Eragon, the movie

We watched Eragon this weekend. It was pretty good, but I was glad that I hadn’t wasted money seeing it in the theater. The dragon and effects were good, and for the most part, I enjoyed the performances of the actors. However, it was a little strange seeing a combination of stories that are so familiar, yet just a bit different, on the screen. (For those of you that don’t know, Eragon is a pretty obvious mixture of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Dragon Riders of Pern.)

After watching the movie, I went back and did some research. I’m not the first person to note the similarities. Most reviewers seemed content to point out the derivative works and then praise the author highly for writing a book at such a young age. I am torn. I like fantasy stories, and I am well aware that there are few truly unique stories out there. However, I sort of wonder what we’d have if instead of rewarding and praising this young author so very much for giving us a remix of stories we’ve already read, he’d been told to go back and write something closer to original. If he’s this good at 15, what would he write with a firm hand and someone demanding better work?

I am not going to completely cross his name off my list of authors to watch, but I really hope that he gives us something of HIS next time. After all, I’ve already watched star wars and LOTR. If you love dragons, check out Anne McCaffrey’s Dragons of Pern series. The original is great.