Reviews

Eldest by Christopher Paolini

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gibs144's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

sammmm7's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

little_miss_darkness's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

<b>Just a warning, I'm giving the whole series 5 stars, otherwise most of my other ratings would have to go way down.</b>

We finally have the dual POV with showing Eragon training amongst the elves (yay Oromis and Glaedr) and Roran dealing with the aftermath of his father's death and subsequent invasion of the Ra'zac and Galbatorix's soldiers.

And not to go on a wild feminist rant, but we finally get the glimpse of more of my favourite female characters; Arya, Saphira, Nasuada, Angela and Katrina. While the men are more of the same, with war and fighting and what-not, each of them is different, but yet each one has steel inside them, and showing us that to be strong, there is no one way. You can be a strong warrior in the traditional sense, but you can be strong, while also displaying more of the traditionally feminine attributes. I do have to especially feature Nasuada, as a particularly strong-willed and cunning leader. She is not the shy, grief-stricken girl we see at the beginning. No, she is a woman and a leader capable of leading a vast army and accepting the unlikeliest of allies to get the job done. Who else could have led the Varden into the strike against the Empire, indeed?

Okay, I am warming up more and more toward Roran every time I re-read this series. Sure, Eragon has gone through a lot, and had to fend an unusual amount of attackers and weave through some particularly difficult political situation without fully understanding everything. However, Roran is never going to be more than human. He is never going to be a magician, or have inhuman reflexes or strength. Yet, it is the strength of his love toward Katrina and Carvahall (and the strength of his conviction) that made the entire village follow him into the exile and unknown, leave everything behind just to show the king they wouldn't bow down and wait to be enslaved. In real life, with his charisma, he would have the potential to become a warlord or a charismatic cult leader, don't you think?

Eragon has been forced to grow up fast ever since he fled Carvahall, but there are still many endearing aspects of him that force us to stop and realise that he is only sixteen years old. One of them is his infatuation with Arya. He knows that he has to put his own needs aside and be the Dragon Rider Alagaësia requires him to be. However, sometimes he cannot help himself, or stop himself, about trying to pursue her. I sympathize with that, as this is all happening at a time when every other person his age is finding their first crush, and shyly trying to flirt. Something that can now never happen to him, as even after the war is finished, he will be a Dragon Rider, both separate and above everyone else.

We also finally see what happened to Murtagh. I swear, the author had some kind of grudge against this character. I don't believe Murtagh has ever known a single day of being safe and happy and protected. I hope that changes after the war is finished. He more than deserves it.

Alagaësia is a land going through turmoil, and there are thousands of strings pulled and events happening all over. Christopher Paolini skilfully leads us through it all, weaving an enchanting and mesmerising tale full of magic and wonder.