Christopher Paolini - An Infamous Name in Fantasy Literature
During one of Paolini's tours, he gave a speech at the school of Carl Hiaasen's stepson. Carl Hiaasen, himself a journalist and writer, heard about the book, and told Knopf, his publisher, about Paolini and his book. Knopf made an offer on Eragon and the rest of the Inheritance Trilogy (though only Eragon was completed at the time of the offer). Eragon was published by Knopf after more editing in August of 2003. A movie adaptation of Eragon is to be in theatres on December 15th this year.
Paolini, regarding his books, has said, "In my writing, I strive for a lyrical beauty somewhere between Tolkien at his best and Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf".This quotation has inspired the fury of thousands; Paolini even suggesting that he compares himself to 'Tolkien at his best' incites the users on writing forums all across the internet to scorn Paolini, often starting long discussions, threads of a dozen pages or more, in some cases I've seen. Personally, I think that that quote is a bit much.
It has been said before, and nearly anyone familiar with Paolini and his writing will be aware of the fierce accusations surrounding him. One of these accusations is that he stole the 'words of power' system from Ursula K LeGuin, which LeGuin used in her Earthsea books. If you look at the intricacies of the magic systems between Earthsea and the Inheritance Trilogy, you will find, probably much to your dislike, that, indeed, Paolini stole (or, at least, 'was inspired by') the magic system the LeGuin used in Earthsea. They both focus around an Ancient Language, and the idea that everything has a name, and that, if you know something's True Name, the name of that thing in the Ancient Language, you will have power over it. While not directly related to LeGuin or Paolini, it is interesting to note the Jonathan Stroud, in his Bartimaeus Trilogy, makes reference to the 'True Names' of magicians, though in a different context.
Researching the magic systems being used by these two authors, I found that the 'words of power' and 'true names' type of systems are present in the native religions of indigenous peoples across the world.
While not an accusation, something that I noticed during my studies of old Celtic mythos, is Paolini's use of the name King Galbatorix. Galbatorix, in Inheritance, is the evil emperor which Eragon, the protagonist, is fighting against. Galbatorix seems to be Paolini's bastardization of the name Galbiorix, a name in Celtic mythology, which means 'king of the world' or something to that effect. Knowing that Paolini acknowledges in interviews that he likes 'good Norse dwarves' and basing the made-up languages he uses in Inheritance in old Germanic tongues, I can nearly guarantee you that Paolini, at least, once, came across the name Galbiorix and tweaked it to the purpose of Inheritance.
What also irks readers (myself included) is Paolini's writing style: excessive adverbs, the distinct lack of intelligence present in Eragon's character (almost everything he says is a question. Other than that, he doesn't seem like much of a protagonist, and more like a plot device to progress struggling story's arch of events.), the strange, sometimes seemingly silly twists that take place, and that Paolini rarely, if ever, simply says 'said'. 'Said' is always replaced by a non-transparent verb like, 'spoke' or 'bellowed', and various other things. Some speculate that Paolini must write with a thesaurus next to him.
Eragon is generally considered to be a sort of one-hit-wonder. It sold a lot of copies by advertising Paolini as a child prodigy. Now that Paolini is older, expectations are higher. Or, at least, they should be.Eldest, the second book of the Inheritance Trilogy, only recently released, was a disappointment to many. Eragon's writing was notably similar to that in the first of the Inheritance Trilogy - not that great. The plot is seemingly faltering, and some people think that Paolini will end up cracking under pressure and become unable to complete the third book. I don't see this happening, but I definitely see Paolini setting up some obstacles for himself.
I attribute Paolini's lack of improvement between then and now to be caused by the mass amounts of praise he received as a young writer, both by his parents, by the media, and by himself. What's the point of trying to improve if you're already the best? This is a crippling idea. Vanity slays the writer's word.
