones!

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as someone else said, Paolini was writing a story...not a history. we can harldy compare any of the Inheritance Trilogy to LotR despite their similarites. Sure 3/4 of Paolini's names and places are very similar to Tolkien's but they are different. Inheritance is...a weaker plot, less complicated and has more chances for fanfic writers to explore the world and make things up. LotR has a rigid structure where many things are already explained for you, much harder to make things up with out crossing lines and breaking rules.

I finished reading Eragon for the first time a few weeks ago. I thought it copied The Lord of the Rings a little too much. It's still a really really cool book though.

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man i know i kinda missed a whole lot of what people have been saying but im just going from the starting comment...i didnt even know that it had anything to do with LOTR i just picked it up started reading it and not once did the thought "hey this is like LOTR" come into my head...sorry if i dampened the mood...yer sorry just had to say that...ill go now *runs away*

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my friend is telling me to read it beacause its alot like LotR .. i dont want to read it because i dont want to be disappointed ... should i read it?

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yes!! read it! its a totaly kewl reading adventure...lol

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Tolkien did get some inspiration from old Norse Myths (so I've heard). Okay, now about Eragon I read them last summer, and I have one word: Ugh.
Terrible books.

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Okay people, time to come in here and defend my favorite book, I guess.

They are two different stories. One is about a ring, the other is about dragons. If you cannot see the blatant difference there, then there is something wrong. As for plot, it follows the guideline that almost all epics follow...which is what LOTR follows...It's easy enough to draw the parallels if you look back at epic poetry. As for names...Eragon...Aragorn..wow...one name. You know, with all of the books in the world, you can't expect every single one to have a completely different sounding name. Who cares? Does it really bother you so much that you will prejudiced to a good book? Obviously, they are two very different characters with different personalities.
Both are very different reading experiences, and both are good. Now, where Eragon has a whole lot of plot, I can tell you that I find a whole heck of a lot easier to understand than LOTR. Just because there'sa movie that basically outlines it, it doesn't make it any easier to understand the whole story.

My take: Read the books, don't take other people's word for it....and just relax people! If you take what other people say to heart before giving it a chance, you are being prejudiced and you're going to miss out.

Sorry to offend any off you!
Sam

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I have no problem with names sounding the same. None at all. But let's think this through. You're writing a fantasy book, and this is right around the time when LotR is really popular. And you think, "Boy, it would be cool to call a book Eragon." But if you're not incredibly dim, you say it aloud (Air-ah-gone) and it sounds, coincidentally, like ARAGORN (Air-ah-gorn, or if you trill the R like Legolas, almost exactly like Eragon). So this thought process should lead to you thinking, eventually, "Hmmm, that sounds like plagiarism. Maybe I should change it." I mean, it might have been okay if that was the only similarity, but - Brom=Gandalf, Arya=Arwen, and is there anybody else who read "Isidar Mithrim" and "Elessari" and thought ,"Oh, please?"

I'm going to get both those books (Eragon and Eldest) from the library again, and go through and document their similarities to LotR. It should be verrrrry interesting.

Now, this is not all to say I did not enjoy Eragon. I enjoyed it very much. But Paolini, you need some original material, buddy!

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okay, brom and gandalf, arwen and arya....THOSE AREN"T COPYRIGHT TOLKIEN! look at other books!

Brom=gandalf=albus dumbledore=uncle press(pendragon)=obi wan kenobi from star wars

arya=arwen=leia=TONS OF OTHER PEOPLE!

This all goes back to epic poetry, as I said. You can write down the similarities...but I gurantee if it's the role of characters or the plot, you'll just be noticing the simple epic guidleine, since both are epics. Trust me. We are doing this in school.

That's the bggest problem. YEa, I can see if Brom was Bromalf or Arya was Arywan or somthing....but their names aren't even remotely the same (except for the A's) Those are very cliche epic characters.

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Okay, yeah, I know they're not copyright Tolkien, so don't go assuming I'm ignorant, but if YOU were writing a fantasy story, wouldn't you make an effort to have a bit more original material?

And IMHO, Arya and Arwen have a few more similarities than that. Both start with 'Ar', both have black hair, both princesses (or in Arwen's case, the daughter of an Elven lord), both elves, both beautiful - the list goes on. Just because they don't have the same names doesn't mean they aren't similar. Though you are right in that those can be pretty traditional characters and in no way would having an elf princess and a wizard-type-guy be copying LotR. BUT - at a point in time where LotR was very popular, I'm not sure it was wise, as it could very VERY easily be misconstrued as such.


I'm not trying to trash Eragon. I'm really not. But I don't think there is very much, if any, original material in there, and I feel as though I am listening to your point of view and you are not listening to mine.

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