Eragon - Star Wars; To close for comfort

[Levenbreech Vor]

Eragon: A summary

In a small farming village a teenage boy (whose parents have died) goes through a series of events. Because of the outcome of these events his uncle and aunt (adopted parents) are killed and their farm burned because the "Empire" is trying to find this young teenage boy. The young teenage boy escapes the village with an old guy that has some surprising powers. The old guy, the reader later finds out, is one of the last of an ancient order of fighters/peace keepers but he has lost most of his old powers. He tries to teach the young boy in order to revive the ancient order and to fight the evil "Empire". The "Empire" is led by a fallen person of this ancient order.

Later he become part of the "Rebellion" against the "Empire" and becomes a hero of the "Rebellion" when he defeats a huge army of the enemy.


Eldest: A summary

Then this teenage boy, who now has some of the ancient order's powers, goes to a wilderness in order to train with the last of the experts of this ancient order. By the time he leaves the wilderness he is much more mature and better then when he left his village.

He goes through several events and finds out that, in-fact, one of his relatives is one of the head bad guys. His relative that is one of the head bad guys at the end of the book has a red sword.

[Levenbreech Vor]

Star Wars: A summary

In a small farming village a teenage boy (whose parents have died) goes through a series of events. Because of the outcome of these events his uncle and aunt (adopted parents) are killed and their farm burned because the "Empire" is trying to find this young teenage boy. The young teenage boy escapes the village with an old guy that has some surprising powers. The old guy, the reader later finds out, is one of the last of an ancient order of fighters/peace keepers but he has lost most of his old powers. He tries to teach the young boy in order to revive the ancient order and to fight the evil "Empire". The "Empire" is led by a fallen person of this ancient order.

Later he become part of the "Rebellion" against the "Empire" and becomes a hero of the "Rebellion" when he defeats a huge army of the enemy.

Then this teenage boy, who now has some of the ancient order's powers, goes to a wilderness in order to train with the last of the experts of this ancient order. By the time he leaves the wilderness he is much more mature and better then when he left his village.

He goes through several events and finds out that, in-fact, one of his relatives is one of the head bad guys. His relative that is one of the head bad guys at the end of the book has a red sword.

[Levenbreech Vor]

Both of these summaries are accurate.

Both of these summaries are EXACTLY THE SAME!



Did anybody else notice this when they read Eragon?

[Rosalind]

In all fairness, Star Wars is just a simple retelling of the hero's journey in a futuristic setting, so it's to be expected that a lot of fantasy with the same theme reads the same.

That said, I really do see your point. I have not read 'Eldest,' but I found 'Eragon' cliche and trite. It's passably mediocre, nice for reluctant readers in the elementary-middle school category, but I don't understand the big fuss. I guess it's because the author's a teenager, but there are plenty of teen writers out there with equal or superior stuff. Star Wars, on the other hand, took a much used storyline and made it into something both innovative and traditional, with endearing characters and interesting conflicts.
In a way, you have to feel sorry for Mr. Paolini. He's going to grow up, maybe with a succesful writing career and maybe not. Whichever outcome, he's always going to know, or at least suspect, that his initial fame and sucess was only because he was a protege, a novelty.