Originally posted by masterkit
You didn't understand me. Eragon and LOTR were basically the same type of stuff..swords..elves...darves and what not. I said they were popular because The Return of the King came out the same year, making the book big. Because of the LOTR craze it became popular.
Of course, the difference is that The Lord Of The Rings will still be regarded as a classic tale many years from now, irregardless of the the craze which surrounded the film-adaptations - really something quite sad when one considers the fact that so many people will never know the depths of Tolkien's fantasy because they'll have only seen the films - and Eragon (et al.) will likely only be remembered as Paolini's stepping-stones - I do believe he will be an excellent author one day. 😉
I've read the books - they were good enough. Still, I've always felt that Paolini borrowed far too much from other fantasy writers, including Tolkien - not that other writers (including Tolkien) haven't borrowed or adapted ideas or themes.
For instance, take a look at that damned map and try to point out at least three place-names that aren't actual plaigarisms or directly derived from Tolkien's Elvish roots, (e.g., Melian; Ardwen; Eldor; Sílthrim; etc.).
All that aside, I'll buy the third book when it comes out....I'd say that it's a good enough series for an introduction to fantasy; after that, I'd suggest many others beside.
