{"id":3094,"date":"2018-09-23T15:20:15","date_gmt":"2018-09-23T19:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dragonauthors.com\/bookwyrms\/?p=3094"},"modified":"2018-09-23T15:44:36","modified_gmt":"2018-09-23T19:44:36","slug":"eragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dragonauthors.com\/bookwyrms\/2018\/09\/23\/eragon\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of Eragon! A traditional book review PLUS a review of the audiobook narration!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eragon, by Christopher Paolini<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Story: <\/span><\/h4>\n

At its heart, Eragon<\/i> is a coming-of-age story. A fifteen-year-old farm boy discovers he\u2019s destined to become a Dragon Rider, but the grown-up world of politics and war are a lot more than he bargained for.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the best things about this book is that the life lessons are so accurately portrayed. Even when they\u2019re painful. Eragon argues passionately for his beliefs, standing up for his ideas of right and wrong, only to realize later, through his own experience, that things aren\u2019t always so simple.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s part of growing up, with or without dragons.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Movie<\/p>\n

If you think you know the book because you saw the movie, think again. Books are always different, but this book is really<\/i> different. Characters, events, timing\u2026 so much has changed from one to the other that it\u2019s more like they\u2019re two entirely different stories taking place in the same world. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a book, it\u2019s magnificent\u2014a young adult read that\u2019s appropriate for the entire range of YA readers. (The YA section currently includes everything from 12 to 18, despite the tremendous difference between the two ends of that spectrum, which is why there\u2019s so much discussion about the trend toward upper YA titles with a Game of Thrones<\/i> bite, including graphic sex and violence.)<\/span><\/p>\n

This one is clean but realistic, addressing some of the most difficult aspects of growing up and leaving home, set against an exciting background of dragons and adventure. <\/span><\/p>\n

Story rating:<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u00a0\"gold\"gold\"gold\"gold\"gold<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Narration: <\/span><\/h4>\n

The narration of the audiobook was fantastic, with one exception. <\/span><\/p>\n

The pacing was excellent. The narrator used just the right level of emotion, conveying suspense or sorrow or excitement without going over the top. That\u2019s so critical to good audiobook narration, and we thought that aspect of the reading was fantastic.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the dragon\u2019s voice\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

It just didn\u2019t fit the character for us. Yes, it\u2019s a dragon\u2014some growl to the voice is more than appropriate. But she\u2019s a female<\/i> dragon, and there just wasn\u2019t anything feminine about it. At all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, at least we can say there was no question when the dragon was speaking. Clarity is good, and it didn\u2019t detract so much from the story that we couldn\u2019t enjoy it. It did, however, make us giggle in places that were meant to be serious.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, the narration is one of the better ones we\u2019ve heard: a rich, enjoyable voice with a good tempo and enough variation to show appropriate feeling for this magnificent story. We recommend listening to this one, as long as you can accept that the dragon is\u2026 well\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Narration rating:<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"gold\"gold\"gold\"gold<\/p>\n

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Using our links to visit Amazon supports us with a small percent of anything you buy during that visit, from books to major appliances.\u00a0<\/em>Nobody pays us to recommend anything. We just find stuff we like.<\/em><\/p>\n

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