Eragon is the first book in The Inheritance Cycle by American fantasy writer Christopher Paolini. Paolini, born in 1983, began writing the novel after graduating from home school at the age of fifteen. After writing the first draft for a year, Paolini spent a second year rewriting and fleshing out the story and characters. His parents saw the final manuscript and in 2001 decided to self-publish Eragon; Paolini spent a year traveling around the United States promoting the novel. The book was discovered by novelist Carl Hiaasen, who brought it to the attention of Alfred A. Knopf. The re-published version was released on August 26, 2003.

The book tells the story of a farm boy named Eragon, who finds a mysterious stone in the mountains. The stone is revealed to be an egg, and a dragon named Saphira hatches from it. When the evil King Galbatorix finds out about the egg, he sends monstrous servants to acquire it, forcing Eragon and Saphira to flee with a storyteller named Brom, who teaches them the ways of the Dragon Riders.

Eragon was the third-best-selling children's hardback book of 2003, and the second-best-selling paperback of 2005. It placed on the New York Times Children's Books Best Seller list for 121 weeks and was adapted as a feature film of the same name that was released on December 15, 2006.

Background

Origins and publication

Christopher Paolini started reading fantasy books when he was 10 years old. At the age of 14, as a hobby, he started writing a novel, endeavoring to create the sort of fantasy story that he himself would enjoy reading. However, he could not get beyond a few pages because he had "no idea" where he was going. He began reading everything he could about the "art of writing", and then plotted the whole Inheritance Cycle book series. After a month of planning out the series, he started writing the draft of Eragon by hand. It was finished a year later, and Paolini began writing the second draft of the book. After another year of editing, Paolini's parents saw the final manuscript. They immediately saw its potential and decided to publish the book through their small, home-based publishing company, Paolini International.

Paolini and his family toured across the United States promoting the book. He gave over 135 talks at bookshops, libraries, and schools, many with Paolini dressed up in a medieval costume; but the book did not receive much attention. Paolini said he "would stand behind a table in (his) costume talking all day without a break – and would sell maybe forty books in eight hours if (he) did really well. [...] It was a very stressful experience. (He) couldn't have gone on for very much longer." In the summer of 2002, American novelist Carl Hiaasen was on vacation in one of the cities that Paolini gave a talk in. While there, Hiaasen's stepson bought a copy of Eragon that he "immediately loved".

Inspiration and influences

alt=An old warrior fights against a dragon spitting fire.|thumb|200px| An illustration of [[Beowulf (hero)|Beowulf fighting the dragon (1908). Paolini received much inspiration from old epic poems.]]

Paolini cites old myths, folk tales, medieval stories, the epic poem Beowulf, and authors J. R. R. Tolkien and E. R. Eddison as his biggest influences in writing. Other literary influences include David Eddings, Andre Norton, Brian Jacques, Anne McCaffrey, Raymond E. Feist, Mervyn Peake, Ursula K. Le Guin, Frank Herbert, Philip Pullman, and Garth Nix.

The ancient language used by the elves in Eragon is based "almost entirely" on Old Norse, German, Anglo Saxon, and Russian myth. Paolini commented: "[I] did a god-awful amount of research into the subject when I was composing it. I found that it gave the world a much richer feel, a much older feel, using these words that had been around for centuries and centuries. I had a lot of fun with that." He added that he was "really lucky" with the name Eragon, "because it's just dragon with one letter changed." Also, Paolini commented that he thought of both parts of the name "Eragon"—"era" and "gone"—as if the name itself changes the era in which the character lives. He thought the name fit the book perfectly, but some of the other names caused him "real headaches".

Paolini chose to have Eragon mature throughout the book because, "for one thing, it's one of the archetypal fantasy elements". He thought Eragon's growth and maturation throughout the book "sort of mirrored my own growing abilities as a writer and as a person, too. So it was a very personal choice for that book."

Paolini deliberately included archetypal elements of a fantasy novel like a quest, a journey of experience, revenge, romance, betrayal, and a unique sword. Kirkus Reviews called the book a "high fantasy"; School Library Journal wrote that in Eragon "sometimes the magic solutions are just too convenient for getting out of difficult situations." Common Sense Media called Eragon dialogue "long-winded" and "clichéd", with a plot "straight out of Star Wars by way of The Lord of the Rings, with bits of other great fantasies thrown in here and there..." The website did concede that the book is a notable achievement for such a young author, and that it would be "appreciated" by younger fans.

