What’s your impression of the author if the Inheritance Cycle? [Note – no direct flaming. Let’s keep it civilized.] I’ve gotten the gist that he’s a bit arrogant…but who can blame him? I mean, all flaws aside, his books have become quite popular. Do you think his books would have less criticism if he acted more modest? I’m sort of interested about the book/author relationship here and how it affects the view of the writing, so yeah. No insulting him and all that.

Yeah, I guess that’s one good thing about him. All other things aside, he has passion for his story. You can tell that he’s really immersed in Alagaesia and everything. Not a good job of showing it, but that’s better than what some authors have.

Which overrides all else.

I bet he really is a nice guy, but…his arrogance makes it look like he’s not. For instance, in that interview (that SlyShy posted a couple of months ago on the site) Paolini basically refused to answer every question, saying it would give away the plot. That really bugged me…CP may just have wanted to keep his fans excited and not spoil things for them, but it came across as him thinking his story was too important to give away anything about.

When asking that interviewer to spell out the word, I got the impression that he was stalling for time to think about it.

I wouldn’t use the word arrogant to describe him, more smug, since he seems a bit unsure about his awesomeness to me (why he always gives all the genre conventions when asked about his world).

Arrogance is brilliance. All great men are egoists inside.

CP has much to learn but it’d be retarded to go ahead and hate him for being famous. Other people think he’s great, we don’t, deal with it. I do think he focuses to much on tthe surface details of his work, not the substance.

The average person’s mental image of humbleness is different though. They suppose that having knowledge of your own abilities and believing you can succeed at anything with determination is equivalent to arrogance. Therefore if you say anything like, “I’m going to do X” and ‘X’ is something hard, they suppose you are arrogant without thinking that you mean you are going to put effort to get there.

I would argue most acts of humility are dishonest because most people try to show they are humble to appeal to its positive appeal in others.

Anyone who talks about seeing Rowling “spread her wings” without having a quarter of her talent is pretty arrogant.

How do you judge talent, that is the question?

There maybe very brilliant people who don’t go for contests or prizes who may yet be more talented than we ever know.

I hate the word “talent” btw, but that’s another story. I think talent is a lie; there is only following your gifts or letting them go to waste, and that requires focused work.

Anyone who talks about seeing Rowling “spread her wings” without having a quarter of her talent is pretty arrogant.

I’ve been kind of divided about this. I mean, sure, it could be interpreted that way, but it’s not like other people haven’t talked about how Rowling has improved. Lots of book reviewers don’t have 3% of the talent of the authors they are reviewing.

Paolini is definitely sheltered though.

I’d say that Paolini isn’t particularly taken with world building because there are so many lapses. The ancient language is a fairly shoddy, the magic system is out of hand, and whole “heart of hearts” idea is simply idiotic (I mean a proud, ancient, independent race of dragons have built into their biology a mechanism that seems to serve no purpose other than letting humans take advantage of them). I think Paolini regards his world the same way a child regards a playground. It’s a place where he can let his imagination run wild and have fun without worrying about what makes sense or what really should happen, where he can recreate his idea of an adventure. And so we have a main character who can learn to read in a few weeks, become a master swordsman in a few months, and learn to write epic poetry in a whole other language in (about) a year. And while the world does have some very vivid, imaginative elements, it also relies a lot on cliche and, in the end, doesn’t make all that much sense (see the leather-wearing vegan elves)

I think talent is a lie; there is only following your gifts or letting them go to waste, and that requires focused work.

I agree somewhat. The problem with Paolini, I think, is that he’s so full of himself that he doesn’t try to improve. He has some natural ability, but his early success has made him think that he doesn’t need to put work into developing it.

Plus, Tolkien was a linguist. Which means he actually had indepth knowledge of how languages work. (He also had a deep love of language, which undoubtedly affected his work)

I’d say that Paolini isn’t particularly taken with world building because there are so many lapses. The ancient language is a fairly shoddy, the magic system is out of hand, and whole “heart of hearts” idea is simply idiotic . I think Paolini regards his world the same way a child regards a playground. It’s a place where he can let his imagination run wild and have fun without worrying about what makes sense or what really should happen, where he can recreate his idea of an adventure. And so we have a main character who can learn to read in a few weeks, become a master swordsman in a few months, and learn to write epic poetry in a whole other language in (about) a year. And while the world does have some very vivid, imaginative elements, it also relies a lot on cliche and, in the end, doesn’t make all that much sense (see the leather-wearing vegan elves)

What’s wrong with the bolded?

Plenty of authors do that bitch.

