I had a thought today, after watching the trailer for Eragon. I enjoyed the first book, but I have a feeling that anything on paper with a decent storyline and acceptable grammar would be enjoyable to me. Part of being a bibliophile and voracious reader.
Anyways, although I am enjoying the series and will most likely buy the third in hardcover, there's something . . . lacking. It's not as satisfying as a new Jordan or Martin or even Eddings. Roxann and I discussed it and decided that it seemed almost to be like fan-fic, Mary-Sue's and all.
And today, the epiphany: this is a case of the elephant painting phenomenon. Someone decided to teach elephants to paint. The elephants turn out decent, but not spectacular, modern-style paintings that sell for large amounts of money because, of course, they were painted by elephants, which is cool, right?
I'm not saying Paolini is an elephant or anything of the kind, just that he's become very popular, with a book and movie deal, in large part because, wow, a teenager writing fantasy novels! Novelty, if you'll excuse the pun. There's better writing, better stories being passed over because they don't have a hook like the 16-year-old author.
I'll still read the series. I'll watch the movie. But now, when I do, elephants are going to be dancing in my head.
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