kippurbird: (paint drying)
[personal profile] kippurbird
Well, I'm back and ready for more. Whoopie.


Chapters Gifts, the Maw of the Ocean


Summary


Previously, Eragon scryied on the Varden and discovered that he was needed. So, he decided to go to them. Now he packs himself up and goes to tell Dwarf that he's leaving, and to see if he wants to come. Dwarf, of course, wants to come, though he's not to happy that they're flying. Saying that dwarves don't do well with heights. Yet they live in the mountains. Though I suppose mountain living is different than flying. I think it would be better to have said, dwarves don't do well flying. Eragon then goes off to say good bye to Yoda.

Apparently Yoda knew about the Varden's problem, which upsets Eragon. He wants to know why no one told him, as if it was his right to know everything. Yoda tells him that they just learned about it. Eragon wants to know why the elves aren't doing anything about it. And Yoda tells him that the queen is mobilizing the army. Yoda then tells him that he also didn't tell Eragon because he wanted Eragon to finish his training. Which goes against what he said a few chapters ago, when he said that Eragon had finished his training already.

In any case, Eragon promises to come back, in the ancient language.

Then Yoda has gifts for Eragon. First of all, he gives Eragon a random magic potion. "First, some faelnirv I augmented with my own enchantments. This potion can sustain you when all else fails, and you may find its properties useful in other circumstances as well. Drink it sparingly, for I only had time to prepare a few mouthfuls." (page 555) Which is basically a random magical potion. We don't know exactly what it does, or what it is for. It's a random Dues Ex Machina potion. Something will happen sometime in the future when Eragon needs some sort of random boost of some sort and he'll drink the potion and able to conquer all. It sounds almost like Miruvor from Lord of the Rings, but this is just some random potion of stuff like thing.

Then there is belt of Deus Ex Machina, "The belt felt unusually thick and heavy to Eragon when he ran it through his hands. It was made of cloth threads woven together in an interlocking pattern that depicted a coiling Liani Vine. At Oromis's instruction, Eragon pulled at a tassel at the end of the belt and gasped as a strip in its center slid back to expose twelve diamonds, each an inch across. Four diamonds were white, four were black and the remainder were red, blue, yellow, and brown. They glittered cold and brilliant, like ice in the dawn, casting a rainbow of multicolored specks onto Eragon's hands.

"Master..." Eragon shook his head, at a loss of words for several breaths. "Is it safe to give this to me?"

"Guard it well so that none are tempted to steal it. This is the belt of Beloth the Wise -who you read of in your history of the Year of Darkness- and is one of the greatest treasures of the Riders. There are the most perfect gems the Riders could find. Some we traded for with the dwarves. Others we won in battle or mined ourselves. The stones have no magic of their own, but you ma youse them as repositories for your power and draw upon that reserve when in need. This, in addition to the ruby set in Za'roc will allow you to amass a store of energy so that you do not become unduly exhausted casting spells in battle, or even when confronting enemy magicians." (page 554).

So now we have the random potion and the random belt of magic power. Paolini is just piling up the magic items on Eragon, making him even more powerful than he was before. So now he's all powerful with all powerful weapons. He has become unstoppable, at least as far as we can tell. By doing this, Paolini is slowly putting himself in a corner. After all if Eragon is so powerful, who can stand against him? The worry about his safety is gone. Nothing can stop him, he's got everything to go on a rampage.

The final gift is a scroll of Eragon's poem all prettied up.

Afterwards Eragon goes to visit and say goodbye to the Queen. Eragon tells her that he is in her debt, she says no I'm in your debt and gives him a shiny new bow. The Queen then offers Saphira something, and she says that they have no need for material possessions. Which is different than what has been mentioned earlier when she said that they liked shiny objects. But, it's nobler for her to not need things and be happy with the kindness she had been shown. The Queen also asks Eragon to give her regards to Arya and tells him that she's sending her twelve best magic weavers to Sudra for him to command, if he survives. Which of course is supposed to give us doubt that Eragon might not survive, but we all know that he will, because there's another book after this one.

They say their goodbyes and then they pick up Dwarf, who was playing with his ax. Dwarf gets on the dragon. And they fly off. And either Eragon's hearing is really, really, really good or this elf is really, really loud, because he hears her singing, despite "the wind being loud in Eragon's ears". It's supposed to be dramatic and melancholy, but it's really just silly.

We then go back to Roran. They're on the boat. It's stormy out. They're being chased by three sloops with black sails. They think it's the government that's after them, however, I think it's pirates, because pirates are more likely to sail with black sails, rather like the Black Pearl did. So, it's raining a lot. It's stormy for two days. And then the storm goes away, after knocking down the mizzen mast.

