Brisingr

[Kloke]

For those who read Brisingr what do you think of it?

[rushking]

Star Wars and LOTR rif-off. I don't need to read it to know it.

[KatG]

Haven't read it. Did read Eragon. What I liked about that one for a YA is the philosophical debate of the protagonist when his world gets tossed upside down -- do I have to kill, is harm the only way to solve this, etc. I thought the movie, which was quite different from the book and very uneven, was wrong to mostly drop that aspect. I'm curious how the author has developed this dilemma in his series.

For me, Paolini is rather a fussy author in style, and needs to work on dialogue, but he's not the only one I've had that reaction to, and he's got time to learn. But he gets in some good shots, does nice world-building and his very tangled partnership between young man and dragon is kind of interesting and different from other human-beast team-ups. The dragon really gets to throw her weight around, but in an intelligent way. This seems to be the aspect that most connects with the kids.

[Warrior Jake]

Hey, I read Brisingr on opening day, and Paolini really gets away from the Star Wars and LOTR rip offs in this book. He is still a bit predictable, but he really is getting better I think.
Book itself was great, best one so far. Can't wait to see what happens in book 4.

[Evil Agent]

So... how come it took like 10 years for Paolini to finish his trilogy?

[Eventine]

Damn forum crash ate my post linking to David Anthony Durham's review of Brisingr at The Washington Post.
He tries to addrss the subject of why the series is immensely popular yet so often derided, but I don't think he spends enough time on it and should write a follow up essay.