Eragon

Christopher Paolini started reading fantasy books when he was 10 years old. At the age of 14, as a hobby, he started writing the first novel in a series of four books, but he could not get beyond a few pages because he had "no idea" where he was going. He began reading everything he could about the "art of writing", and then plotted the whole Inheritance Cycle book series. After a month of planning out the series, he started writing the draft of Eragon by hand. It was finished a year later, and Paolini began writing the "real" version of the book.[3] After another year of editing, Paolini's parents saw the final manuscript. They immediately saw its potential and decided to publish the book through their small, home-based publishing company, Paolini International.[4] Paolini created the cover art for this edition of Eragon, which featured Saphira's eye on the cover. He also drew the maps inside the book.[5]

Paolini and his family toured across the United States promoting the book. He gave over 135 talks at bookshops, libraries, and schools, many with Paolini dressed up in a medieval costume; but the book did not receive much attention. Paolini said he "would stand behind a table in my costume talking all day without a break – and would sell maybe forty books in eight hours if I did really well. [...] It was a very stressful experience. I couldn't have gone on for very much longer."[3][6] In the summer of 2002, American novelist Carl Hiaasen was on vacation in one of the cities that Paolini gave a talk in. While there, Hiaasen's stepson bought a copy of Eragon that he "immediately loved".[3] He showed it to Hiaasen, who brought the book to the attention of the publishing house Alfred A. Knopf. Michelle Frey, executive editor at Knopf, contacted Paolini and his family to ask if they were interested in having Knopf publish Eragon. The answer was yes, and after another round of editing, Knopf published Eragon in August 2003, with a new cover, drawn by John Jude Palencar.[7]

An illustration of Beowulf fighting the dragon (1908). Paolini received much inspiration from old epic poems.

Paolini cites old myths, folk tales, medieval stories, the epic poem Beowulf, and authors J. R. R. Tolkien and E. R. Eddison as his biggest influences in writing. Other literary influences include David Eddings, Andre Norton, Brian Jacques, Anne McCaffrey, Raymond E. Feist, Mervyn Peake, Ursula K. Le Guin, Frank Herbert,[8] Philip Pullman, and Garth Nix.

The ancient language used by the elves in Eragon is based "almost entirely" on Old Norse, German, Anglo Saxon, and Russian myth.[9] Paolini commented: "[I] did a god-awful amount of research into the subject when I was composing it. I found that it gave the world a much richer feel, a much older feel, using these words that had been around for centuries and centuries. I had a lot of fun with that."[10] Picking the right names for the characters and places was a process that could take "days, weeks, or even years". Paolini said: "if I have difficulty choosing the correct moniker, I use a placeholder name until a replacement suggests itself."[4] He added that he was "really lucky" with the name Eragon, "because it's just dragon with one letter changed." Also, Paolini commented that he thought of both parts of the name "Eragon" - "era" and "gone" - as if the name itself changes the era in which the character lives. He thought the name fit the book perfectly, but some of the other names caused him "real headaches".[10]

Paolini received inspiration from Paradise Valley, Montana (Emigrant Peak pictured, as viewed from west bank of Yellowstone River)

The landscape in Eragon is based on the "wild territory" of Paolini's home state, Montana.[3] He said in an interview: "I go hiking a lot, and oftentimes when I'm in the forest or in the mountains, sitting down and seeing some of those little details makes the difference between having an okay description and having a unique description."[10] Paolini also said that Paradise Valley, Montana is "one of the main sources" of his inspiration for the landscape in the book (Eragon takes place in the fictional continent Alagaësia). Paolini "roughed out" the main history of the land before he wrote the book, but he did not draw a map of it until it became important to see where Eragon was traveling. He then started to get history and plot ideas from seeing the landscape depicted.[10]

Paolini chose to have Eragon mature throughout the book because, "for one thing, it's one of the archetypal fantasy elements". He thought Eragon's growth and maturation throughout the book "sort of mirrored my own growing abilities as a writer and as a person, too. So it was a very personal choice for that book."[10] Eragon's dragon, Saphira, was imagined as "the perfect friend" by Paolini.[3] He decided to go in a more "human direction" with her because she is raised away from her own species, in "close mental contact" with a human. "I considered making the dragon more dragon-like, if you will, in its own society, but I haven't had a chance to explore that. I went with a more human element with Saphira while still trying to get a bit of the magic, the alien, of her race."[10] Paolini made Saphira the "best friend anyone could have: loyal, funny, brave, intelligent, and noble. She transcended that, however, and became her own person, fiercely independent and proud."[4] Saphira's blue tinted vision was in turn inspired by Paolini's own color-blindness.[11]

Paolini deliberately included archetypal elements of a fantasy novel like a quest, a journey of experience, revenge, romance, betrayal, and a "unique" sword.[3] The book is described as a fantasy, and Booklist observed: "Paolini knows the genre well—his lush tale is full of recognizable fantasy elements and conventions".[12] Kirkus Reviews called the book a "high fantasy";[12] other reviewers have compared it to other books and films of the fantasy genre, such as Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, and in some instances stated Eragon's plot is too similar to those other stories.[13]

Aerial photography of the Ság Mountain, which served as the backdrop for Farthen Dûr in the film adaptation of the book.