Favorable reviews of Eragon often focused on the book's characters and plot. IGN's Matt Casamassina called the book "entertaining", and added that "Paolini demonstrates that he understands how to hold the reader's eyes and this is what ultimately separates Eragon from countless other me-too fantasy novels." Chris Lawrence of About.com thought the book had all the "traditional ingredients" that make a fantasy novel "enjoyable". The book was a "fun read" for him because it is "quick and exciting" and "packed" with action and magic. Lawrence concluded his review by giving the book a rating of 3.8/5, commenting that "the characters are interesting, the plot is engrossing, and you know the good guy will win in the end."

Eragon was the third best-selling children's hardback book of 2003, and the second best-selling children's paperback of 2005. It placed on the New York Times Children's Books Best Seller list for 121 weeks. In 2006, the novel was awarded with a Nene Award by the children of Hawaii. It won the Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award and the Young Reader's Choice Award the same year.

Adaptations

Film

alt=View of a mountainside with cliffs and domed structures built on the ledges.|thumb|220px|right|Aerial photography of the [[Ság Mountain, which served as the backdrop for Farthen Dûr in the film adaptation of the book.]]

A film adaptation of Eragon was released in the United States on December 15, 2006. Plans to create the film were first announced in February 2004, when 20th Century Fox purchased the rights to Eragon. The film was directed by first-timer Stefen Fangmeier, and written by Peter Buchman. Edward Speleers was selected for the role of Eragon. Over the following months, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Chris Egan and Djimon Hounsou were all confirmed as joining the cast. Principal photography for the film took place in Hungary and Slovakia.

The film received mostly negative reviews, garnering a 16% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes; the tenth worst of 2006. The Seattle Times described it as "technically accomplished, but fairly lifeless and at times a bit silly". The Hollywood Reporter said the world of Eragon was "without much texture or depth". The story was labelled "derivative" by The Washington Post, and "generic" by the Las Vegas Weekly.

Newsday stressed this point further, asserting that only "nine-year-olds with no knowledge whatsoever of any of the six Star Wars movies" would find the film original.

The acting was called "lame" by the Washington Post, The dialogue was also criticized: MSNBC labelled it "silly"; the Las Vegas Weekly called it "wooden". and "the stuff boys' fantasies are made of". The CGI work was called "imaginative" and Saphira was called a "magnificent creation". Paolini stated he enjoyed the film, particularly praising the performances of Jeremy Irons and Ed Speleers.

Eragon grossed approximately $75 million in the United States and $173.9 million elsewhere, totaling $249 million worldwide. It is the fifth highest-grossing film with a dragon at its focal point, and the sixth highest-grossing film of the sword and sorcery subgenre. Eragon was in release for seventeen weeks in the United States, opening on December 15, 2006, and closing on April 9, 2007. It opened in 3,020 theaters, earning $8.7 million on opening day and $23.2 million across opening weekend, ranking second behind The Pursuit of Happyness. Eragon's $75 million total United States gross was the thirty-first highest for 2006. The film earned $30.3 million in its opening weekend across 76 overseas markets, making it the #1 film worldwide. The film's $249 million total worldwide gross was the sixteenth highest for 2006.

Television series

In June 2021, Christopher Paolini tweeted #EragonRemake in an effort to get Disney, the intellectual rights holders following their acquisition of 21st Century Fox, to revamp the book series into a possible television show for Disney+. Within hours, the hashtag began to trend with fans pushing for a proper adaptation. On July 25, 2022, Variety reported that a live action television series adaptation of Eragon was in early development for Disney+, with Paolini serving as a co-writer on the series, and with Bert Salke executive producing. In February 2026, it was announced that the project was moving forward at the streaming service with High Potential and Superman & Lois showrunners Todd Harthan and Todd Helbing as co-creators and executive producers alongside Paolini. Marc Webb signed to be one of the series writters and producer and that a writers room opened late last year and is currently ongoing.

Video game

A video game adaptation of Eragon based primarily on the film, released in North America on November 14, 2006. The game is a third-person video game released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, developed by Stormfront Studios.

References

  • Eragon at the official website