Eragon, by Christopher Paolini.

The total number of pages in this book is 497.

Anna Nguyen, September 20th, 2013

The book I have read for my book report is titled “Eragon” and is by Christopher Paolini. The story takes place in the land of Alagesia, near Carvahall. Carvahall is described as the only village in Palancar Valley, and surrounded by harsh, beautiful land. The author does not specially state the date, but I inferred that it took place in the medieval times, because they do not use any technology or modern-day weapons, like guns, but instead they use swords, knifes, maces, shields, spears, and hammers. The main character of the story is Eragon, a young, poor farm boy who seeks for riches to help support his Uncle Garrow, and his cousin, Roran. Eragon is one of the few people who hunt in The Spine, a ravenous, unforgiving land. The main conflict in the story is that Eragon has to save the elf Arya from dying, because the Empire forced her to drink a poison called Skilna Bragh.

The rising action in the book is when Eragon is captured by the Empire, and ends up in the same cell as an elf that he has been having visions about. Murtagh (An ally that helped Eragon and Saphira in defeating a Ra’zac) and Eragon had gotten attacked by Urgals, and Eragon had been knocked unconscious, and woke up laying in a cot in one the cell. Eragon had been drugged by a drink which prevented him from using magic, or calling out to his dragon, Saphira. The next day Eragon wakes up, he finds himself with his powers back, and uses magic to escape with the elf and Murtagh.

The conflict in the story is resolved when Murtagh, Eragon, and Saphira take a dangerous trek to transport Arya to the Varden to get her the antidote. Arya remained in a coma-like state, which slowed the effects of the poison, giving them more time. The elf Arya could mentally communicate with Eragon like him and Saphira did, and she informed him that they needed to get to the Varden, and told him how to get there. Eragon, Murtagh, and Saphira had to cross over The

Hadarac Desert, where Eragon discovered he could bring up water from the sand, the Beor Mountains, and Eragon and Murtagh had to have their mind examined by spellcasters of the Varden to make sure they were trustworthy. At last, the Varden had the antidote to save Arya and bring her back to health.

The theme that was evident in the book was good versus evil. Eragon and Saphira are trying to fight for the good, and help the people, elves, and dwarves by defeating the king. I know this because, he is against and unsupportive of the Empire, and is siding and helping the Varden, an origination against the Empire. The Empire, the King, his soldiers, the shades, and the Ra’zac are the villains, because they want to create more dragons and dragon riders to help tyrant the land, and the King wants to be more powerful and rule over humans, dwarves, and elves. They are against the Varden and anyone who does not support them.

The author’s purpose is to entertain his readers about a boy named Eragon and his dragon, Saphira that have to help defeat the Empire and stop the King’s tyranny. What I enjoyed about the book was the action and the adventure. For example, when the Urgals were chasing Murgath, Eragon and Saphira the three had to battle them.. Another example is when Eragon defeated the Ra’zac in his first time using magic. To sum it all up, I would recommend this book to kids or teens who like fantasy like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter, because it has a mixture of adventure, thrill, and magic. Also, the theme of Eragon is similar to Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, because they all have a good and evil theme in their series.