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Children's Book Reviews
Eldest
by Chistopher Paolini
Knopf, August, 2005
Hardcover, 704 pages
ISBN: 037582670X
Young Adult
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
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Amazon.co.uk
Christopher Paolini has grown as an author and that is quite evident in
Eldest, the sequel to the bestselling
Eragon. At the end of
the last book, the teenage Eragon and his blue-skinned dragon Saphira had
helped win a great battle, but the
war is far from over. King Galbatorix, the Alagaesian Empire's cruel ruler
has learned of Eragon and Saphira's existence and he wants control of
the Dragon Rider. He is also determined to crush the resistance to his
totalitarian rule. In order to further his training, Eragon and Saphira
travel to Ellesmera, the forest home of the elves. In Ellesmera, Eragon
undergoes an interesting transformation as he learns the skills of a Dragon Rider
from the wise and powerful elf Dragon Rider Oromis and his elderly
dragon Glaedr. Both Saphira and Eragon learn some hard lessons in
the forests of Ellesmera, and even have their first major disagreement which
must be worked through in order for them to be a powerful team in the battles to come.
Meanwhile, Eragon's cousin is still in their hometown of Carvahall.
King Galbatorix has sent a terrifying emissary to find Eragon and the dragon
egg, and that could mean the destruction of the town. Roran has to grow up
quickly as he convinces the entire town to relocate in order to survive.
Their trek turns Roran into a hardened warrior: and he has a big surprise
waiting for him when he finally sees that his long-lost cousin Eragon
is now a mighty warrior.
At nearly 700 pages, Eldest could have used a
bit of editorial pruning. Although Paolini uses a blend of Tolkien
and Anne McCaffrey's fantasy conventions (elves, dwarves, humans,
dragon riders with telepathy etc.) there are many instances where
Paolini steps outside the conventions and shows a vein of original thinking
and creativity.
Just when the dialogue is about to get too stilted, or the characters
begin to become unbearably honorable and stuffy, someone usually steps
forward to puncture their pompousness. For example, Angela the herbalist
(who Paolini says he based on his own sister) is around on the battlefield
to dispense terse advise and sly commentary. She's a delight.
And new ruler Nasuada confounds the ruling council and a parsimonious
neighboring king with her
creative thinking: when she can't get the money she needs to fund
the rebellion, she has the magicians create beautiful lace which is sold
to the luxury market (it's hard to recall one fantasy novel where the
market research and entrepreneurship was used to finance the raising of an army.)
Paolini also excels at creating horrific creatures,
such as the Ra'zac and the girl Elva, who was unwittingly cursed
by Eragon and Saphira when she was a baby.
The pacing of the last third of the book really picks up steam, as the plot
charges to a thrilling conclusion. It will be a long wait until Book III: Inheritance.
--Claire E. White
Dragonquest
by Donita K. Paul
WaterBrook Press, June, 2005
Trade Paperback, 368 pages
ISBN: 1400071291
Ages Young Adult
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
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Amazon.co.uk
In the first book in the series,
Dragonspell, readers met Kale Alleron,
an o'rant slave girl who finds a dragon's egg. This discovery convinced
the village elders to send Kate to study at the Hall and be a servant of the
great Paladin. On the way to the Hall, Kate found more dragon eggs, had
many adventures and even fought a battle with the evil Wizard Risto, who has
an insidious talent for mindspeaking and persuasion. As the second book opens,
Kale is sent to be the apprentice to the brilliant yet aging Wizard Fenworth
who lives in the Bogs. Kale also is given some new responsibilities: she
must help Fenworth raise a meech dragon-boy named Regidor,
and she has the misfortune
the be awarded custody of a Toopka, a small and very annoying doneel girl who
never stops a) stealing things, b) demanding food and c) talking incessantly.
To make matters worse, Kale is ordered to be accompanied by a smug
knight-in-training named Bardon, who never seems to find the humor in
any situation. But what was supposed to be a quiet
summer of study and learning turns out to be nothing of the kind, as
Kale must undertake a dangerous quest to rescue dragons that are being
used by Wizard Risto in his plans to conquer the land of Amara.
Kale is a likeable heroine who must adjust to her rapid rise in
status: from slave girl to the new Dragonkeeper and apprentice Wizard.
Kale and her dragons are the heart and soul of the story: when
the narrative focuses on them and their bond it really sings.
Billed as Christian fantasy, (Kale is on a spiritual quest guided by the
perfect Paladin to find his father Wulder who made the world), Donita
Paul's series can easily be read as a straightforward fantasy by
children of other faiths as well. Ms. Paul handles the magic of the
world quite well: one interesting passage has the delightfully grumpy
Wizard Fenworth explaining how magic works to his apprentices. Parents will easily recognize the simplified descriptions of atoms and how they are combined to create
different kinds of matter, and how that matter can be manipulated by Wizards.
(Of course, only Wulder can create those building blocks in the first place.)
There are two more projected books in the series: DragonKnight and
DragonFire, and that's sure to be great news for the growing readership of
this appealing, heartwarming series.
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