"Eldest"
by Christopher Paolini
reviewed by Josh Meares
The Story
"Eldest" is the New York Times Bestselling sequel to New York Times Bestseller "Eragon." Christopher Paolini released this mammoth book on August 23, 2005, only three years after publishing "Eragon."
The story goes like this. Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, survived the epic battle at Tronjheim that ended the last book, but their challenges are far from over. The evil king Galbatorix still rules Alagasia, and his minions are hunting for them. But Eragon is still just an untrained boy, and he was crippled in the final battle with the Shade Durza.
Eragon is no match for the evil king, so he goes to the Elvish forest Du Weldenvarden for more training as a Dragon Rider. Can Eragon become strong enough to defeat Galbatorix?
The Verdict
Christopher Paolini is a publishing phenomenon publishing his second New York Times bestseller by the age of 21. He writes clearly; he handles dialogue well; and his action sequences are exciting. "Eldest" is a clean book and shows some more maturity than "Eragon."
Paolini knows his characters better than he did in "Eragon," but he still uses someone's death to jump start the story several times. Unfortunately, Paolini has added another flaw to his storytelling, which is another function of youth. The political scenes in Eldest are frankly terrible.
To write a good scene involving the politics of nations requires tremendous thought and Paolini has not spent that kind of time. He gives us problems that aren't real problems and solutions that aren't real solutions and none of it feels real or important.
He has also made no improvement in his consistency. The final scene of this book was ruined for me because of the obvious tampering Paolini does with his character's abilities in order to get the outcome he needs. However, Paolini is still growing as an author, and the book is worth reading.
Worldview
The problem with writing a story about a teenage boy who is trying to understand the world and find his place is that as an author, you have to give some answers. And if you don't handle the presentation of these answers very subtly, you can come across as preaching.
In "Eldest," Eragon comes to the land of the Elves, where he can complete his education and become what he is meant to be in both body and mind. He studies with the great warrior-philosopher Oromis. And from the mouth of Oromis, Paolini starts preaching.
"But I can tell you that in the millenia we elves have studied nature, we have never witnessed an instance where the rules that govern the world have been broken. That is, we have never seen a miracle. Many events have defied our ability to explain, but we are convinced that we failed because we are still woefully ignorant about the universe."
He continues, "Ask yourself this, Eragon: If gods exist, have they been good custodians of Algasia? Death, sickness, poverty, tyranny, and countless other miseries stalk the land. If this is the handiwork of divine beings, then they are to be rebelled against and overthrown, not given obeisance, obedience, and reverence."
As has been characteristic of Eragon in the past, he is willing to ask the tough questions. What can be harder to explain than why a loving God or gods would allow such travesties as death and sickness and poverty. But Paolini's answers are wrong, plain and simple.
The Bible gives us another set of answers. God is not to blame for the suffering and death in the world. We are. We rebelled against God and chose to go our own way. And God has not stood aloof and uncaring as we suffer and die. No, we read in Philippians 2:6-8 that God became man and suffered alongside us.
"Though he [Jesus] was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. "
The only difference between our suffering and Christ's is that we deserve ours and He did not. That is the message of the Bible. The world is screwed up because we screwed it up. And God sent His only son, Jesus, to set the world straight.
Soon and very soon, Jesus will come back again and set everything right. And then, all men will have to stand before God. What then is our responsibility as Christians? To live as Jesus lived on this earth, loving our brothers and sisters and sharing the Good News that God became man to save us from ourselves.
Let's get to it!
Questions
- Have you ever doubted God because of the bad things that happen in the world?
- What did you do to confront those doubts?
- Have you ever met anyone else who struggles with the existence of God because of the way the world is today?
- Were you able to help him or her? How?
- The Bible says that men will see our love for each other, and they will know we are Christians. How much of a testimony is your life for the reality of Jesus Christ?
