My copy of Eldest is a tiny, paperback one. I bought it at the now non-existent Borders book store. Man I miss borders. Barnes and Noble is fine, but I LOVED Borders. I knew it was odd to buy such a tiny paperback version of Eldest, but I thought it was unique. Also it was cheap LOL. I just wanted a copy of my own. There are benefits to it being so small too. It feels sturdy and it can be easily held one handed.
Chapters read:
- A Twin Disaster
- The Council of Elders
- Truth Among Friends
- Roran
Roran and Katrina
Src
Words cannot describe how beautiful Eldest is man. Lowkey one of my favorite books ever. Reading this brings back such amazing, beautiful memories. I am so happy reading this that it is truly overwhelming. I have been through a lot of crap the past decade or so (many times due to my own life choices) and reading this is such a profound experience, I can't even find the vocabulary to describe this type of joy. Books are the best drug I swear. Who knows the last time I read Eldest, but the sense of warmth and the sense of a sanctuary is just unbelievable. Several times I read this I almost feel like I am not allowed to be this happy and I kind of get anxiety LOL.
Right off the bat, the writing improvement in Eldest seems incredible compared to Eragon. Maybe this feeling is enhanced due to the fact that Eragon had to lay a lot of groundwork and explain a lot of back story. I don't know. But off the bat, Eldest reads extremely smooth. I don't know how to explain this, but it's great. Eragon is solid and I like the feeling of rawness and newness it provides too.
I also like the intensity of Eldest from the jump. Feels borderline macabre at certain points. Eragon randomly plays with a tooth that he finds in the dirt for no apparent reason. I have never been to war let alone a medieval style war obviously. Neither has Eragon. Maybe it was just out of morbid curiosity and overall just shock after the battle. Another macabre detail was when Paolini describes blood in the dirt soaking into his boots. I like the intensity.
The first three chapters are really interesting and political. Eragon and Saphira have to cleverly navigate everything. Nasuada is awesome. I completely forgot that Ajihad dies so soon and that Murtagh gets kidnapped. I also forgot that Murtagh is believed to be dead!! It is so intriguing and cool that I forgot so many details. It's like I'm halfway re-reading the series for the first time. Plus I have not even read The Fork the Witch and the Worm OR Murtagh yet!! This is going to be fantastic.
I LOVE the Roran perspective presented in Eldest. Roran is sooooooo cool and honorable. Tough and determined. As a youngster I recall sort of being like, mildly annoyed that the book randomly switched over to Roran. This feeling changed fairly quickly as I got to learn of Roran more.
Reading this as a significantly older man I like Roran's story even MORE. His perspective feels more relatable as a mere mortal human like myself and he is simply more mature than Eragon it seems. Not night and day more mature, but not exactly close either. Not only is Roran's story more relatable and a bit more mature, but I also love seeing how Eragon's adventure impacts the Empire as a whole for perhaps more of the average joe in Alagaesia. It's one thing to experience Eragon's perspective, but looking through Roran's perspective deepens everything Eragon goes through too.
My gosh what a treat so far. I don't want to get ahead of myself because I want to share my thoughts in increments but I am deeply enjoying Eldest so far!
I have the dog behind me, a candle and lamp nearby, hoodie on. Life could be worse.