Eragon pt. five

[kippurbird]

Chapter: Tea for Two, A Name of Power
Characters: Eragon, Brom, Roran
Shiny magical objects in Eragon's possession: One baby dragon

Summary

This chapter is what is known as an info-dump chapter. They're very hard to pull off because basically it's just exposition and background information being given, which can get very dull if not done properly. In this case it's done by through a question and answer exchange between Brom and Eragon. Eragon playing the reader in asking questions and Brom playing the author in answering them.

Of Brom we learn little, but of note is the fact that he arrived in Carvahall fifteen years ago. Now, at least, that's what it seems like. The text is ambiguous as to when exactly Eragon asked his question of "Where did Brom come from". He could have asked it when he was seven. The lack of time marking here makes placing how long Brom has been there impossible. But what it sounds like is that Eragon asked about it recently and Brom has been there for the same amount of time that Eragon has. Which means that he might have come with Eragon's mother, or around the same time. Which then leads to the question of WHY? It is a Big Mystery. And, if one were making comparisons, one could say this is rather like Obi Wan Kenobi's arrival to Tatooine coinciding with that of Luke Skywalker's. Somethings to keep in mind. But other than that, Brom is a storyteller.

Brom also, apparently, knows a lot about dragons. He gives Eragon, and thus the reader interesting hints into their life spans and things like that. One of the interesting things to note is the fact that the dragons never stop growing. Which makes their place in the Eco-system difficult. How can an ecosystem support an animal that doesn't stop growing? How can it feed it, shelter it, contain it? How does it even move itself, if it's bigger than a hill? Gravity would do something to a creature that size. There couldn't be a way this dragon could even fly with that much weight! And if there were more than one of them? The ground would shake constantly with their movements. And we learn that the dragons are immortal! So we would have possiblyv hundreds of dragons the size of hills wandering around. And they mature at five or six months old, which means they can be having babies before they're even a year out. The world should have been over run with large hill sized dragons.

But then again, hill sized dragons do sound sort of neat, so I guess it's okay.

We see a bit of Tolkien stealing borrowing here, in regards to Brom's comments on the elves. "Their world was unchanging until the first elves sailed over the sea on their silver ships". We also learn that Eragon is an elven name and that he was the first Dragon Rider. This is probably of some significance, especially when he runs into the elves. They will take it as a sign of portents that the old Eragon is born again in this human and they should do whaever he says.

Brom also confirms my assertion that he is Galby by saying that the "story" he told when the traders were there was no "story" but the truth. Again bringing up the question, "How does he know?"

Paolini makes dragons into his Dues ex Machina by saying that they effect the world in mysterious ways which allows them do things that aren't possible. Perhaps things like fly when they're they size of hills.

And then he adds this: "Along with this a human Rider would slowly acquire pointed ears, though they were never as prominent as an elf's." (page 54). I bring this to attention because it is an utterly useless thing to have happen. It doesn't seem to have any benefit to the dragon rider in any way. It's just one of those things that are just there. It seems like something that Paolini tacked on because it sounded neat. It's as if he went and said, and what else can I do to make my immortal dragon riding magic wielding super-humans even more special? I'll give them pointed ears! The story could have been perfectly fine without this addition to it. It's not like it's something that could be used to mark a dragon rider, they already have that thing on their palm. It's just there.

We also get our first indication that Brom used to be a dragon rider. When he gives off a list of dragon names he says, at the very end in a very quiet voice, "Saphira". Usually that sort of tone, in the mysterious old coot is used to indicate that they have lost someone but are pretending that they haven't. Saphira is a dragon's name so therefor Brom has lost a dragon. No, I haven't read this book before, why do you ask?

