I didn't really notice the 'borrowing' so much when I read Eragon. It was a nice read that took the boredom out of a long journey. I had no pre-conceived ideas about it either.

 

The second book however I read, having previously heard from others about the author borrowing a lot... and it has to be said... it was a detraction from the actual story which was still a fun read. There was a constant stream of names that were hardly changed, of places, of plots...

 

For my tast he didn't change some of the stuff he 'borrowed' enough, for me to be able to forget the original.

Your comments raise a question....

 

Had you not read the comments from others about his borrowing subject matter before reading Eldest, would you have noticed the simmilarities? Were they actually that obvious, or were you unconciously looking for them?

it was based on a 15 year old's dream - what else could explain a dasterdly name like Galabotixicator (or whatever)?

 

I really think that its aimed for pre-teens and on that level it works. But for anyone else, its the same old neo-TOlkien fantasy severly downgraded.