Eragon is remarkably similar to the Eye of the World by Robert Jordan…
And if you didn’t know, the Wheel of Time universe created by Robert Jordan was inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s world. So Eragon seems to be a book based on a book based on another book. Their similarities:
- Both take place in a remote village.
- Both stories have “shades”, dark hooded antagonist characters.
- Both have Trollocs, animal like antagonist humanoids.
- Both have their houses attacked in the opening scenes of the book.
- Both have to race to the village healer after the attack to save their father and in the case of Eragon, uncle.
- Both have a kindly Smith in the village.
I’m not so sure that Eragon has much similar with The Lord of the Rings as it does with The Wheel of Time series. Excluding the elves and elaborate “land” setup where races come from all these different places… I’m not seeing it.
What I do see is a distilled version of other author’s universes with minor modifications.
And that is the bone I have to pick with Eragon.
It doesn’t have the feel of a unique universe.
P.S.
The Wheel of Time series is similar to the Lord of the Rings / the Hobbit in its settings and themes. So Eragon could be considered as a copy of a copy lol