And the black sailed sloops are still on their tail. So, they're trying to figure out what to do, Roran eventually saying that he's "chary of battle". When I first read that, I thought it said, "Cherry" and I was wondering, what does fruit have to do with battles? Then I realized that it was Paolini, once again, confusing the reader with one of his special thesaurus words. In any case, leaders and the sailors are trying to figure out what to do, and they're looking at the map, trying to find places to land or hide.

Finally Jeod mentions something called the Boar's Eye. The Boar's Eye is a giant whirlpool of doom. It'd be foolish to try and cross it, but it is their best hope to getting rid of those sloops. Of course the ENTIRE point of this is probably because Paolini thought something along these lines, "You know what would be cool? A whirlpool of DOOM!" There's absolutely no reason for this whirlpool to be there, or for them to be chased. Or for these chapters to be there. It distracts us from what should be the main thrust of the story right now, Eragon getting to Sudra and preparing for war. Anything else is inconsequentail and breaks the tension that should be building, pulling the reader into an entirely different direction and making them forget what is happening with Eragon, who is supposed to be the main focus of the story. Instead we're going to get another chapter of Roran and his jolly crew getting through the whirlpool without any major problems, because we know that he has to survive to rescue Katrina and deliver his people to the Varden.

Date: 2007-04-30 07:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wariena.livejournal.com
Welcome back! ^^ How was the conference?

That belt is BLING BLING. I hope they get attack by bandits on their way.

Date: 2007-04-30 06:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
The conference was fine, I had a rather nice time at it. Though I can't say that anything particularly exciting happened.

I highly doubt anyone is going to steal someone who's riding a dragon. Unfortunately.

Date: 2007-05-01 02:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dove-cg.livejournal.com
Yeah but it isn't as if he rides her all the time. :D

Date: 2007-05-01 06:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
In theory she should be with him all the time. In theory.

Date: 2007-04-30 10:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jacedraccus.livejournal.com
I strongly suspect that the Boar's Eye (and, by the way, a serious WTF on the name) is Paolini's hamhanded attempt to steal another idea from David Eddings... The Cherek Bore.

See, Eddings has this peninsula country called Cherek. So the nearby gulf is called 'Gulf of Cherek'... and the Cherek Bore is the giant whirlpool of DOOM that protects the only entry into the gulf. Cherek sailors are the only ones crazy enough to sail through it... although they actually sail around it a couple of times and then use the momentum to slingshot themselves to safety. Eddings used the Bore to great effect when he had his young hero Garion, sulking about being kept in the dark and overlooked, defy his guardian by not going belowdecks during the trip through the Bore.

Paolini uses it to lesser effect by... well, you've explain why.

He further fails by his lame-ass prophecy that said 'A hammer will sail through the eye of a boar'... gee, no idea what that means...

And good to see you made it back ok. :)

Date: 2007-04-30 12:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] authoressarktos.livejournal.com
'A hammer will sail through the eye of a boar'

Am I the only one getting an extremely funny mental image from that? XD

Date: 2007-04-30 02:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cazrolime.livejournal.com
No, no, I find that quite hilarious too. xD

*wheeeee... splat!*

Date: 2007-04-30 05:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dove-cg.livejournal.com
I agree. :3

Date: 2007-04-30 12:59 pm (UTC)
albijuli: (shrimpcat)
From: [personal profile] albijuli


That is the most uncreative prophecy ever.

Date: 2007-05-01 07:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jacedraccus.livejournal.com
Welcome to Alagaesia.

Date: 2007-05-01 11:54 am (UTC)
albijuli: (Default)
From: [personal profile] albijuli
...Where the birds talk in riddles and the elves self-contradictory!

Date: 2007-04-30 02:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] damarin.livejournal.com
I believe there's also a whirlpool in Dragons of Spring Dawning from the Dragonlance Chronicles. It's been a while since I read it, but I'll see if I can find my copy to check it out.

Date: 2007-05-01 07:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jacedraccus.livejournal.com
Possibly! I just thought of it because... Boar's Eye... Bore...

Date: 2007-04-30 05:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dove-cg.livejournal.com
It's funny. I haven't read Eddings so I thought of the giant whirlpool of DOOM in the middle of the Warcraft main ocean (which basically just means you can only sail across it from certain ports, you can't go straight through.) Admittedly, that one is probably FAR larger than Paolini's, since it's the size of a continent almost. XD

But yeah... Boar's Eye? I guess maybe if their boars have weird, mystical, swirly eyes... otherwise, it's just weird.

Jacques may have been rather formulaic too but at least he could concoct some decent prophecy/legend rhyme things. ;P

Date: 2007-04-30 06:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
That sounds like an interesting use of a whirlpool.

There really is no point for the whirlpool here.

Is that from Angela's prophecy? It sounds familiar but I can't place it and I don't have the books to double check it.