A film adaptation of Eragon was released in the United States on December 15, 2006. Plans to create the film were first announced in February 2004, when 20th Century Fox purchased the rights to Eragon. The film was directed by first-timer Stefen Fangmeier, and written by Peter Buchman.[24] Edward Speleers was selected for the role of Eragon.[25] Over the following months, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Chris Egan and Djimon Hounsou were all confirmed as joining the cast.[26] Principal photography for the film took place in Hungary and Slovakia.[27]

The film received mostly negative reviews, garnering a 16% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes;[28] the tenth worst of 2006.[29] The Seattle Times described it as "technically accomplished, but fairly lifeless and at times a bit silly".[30] The Hollywood Reporter said the world of Eragon was "without much texture or depth".[31] The story was labelled "derivative" by The Washington Post,[32] and "generic" by the Las Vegas Weekly.[33] Newsday stressed this point further, asserting that only "nine-year-olds with no knowledge whatsoever of any of the six Star Wars movies" would find the film original.[34] The acting was called "lame" by the Washington Post,[32] as well as "stilted" and "lifeless" by the Orlando Weekly.[35] The dialogue was also criticized: MSNBC labelled it "silly";[36] the Las Vegas Weekly called it "wooden".[33] Positive reviews described the film as "fun"[37] and "the stuff boys' fantasies are made of".[38] The CGI work was called "imaginative" and Saphira was called a "magnificent creation".[39] Paolini stated he enjoyed the film, particularly praising the performances of Jeremy Irons and Ed Speleers.[40]

Eragon grossed approximately $75 million in the United States and $173.9 million elsewhere, totaling $249 million worldwide.[41] It is the fifth highest-grossing film with a dragon at its focal point,[42] and the sixth highest-grossing film of the sword and sorcery subgenre.[43] Eragon was in release for seventeen weeks in the United States, opening on December 15, 2006 and closing on April 9, 2007.[44] It opened in 3,020 theaters, earning $8.7 million on opening day and $23.2 million across opening weekend, ranking second behind The Pursuit of Happyness.[45] Eragon's $75 million total United States gross was the thirty-first highest for 2006.[46] The film earned $150 million in its opening weekend across 76 overseas markets, making it the #1 film worldwide.[47] The film's $249 million total worldwide gross was the sixteenth highest for 2006.[48]

In June 2021, Christopher Paolini tweeted #EragonRemake in an effort to get Disney, the intellectual rights holders following their acquisition of 21st Century Fox, to revamp the book series into a possible television show for Disney+. Within hours, the hashtag began to trend with fans pushing for a proper adaptation.[49] On July 25, 2022, Variety reported that a live action television series adaptation of Eragon was in early development for Disney+, with Paolini serving as a co-writer on the series, and with Bert Salke executive producing.[50]

A video game adaptation of Eragon based primarily on the film, released in North America on November 14, 2006. The game is a third-person video game released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, developed by Stormfront Studios. Also released are unique versions of Eragon for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and mobile phone handheld gaming systems, primarily developed by Amaze Entertainment. The console and PC versions of the game are very similar, focusing on the same style of gameplay. However, the Xbox 360 edition features two exclusive levels. One is on foot as Eragon, and Saphira is controlled in the second mission.

The game has received generally negative reviews usually receiving press averages around the 4-6 out of 10 region (or the equivalent), (45-55 out of 100) according to review aggregator sites Metacritic and GameRankings. The combined sales in North America were over 400,000 copies.

The majority of the game is taken up by third-person combat, usually on foot. Some missions permit the player to use the dragon Saphira in combat. The gameplay mechanics within these levels are largely similar to those in ground-based levels, with the exception of some different attack moves (such as tail attacks). Protagonist Eragon sits on Saphira's back during these sections, and can be made to fire magic arrows. The player has no choice as to whether or not they use Saphira. Similarly, the player cannot use Saphira in ground-based levels: they can call for her and she will swoop past, but it is not possible to use this feature to ride Saphira. There is a multiplayer co-op mode which allows two people to play through the main storyline. It is possible to switch from playing a one-player game to a two-player game at any time. There are no Internet multiplayer options.