I agree with Ari, here. Go ahead and be a bastard, but do you need to be a vindictive bastard? We’re all just having fun, here. =/

Oh, okay. CP faps to his sister, what a douche. CP can’t write because I don’t like him. Never mind the fact that plenty of great authors do the exact same thing, CP is an exception to the rules because I don’t like him. I am not a hypocrite in the very slightest because the truth doesn’t matter to me as much as me enjoying myself. I will not say what really bugs me about his story, but make points that are easily dismissed with an objective glance. And when someone does do it, I will call him a party pooper.

@ CB: I think they meant calling people 'bitch'.

Yes but there’s nothing wrong with those things and it’d be disingenuous to even imply that. CP failed because he couldn’t write a good story. Plenty of great authors do those things and still succeed.

Yes, because that totally was using ‘bitch’ in the same tone as ‘you retarded bitch”. I wonder if all you wonderful, critical readers are really that critical in the first place?

Yes but there’s nothing wrong with those things and it’d be disingenuous to even imply that. CP failed because he couldn’t write a good story. Plenty of great authors do those things and still succeed.

No, by including all his pointless worldbuilding he slowed the pace of the story, diluted it, and wrote himself into corners. Why was Eragon better than Eldest? Because it was faster and it stuck to the story. And the reason it had those two advantages is because we learned less junk about Alagaesia during Eragon. Paolini’s getting worse though—he thinks his fans read his books for the worldbuilding, so each book is going to get slower and more filler filled.

Why does the plotline get as absurd as it does? Because of the ridiculous power escalation Paolini built into his world. Just as Character and Plot are interconnected ideas, so are Plot and Setting.

What’s wrong with the bolded?

It leads to a dull and unbelievable story. It means that Paolini must now invent silly plot devices in order to keep the story from falling apart. And most people don’t find Paolini’s world building nearly as interesting as Paolini himself does.

It depends on the kind of person you are, I guess. Some people don't like to be fettered by the constraints of planning everything out beforehand. And then there are people like me, who need a bit of structure before sallying forth.

I suppose I should get into the habit of qualifying every statement I make with a “can”. It can lead to a dull and unbelievable story.

I haven’t read Ursula LeGuin (could you recommend a title for me?) but if it works for her, I’m in no position to argue. She may have the skill and experience needed to let work flow from initial inspiration without a lot of editing, crafting, or second guessing (though I’d be awfully surprised if she didn’t have to revise her original ideas at all, if not in the first then in subsequent drafts). But I think it’s fairly clear that Paolini doesn’t. He (and most of us aspiring writers) needs to plan and think our worlds through before we write anything so that we don’t have to pull a “hear of hearts” out of our ass.

She isn’t magical. Everyone has a different way of invoking their creative processes.

I too find it easier to go with the rhythm of a story. Which is why I don’t think simply changing a few details of his world will improve him in the slightest. His story feels false—but that’s not the real reason why.

The biggest problem with CP’s world, IMO, is simply that he didn’t spend time poking holes in it first. It’s like if you try to make a video game but never have any testers- when you run through the game, you might not notice any bugs because you know how to play the game. But all of the bugs become very, very apparent to the game’s players, because they are going to go off the beaten path and get stuck in that one part you never thought of testing. If he had just taken the time to sit down and work out the world thoroughly before he started, I think a lot of problems could have been avoided. (although the reason it turned out the way it did is probably because he was very young- 15-year-olds are simply not good world-builders. Which is why I am singularly unimpressed when someone raves about a teenager that wrote this fabulous book.)

The biggest thing that annoys me about CP (besides his attitude...sheesh, ego much?), is his characters. I don't know why--I can take his poor worldbuilding, heck, even his purple prose, but the characters are the things that really stick in my craw about his series. They're just so...aggravatingly one-dimensional.

If you haven’t been in the business for long, you shouldn’t condescendingly criticise people; you should just give your opinion. Take all precautions against having something you said used against you. This is essentially my gripe about this aspect of Christopher Paolini. Plus he’s a lot younger, and what happened to respecting your elders?

Very few of us are actually published writers lol.

Why are these bad? Sorry if I’m getting a little off-topic with this one. Just detour around me, guys.

I’m wondering myself. Apperently the writer is supposed to be a god but not a god at the same time.

1) Even writers in the business can afford to criticize, happens all the time.

2) Get outta here, you’ve gotta be shitting me!

o okay

This is a moment we must commend.

*commends+1*

joins the commendation crowd

I’d like to note that Stephen King criticized Stephanie Meyer. And it was hilarious.

