INHERITANCE
 |
| The final piece in Paolini's saga. |
Recent years have seen the rise and prominence of arguably newer "genres" within literature and print. We have the greasy, puerile "supernatural teenage romance" category, spawned from the miserable "Twilight" fallacy. Of greater note is the "mainstream sci-fi and fantasy" flood released by Harry Potter. Finally, being a geek wasn't only allowed; it was cool. The world had given its permission for fantasy books to be "in", stories that could take its readers to Hogwarts, Fablehaven, and Foo. And Christopher Paolini was here to give us our journey to Alagaesia, the wondrous land contained within Inheritance.
Without going into an extreme amount of detail, a summary of Eragon is in order. Eragon, a young man in the rural community Carvahall, has his entire life changed when he happens upon a strange, blue "stone". Turns out, said stone is, in fact, a dragon's egg. The dragon, later named Saphira, hatches for Eragon, and an intimate, supernatural bond forms between boy and dragon, a hallmark of an ancient order of Dragon Riders. Typical of any hero's journey, this action launches Eragon on a whirling, swashbuckling adventure through forests, deserts, mountainsides, etc. Following the hero's path to a "T", Eragon rises above all odds, and in the subsequent installments, he is trained, overcomes obstacles, and ultimately, dethrones the evil king and begins a new age for the world, one of peace and growth. Hooray, happy ending.
Don't get me wrong, though. I truly enjoyed Christopher's story, as it is a great homage to spectacular fantasies such as The Lord of the Rings. Eragon is an epic (a youthful epic, but an epic nonetheless) that is inspiring and entertaining. In the end, the Dragon Riders are on the pathway to be restored, and Eragon leaves Alagaesia, never to return. While I applaud Christopher's strength in allowing his character to leave, this is where I differ in story beliefs.
The whole point of an ending is to have an end. The story moves on to a different chapter whithin our minds or our hearts. But things CANNOT remain the same. There must have been some sort of change. In Paolini's story, there is some change, but only some. At the end, there is the capacity for the realm of magic to end. To be finished within that fictional world. Because of the failure of the generations beforehand, there should have been a move to a completely different world, or the capacity and execution of growth has lost all value. At the mercy of attachment, I feel Paolini faltered when he should've been strong.
At the risk of cementing my geekiness, I have some suggestions for the work Paolini has given us:
1. The ending of everything special was hinted at. The end of magic, the Dragon Riders, most everything that sets Alagaesia apart. Then, we flinched. We missed it. The ending to this story could have been truly amazing. We could've seen a natural sunrise to a sunset. Instead, we are fed a story that forces an unnatural sunshine upon us. The reason other stories such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are so splendid in their execution is because they end with true endings, not prolonged goodbyes.
2. Symbolism. Symbolism, dramatic irony, kismet. The lifeblood of a greatly written story is the ability to draw parallels and conclusions out of people, places and events that resound within us. Paolini had ample and overabundant opportunity for symbolism, and embedded parallels. After giving such fanfare and special treatment to a certain spell (even titling the third book after it, Brisingr, which is Eragon's first spell in the series), the end should have featured said spell. The evil king, Galbatorix (ridiculous name, I know), should have been killed by Eragon's first spell. This is just one of many opportunities that Paolini had to rise above and beyond mediocrity; to really flex his literary muscles and display some advanced storytelling.
Far be it from me to down an up-and-coming author. An up-and-coming published author, which is far more than I can ever claim for myself. But... this was good. Agonizingly good. So close.
No comments:
Post a Comment