[Reading] I'm going to make a few enemies here...

[jon_chaisson]

I got about twenty or so pages into Christopher Paolini's Eragon and I had to put it down. Now, don't get me wrong, I thought the premise was good, but the style was just irritating me too much to want to continue.

I have to admit it's for two reasons, one of style and one for selfish reasons. First it annoyed me because, yes, I know it was written when he was what--fifteen or sixteen?--and yes, I know it's basically a kid's book, but it still bothered me that it read like a writer who really hadn't learned his chops yet. How do I know this? Because the style of writing is very much what my style sounded like when I wrote at that age. Very much along the lines of:

Character did this. He went there. He looked like this. He was wearing that. He thought this.

Next paragraph: Character thought this. He said something to someone.

Next paragraph...and so on.

Just very sparse, three-sentence paragraphs and a lot of boring noun-verb sentences. I really wish I could have gotten into it more, but it was just too damn frustrating to read.

Which brings me to the selfish reason: Hell, I wrote and the finished version of the IWN at that age back in 1987. Had I but known Eragon would get past the editors, that damn novel would have been finished and out of my head YEARS ago. ;)

Comments

Had I but known Eragon would get past the editors, that damn novel would have been finished...

[chaoticmoth.livejournal.com]

Eragon was self-published, it was only after it was a success that it went mainstream, so maybe you just need to self-publish your novel. :)

"Paolini was just 15 when he wrote Eragon, and self-published the book with his family’s help in February 2002."
http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/eragon/press.htm

[juniperblue.livejournal.com]

And did you notice how the names didn't resemble anything out of Tolkien? :P

I waded through the first book and even the second, hoping things would improve, but I have absolutely no interest in reading more. Must be nice to have folks in the publishing industry...

Re: Had I but known Eragon would get past the editors, that damn novel would have been finished...

[kaisilverwolf.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, your parents aren't in the publishing industry.

J said it reminded her of the Belgariad books. I have not read it, and don't really have any desire to...

[beard5.livejournal.com]

I can tell you, don't go see the movie, assuming you haven't already. It's not quite "2 hours of my life that I'll never get back" but my willing suspension of disbelief failed early. (And let's forget plot, and simple common sense...I like the Die Hard movies. Maybe if the movie had Bruce Willis and a metric buttload(larger than the Imperial Buttload) of explosions I'd have liked it better...okay, and less dialogue...more Jeremy Irons in leather pants...less of the protagonist, less of just about everyone else in the movie, oh and less incompetent evil minions that get rewarded for failure...wait that's the US executive branch & this movie. )

(I don't have a strong opinion about this, nope. But if I'm going to spend money for a movie it either should be visually gripping, or intelligent, it doesn't have to be both, Eragon wasn't enough of either)

[dasmarzipan.livejournal.com]

Which brings me to the selfish reason: Hell, I wrote and the finished version of the IWN at that age back in 1987. Had I but known Eragon would get past the editors...

Which should just say to you: Toss every finished or unfinished idea at a publisher. EVERY one. Don't let yourself decide if it's good or not. Don't let yourself decide if it's ready or not. Why? You're going to have to change it for their market ANYWAY...so it will never be ready unless you have a direct download to the editor's brain.

SUBMIT SUBMIT SUBMIT!

[dasmarzipan.livejournal.com]

I'm noticing that you didn't make too many enemies, so far...
:)

A different POV on Eragon and Eldest (bot not disagreeing)

[sleeping-dragon.livejournal.com]

I can't say I minded Eragon, and I thought Eldest was interesting. Yes, he's clearly immature as a writer, and a human being, and yes, he clearly rips off Tolkien and many others, but I wasn't reading it to see if it was the next HP or some amazing work of brilliance. I was reading it because it was mindless fluff for a study break. I suspect my utter lack of expectations had a lot to do with the fact that I enjoyed it. Would I want that series to be my only reading material on a desert island? No. Hell, no. But it definitely worked as mindless fluff for a study break. Like the Alex Rider books - not exactly literature, but fun and enjoyable nonetheless. And, for the record, I probably will buy the last one when it comes out, if only to find out how the story ends...