Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) Review

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Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) ReviewAfter reading this story I felt compelled to write how unsatisfied I was. I will quickly reiterate what others have already said. Eldest is derivative of so many other fantasy books, and there is no question Paolini has taken giant chunks out of Tolkein, McCaffrey, Lucas, Dungeons and Dragons, and probably many other fantasy stories I have not read. But I do not neccesarily mind that. I've read many books that have created their own compelling worlds using generic fantasy formulas, and have fallen in love with them. But this world does not have anything at all that I have not already seen. Elves living in forests? Read the hundreds of Dragonlance stories, Tolkein. Dwarves in mountains? Ditto. It's just so frustrating. But having already read Eragon, I knew all of this so I was not surprised that the world was so familiar.
While his derivative plot and world might bother some, I found many other things much more bothersome to read. I do not mean to attack home schooling, in fact I think it is a wonderful thing, but I question how much of it affected Paolini's writing. His descriptions of the world are interesting, in fact, at times even lyrical. I know he was immersed in a wonderful world to explore as he grew up. But I wonder how much social interaction he might have had. His descriptions of people seem more caricatures than actual people, and at times the descriptions are incredibly immature. The scene where he meets the council of the Varden rings out as particularly irritating. Paolini constantly fixates on the bosoms of one of the council members. I do not know if he thinks this is humorous, but it's a good sign of his immaturity. And if he were skillful enough of a writer he could perhaps have made it humorous which I believe was his intent, but it instead gave me the impression that Paolini has had very little interaction with the opposite sex. The same goes with his writing in regards to love. It is wonderfully romantic in a naive sort of way.
One other major qualm I had with the story is more personal, and probably nothing that anyone really has any problem with or even picked up. But I can't stand it so I will bring it up anyways. I hate, HATE, the depiction of the elves. I personally think Paolini shaped elves after Asians. The elves have squinty eyes, stern and serious mannerisms, and they try not to offend others; they are exotic. These are all stereotypes of Asians. He makes the elves seem so foreign, much in the manner Asians are seen as perpetual foreigners in America, and while I highly doubt Paolini intends to be racist, I think his depiction of the elves can be percieved as highly offensive.
But back to his story. There is one more thing that was a literary travesty. It is of a battle early on in the story when Roran is fighting the Ra'zac's army. Roran slices off a soldiers fingers, and the soldier, fingerless and bloody mind you, states something along the lines of, "Perhaps I should have worn a shield today." And then he is killed. I have no idea what was going through Paolini's mind. Did it make me laugh out loud? Yes because such a stupid line inserted in the middle of an intense fight makes me wonder if anyone editted this thing. No soldier EVER is going to be retrospective when they get their fingers chopped off. It was one of the stupidest things I've read. It was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Finally, once again reiterating what others have said, Paolini must not lecture us. Trying to convince us eating animals is morally wrong and to tell everyone that aetheism is the way to go is offensive, and unnecesarily assertive. Maybe, which I think was more his intention, he could have gone about trying to illustrate what he finds divisive about religion. This is not a childrens story. I don't think its focus is for children even though Paolini believes it to be. The vocabulary is complicated, though not as bad as people have said, the story is violent, absurdly violent for children in my opinion, and the audience is much more for those who know what a +3 Sword of Dancing is.
I feel any values that Paolini is trying to impart to younger readers are not well thought out. I feel his attempts to grasp right and wrong are shallow. So shallow. He begins to question the absolute values of good and evil, but in the end, there is an ultimate evil in the Empire, and Roran and Eragon will rise up to be the ultimate good. I just can't recommend this book to too many people. Maybe a book you get at the library, but to pay for it seems like a mistake when there are many better and more deserving books. I'll say that if there was a 2 1/2 stars I would give it that rating. He does have glimpses of being a fine writer, but right now hes insane, and ridiculously pompous to believe he can even compare himself to Tolkein. "May the Force be with you..." wait, no, I mean "May your swords stay sharp" when you are making your decision to buy this book.Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2) Overview

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