Hanceek

Ladies and gentlemen of the court, I stand before you to prove that the first book of the Inheritance Cycle, entitled Eragon, does have merits that make it worthy of existence. Out of respect for the court I will refrain from using the Age Card, “Ur jus jelous” argument or the ad hominem attack. Thank you.
　
First of all, Christopher Paolini began the series when he was fifteen. This is not to say that he is to be excused because of his age, but rather it explains why some of the plot seems so childish. This is a fantasy world of a kid who loved Tolkien and Beowulf. By my research, the Inheritance Cycle is read by kids who haven’t yet read Tolkien (for whatever reason…). While I admit that he did not think out everything despite all the time he had, Paolini tried.
　
Second, in regards to the story, it does sound like a Star Wars ripoff. Yet, remember, this has Paolini’s own unique, wordy, purple-proseful spin on it. It is not a published Star Wars fanfiction. After all, why have

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

when you can have:

Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world.

??

Well?
　
Paolini invented new characters that did not specifically come from Star Wars, most notably Angela and Nasuada. And you have to admit that he came up with an original way of defeating Galbatorix, but I won’t go into specifics about that here.
　
Third, one of the most criticized aspects of the book is the subject of magic. I have not studied magic enough to make any argument on it, your Honor, either in this cycle or anywhere else. The defense requests that we let smarter people worry about that. This point is only here to explain that we know it’s there.

Fourth, here is more on the subject of characters. Murtagh is interesting; an ensemble darkhorse whom we only meet through Eragon. I present the court with Exhibit A:

Murtagh bowed his head. “Your words hearten me.” He paused. “But they don’t solve our problem.” (317)

From this we can deduce his practical mindset. This sentence is also supposed to portray him as more cynical and thus more of an antiheroic rival in contrast to the idealistic statement that Eragon, an alleged Epic Hero Archetype, just made. So Murtagh does start out as a character with the possibility of growth.
　
Another ensemble darkhorse is the herbalist Angela. While Angela is probably only in the series as an allusion to the author’s sister, the fact remains that she exists and is done relatively well. For example, Exhibit B:

The rich fool lords pay me for love potions and the like. I never claim that they work, but for some reason they keep coming back. (201)

This should show that Angela did have some sort of background before Eragon and, despite her falling into the same trap of praising the Gary Stu later on, does have a subtle character of her own.

In presenting these arguments the defense would like to conclude that while the Inheritance Cycle could have done a bit better and was probably not deserving of the attention that it got, Mr. Paolini’s piece is worthy of existence and is possible to enjoy.

The defense rests.

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