I actually had to look twice when Yahoo! had the story about Stephen King/Smeyer. I couldn't believe it--it was like Christmas coming early. xD

I think that’s excusable.

Because I’m just so damn reasonable, aren’t I? I gotta stop doing that. It ruins my image.

Okay. You’re still speechless. muses You’re unusually tolerant today.

Or he has a life.

Took a dump.

lol

Good point. I flame him a lot more than I hate him, and I guess that's quite hypocritical of me, especially when I still enjoy reading Inheritance despite its flaws. Blasted peer pressure :)

However, the 'Rowling spreading her wings' comment... if he didn't mean it the way it came out, he should have tried to fix it. He doesn't seem to be very modest, to me. It's a bit like Stephenie Meyer. Yes, I know there is substantial flaming of SMeyer, but I still think she is quite arrogant. You can tell from some of the things she's posted up on her webpage.

And he really does seem to want to be cool; he let word choice get in the way of telling a story. You would think that a nineteen-year-old would have seen and fixed that. I know, I know, I can't generalise about nineteen year olds, I just think that since, being homeschooled, he would have had a lot of internet access, and if he was interested in writing (as is obvious), he would've checked out some writing sites, and lo and behold, found out that that is a Bad Thing To Do.

I don't think that him accidentally writing a sociopathic Eragon (as some people claim) means that he, himself, wants to act that way, or anything like that.

But the thing is, you can also tell when someone's writing something they think is the best thing on earth, or whether they just don't write well (and that can always be improved, let me hasten to add) and know it, are trying to tell a story despite their percieved writing ability, or are just having fun, etc. You just can tell.

However, maybe he just takes himself too seriously, and has therefore been taken the wrong way.

I dont hate the guy. To an extent, I can sympathize with him, and although he seems infuriatingly smug in his videos/interviews, if you think about it, he acts like a little kid for whom every day is Christmas because his books sell. To me it seems like he has this childish happiness about him I cannot quite describe, and I am jealous of that in a way because one you pass a certain age, there are very few people you can be that genuinely happy about.

What bugs me, however, is that through his writing, he is presenting his beliefs in a way that seem like imposition. Now I know that this is not where we are discussing his writing, but if you think about it - what kind of a person would use a protagonist of a YA fantasy book focused on the most influentiable (lol is that even a word?) demographic to express their own personal preferences in significant aspects of their lives? So through that it does appear to me like he has this holier than thou attitude and from the way he rationalized and explained these issues in these books it appeared to me like he was trying to show that this is the way to go. Which I found insulting and aggressive. When I pick up a fantasy book, I expect to be entertained, not preached to.

Ah, you’ve read it too? Yeah, Tolstoy does that a lot, which I guess I didn’t mind. It’s an interesting look into contemporary Russian thought in those days.

Well, I did not finish the "Thousand - year - old bee" by one of the Slovakian writers for the same reason. The TV adaptation was not very big on this, but having been published in the Normalization period (1970s), the book has Communist propaganda all over it. I do understand that at the time it was essential for you to do that as a writer if you wanted to be published and, you know, not arrested for life, but I could not focus on the story, the crap kept going on and on

I understand that CP is a little arrogant, but I think part of that comes from the way he published. Had he submitted it to an actual publisher and editor the first time, then he would have to do what the rest of us mortals do: wait ten months for it to go through the slush pile and then have it come back dripping red ink. It would have been better for both him and his books if he’d had someone point out all his flaws. Yes, having a supportive family is nice, but if your parents set up a publishing company just to publish your book, you’re skipping the entire process that makes your book good. Not only that, but then he became famous anyway. So now he thinks that not only can he do it once, but he can do it three more times. And since he has millions of fans, he’s being protected. If everyone hated him, then he would have to wake up to his flaws. But he can’t, because he has a huge fanbase. So not only has he enjoyed tremendous popularity extremely young in life, but his ego is constantly fed by fans and he doesn’t have anyone to snap him out of it. No wonder he comes off as arrogant! He can’t help but be so!

Wow, long paragraph. Carry on.

Let’s burn his parents at the stake because him getting the easy road somehow stops us from following our own ends.

His mom goes to college

Napoleon Dynamite reference.

I’d like to compare them too… I wonder if there’s any digital copies online?

I'm not sure if it's purchasable... but here is the self-published version listed on Barnes and Noble's website: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Eragon/Christopher-Paolini/e/9780966621334/?itm=43

I want to see if Amazon has it on their website as an e-book. I might purchase that, although I hate to give my money to him. >.<