[Daring Scylla]

Hey hey hey! that is an EXCELLENT way to put what I was trying to say. hats off to you, i suck at equivocating.
that is my big problem with eragon and the inheritance cycle - it's all fluff and no substance. i think it's cheap that he made no attempt to cover the fact that he plagiarized or 'borrowed' a lot of things from other existing works.
and he studied old Norse...? what.....? no. just no.
I read the books in english, though it's my third language, so maybe some things were lost/improved in translations of the book.
that's the final point of my argument against Paolini's books - he plagiarized GOOD THINGS but failed to keep what made them so excellent. Och, if you're going to steal someone else's work that was successful, keep the most successful parts.
he also seems arrogant, if any of his book reviews and interviews are anything to go by. I won't pass personal judgement until i actually meet him though. If I do. Like I'd ever want to.
I also think his books were sold largely on the premise of HEY LOOK A NOVEL BIG ENOUGH TO KILL SOMEONE WRITTEN BY A 15 YEAR OLD WOW!!! I know no one i knew in Ireland took the book very seriously when it came out.