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Luke’s aunt and uncle are killed by the enemy in their attempt to locate the droids. Luke meets Obi-wan, who becomes his mentor in the ways of the Jedi, a hunted and nearly eradicated group of warriors. His quiet life changes when he happens upon droids sent by the captive Princess Leia, who entrusted one of the droids with information vital to the downfall of the Empire. Luke lives with his uncle and aunt on a remote planet. The argument that Paolini was "inspired" by fantasy authors isn’t necessarily wrong, but extending that reasoning to say that the Inheritance cycle is a work of inspiration is a completely different matter. Do we tar and feather every author to mention magic, or simply stick to those whose characters have special powers? Are quests up for lynching? Or heroes?
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More than a few of Paolini’s names are easily confused for Tolkien’s some come as close as "Isenstar" and "Isengard."īut the line between inspiration and outright theft isn’t always easy to identify.
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Paolini’s ideas bear clear and damning resemblance to a myriad of works: Star Wars (storyline), Lord of the Rings (names and locations), McCaffrey’s Pern series ( dragonriders), and the works of David Eddings ( entire scenes). That success might have continued without controversy if the book were anything more than a collection of ideas stolen from far better sources. Eventually, publishing house Knopf picked up his book and turned Eragon into the well-known name that it is today, rocketing Paolini to stardom with it. Paolini leapt over this rite of passage when his parents started their own publishing company to get their son’s completed manuscript into print, and to give him something to have in his hand while he gave lectures on writing and promoted his novel. Most authors get their big break by submitting endless copies of their manuscript to publishers and learning to deal with rejection.
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From the beginning, Paolini has his parents’ full support, for good or ill. Paolini’s home-schooling and wonderfully supportive family aren’t the reason behind his "genius," but they did have a lot to do with his success. Whether what comes out at the end is a marketable book relies on a number of different factors. All Christopher Paolini needed - all any author needs - is dedication and time. In fact, the only two requirements for writing a book have nothing to do with talent or creativity. Teen authors aren’t as rare as they might seem.
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Unfortunately, the story is shallow, derivative and very plainly Paolini writing himself into a borrowed world of fantasy for his own enjoyment.
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Having had the good fortune of being home-schooled, Christopher Paolini set about writing an epic adventure of a hero and his faithful dragon.
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Those who have not visited a bookstore in the past several years might not recognize the name "Eragon," except perhaps as a misspelled version of the Lord of the Rings’ "Aragorn."Įragon is a young-adult fantasy novel published in 2003, written by fantasy-obsessed teenager who was only 15 when he started what would become an international bestseller. All comments prior to 01/02/09 refer to the 2006 version of this post.įew things in the literary world have the ability to earn ire and continuing disbelief as readily as the success of Christopher Paolini’s plagiarism.
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