With luck, perhaps, he will come to realize that many, many people don't like him, his writing, or his attitude. Perhaps he will eventually re-write the Inheritance trilogy, after the third book comes out, and give the world the great story he intended to show all along.
Published by Sly Navreet
I call myself Sly Navreet, and I've been a writer here at Associated Content for several years, now. Please disregard anything stupid I may have said in content since before the past year or so; I'm trying t... View profile
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- The Inheritance Trilogy's official site, www.alagaesia.com.
- Does Paolini think too highly of himself?
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- What of the accusations?
40 Comments
Post a Comment11. Last but not least, Urgals were nothing like orcs. Its obvious he based things off mythology. Urgals are, i think, based off minotaurs.
I applaud Poalini. Good author. Able to placed thoughts into a book and it make since. Most of you people couldnt even make up a simple childrens story.
7. Oh... Your a best selling author. Even though a handful of people said your first book sucked, your next two are still best sellers. You must have alot more people who like than hate it, dont you? Oh, wait.. Thats Poalini, not you.
8. If his books suck that much why is the fourth the most anticipated book of 2011 of over 5 national polls, including the one by Scholastic?
9. Again LATIN!! Alot of the names in LOTR were based off Latin names. Poalini may have altered and used them, but its no different than if someone used the Micheal for a character in a book. I mean, the plagiarized the most popular book in the world to get that name. Or at least the modern equivalent.
10. As far as I know, the Main element of the books, him being a Dragon Rider, is the first of its kind. Well, at least the way he did it. People have wrote about people riding them before. But to be magically bonded and all is a first. Thats why people like them.
1. Tolkien's writing was horrible. He put in too much detail and made a good story two books too long.2. Centaurs living in forests is how they were in greek myth. The were born and lived in forests until they were adults, then moved into cities.3. The "Ancient" language is a reference to latin. Here, on Erath, we have latin, which was the first language. Many people all over the world chant latin in their pagen rituals for "magical power." -Not saying it works, just saying they do it.4. Elves & dwarves were part of Norse mythology.5. Have you ever read the hunger games. How flipping dull it sounds when you use "He said" or "She said" all the time. All I could think the whole time was get a #$%$ thesaurus.6. Star Wars was based on the Nazi movements. So fuss at Lucas for plagiarizing Hitler. How do you know Poalini didnt base his off of some war that has happened on Earth. You dont! Thats how.
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I am shocked by the comments added to this thread. I doubt half of the people here would voice their opinions face to face with Christopher. That being said, what story these days isn't based on some previous story or plot? How rare is it that anyone is new and completley unique? Any story written is based on peoples experiences in the past. Even if Chris has used many similar ideas from other books/movies, he still did it in his own way. The movie Avatar is a perfect example. I still enjoyed the movie even though it matched about 5 films I could name just off the top of my head. Most of the people commenting here need to grow up.
Paolini never said that he was as good as Tolkien at his best, he says that he strives to be like Tolkien at his best. Maybe some people should learn how to comprehend what people say before they bombard them with insults.
What's the big deal?I enjoyed the Eragon series alot. So what if the creatures are similar....that made mee njoy it more. I believe the operative word, in the quote above, is "strive." He said, I strive for a lyrical beauty...like.... I'm awfully glad to see a kid striving to learn a skill.
Let's face it my friends: Christopher Paolini has not one shred of talent. If you look at the plot, it is straight out of Star Wars, and the plagiarism of names is so blatantly obvious I bet Tolkien's rolling over in his grave. The language of his characters is so fake and unrealistic. And he just writes horribly. Just writes horribly.
Rowling didn't copy.. Centaurs live in forests.... Her ideas are completely original, and it has earned her the best and fastest selling series of all time.
Christopher Paolini disgusts me. He doesn't have an original idea in his head.
It was marketing that has earned him a following, not skill. They claim he was only fifteen when he wrote it, but in fact he was nineteen when it was published, so he doesn't have the excuse of naivety.