"Eragon Book Review"
by Christopher Paolini
reviewed by Josh Meares
The Story
It is rare for a 15-year-old to write a book. It is even more rare for his father to own a publishing company that will publish it. However, to see a major publisher pick that small-time book up and then have the book reach the top of the New York Times Bestseller list is something we may only see once in our lifetimes. That is the story of Christopher Paolini and his first novel,"Eragon."
"Eragon" is the tale of Eragon, a young farm boy who finds a marvelous blue stone in the mountains. The stone is no diamond or emerald. It is a dragon egg! When it hatches, a beautiful sapphire-blue dragon named Saphira emerges. Thus begins the adventures of Eragon and Saphira as they travel the land of Algasia struggling not only to survive but also to grow into adulthood.
The Verdict
Christopher Paolini was only nineteen years old when this book was published. So it is very high praise when I say that he is an accomplished writer. He writes clearly; he handles dialogue well; and his action sequences are exciting.
"Eragon" is a clean book, and the author has a good imagination. But there is a big difference between having good writing skills and being a good author. Paolini is below average for an author right now. That is an incredible accomplishment considering his age. He is good enough that I am excited to see what he will write in the future. But in"Eragon," he makes two huge mistakes.
First, Paolini does not know his characters well enough. If an author does not know his characters, he has to use external motivations to get them to do what he wants. Several times in"Eragon," a character dies or disappears for no other purpose than to give Eragon something to do. Sometimes I felt like I was being introduced to characters just so that Paolini could kill them off.
Second, Paolini is inconsistent. I know that he is writing a fantasy novel. But if fantasy novels don't abide by the rules of their reality, there is no reason to read the story. For example, one day his mentor character Brom is a great warrior able to fend off two deadly Ra'zac single-handedly. Scarcely a week later, he is almost killed by a lone Urgal. Why? Because Paolini needed Eragon to discover magic. Hopefully, Paolini will be able to iron out these flaws as he matures as an author.
Worldview
One of the most admirable things about Christopher Paolini is that his main character, Eragon, raises tough questions. When Eragon comes to a battlefield filled with dead bodies, he asks,"What does our existence mean if it can end like this?"
That is one of the hardest philosophical questions that a person can ask, and very few teenagers ever wrestle with it."What is the purpose of life if we just die at the end?" And when Eragon"figures out" the answer to that question, it is not just some clever thing that 15-year-old Paolini pulled out of the air. Eragon paraphrases famous Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius.
Aurelius wrote,"[A wise man] sees that he must die and leave everything here, so he gives himself up entirely to just doing in all his actions." And you thought"Just Do It" was a Nike slogan.
So Paolini is remarkably perceptive in asking the question and remarkably well-educated in quoting a philosopher to answer it. But his answer is foolish. Not only foolish logically, but also foolish in the biblical sense.
Eragon"discovers" that the meaning of life lies in action, in"just doing" without worrying about the consequences because we are going to die anyway. To be fair, this is a very moral precept: just do what is right without regard for how long it will last.
The problem is in the motivation. If we learn nothing else from Jesus, we should know that doing the right thing only counts if we do it for the right reason. And the Bible gives us quite a different perspective on why we should act in this life. We do the right thing because we are going to die once -- and then live forever!
"So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." (Corinthians 15:42-44)
It just costs too much to do the wrong thing now. Every sin that any of us commit hinders the effectiveness of the whole church and keeps us from being the witnesses that we should be. And that hindrance has eternal consequences!
It is a hard concept to grasp, but every action that you do has consequences that will reverberate for a thousand years times a thousand years. And then an eternity after that. So"just do" what Christ has commanded. Love your God with every part of your life and love your brothers and sisters the way Jesus loves you. And keep on"just doing" because death is not the end.
Questions
- Have you ever thought about death or dying? If not, spend a few minutes. Picture yourself at 20, 30, 50, 70, 90. How does that make you feel?
- What one action do you wish you could take back?
- What one action are you most proud of?
- What did you do today that will lead others closer to Christ?
- What did you do today that will lead others away from Christ?
