Eragon: a *super* partial spoiler part one

I can’t keep my mind off Eragon. Even as I type this I’m thinking of the book, sitting patiently by my bedside and willing me back to it...

Before you proceed, it is all well that I should say that below are spoilers. Spoilers, do you understand? So for your own sake, please go get the book and read it. By the way, I’m not done with the book either. I plan to read it to the end in 2 days or less, as I’ve about reached half the book, not in storyline, but in relative number of pages. With regards to the storyline, I would have finished about 55 to 60%.

If there’s one thing amiss, Eragon is, well, too ideal. Despite his somewhat childish ways and uncanny tendency to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong, he can fight very well using bow and arrow, not to mention the ability of being ambidextrous with the sword. On top of that, he can use magic and has a lot of potential (according to Brom anyway), seeing how he killed an Urgal (the equivalent of an orc, I suppose, just that it speaks the human tongue) on his first try at casting magic. Also, having fairly strong mind control and being able to mindspeak (mentally communicating) with Saphira, his dragon is a big plus, since it’s something only Riders can do. Oh, not to mention the fact that Eragon was the name of the first Rider in Algaesian history, and Saphira happened to be the name of Brom’s deceased dragon. It’s too perfect… I’m expecting something in him or Saphira to turn awry, or to have Murtagh be a traitor, whatever… and maybe (hopefully) he’ll turn evil for abit. At least it’ll spice things up.

But there are ideas that I’ve seen before in other books, for example, the concept where each thing, animate or not, has a ‘true’ name, one that enables the user who does know the ‘true’ name to control the object or being to its will and whim. First time I came across it was in A Wizard of Earthsea when SparrowHawk was taught by Ogion at Gont. I love that book. X3 Comparing this to Eragon, SparrowHawk was a lot more mature, and in the least sense, more real for his age. But then again, if you think about it, not a lot of 16-year-old guys are mature.

Brom was (I use the word ‘was’ for a reason) very much a Gandalf-like character; a mentor to Eragon which was well-versed in many things and had his fair share of secrets. He settled in Carvahall as a storyteller until Eragon’s uncle, Garrow was murdered by Ra’zacs (compared to the Urgals, these are more intelligent and cunning) and the timing was so perfect that Brom had to help Eragon out and be a partner in his travels. In fact, he was the one that taught Eragon a lot on life, I think even more than Garrow did. Although Garrow brought up Eragon, the one who changed his life was Brom. So in that aspect, I respect Brom.

There’s one thing that strikes me as strange; do adults give some pocket money to kids, and let them wander around the city freely until sunset, or time for dinner, or whatever it is? I didn’t think farmers or travelers would be that loaded to throw their money around for kids to spend. It seems rather ironic as in those times, people were hard-pressed under a tyrannical king and needed to practically slave just to scrape by.