I did make it back okay! It was a fine trip. I got to sit around and do nothing for most of it. :D

Date: 2007-05-01 07:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jacedraccus.livejournal.com
No, as I recall, it was Paolini's way of trying to hint at what was going to happen in Eldest. That was just one line, but the whole thing was drek.

Date: 2007-05-01 06:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
Oh yes. I remember it now. It was from that funky poem thingy that he had sent out for the night of his book release.

Date: 2007-04-30 12:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thelittlebudgie.livejournal.com
Magic belt of Doom (tm) sounds silly, really. The belt of Beloth the Wise? Didn't he realize that wearing gems wasn't the best way to go about being safe?

I was going to say that I doubted that there were the right conditions for a whirlpool near the Empire, but then again, I have no idea what the environment is like.

Chary means wary or afraid. I learned that while reading historical fiction, at least, where such words belong.

Welcome back. I hope the convention went well.

Date: 2007-04-30 05:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dove-cg.livejournal.com
Didn't he realize that wearing gems wasn't the best way to go about being safe?

They were hidden behind a 'panel' in the belt... as stupid as that is. ;P

I also don't think diamonds come in that many other colors. I could be wrong (I know a number of gemstones we think of as a specific color actually can be a different color instead, depending on where it came from.) But still... it sounds fishy. I'd do research but I need to get ready for work now. ;P

Date: 2007-04-30 05:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] starsong24.livejournal.com
You can get orange sapphires, but I'm sure there are no brown diamonds.

Date: 2007-04-30 08:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
Apparently there are in Eragonland.

Date: 2007-05-01 02:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dove-cg.livejournal.com
I think a brown diamond is just one still covered in mud. :D

Date: 2007-05-01 05:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] starsong24.livejournal.com
Wow. Even for Eragon, that is...remarkably unobservant.

Date: 2007-06-29 06:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rustedcoyote.livejournal.com
Actually, there are brown diamonds. I think I remember reading they're the most common color (one summer of boredom with a fascination of gemstones and the library :D) however, they're usually called 'champagne diamonds' and they tend to use only the lighter ones for jewelry.

Here's some pics (http://www.24carat.co.uk/browndiamondsframe.html)

Research

Date: 2007-06-30 03:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dove-cg.livejournal.com
Ah! I see. Well, I would say then that the only reason they are in the book is because Paolini did a little research on gemstones too and went "Hey, that's cool, I'm gonna use that!" Which would explain having the belt at all (other than he thought his 'PC' needed a new magic item that did cool stuff.)

Date: 2007-04-30 06:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
There are the right conditions for a whirlpool, but only because Paolini wants there to be a whirlpool. He seems to do landscape like one does a collage, putting things down randomly where you think it looks good.

It went fine, thank you. I had a very nice time.

Date: 2007-04-30 01:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] -youngblood-.livejournal.com
If the elves are so picky about not killing things, why do they have an army? It seems like they should be hardcore pacifists. Seriously, they have an army, which is capable of (presumably) killing thousands and they have a hissy fit over a little rabbit burger? Hypocrites.

I wonder if Pao Pao knows what a mizzenmast is... or if he just likes the word "mizzenmast" (in which case I wouldn't blame him)?

That whirlpool always reminded me incredibly of the Whirlpool of DOOM in Homer's The Odyssey (which I think is more likely for Pao Pao to have read than other books he might possibly be ripping off here). It comes up when Odysseus is sailing, and he has to choose between passing through the whirlpool and sailing by a rock which houses an extremely deadly monster. He chooses the monster. That's how bad whirlpools are. Roran has no experience with sailing, yet we all know he's going to get through the damn whirlpool because that's how things work in Paoland.

Date: 2007-04-30 05:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dryaunda.livejournal.com
Must be some whirlpool.

(On the subject of the upcoming battle, please see selected analysis.)

Date: 2007-05-01 02:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] -youngblood-.livejournal.com
Huh. Shows how much I know. If whirlpools that size really are all but impossible, I find it easier to reconcile Homer's using them than Paolini's. I mean, Homer is the grandaddy of literature as we know it, and Paolini is... shit not.

Date: 2007-05-01 06:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
And Homer used it for dramatic effect, and the whirlpool had been placed there by the gods, so it has a reasonable explanation for its force.

Date: 2007-04-30 06:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
If the elves are so picky about not killing things, why do they have an army? It seems like they should be hardcore pacifists. Seriously, they have an army, which is capable of (presumably) killing thousands and they have a hissy fit over a little rabbit burger? Hypocrites

Well, this is an example of contradicting Paolini ideologies. Paolini has the elves being his perfect race and holding up his ideals -the vegetarianism and the atheism - however he also wants them to be the awesome fighters, not seeing how a society that upholds the idea that eating creatures is causing undo suffering, but has no problems with fighting is a contradiction in nature, as it's how he wants it.

Mizzenmast is a fun word to say, though I'm not sure if he knows what it means.

