Inheritance Trilogy

[Arnold Grundel]

I don't mean to poke fingers, but I can't help but notice that with the Inheritance Trilogy it seems as though the plot is almost a carbon copy of Star Wars or LOTR or something. Any body else notice that?

[breakingthehabit]

I havent read the trilogy (want to but i keep choosing other books over them), but i'm not surprised if the author "copied" his plot from any of those classics that u mentioned, cos they're pretty much the standard in writing fantasy fictions, dont you think?
I know JK Rowling's plot definitely has mirrored Tolkien's

[The Mythwriter]

I hear a lot of this about Paolini. I've read all the books (which are no longer a trilogy) and personally, I never saw any blatant ripping off of either. I can see elements, yes, but if you were to ask me, it's far more indicative of drawing inspiration from them than copying them.

I particularly love a quote in one of my favorite movies, "Finding Forester:" "Well, you've taken something which was mine, and made it yours. Quite an accomplishment." Forrester was referring not to taking credit for someone else's idea, but to taking it and creating something new from it. Personally, I agree with the philosophy that you can take what someone else created and make it better, make it your own. It takes a LOT of talent and a good measure of your own work to not just copy someone and think you're drawing inspiration, and personally I think Paolini's on the right side of line.

He's definitely not the best of all fantasy fiction, and maybe his works draw a little too heavily on other works for some people's preferences. But I don't think he deserves to be called a plagiarist, and I wish I knew the motives behind those who do call him as such... and what qualifies them to pass such judgment, for after all, what could be a more serious accusation for an author?

But I can't, and don't, accuse anyone of being unqualified, especially not you, Arnold, because I'm not any better than anyone, and I'm passing my own judgment in the opposite direction, I suppose. But I have to say I strongly disagree with your position of "carbon copies."

[thischarmingmanc]

which ine was ripped off (very different stories and themes ).

but bith are the epic heroic journey, so if that's what you means its an archetypal story that pre-dates both bt many hundred of years.


)quote="Arnold Grundel"]I don't mean to poke fingers, but I can't help but notice that with the Inheritance Trilogy it seems as though the plot is almost a carbon copy of Star Wars or LOTR or something. Any body else notice that?[/quote]

[Traycee]

There are similiarities, but tolkien did set the stage so to speak for all great fantasy novels. its all good overcoming evil after all. But that being said there are differences that what makes Paolini such a good read. Personally i cant wait for the fourth book to hit the shelves

[Bowlie]

I do think that he ripped off so many fantasy authors that it was difficult to tell that it was his own story. The striking similarity to many of the names in Lord of the Rings (both people and places) irritated me. I had also just read Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin and felt like I was reading it all over again in some respects. He took Anne McCaffrey's dragons and put them into his book. I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones that stood out for me most.

I was so disgusted after reading the first book that I can't really bring myself to read the rest of the series. I know that a lot of fantasy borrows from other authors, but Eragon was so blatant that it was upsetting. The only other author I can remember doing this was Terry Brooks in The Sword of Shannara. To his credit, after that book the series really differed from Lord of the Rings (and I really enjoy the series now), but that first book was pretty ridiculous.

I know Paolini was really young when he wrote it but as I recall, teachers do talk about plagiarism in junior high and high school.

[Anirudh Badri]

I loved the first three books, but the final one ruined the whole series for me. It was such a let down for the final, highly anticipated battle to be such a joke.

[SPasciuti]

I've heard this before and I did a bit of research into it a while back. To be honest, I don't think any of it was excessive. Yes, there were some similarities that I was shocked to learn of...but the similarities weren't blatant or excessive to the point that it was plagiaristic. It was, at the end of the day, his own story with elements similar to those in other stories. He still made it his own, regardless of that. I highly doubt, at this point in time, many people can write any story without there being some similarity to something someone else has written.

Additionally, he was quite young when he wrote Eragon in the first place. It's incredibly impressive what he managed at such a young age and while he may have drawn from things around him for inspiration, that's all it was. Inspiration. He didn't take and plagiarize anything. He was inspired by the brilliant works of other authors.