Nithya Rao 11/ 12/13 4th hour Eragon The book Eragon by Christopher Paolini, is about a teenaged boy

living in the Palancar Valley that named Eragon and his journey through the country of Alagasia and its neighboring country, Surda. One day when Eragon is hunting in the mysterious mountain range of Spine, he comes across a flawless blue stone. Even though stories of strange disappearances and disaster are told to have happened in this mountain range, Eragon takes this stone in hope that he can trade it for some meat for his family. However by the contrary, the traders and the butcher are not willing to trade for this unidentified stone for they dont know its true value. At night when Eragon is sleeping he awakens by little squeaking sounding coming from a shaking stone. And from the stone comes a baby dragon. As soon as Eragon touches the dragon he receives a mark on his palm called the gedwy ignasia which identifies Eragon as one of few, powerful Riders. Eragon tries to keep the presences of the rapidly growing dragon a secret from everyone and learns how to mentally communicate with the dragon. He goes to Carvahall where he hopes to seek knowledge about the vast subject of dragons from Brom, a storyteller who has a great understanding about dragons. Here he learns about dragon names and picks the name Saphira for his female dragon. One day Saphira flees from danger taking Eragon along with her. When Eragon convinces Saphira to return, they find there house collapsed by the Razac. They also find Garrow, Eragons uncle wounded inside the destroyed house. Shortly after Eragon and Saphira get Garrow out, Garrow dies. In effort to seek revenge of his uncles death and with no adult to stay with, he travels through Alagasia with Saphira and Brom, who finds out about Saphira, in effort to defeat the Empire who command the Razac.

During Eragons adventure he encounters many things and gains the vast knowledge of several concepts with Broms guidance. For example, Brom teaches Eragon how to make a saddle for Saphira and about the life cycle and history of dragons. On their journey the mysterious man Brom, hands the Zarroc to Eragon yet refuses to tell him about its past and previous owner. Then, Brom and Eragon head to Theriensford where they buy their two horses. After every day, for a while, Brom would teach Eragon how to fight or spar. Then they went to Yazuac to get supplies for their trip. In Yazuac, they see a pile of dead bodies that the Urgals killed. On their way out of Yazuac, Brom and Eragon encounter two Urgals. Eragon gets cornered and by using magic he defeated the two Urgals. Afterwards, Brom teaches Eragon the rules and restrictions of magic since Eragon used magic without true knowledge. Brom also tells Eragon about the Riders. Soon after, Brom starts his magic lessons with the exercise of lifting up a pebble with words and thoughts. They then head to Daret to get gloves for Eragon so that his glowing gedwy ignasia on his palm is not noticeable, which could be a major threat. Eragon soon learns how to get into peoples minds. Later, Eragon experiences flying at the speed of a dragon on Saphira. On their way the find Seither oil in a flask with the Razac symbol on it. Brom and Eragon head to the city of Teirm where they believe that a trader friend could help them discover where the oil was headed to and the place where the Razacs are located. Along the way, Brom teaches Eragon how to care for Saphira and use magic. In Teirm they visit their trader friend, Jeod. Here Eragon learn to read. They sneak into a castles room that contains of record of all the trade in Alagasia, get the information they need about the destination of the oil and hurry out. Eragon also meets Angela the herbalist and her ware cat named Solembum. Angela foretells Eragon future for him. During his stay in Teirm, Eragon also learns how to scry, to see people that you know with your mind. Brom thinks that the Razac are hiding in the city of

Gilead. On their way Brom and Eragon encounter the monstrous Urgals receive a warning from them. They stay in Dras- Leona along the way trying to find hint about the Seither oil. The Razac chase Brom and Eragon out of the city and severely injure Brom. A man named Murtagh drives the Razac away. Brom soon dies showing Eragon that he was a Rider himself once because on his palm lay the gedwy ignasia and he tells Eragon that his dragon was also named Saphira. Eragon and Saphira create a diamond tomb for him using their magic. Then they carry on taking Murtagh, who says that he is against the empire just like Eragon, with them. He again faces the Urgals and gets set to the prison where he encounters the beautiful elf woman who kept appearing in his dreams, locked in a prison sell. Eragon, the unconscious woman, and Murtagh face a Shade as they exit in prison, they try to fight Shade but he disappears and they escape. They travel across the long Haradac Desert with the unconscious elf tied to Saphira. The elf named Arya sends Eragon a mental message about the location where she will be healed and awaken from her unconscious state. I think that Eragon is a very independent and determined main character. Eragons mother handed Eragon to Garrow when he was just a baby, she then left and has not been seen since. Eragon doesnt know who is father is either. Eragon lives with his uncle, Garrow, and his cousin, Roran. But, with Garrow and Brom dead and Roran away for his job, Eragon becomes even more independent. He also determined because his travels are harsh and are very energy consuming. Eragon persisted through several days and nights of running from Urgals, learning to use magic and finally killing Durza. My favorite part of the book is when they kill Durza, the Shade, in the end of the book. This scene is my favorite because it is cleverly thought out. When Eragon is attack by the pain in Durzas mind, Durza sword hits Eragon in the back leaving him in terrible physical pain. The

author leaves you with the impression that Eragon will be defeated by Durza. Until, Saphira and Arya break the star sapphire causing a distraction to Durza. Right, when Dura is unaware, he says a magical word and kills Durza by stabing him in the heart. After, Eragon awakes from his intense battle he hear the story of how they won from Arya, Murtagh and Saphira. On page 495 of Eragon, Murtagh says, When Shades spirits if that is what they were flew across Farthen Dur, the Urgals ceased fighting and watched them go. It was as though they were released from a spell then, because their clans suddenly turned and attacked each other. Their entire army disintegrated within minutes. We routed them after that! After defeating Durza and the Urgals, Eragon becomes a hero and proven a worthy rider I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone. I especially would recommend it for people who like reading about fantasy, adventure and, maybe even, survival for entertainment. As soon as the stone starts shaking and making small sounds you know that the book will be adventurous. Obviously, from reading about the magical kingdom of Alagasia, Shade, Urgals, Razac, Elves who are all magical creatures, Dragons and Dragon Riders, and magical spells that can heal, fight and destroy, you know that the book is fantasy. On their journey, hunting down the Empire for revenge on his uncles death, Eragon, Brom, Murtagh, and Saphira, the dragon, travel across the country with barely any materials. This journey puts them to the test, in addition to that, Eragon, taught by Brom, has to learn how to fight and use magic responsibly. During the battles that Eragon encounters, he becomes more emotionally and physically stronger. And he gains enough power to defeat Durza at the end of the book. Even though, I didnt like how the twins, in the end of the book, were frequently mentioned as dangerous being, yet they hardly played a role in the plot. Overall, however, I enjoyed the book Eragon by Christopher Paolini and would recommend it to everyone.