Christopher Paolini's book "Eldest" is definitely a step up from his first work, "Eragon.
" Paolini's writing became much more cohesive and flowing, the world of Alagaesia became more detailed, his characters became more full, and he was able to expand on the parts of his story that make his ideas original.
In "Eragon," it seemed like sentence structure was choppy and thoughts weren't complete.
Without citing specific examples, I felt like there was something odd about the book.
As soon as I discovered that Paolini is not only a first time author but also 19 years old at the time of writing, it became clear why his writing was of less quality than that of more experienced fantasy-fiction authors like Robert Jordan or Isaac Asimov.
Regardless, I found his storyline intriguing and original enough.
His second novel "Eldest" shows how much he has developed as a writer, as each chapter is cohesive and develops the story as opposed to the choppy writing in his first book.
I found that while Paolini had some very interesting ideas in his first novel, specifically the size of the Beor mountains and the concept of Helgrind, the rest of Alagaesia was typical and somewhat dull.
That changes drastically with his second book, in which he expands greatly on the parts of his little map that were left out of his first novel.
His descriptions of Du Weldenvarden and the cities of the elves, not to mention the feelings of Eragon encountering these exotic places were much more entertaining than in his first book.
Granted, he was talking about the plains and Hadarac desert, but still they were left very non-descript.
In "Eragon," I also felt that the characters were left very two-dimensional with the exception of Eragon himself.
I felt that Brom was a very important and influential character, yet even after Eragon learns more about him, it seems like the reader never got to know him.
Through their chase from Carvahall to Dras-Leona it seems like Brom is nothing but a means to the end for Paolini to develop Eragon.
In "Eldest," many of the characters have significant parts and are filled out.
Roran, who was forgotten about after the first chapter, is shown to be a strong, complex person.
Arya, who is intentionally kept mysterious, develops into another complex character, not only because her story is revealed, but also because of the development of Eragon's infatuation with her.
I felt like I actually got to know people in this book, whereas in "Eragon" the characters, including Saphira, breezed by while Eragon's story was told.
The differences between elves, dwarves, dragons, magic, and Paolini's own ideas are really emphasized in this book.
The magical immortality of the elves, their tree-sung cities, and their love for hobbies felt like new additions to the traditional Tolkien-style elves.
Saphira, as the primary representative of her race, introduces a new idea of dragons as not only intelligent but compassionate, heroic, and her link with Eragon is entertaining throughout the story.
Finally, I liked how Paolini presented some philosophical commentaries, religious passages, ethical questions, and gave advice through his characters.
I felt like overall, this book is deserving of the attention it's garnered and is across the board a more well-written book than Paolini's first work.
I look forward to reading the next in his series, "Brisingr.
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