Eragon

BOOK 1

 

There is a conflict between two main groups:

 

• The Empire (led by the power-hungry King Galbatorix)

 

• The Varden (led by Ajihad with alliances to the elves and the dwarves)

 

In the last war, all dragons became extinct except for three dragon eggs (currently held by the Empire). Elves manage to take one of the eggs, but the King’s evil sorcerer (or “Shade”, named Durza) kills two of these elves and imprisons the other one (Arya). Before she’s captured, Arya uses her magic powers to transport the egg to the city where Brom lives. Because the transportation spell is an imprecise art and she didn’t have much time to prepare, the egg ends up appearing a few miles away from Brom -- right in front of the 15-year-old Eragon while he’s hunting for deer in the magic forest (referred to as the “Spine”).

 

Eragon wonders what this beautiful, unbreakable stone is. At first, he just plans to use it as a method of payment so that he can buy meat in the city for his uncle Garrow and his cousin Roran. Unfortunately, no one knows what the stone is worth, so Eragon doesn’t get a fair offer.

 

[Backstory: Garrow raised Eragon like a son after Eragon’s mother (Selena) begged her brother Garrow to take care of her baby. Selena then left without ever mentioning who Eragon’s father is.] 

 

The dragon inside the egg chooses Eragon to be its Rider, so it hatches for him. Eragon tries to hide the dragon in the Spine and sneak food to it, but eventually two of the King’s servants (the Ra’Zac, who are known to have death and suffering trail them) hear rumors of Eragon having the stone and track him down so that they either kill Eragon or convince him to serve the Empire. While Eragon was in the forest, the Ra’Zac burn Eragon’s farm to the ground and kill Garrow. When Eragon comes back and sees what happened, he vows to get revenge on the Ra’Zac. Brom the storyteller convinces Eragon to let him tag along on his adventure. 

 

Along the way, Eragon crosses paths with a witch who reads him his fortune. She foretells that he will have a long life, but many choices lie ahead of him (with only one life path leading to true peace and joy). Eragon will experience a great loss, and he will be betrayed by a family member (but who? Garrow’s dead, Selena’s AWOL, his father is unknown, and Roran is too loyal). Eragon is also destined to have an epic romance.

 

Later, Brom and Eragon find the Ra’Zac, but the Ra’Zac fatally strike Brom. Before they can fatally strike Eragon, a mysterious archer (Murtagh) come to Eragon’s aid and make the Ra’Zac run away. 

 

[Brom’s Backstory: Before Brom dies, he reveals that he used to be a Rider but his dragon was killed in battle. This explains how he knows so much about dragon lore. His dragon’s name was Saphira, which happens to be the only name that Eragon’s dragon likes.]

 

[Murtagh’s Backstory: Murtagh is the son of the man who betrayed the Riders for the sake of King Galbatorix. Murtagh’s father was killed by Brom. King Galbatorix offered Murtagh to serve him, but when Murtagh realized how corrupt King Galnatorix is, he escaped the palace and has been tracking the Ra’Zac to kill them. He’s now stuck: He doesn’t want to rejoin the Empire, and he doesn’t think the Varden will give him a chance since he is the son of the man who once betrayed them.]

 

When Eragon rescues Arya from the Empire’s prison, he realizes that she was poisoned as a manner to keep her from escaping on her own. She tells Eragon that he must take her to the Varden soon for her to get the anecdote, so she reveals the Varden’s secret location and they embark on the journey.

 

Along the way, they get attacked by monsters, including the Urgals. Muurtagh has no choice but to join Eragon, Arya, Saphira, and their horse Snowfire into the Varden’s sanctuary. There, Muurtagh is offered imprisonment until he allows his mind to be probed. 

 

Eragon passes his tests and proves himself to be trustworthy, but he avoids officially pledging his allegiance to anyone. He does give a blessing to an orphan baby (due to the persistence of the woman holding it), which gives him a dragon mark on the forehead. This highlights an important theme: free will vs fate. (For instance, how much of Eragon’s transformation from farm boy to hero due to fate vs every character’s choices?).

 

“‘What you saw was the beginning of another story, another legend. Do you think that child will ever be a tavern keeper or a farmer when her brow is dragon-marked and your words hang over her? You underestimate our power and that of fate” (430).

 

The Empire attacks sooner than expected, and Eragon makes the game-changing move of killing the Shade. The Varden would have lost otherwise. He is going to be completing his arms/magic training in the elve’s lair in the next book. The next book also may answer these questions:

 

• Who is the family member that is going to betray Eragon? (Guess: Murtagh)

• Who is Eragon going to have a romantic relationship with? (Guess: Arya)