In a name of power we learn that Cousin Roran is leaving to become a Milliner at the other village. Eragon is upset about this. He then goes to name his dragon. He tries an endless list of names and each time they are refused. It should be interesting to note that most of the names appear to be gender neutral, like the dragon itself. And, again, we come upon the problem that Eragon can't tell if his dragon is a male or female, which should be indicated at least by the dragon's voice, or mentioned that it's gender neutral. The dragon, of course, choses Saphira which will cause, later on, angst for Brom because that was the name of his dragon. No, I haven't read the book before, stop asking.

The chapter is entitled Name of Power, but there doesn't seem to be any indication that this name is any more powerful than the other possible names. It's just a name that Eragon heard muttered from Brom. It hasn't been featured in any story or anything like that. So, why is the name a name of power? The question remains unanswered.

Comments

It's Common!

[dove-cg.livejournal.com]

Wow. You've seen these things happen enough times that you can go ahead and PRESUME people will think you have read the book before. (And though I haven't read the book, I did see the even more atrocious movie so I knew some plot-points that were similar. So I did actually wonder a few times when you preempted my curiosity.) That both appalls and intrigues me greatly. But not in the way Paolini would have wanted me to be, I'm certain.

Re: It's Common!

[dove-cg.livejournal.com]

Also! Hill-sized dragons are pretty awesome, if you can make them interesting. The mountain-sized sleeping dragon from Thieves & Kings was pretty cool in my opinion. Actually, his MUCH larger relations were too. (Essentially, in that fantasy world, which was apparently flat, the crust of the world was constantly being eaten over time, so that the world would not get too big. It was very slowly, over eons, and logically speaking it's probably very ridiculous but I still found it an interesting way to handle the idea of a flat world.) The mountain-sized one went rogue, but was forced into slumber by a hero... and because of what powerful magic he had, the rogue dragon's dreams were something that others could potentially enter and which things could escape from (sometimes.) *stops rambling now, seriously*

Re: It's Common!

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Standard fantasy fare. Standard writing cliches. Haven't seen the movie but know a bit about the plot from what people have told me. Still. Some of it is just obvious.

Re: It's Common!

[dove-cg.livejournal.com]

I haven't been reading much recently. Even so, it intrigues because now I want to see how many more cliches he touches on. And appalls because... well, like you said, it's just so obvious that you could easily guess what was coming. Though he might be using a slightly more updated Guide to Fantasyland for his books to embark upon. :P :)

[thelittlebudgie.livejournal.com]

Why is it a name of power, you ask? It is the power of plot devices!

Mountain sized dragons sound fun. Could you imagine the bargaining? "Hey, I'll tell you where there's a nice gold mine if you sit on my neighbour's fields!"

I like your Brom-is-Galby theory. I shall taunt Eragon-lovers with it.

[the7bells.livejournal.com]

I think I've met the King of Blatant Foreshadowing. All hail.
*polite clapping is heard*

I think I understand why the movie REALLY sucked now (and I didn't go see it) Movies always devalue stories, and the sheer badness of this story makes for a terrible movie.

Also, I really don't like the way he set up the info dump-Q&A?

[-youngblood-.livejournal.com]

And, if one were making comparisons, one could say this is rather like Obi Wan Kenobi's arrival to Tatooine coinciding with that of Luke Skywalker's. Somethings to keep in mind. But other than that, Brom is a storyteller.

In my own Eragon-centric ramblings, I've constructed a chart comparing the Inheritence series to the Star Wars series. I won't post it here since it contains spoilers, but I'd be happy to point you in its direction if you so desire.

Also, I find Paolini's elf approach to be similar to the point of rip-off with Tolkien's, especially concerning the elves' relationship with the dwarves', i.e. mutual disdain and suspicion. I mean, can we please get original here, people? If you're going to have multiple races in a world, they don't have to be in constant scorn of each other!

Re: It's Common!

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Well, there's the orphan hero cliche. (Even though Eragon is not an orphan, he's just raised by his uncle since mumsy abandoned him), the cranky old man shall become the mentor cliche, Hero inadvertently names something or does something that reminds Old Mentor about his past and makes him sad cliche, Old Mentor is crazy old coot cliche, raising potentially dangerous creature as a pet cliche....