I remember that from the Odyssey, it was a neat thingy, well played.

Date: 2007-05-01 02:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dove-cg.livejournal.com
Well, this is an example of contradicting Paolini ideologies. Paolini has the elves being his perfect race and holding up his ideals -the vegetarianism and the atheism - however he also wants them to be the awesome fighters, not seeing how a society that upholds the idea that eating creatures is causing undo suffering, but has no problems with fighting is a contradiction in nature, as it's how he wants it.

It wouldn't be impossible to have such contradictions. As long as he realized they were there and tried explaining them, which he doesn't do. ;P

Date: 2007-05-01 08:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
Well, yes, if he explained them, it would be plausible (in theory), but since he doesn't, it stands out.

Date: 2007-05-01 02:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] -youngblood-.livejournal.com
Yeah, contradictions themselves are not the devil, but the trick is to, if not account for them, at least acknowledge them. We've just been discussing this in one of my classes, actually. Like, don't just say, "the door was unlocked" if it's unusual for a door to be unlocked because the reader will wonder, and that removes them from the story. If you say, "strangely, the door was unlocked," then the reader will think, "yeah, that is strange," but since you acknowledged the strangeness, the reader will just move on.

The army could have been character development for the elves. Like "we think all life is sacred, but our lives are more sacred than others, and that's why we need to do the unthinkable-- to kill-- to defend ourselves." Sounds like many historical armies. It would have given the elves a flaw and made them more interesting. But no. It's Paolini.

Date: 2007-05-01 06:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
Yeah, contradictions themselves are not the devil, but the trick is to, if not account for them, at least acknowledge them. We've just been discussing this in one of my classes, actually. Like, don't just say, "the door was unlocked" if it's unusual for a door to be unlocked because the reader will wonder, and that removes them from the story. If you say, "strangely, the door was unlocked," then the reader will think, "yeah, that is strange," but since you acknowledged the strangeness, the reader will just move on.

And that's rather like when Paolini said, "Fire from their mouths" because it then makes you wonder, where else is fire going to come from.

Date: 2007-04-30 02:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cazrolime.livejournal.com
First, some faelnirv I augmented with my own enchantments.

*Someone's* been fainting on the keyboard again. 9_9

Wait, I may be wrong as I haven't read them for a while, but isn't the Boar a huge whirlpool of DOOM in the Gulf of Cherek, Belgariad-verse? Way to flaunt stolen goods there, Pao Pao.

Date: 2007-04-30 06:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
*sniggers* Or letting the cat walk across it.

As for where the Whirlpool of Doom comes from, that seems to be up for debate.

Date: 2007-04-30 08:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] starsong24.livejournal.com
To be honest, there are so many Whirlpools of DOOM in literiture that you can just about take your pick.

Date: 2007-04-30 08:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
Which is probably why we have a whirlpool of DOOM in the first place. However I'm inclined to believe that it is coming from the Eddings' book because of the similarity to the names. Also from the numerous thievery already established from his books.

Date: 2007-04-30 08:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] reverie-shadow.livejournal.com
Wow, Eragon got decked out in a long of bling bling, didn't he? Pimp.

For some reason I'm more or less reminded of "The Odyssey" with the whirlpool of DOOM. You know, when they are faced with either going through a many-headed monster, Scylla, or a giant whirlpool of death called Charybdis. Only in that case they went with the more probable choice because they had more of a chance to survive Scylla than a giant whirlpool.

See? Even mythology went with a more logical choice. But then again, Odysseus wasn't being chased by pirates. Hurr. But that's just the first thing that came to my mind when I first heard it.

Date: 2007-04-30 08:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
Well, every hero needs their shiny objects of Dues Ex Machina. At least in theory.

I think the comparison to Greek Mythology would be more relevant if there had been a second monster/obstacle/ thingy. As there isn't one, it seems to be more stolen from the other sources previously mentioned.

Date: 2007-04-30 09:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] reverie-shadow.livejournal.com
Yeah, I figured as such. But the sad thing is, I'd have rather him use the Greek mythology version, because that way he could've gotten away with at least some creative license, rather than more plagiarism.

Date: 2007-04-30 09:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kippurbird.livejournal.com
Well, knowing Paolini though, it would have been very easy to tell where he got it from with only very little differences between the two stories.
albijuli: (WORSE THAN GOATSE)
From: [personal profile] albijuli
...I had to say it.

"I'VE HAD IT WITH THIS MOTHERFUCKING WHIRLPOOLS IN MY MOTHERFUCKING FICTION!"

...So much for lurking.

Date: 2007-06-29 06:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rustedcoyote.livejournal.com
Also, no matter how pretty you think diamonds are, wouldn't all those colors clash? And why do they need to be so many colors since they seem to have no special properties? I guess Eragon's just that speshul ):.

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