The Inheritance Cycle

Plot Synopsis

The book tells the story of a farm boy named Eragon, who finds a mysterious stone in the mountains. Not knowing the stone's origin or worth, he attempts to use it as payment to a butcher. A dragon he later names Saphira hatches from the stone, which was really an egg. When the evil King Galbatorix finds out the general location of the egg he sends the Ra'zac to acquire it. By that time Saphira had been growing for a while and takes Eragon to the Spine after Ra'zac appear in their village, Carvahall. Eragon and Saphira are forced to flee from their hometown, with a storyteller called Brom, and decide to search for the Varden, a group of rebels who want the downfall of Galbatorix.

Source - Wikipedia

Eco

Expectation of the millenium

“Sometimes it is not so medieval to think that perhaps the end is coming and the Antichrist, in plainclothes, is knocking at the door” (p. 72).

Eco

Pretext

“There is no real interest in the historical background; the middle ages are taken as a sort of mythological stage on which to place contemporary characters” (p. 68)


Eragon uses the setting of the Middle Ages to make the situation more dire. Because of the lack of technology, the rebellion is cut off from any distant countries that might be of aid to them in the fight against the king. Also, it gives the author the use of the classic tropes of the age, like magic and dragons.

Emery

Tropes

  • Dragons
  • Dragons are a huge part of this book. Eragon finds out that he has been chosen by a dragon to be a legendary dragon rider, which gives him a lot of power. The dragons in this book are very differnt from dragons in the middle ages. In this book, people ride dragons, and talk to them with their minds. Also, they can use magic.
  • Magic
  • Magic is a central part of the series. It has some interesting political effects, in addition to driving much of the story.
  • Kings
  • There is the evil king Galbatorix, and later in the book you meet another king of an internal rebel country.
  • Quests
  • Eragon is on a quest throught the book to avenge his uncle, and indirectly to save the world by defeating Galbatorix.