Eragon Skywalker

SPOILER ALERT:

If you intend to read Eragon, don't read any further. Main sections of the books are spoiled by what follows.

No, I've made no mistake with the title. Eragon, although well written and pretty good in itself, would be a lot better if it was original. The problem is that it follows the very same storyline as the original Star Wars trilogy. Allow me to elaborate:

Eragon (Luke Skywalker) lives in a farm with his uncle Garrow (Owen Lars), untill he discovers an artifact, a blue dragon egg (a blue and white robot with a rounded head). The story then carries him to an old town's sage, Brom (Obi-Wan Kenobi) who will initiate him in the ways of Magic (the Force) whilst they leave town in a hurry because the Empire (the Empire) is after them. In this attack by the Empire, uncle Garrow (uncle Owen) ends up dead by the Ra'zac (storm troopers). Thus, Eragon(Luke)'s mission is one of vengeance for the death of his uncle.

He escapes with his dragon, Saphira (who acts as Han Solo with the voice of experience - a role shareseia sometimes for the love they share).

Of course, on the way, Brom (bi-Wan) ends up dead by the Empire's hands, although not by Darth Vader himself but the Ra'zac, up till then, the most fearsome enemies, save Durza and Galbatorix (the Emperor).

It's not all the same, of course, since in this case the Empire is who attacks the Varden (rebel) base and noth the other way around. The Varden take Eragon as the New Hope. And even though the Death Star is represented by Durza, the first book ends with his death (the Death Star's destruction), which is a big victory for the rebels. Although you can clearly see it is not the end of the road for Luke... I mean Eragon.

In the second book, Eldest, we are presented with an Eragon that discovers he is not the only Jedi, sorry, Rider left alive. There is another. An old knight, a Master in Magic, Oromis (Yoda) who will first teach him to have the patience to perceive all the force, I mean Magic, around him, in all things alive, and to channel it. But careflully, since abusing Magic is bad (it may take you to the dark side...), as you can kill by draininig life around you.

Naturally, Master Oromis (Yoda) cannot help Eragon on his crusade, since he is really old and suffers his age. During his training in Ellesmera (Pagodah), a place where plant life is clearly important, Eragons is transformed into a real (jedi) warrior. Naturally, he has to leave Ellesmera before finishing his training since he senses his friends are in danger because the Empire is moving towards their hiding place.

During a bloody battle in Endor, Eragon fights another Rider, which we later discover is Murtagh, son of Morzan, one of the baddie Riders taken to the dark side by the Emperor. So, any ol' Darth Vader... and... are you ready?? The misterious Rider is discovered as Eragon's brother!!

... Clearly, all big epic stories have to stay in the family...

Of course, the battle is nearly lost, until, in the last minute, they are saved by the Ewoks... sorry, the dwarves. We are also saddened when the king of the Ewoks... dwarves!! is killed...

The re-write of this storyline is actually, as I say, pretty good. The book is entertaining (except for some of the passages where the long treks remind you of Frodo's trips through the plains...) and the endings are both pretty engaging... if it weren't for the fact I've seen Star Wars so many times I could actually re-write the script from scratch...

Also, one has to take into account that the author, Christopher Paolini, was 19 years old when he finished writting Eragon and, truth be said, after reading George Lucas' original books, Eragon is written much much better than the SW books. Although, Lucas' films are much better than Eragon, in my opinion.