Christopher Paolini: Eragon review

2010-07-11 [Jitter]: I really liked Eragon to be honest. Especially considering Paolini's age when he wrote it. Fantasy books nowadays are all full of Tolkien and Jordan cliches. It's quite unavoidable...

2010-07-11 [Akayume]: I agree. And I found it to be quite vivid and very well written for his age. And you have to realize that all ideas are recycled - there isn't a single original idea on this planet anymore.

2010-07-12 [Caterin S.]: I know all the ideas have been used before and you can't really write anything that hasn't been written before even if you wanted to. A good writer knows that and tries to adjust all the ideas to a new vivid story and add there some refreshing bits. I don't much care for basic fantasy, I have gotten bored of all the oh so perfect elves and their language (which in this case did remind me so much of Tolkien, that I had to mention it) and I think that is why I don't like Paolini's book.
It might also be the Finnish translation (concerning the narration), but it can't be all that. I didn't like Eragon and I don't get why Paolini is so popular. But, I don't understand the popularity of Twilight either.
I will read the rest of the trilogy and form my opinion afterwards. It might get better, or not.
And yes, one can't help being compared to Tolkien as he did begin the whole genre of fantasy literature as we know it today, and everything will be compared to his work, as it was so throughout. I don't mind people starting to write watching him as an example, but there are way too many similar Tolkien copies around, so they won't make me jump up and down with enthusiasm.

2010-07-12 [Caterin S.]: But I do want to add that the last comment of the review was a bit harsh even considering my opinion on the book. It might seem a good book - if you haven't read much of fantasy.

2010-07-13 [Jitter]: Well I don't get the Twilight popularity either.

It might have indeed been the translation you know. Harry POtter books in greek are horrible. They're written in an extremely childish manner and the translator even gets the names and genders wrong. There was a different translator in the first two and the one who picked up the third didn't even check on her predecessor's work.

I was forced to read the 3rd one in greek because I couldn't find the english version in any bookstore so I went and borrowed it from the library. It was like I was reading an entirely different book. Had I started reading in greek I think I would be on the anti-Harry Potter field...

2010-07-13 [Akayume]: I think that's so interesting, how so much can be lost if the translation isn't very good. That's like "all your base are belong to us". XP

2010-07-14 [Caterin S.]: Finnish translation of Harry Potter series is luckily great. The translator has even got some sort of award of it, I think. But really, in these days there are so many translators that can't do their work properly, it is seen all the time in Finland as we don't dub foreign movies, but add subtitles. And boy, there are films that have been ruined with horrible translation. (there is for instance a terrible version of Star Wars - luckily it was only for showing in tv and the REAL translation is saved in the dvd's.)

2010-07-14 [Jitter]: That's why I always buy my fiction in the priginal language now if it is in english. That and the fact that I find them so much cheaper. 3rd book in Eragon (Brisingr) costs 30 euros in greek and 9 in English :|