Eragon -- Star Wars meets Lord of the Rings
I haven’t done a google search for this yet, so I don’t know if this is a popular characterization or not, but I cannot believe that I am the first one to come up with this...
Yesterday I took my two older boys (and some of their friends) to a showing of the new Eragon movie, which they all found enjoyable. And, of course, the ride home was a prolonged discussion on the divergences between the movie and the book. The movie had good special effects, and the acting wasn’t too bad, although I thought it was a waste of John Malkovich's acting talents—he could have been much more evil.
But that isn’t what interests me.
What interests me is the idea that Paolini has written Star Wars into LOTR. We have elves, and dwarves, each with their own pseudo-proto-English tongue, and instead of orcs we have “urgals” (I suppose so we aren’t so blatant.) The elves, as they always seem to be,are a
fount of magic, the dwarves are cast the consummate metalworkers, and the urgals/orcs as low-life brutes.
(I have to admit not being quite sure how to fit Roran into all of this—his sudden appearance at the final battle scene in Inheritance is only somewhat reminiscent of Han Solo’s appearance at the end of Episode 4 of SW.)
Likewise, in the end of the second book the sudden appearance of an unknown sibling, but with a seminal difference: Murtagh (in Inheritance), turns into a foe, whereas Leia turns into a friend. Moreover, although there’s plenty of room given for the ultimate redemption and reunion of the two brothers.
Our hero is an orphan child raised by an uncle (the aunt is presumed missing)—Luke Skywalker and Eragon are the same in this regard—and who is brought into the fold by a mysterious “stranger ’round these parts” (Obi Wan Kenobi vs. Brom) who, it just turns out, used to be one of The Good Guys, and who presents Our Hero with the sword of his father.
In both cases, it turns out, Brom/Kenobi is the one who “kills” the protagonist’s father, although in the latter case it is, as we learn, only figurative, and it isn’t clear whether or not Brom knew of the connection between Murzan and Eragon/Murtagh.
The “Riders” are equivalent to the Jedi Knights of Star Wars fame, complete with their “magic” powers, their betrayal by one of their own (Galbatorix is either Darth Vader or Darth Sidious at various times), eradication, and reappearance of a savior, who learns a little, goes off to battle, then goes off to study with an over-the-hill master (Yoda versus Oromis).
(And don't even get me started on the vocabulary in the second book. It's like Paolini—a young author finding his voice—decided to set a goal to use two or three new words from his thesaurus every chapter.)
Sigh. Have I written too much about what is, essentially, children’s literature?