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Yes, but these dragons don't seem to be that interested in teh Shiny Objects! like traditional dragons are. Which makes them more like Anne McCaffery's dragons.

My Brom is Galby theory is flawless. The Text Proves Me Right. I shall make an icon of this.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Info-dumps are insanely difficult to pull off. The trick is to figure out a way to put the information into the text without making it look like you're putting the information into the text or saying "Hi! We're Doing an Info-Dump Now." It's a difficult thing for even practiced writers to pull off. The Q&A thing is blatant and obvious and not a good way to do it. At least not like Paolini did it which is: "I have Questions, you shall answer them" way.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Elven/dwarven relations are hard to do. It just seems like a standard sort of thing to have them be full of mutual disdain and suspicion. The D&D worlds have it like that, though not as bad. But you're right in the fact that his elves seem too be rather Tolkien ripped off. I mean the whole coming from another land on silver ships is totally not a rip off of Tolkien. Nope.

[wyrdmuse.livejournal.com]

I started reading this book because I thought I was missing something in your sporking, but I'm not. There just isn't enough description or reason or logic. It's not like I'm an idiot; I wrote a coherent paper on Yeats for chrissake. The book is just that incomprehesible. At least your sporking is amusing. Huzzah!

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

This is what you get after I've twisted some sort of semblance of coherence out of the book. It's a struggle. To put sense to this book. I'm glad that you've said that I've not missed anything. Sometimes I feel a bit guilty about not saying anything good about Eragon... but then... I can't find anything.

[shikomekidomi.livejournal.com]

Wait, I'm confused. Is Saphira the name of power or is Eragon the name of power? Unless all that Eragon stuff was in the first chapter, tea for two. Then I have to ask if the author isn't forgetting what goes in which chapter.
Maybe the ear thing was to imply that dragon riding makes one more like an elf, to the point of useless physical mutation?
But yes, we all know that the people who invented Dragon Riding have to be superstitious and gullible, so they'll take anyone as their hero returned.

[gundamkiwi.livejournal.com]

Have you ever read Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville? Seriously underrated YA author, in my opinion. That book would make an awesome movie.

The reason I bring it up, though, is because that naming scene sounds exactly like it was ripped off from this book. Which irks me greatly.

Anyway, I finally caught a free moment (as you may be able to tell) and am reading through these. 'Tis much fun, 'tis. :)

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

According to Wikipedia, Jeremy Thatcher Is an influence for these books.

[gundamkiwi.livejournal.com]

You're kidding! o_O So he's not just content ripping off my current fandoms, he's gone and stolen bits of my childhood too! What is wrong with this kid? >_

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Check Wikipedia under his name. It's right there. He's a hack.

[gundamkiwi.livejournal.com]

Oh, I believe you...I wasn't saying I didn't. I'm just...really, surprised. I mean, I knew he ripped off LoTR and Star Wars, but I was rather silly in believing it ended there, it seems.

[sonic-sues.livejournal.com]

Sorry that I'm commenting on such an old entry, but I read your critique of Eldest so I decided to read the Eragon one, too.

A dragon that big would have problems. It *might* get that big. One of the biggest creature that ever lived, Supersaurus, is so large that one shoulder blade is six feet long! One of the problems that the monstrous sauropods had, though, was that their bulk made it hard on their circulatory systems. They couldn't life their heads upwards for more than a few seconds because their hearts couldn't pump the blood up those long necks.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Are you expecting logic in Paolini world? Really? The man who has barely any grasp of biology?

[sonic-sues.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I forgot that Paolini has no brain. I was trying to dissect the dragon's description through my zoology major's eyes, and it's not working. Paolini fails biology.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Paolini fails at everything. Though it's nice to have a Zoology major's look at things. I have a bit of knowledge about animal biology from my Vet Tech classes, but it's not enough to do a full analysis. You commentary is always welcomed.