Characters
Eragon – Eragon is a teenage boy and the protagonist of the Inheritance Cycle. He was born and raised in the village of Carvahall, near the Spine. His mother is deceased, and he lives with his cousin Roran and his uncle Garrow. While hunting in the Spine, he finds a blue dragon egg and raises the dragon, Saphira, from a baby in the nearby forest.
Saphira – Saphira is the blue dragon egg that Eragon found in the Spine. She was born from an egg stolen by the Varden from the evil king and was hidden for a long time until Eragon discovered her. She grows quickly and communicates with Eragon after they first touch. She is a down-to-earth female dragon who always watches out for Eragon. They become close friends on their journeys together.
Roran – Roran is Garrow’s son and Eragon’s cousin. He grows up in Carvahall with Eragon and is often very headstrong.
Arya – Arya is the mysterious elf that Eragon rescues from Durza and later falls in love with. She is the one responsible for keeping Saphira’s egg safe. She is highly accomplished at magic and fighting for her life and has proven to be a good friend of Eragon.
Galbatorix – Galbatorix is the antagonist of the story and a dragon rider. His dragon’s name is Shruiken, which he controls with his dark magic. He is the ruler of Alagaesia and a tyrant over all the people. He had an evil plan to kill all but the last three dragon eggs in Alagaesia. In the end, Eragon would have to kill him.
Setting
The overall setting of the book “Eragon” is Alagaesia, which is broken down into smaller areas such as the Spine, Hadarac Desert, Teirm, Carvahall, Helgrind, Farthen Dur, Surda, and several others. It is a fictional world, but the time is similar to our Middle Ages. There is no electricity, people live in villages, food is grown or hunted, and travel is mainly on foot or by horseback.
Plot Summary
The story starts off with Eragon, an orphaned boy living with his uncle and cousin, who finds a blue sapphire rock in the Spine. When he brings it home, he realizes that the stone is a dragon egg, and a bond is formed between Eragon and the little dragon. After asking Brom, the storyteller of Carvahall, about dragons, Eragon names the dragon Saphira. Soon after, Saphira matures and learns the language used by Eragon. Raz’zac, sent by the Empire, comes to the village to kill or capture Saphira, but she drags Eragon to safety.
Soon, his home is destroyed, and his uncle has been murdered. This starts his journey of revenge against the Raz’zac, accompanied by Brom, who teaches him many things about being a Dragon Rider and how to battle. Throughout the journey, Brom dies from a poisoned knife thrown by the Raz’zac, and Murtagh, a man after the Raz’zac as well, saves Eragon from a similar fate of death.
Together, they rescue a female elf named Arya, of whom Eragon had dreamed, and through her instructions, reach the Varden, a band of rebels against Emperor Galbatorix. During his stay, the Empire sends Kulls to assault the Boer Mountains, where the Varden are stationed, led by Durza, the Shade, who had imprisoned Arya and pursued Eragon across the lands of Alagaesia. A furious battle takes place and ends with the death of the Shade Durza at the hands of Eragon, but not before Durza delivers a crushing blow to Eragon’s back. As Eragon begins to slip out of consciousness, he hears a message from the Cripple Who Is Whole asking him to seek him after he awakens. Eragon agrees and shortly thereafter blacks out.
Conflict:
There are several conflicts in the book, but the main conflict in “Eragon” is the external conflict between Eragon and the evil tyrant king Galbatorix, who battle each other in the end.
Climax:
The climax would be the major battle under the mountain Farthen Dur. During the climax, Eragon kills Durza and frees all the Urgals, who then proceed to kill each other, giving the Varden a victory against Galbatorix.
Resolution:
The unanswered question at the end of the book would have to be if Eragon will listen to the stranger who called to him telepathically to train in Elesmera, the elven capital city, and whether he will get his revenge on Durza.
Opinion:
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an imaginary escape. It is a very good book that has a series of four books, so you will have a lot of unanswered questions until you have read them all. The book could have been better if Eragon had killed Durza instead of Durza escaping at the end of the book.
