Eragon by Christopher Paolini

One boy... One dragon... A world of adventure.
When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.
Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fletchling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.
Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.

~Print copy, 497 pages (not including glossary)
Published: 2003 by Alfred A. Knopf (New York)

Yea, I've mentioned several times on this blog (alright, many times) how much I love Eragon. So, since I got Inheritance (the last of the series) and I'm rereading the first three books in order to properly read the last, here is my explanation of why I love it so much.

Mainly, four reasons:

1. It's epic fantasy. I mean... dude. EPIC. FANTASY. Dragons and magic and kings, oh my!

2. It's all very dramatic. It's his destiny to take up the revered position of Dragon Rider, so he can defeat the evil king! Yay! I love that sort of stuff. None of that sappy intimate romance junk. That whole adventure-to-overthrow-the-forces-of-evil just catches my spark like nothin' else.

3. This is some good writing. None of that modern day voice to it, that makes it sound kinda whiny and teenage-girlish, but it's not medieval-thou's-and-thee's stuff, either. It walks a fine line between the two, and might I say, some of it's almost poetic. Not to mention the creation of not just one other language but multiple languages over the series: the ancient language, the dwarf language, the Elven language, even a little Urgal speak. Mostly the ancient language appears in this first book, but there are a handful of words from these other languages as well.

4. Which brings me to the worldbuilding. Language and culture play a major role in this, but the plot doesn't take a backseat to the building: they weave together real nicely. There is a map, and you can understand without trying too hard where everything is and what sort of route they're travelling. It doesn't suffer from same-itis, where the cities are all the same, the castles are all the same, etc.; each city or town, from Carvahall (Eragon's home) to Gilead to Teirm, all have their uniqueness.

So, yea. Good writing/story elements + epic fantasy = five stars. Seriously. I would recommend everyone read this book (unless you hate reading, in which case I suggest you not follow my reading/writing blog).

There are plenty of other reasons, but my stomach hurts and my head's fuzzy so I'm going to leave it off here. Have a blessed day!