Book 2...Start of a New Series

The second book I decided to read this year is one that I have been meaning to pick up for awhile now.  This book is the first in the Inheritance Cycle and is called "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini.  I saw the movie version of this book a few years ago and really enjoyed it, so of course I wanted to pick up the book it was inspired by!  Since I had seen the movie first I went into the book with some preconceived notions about what characters should look like and how some of the story would go, boy was I wrong!!

Many people had told me to movie was much different than the book, but I was surprised by just how right they were.  The movie is only loosely based on the book, probably because the characters have the same names and the plot is somewhat similar, but otherwise they are nothing alike.  I did enjoy the book, even though I was surprised about the differences from the movie version.

The book is about a 16 year old farm boy named, Eragon who finds a blue rock while he is out hunting in a forest called "The Spine".  Little does he know that the rock is actually a dragon egg and has been waiting 100's of years to find the right person to hatch for.  Eventually the egg does hatch and Eragon names his new dragon Saphira.  Eragon befriends an older man, Brom, in town who happens to know about dragons and the three of them leave in search of the Ra'zac (2 horrible creatures who killed Eragon's uncle).  As Eragon and Saphira travel with Brom they learn about fighting, magic, and the dragon riders of old.  I don't want to say too much more because it would spoil the book, but lets just say that at some point Eragon meets a girl elf who he begins to develop feelings for, and that the book ends in a great battle with some dwarfs, Urgals, and an evil sorcerer!

I liked this book, but found that the author got into a lot of description at times that I found a little unnecessary.  The story was everything you would want a fantasy book to be - imaginative, emotional, and believable (well as much as a world with dragons, elves, dwarfs, and evil sorcerers can be).  I am looking forward to reading the second installment in this series and hoping that it explains a little more about the history of the dragon riders and what it really means to be one.