Eragon is a book written by Christopher Paolini. It was published in August 2003. Eragon is the first book in the Inheritance Cycle. The second book in the Inheritance Cycle, called Eldest, was published in mid-2005. The third of the four books, Brisingr, was released in 2008. Eragon was made into a movie and released in cinemas on December 2006. It was released on DVD in March 2007.
The Story
A long time ago, the Dragon Riders kept peace in the world between the humans, dragons, elves, and dwarves. They were humans or elves bonded to dragons. However, the dragon of a human Rider named Galbatorix was killed by the Urgals (a species that fights a lot). Galbatorix became insane because of this. The Riders would not give him another dragon, so he decided to destroy them. He stole a black baby dragon and forced it to bond with him with evil magic. Then he and other traitors fought with the Riders. Finally, they killed them all and Galbatorix became king of the humans. The book Eragon begins 100 years after this. When it begins, Galbatorix is trying to find and destroy the elves (who are hiding in a forest called Du Weldenvarden), dwarves (who are hiding in the Beor Mountains - a gigantic mountain range reaching far above the clouds), and the Varden (a group of rebels hidden with the dwarves). He has not destroyed the elves yet, because he is still cautious of their power. He has not destroyed the Varden or dwarves because he cannot yet find them in the large mountain range.
The story itself begins with a young farm boy named Eragon finding a polished blue stone in the Spine (a smaller mountain range and woods). The stone turns out to be a dragon egg, and the dragon that hatches from it is named Saphira. Eragon's uncle, Garrow is killed by the Ra'zac (insect-like creatures that work for Galbatorix), who want to find and capture Eragon and Saphira. Eragon decides to find them and kill them in revenge because of his uncle's death. He and Saphira leave, along with Brom, an old storyteller who tells Eragon and Saphira many things about dragons and Riders and promises to help them. In Yu'Zuac, Eragon and Brom were ambushed by two Urgals. After Brom was knocked from his horse, the Urgals chased Eragon, when he used magic to defeat them. Brom also teaches Eragon how to control magic after this. While they are travelling, they find a flask (a container, which usually holds liquids like water) full of corrupted Seithr oil dropped by the Ra'zac. This oil is very rare, so Eragon gets the idea to go to a coastal city for shipping records to find the Ra'zac. The three travel to the city of Teirm to see Brom's old friend, Joed. Joed is a merchant who is secretly giving supplies to the Varden. However all of his ships are being destroyed somehow by someone who knows he is working for the Varden. He helps them find a record of where the Ra'zac are - a city named Dras-Leona. Brom, Eragon, and Saphira travel to Dras-Leona, but Eragon is seen by Galbatorix's soldiers. The three run away, but the Ra'zac find them and capture them. Then they are driven away by a stranger named Murtagh, but they wound Brom first. Brom dies soon, but not before telling Eragon and Murtagh that he was secretly a Rider whose dragon was killed by Galbatorix.