Is Eragon a Good Book? Get a Free Eragon Audiobook and Find Out
Do you love reading books? How about listening to audiobooks? Do you love Dragon Riders? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you’ll want to read this article. In it, we will be discussing the book Eragon and whether or not it is a good read. We’ll also tell you where you can find a free Eragon audiobook. So if you’re looking for something new to read or listen to, keep reading!
In this article we will touch on the following:
- What is Eragon?
- Is Eragon a good book?
- Where to find a free Eragon Audiobook
- Books like Eragon for adults
- Why was Eragon so bad (the movie)?
- Is there an Eragon 2?
- What’s next for Disney’s Eragon?
What is Eragon?
Here is the official Eragon synopsis:
When fifteen-year-old Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.
Overnight his simple life is shattered, and, gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save—or destroy—the Empire.
Eragon synopsis
Is Eragon a Good Book?
Christopher Paolini was 15 years old when he wrote Eragon. This was the first book in what would become a four part book series called the “Inheritance Cycle”.
Each installment in the Inheritance Cycle would then go on to become a New York Times best seller, combining for 35 million copies sold.
I know, that’s no Harry Potter (500 million copies sold), or a Lord of the Rings (150 million copies sold), but 35 million books sold, that screams success! Why is Paolini’s work scrutinized so much? Why is there such a divide amongst book fanatics on wether Eragon is a good book?
I’m going to cut to the chase, and answer this burning question. Is Eragon a good book? My answer is yes. Eragon is a fantastic book for new readers breaking into the fantasy genre. Just like J.K. Rowling introduced millions to reading, Paolini’s work did the same for traditional fantasy.
Where Eragon and Christopher Paolini open themselves up for criticism is how cliche and safe the story is. Where Harry Potter is fresh and new, the Inheritance Cycle is familiar and filled with tropes.
It’s important to remember that Eragon was written by a 15 year-old Paolini. Someone, who like most of the readers who enjoyed his work, was just touching the tip of the fantasy genre iceberg.
So if this was your first introduction to epic fantasy, of course you are going to love it. If you were someone who has been reading fantasy for decades, it probably felt overly familiar and cliche.
Eragon for me is different enough for it to stand on it’s own merits and should be given a chance for any hardcore fantasy connoisseur.
Free Eragon Audiobook
Now that Disney is creating a tv series based on the Inheritance Cycle, many people are flocking to read the series before it comes out. Those who read and loved Eragon many years ago are picking the books up again to jog their memory, myself included.
Perhaps you don’t have the time to read the Eragon series again. Well you’re in luck. You can get a free Eragon audiobook from Audible.
Audible is giving away a free Eragon audiobook, along with a 30 day free trial. Check it out right here.
Books Like Eragon For Adults:
- The Sword of Shannara Trilogy
- The Wheel of Time
- Harry Potter
- Game of Thrones
- Mistborn Series
- Lord of the Rings
- The Hobbit
Eragon Movie
In 2006 the Eragon movie was released at the box office to poor reviews.
How the heck does a planned franchise end up with 16% on the TOMATOMETER based on 126 critic reviews and a 46% audience score according to Rotten Tomatoes.
That is certified bad.
The Eragon book gave us so many characters ripe for a live-action adaptation. How could a movie with a built in fanbase from the Eragon book and all-star-cast (Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Ed Speleers and Rachel Weisz) get such a poor reception at the box office?
It wasn’t from bad acting. Jeremy Irons didn’t phone it in, I assure you.
Why Was Eragon So Bad (the Movie)?
I won’t bog you down in a long winded explanation as to the million things that went wrong with the Eragon movie during it’s run at the box office. Like the unconvincing world building, production budget, bad transitional story element, studio interference and more.
What I will do is discuss the unfaithful adaptation of Paolini’s books. Wether it was the director’s view on how things should go or the studio needlessly getting involved, someone at 20th Century Fox dropped the ball.
I mean come on! Did they even read the books? Main characters who are involved throughout all the books in the entire Inheritance Cycle were just killed off in the first film. The first half of the actual book spanned like 15 minutes in the movie.
Things were rushed. You can’t rush a fantasy epic.
Not everything needs to be line for line, scene for scene but the core of the source material should remain. In the Eragon movie the only thing that was the same really was the title.
Is There an Eragon 2 movie?
How many Eragon movies are there? Just 1. Is there and Eragon 2? Nope.
How can you continue on with a book adaptation when you killed off major characters and destroyed future plot lines from books 2-4?
The second book was a fantastic read, if there was an Eragon 2 movie, there was a 0% chance it could have been adapted based on what 20th Century Fox put on the big screen in Eragon 1.
Would I have even wanted a second Eragon movie, being a fan of the books? Absolutely not.
This is why I’m overly excited that Disney+ is adapting the Inheritance Cycle into a TV series.
What’s Next for Disney’s Eragon
Eragon TV series adaptation is in the works at Disney+ !
Good news is that we’re most likely getting a faithful adaptation because Eragon creator Christopher Paolini will be a series co-writer, along with executive producer Bert Salke (Percy Jackson).
The Disney Eragon Adaptation is in early developments but rumors are swirling we will be getting one season for each book. This is incredible news for a story that needs more attention to detail and time to do a deep dive into the source material.
Conclusion
Eragon is a great book. The movie, not so much.
I’m excited for the Disney+ Eragon TV series adaptation, it’s being written by Christopher Paolini and Bert Salke. If you want to get a free Eragon audiobook, Audible is giving away one right now.
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