Three precious dragon eggs have been hoarded by the evil King Galbatorix over the last century in the hopes that they will choose a rider and hatch. Riders who will become his minions in his quest to conquer the world.
But others have their own plans and one egg is stolen. It's captors are taking it to a safe place when they are waylaid deep in the forest of Du Weldenvarden by a Shade who kills two of them, giving the third the chance to work magic and send the egg to a place she hopes will be found by another ally.
The egg is instead found by Eragon, an orphan boy who lives with his uncle and cousin on a remote farm.
Finally, after a century of waiting, the dragon's egg has found her rider and hatches. Eragon must hide the dragon hatchling while she grows and matures; something she does quickly.
But the forces of King Galbatorix are ever searching for the egg and he is gathering forces of monsters and sending them across the Empire in a destructive march that is razing whole towns in their quest for the egg. When two hooded strangers appear in Carvahall, Eragon must flee or be captured.
His unexpected aide in escaping the Ra'zac is the storyteller, Brom who turns out to be a Dragon Rider himself, although he has no dragon. Brom takes on the task of teaching Eragon swordsmanship, magic and dragonlore.
And so they begin their quest for revenge against the Ra'zac which takes them across the Empire to the port city of Teirm. There they meet an old friend of Brom's and a witch and a werecat who will help Eragon later in a battle against the Krull in the underground keep of Tronjheim.
This is the first of a series of books called the Inheritance cycle. Second in the series is Eldest and third is Brisingr. Christopher Paolini began writing this series at the age of 15 and Eragon was self-published in 2001. Random house picked up the book in 2003 and in 2006, the movie was produced and released by Fox 2000. Christopher began writing the second book of the series, Eldest, which was published in 2005. The third in the series, Brisingr, is slated for release in September of 2008.
My son absolutely loves this series, prefers the books over the movie that was made too, which I love to hear.
I’m amazed at how well Christopher P. writes for his age. His command of the language is amazing. I think we can all expect great things from him.
In our household we have enjoyed both the books, and the movie. The books are great, but its also to see how someone else turns a book into a motion picture.
Thanks for the post!
Justin
I loved this first book also. Quite the debut novel and the author was so young at the time. I have read the second book also but though it held me better and seemed to flow easier, I wasn’t as much into it. I know the third book is out. Should go get it. Thanks for the plot synopsis. I’d kind of forgotten what it was all about.