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Christopher Paolini: Eldest

I don't know much about this book, though I do see that it's a frequent top seller and is prominantly displayed in stores. About what ages are appropriate for it? I take it this is a middle to upper elementary interest?
 
When I read the books I was suprised they classified it as a young readers book. Even a 21 I still took me a week to read both and I had a lot of free time to read. I would say probably 8 to 12 grade.
 
My g'kid says it's a good as his first (Eragon) which she read about four times.

(She is fourteen.)

:)

There is another thread on this subject/author. (I don't know how to do the here thing, so you'll have to use the Search function...)
 
My son who's 11 has just finished Eldest this evening. When I asked if it was as good as Eragon he replied "Kind of, but not as much blood and fighting, which is a shame" Boys eh?

He loved the fact that he was reading such a big book, it really made him feel proud and competant. I loved just watching him reading it. What a thrill for a book-loving Mum! :)
 
I loved the book. Just finished. I can't believe the ending!! My heart goes out to Eragon and Roran who have had such difficult lives. I can't wait to find out what happens next in the series.
 
i just finished it too. i thought it was amazing-i mean, he's still really young! i feel bad for eragon cuz of the whole Arya thing. i mean, her being immortal, her age is the equivalent of, like, 20 ina human's life. and eragon gets to live extra long(that is, if he doesn't get killed). but i can't wait til the movie and book 3! i want to see the action!
 
I've just finished the book, and I have to say that I enjoyed it more than Eragon. I think that I found his training and time with the elves to be more enjoyable than the last book, as I find that kind of stuff more interesting than the actual fighting (which I was glad to see there was not much of this time).

I'm not so sure that his writing style has improved overly much, though. He still tends to state the unnecessary and let things be known in a blunt, rather than abstract, way. I can also still see a lot of simularities with other notable fantasy books and movies, although I can understand that that would be hard to avoid if it is to be a carry-on of his first book. He does tend to be a lot less repetitive in this book, though, a great improvement on his last, and I really, really enjoyed the plot of this one - I thought that moving between different characters throughout the book was a great idea, as it meant that I didn't get too bored with the characters and their stories.

I did get the impression, however, that he was trying to show off how much more he knew now that he had finished high school - he was constantly adding sections that just reeked of a high school [insert subject here] lesson, such as his description of ants and aphids (biology) and the King's lab work (Chemistry).

I also thought that there was an over-abundace of preaching in this book - near the end of his stay with the elves he had a preaching session a couple of pages long on religion (it was disguised as a discussion on the elves' religion and which was obviously dealing with Christianity and atheism), and he also had a preach about prejudice when Eragon
went into the memories of the Urgals and learnt that they weren't so bad after all
. Those parts ruined the flow of the story for me - it almost seemed patronising in a way.

Despite these flaws, I really did enjoy the second installment in the Inheritance trilogy, and am eagerly awaiting the third (does anyone know a release date for this one?).

I gave it a 4/5
 
I loved both Eragon and Eldest. I want to know when the third book is coming out. I'm so excited for it!
 
this is a pretty entertaining fantasy series. it may seem a little cliched at times, but the werecats more than make up for that.
 
Oooh i started that and got half way through and this thread reminded me that i have to finish it.....i found it a little boring....
 
I really like both Eragon and Eldest although some people really hate them. I like anything that's entertaining and I like Paolini's return to some of the more traditional themes and characters. I must say, his villains and monsters are pretty horrible.

Eldest was a great sequel and I'm excited for the thrid installment.
 
Does anyone know when the third book is coming out? I'm really anticipating it. I NEED to read it and find out what happens! lol Did anyone see the movie? I liked it but it was way different from the book and that was disappointing.
 
I agree with you, the movie was disappointing, but isn't that the way most books translate onto the screen? I have yet to hear anything about the third book, if you list him as one of your authors on authortracker.com, then as soon as something is released to the press you will get an email about it to keep you up to date.
 
Yea most books are different when they are put into movies, but I didn't think it would be as different as it was. I still enjoyed it though:) .
 
I read both Eragon and Eldest. I really liked them and i'm very curious what's going to happen in the third book :)
 
Well after a lot of hesitating I finally ordered Eldest.

I liked Eragon a lot and I've been looking forward to reading Eldest, but I've been keeping postponing it for some reason.

And to the question of my age: 34.
 
Eldest is really good. You find out some really interesting things about Eragon's life and it gets a little twisted(crazy) at the end. It gets a little slow in a couple chapters though when it goes to tell about the Varden.
 
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