Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Friends Don't Let Friends Read Eragon

I've been sitting on this post for a while now but I've got to say that Eragon really, really sucked big time. Son Number Two and I have given up on it. He lasted a lot longer than I; by the second chapter I knew this thing was a great big pile of manure. I was reading it to my son for a period of time and I kept finding myself skipping ahead and summarizing things and changing some dialogue so it sounded better but nothing I could do could stop the inevitable. It's just a very poorly written book that meanders around picking up one tired old trope after another. Ach! I can't recommend against it strongly enough. Go get something from Donita K. Paul or Wayne Batson if your twelve year old likes fantasy fiction. If I can stop just one person from reading that dreck then my suffering will all be worth it.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tell me about it! I struggled through the second one just so I could give it a scathing review in my newspaper.

To this day I cannot believe someone published this poem:

Dragons, like flagons, have tongues.
Dragons, like wagons, have necks.
But while two hold beer,
The other eats deer.

My jaw dropped when I read that one.

-Andrew

NewGuyDave said...

You should start a Facebook Group for this. lol

I'll join.

Anonymous said...

Ugh!!!! Please, please, please, can you remove that 'car wreck you cannot take your eyes off of' from your summary thingy under your picture. It greatly offends my European ears (and eyes). It would be nice if you could change it to 'cannot drag your eyes from' or something similar.

Pretty please?

Jeff Draper said...

Done. Because I'm all about harmony across the pond.

Anonymous said...

Thanks. :-) Nails being dragged down a chalk board are a pleasant alternative to 'off of'.

Glad to see my Latin tag finally made it to the light of day and that your torture with Eragon has finally ended. I'll make a note to avoid it.