The Inheritance Cycle
Christopher Paolini was 15-years-old when he wrote the 500-page first installment of the Inheritance Cycle. He was also homeschooled, so obviously he's a huge inspiration for homeschoolers around the world, especially aspiring writers.
After reading the Inheritance Cycle for the first time several years ago, I quickly became obsessed with the fantasy series and decided to write Christopher Paolini. I know a lot of people who have done this in the past: I have written Regina Doman, author of the Fairytales Retold, and received a hand-written card in reply; Nerd #1 wrote Cornelia Funke and received back a letter from her assistant with writing advice. In the letter, I gushed about Paolini's series and asked for writing advice. I sent it off, eagerly awaiting his reply with high expectations. I waited. And waited.
That was five years ago. Ouch.
So, I'm sore. That being said, I can still recognize that the Inheritance Cycle is a great feat of literature, especially considering how young Paolini was when he wrote it (and those are HUGE books!). While you can tell that the author is young, Paolini's writing is surprisingly quaint. A lot of books these days feel "tacky," but the Inheritance Cycle is written with elegance. Paolini's language is beautiful. You can see his writing mature and develop as the series goes on.
He also got a lot of his inspiration from Tolkien and so developed extensive histories for each of Alagaësia's races. The system of magic he created for his world is also very creative, with limitations and strict requirements for its use. That's refreshing. But....
"Strange things start happening in the life of a young farm boy. When his guardians are killed and his home is burned down by the bad guys, he leaves his homeland with a mysterious old mentor to set right what is wrong in the world. Along the way, he flies around, uses a glowing sword, discovers startling family ties and meets a beautiful princess." Okay, am I talking about Eragon or Star Wars?
So, the storyline is a bit cliche. This improves gradually with each installment of the series.
There is a good bit of romance throughout the series. Some of it goes a bit far. 15-year-old Eragon falls in love with the elf Arya, who is over 100-years-old and somehow thinks the age gap just won't work out. In a scene where Arya is unconscious and Eragon is healing some of her wounds, he tries to keep her as decently covered as possible, yet notices that "her form" is "pleasing." Eragon pursues Arya throughout all the books, repeatedly confessing his love for her and then apologizing. A sorceress named Trianna flirts with Eragon, but is rejected by Eragon's bonded dragon, Saphira. Saphira herself becomes overenthusiastic when meeting a male of her kind, as she thought she was the only dragon left. The male dragon refuses to mate with her, indicating that her mate has not yet been hatched. When Fírnen does hatch several books later, readers are aware of the fact that he and Saphira mate, but there are no witnesses. While Eragon is being instructed by the elves, there is a festival during which two female elves preform a traditional dance--which involves them dancing around naked so that the dragon tattooed across their bodies seems to come alive. None of the characters are concerned by this.
Eragon's cousin Roran is in love with the butcher's daughter, Katrina, though this relationship is not approved by her father. She comes into Roran's room one night and sleeps beside him. In the third book, Brisingr, Roran explains to Eragon that himself and Katrina must be married soon because she is pregnant. Eragon simply congratulates his cousin, seemingly unfazed that the child was conceived out of wedlock. It is later revealed that Eragon's own mother was not married to his father. She had two children, Eragon and Murtagh, by different fathers. While Murtagh is in a bad position and has made bad choices, it is obvious by the end of the series that he and Nasuada have begun to have feelings for one another. There is a scene in which Nasuada wears a ragged, revealing shift during her imprisonment, but Murtagh gives her his cloak to wear over it.
In trying to understand why Murtagh has so many enemies, Eragon asks him if he "bedded the wrong woman." In Inheritance, Murtagh mentions Galbatorix's concubines.
As far as violence goes--there's a lot. Huge portions of the series take place on battleground. Roran's choice weapon is the hammer, with which he crushes skulls and bodies. Katrina's father's eyes are scratched out and Roran is whipped. Blood and death are both described with gory detail. There are occasional scenes with torture, especially during Nasuada's captivity in Inheritance. In Brisingr, Nasuada participates in the Trial of the Long Knives, a competition she wins by cutting herself on the forearm more times than her opponent, though both bleed heavily. There is a dark cult religion in one of the cities which requires flesh sacrifices, causing people to cut off their own limbs and drink their priest's blood. Ew.
Eragon has no religion, but he is exposed to the religions of many different races over the course of his travels. The elves have no religion, but at one point Eragon considers praying to a dwarf god.
The words "bastard" "damn" and "hell" are used.
There is a baby born with cleft palate, and it is accepted as fact that the child will likely be abandoned or killed or left to some other terrible fate because of this. Instead of dealing with the issue of the discarding of a baby, Eragon simply uses magic to heal the cleft palate. The fact that none of the characters found this practice disturbing was one that I found...well, disturbing.
There is a witch named Angela, whose character is based on Christopher Paolini's sister of the same name. The witch is an Herbalist of mysterious background and is seen to toss knuckle-bones during a fortune-telling, but she does not engage in dark magic.
In regard to magic itself--the most worrisome thing is that there doesn't seem to be a definite line between good and evil; it becomes muddled. In Harry Potter we have the Unforgivable Curses, spells we know to be evil and from which no good can come. As Eragon never openly acknowledges such a line, it is more difficult for the reader to see.
Additionally, I found the character of Eragon to be hard to swallow. He's naive, two-dimensional, and kind of young to speak and behave so formally. Likewise, Saphira's voice was frequently dull and unrelatable. A better example of Paolini's character-building would be Murtagh, who experiences several dramatic character arcs and seems much more lifelike.
Okay, it looks like a lot. That's why we have it categorized as being for 14+. We actually let our younger sister read Eragon when she was a bit younger (around 12), but held off on the rest of the series till she was 14 (mostly because of Roran's and Katrina's relationship).
Despite the elements that caused us to categorize it as such, the Inheritance Cycle really is quite good. Christopher Paolini's world-building is absolutely fantastic with the different races, languages, histories and cultures. He actually drew the maps from the backs of the books himself, naming the locations in the languages he's created. We enjoyed the series and we know plenty boys who love it as well.