Eragon and Eldest

Fantasy is on the rise with Lord of the Rings, Narnia and Harry Potter as the front runners, but more recently, Eragon made it's screen debut. Now I didn't see the movie, because I have to read the book first. Eragon is a New York Times bestseller written by a 15 year old homeschooled kid from Montana, Chris Paolini. Given the author's age, I think it is a remarkable novel.

Paolini creates a new world, with many familiar themes from Middle Earth, dwarves, elves, dragons, but with several fresh ideas as well. He even manufactures languages for his mythic peoples to speak and an "Ancient Language" which all beings once knew and lost, but some still speak it. The Ancient Language is Paolini's language for magic and truth. For one cannot lie while speaking in the Ancient Language, and all promises must be fulfilled.

Eragon is an adventure tale, with battles, swordplay, world powers clashing, and spell-casting. The hero is a sixteen year old boy who finds a dragon egg in the forest. When the egg hatches for him, he and his dragon, Saphira, are bound together as dragon and rider, sharing thoughts and physical feelings. Dragons are supposedly extinct though, except for the one that belongs to the evil emperor, Galbatorix, who upon discovering the existence of another rider, sends his minions to hunt down Eragon and Saphira. In this manner, Eragon's foster father, Garrow is killed and the farm where he and his cousin, Roran, grew up is razed. Revenge for Garrow's death becomes the driving force of the plot.

I found this novel, Eragon, to be acceptable for middle school readers, though I was annoyed with the vengeance theme.

In 2005, Paolini published the second book of the Inheritance trilogy, Eldest. The author is nineteen, and he begins to question all religion and the idea of worship constantly throughout the book. Like Luke, in the Empire Strikes Back, Eragon trains to be a dragon rider under the tutelage of Oromis, a former Rider of elven lineage. Much of his training involves introspection, seeking the answers to questions within himself, especially questions of right and wrong. There is no one Truth. Truth/Goodness/Right depends on the circumstances, cultures, and the points of view of the concerned parties.
Paolini makes it quite clear that he is skeptical of all religion. During Eragon's training, he asks Oromis, "But who, or what do you worship?"
Oromis: "Nothing."
Eragon: "You worship the concept of nothing?"
Oromis: "No, Eragon. We do not worship at all."
Their conversation continues with all of the classic arguments against God's existence. Oromis has never witnessed a miracle. He believes the world and all it's phenomena are the workings of nature. Oromis dismisses the concept of God because, " Death, sickness, poverty, tyranny, and countless other miseries stalk the land. If this is the handiwork of divine beings , then they are to be rebelled against and overthrown, not given obeisance, obedience, and reverence." Eragon brings up the dwarves and their polytheistic belief system. Oromis ridicules the dwarves reliance on faith over reason. When Eragon discovers that Oromis believes that the soul dies with the body, Oromis responds, "...it is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our own actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment." To his credit, Eragon remains skeptical, but indecisive through the end of the novel.

A decent adventure story has become infected with mainstream subjective morality, oh, and there is some implied fornication too. I do not recommend Eldest.

It will be interesting to see where Paolini's and Eragon's faith journeys go. The third book of the trilogy is in the works now. I am praying for this young author. He shows promise as a fantasy author, not as a philosophical one.