Christopher Paolini Books

Eragon is the first book in the Inheritance Cycle series, written, amazingly, by the author when he was just 15. Paolini was clearly a lover of fantasy, and his passion shows in the novel, with echoes of ‘Star Wars’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’, with dragons thrown in for good measure!

Fellow fantasy lovers will enjoy the story of a poor farm boy who realises he is destined to do battle against the evil forces in his land when he discovers a dragon’s egg in the forboding forest near his home village. As well as epic quests and adventure, there is also violence and bloodshed – including the death of a baby impaled on a stake.  Themes of good vs evil are prominent, and the ‘Shade’ and his minions – the urquals – are pretty scary, although no more so than characters from Tolkien’s works!

Recommended for teenage fans of fantasy worlds who are looking for a series to dig into.