Eragon: Chapter Two: Bully the Butcher

[pangolin20]

Chapter One | Table Of Contents | Chapter Three (Part I)

Last time, we had an introduction to our protagonist, Eragon, as he found Saphira’s egg, which is the beginning of our plot. Now for Chapter 2.

Content Warning: Bullying and abuse.

Chapter Two: Palancar Valley

That’s part of what this chapter will be: an introduction to the Palancar Valley, where Eragon lives. Some trivia: Paolini named this valley after John Jude Palencar, who would later become the cover artist for the books.

The chapter begins at sunrise (so it’s the 8^th of October) with a “glorious conflagration of pink and yellow.” And also purple, just as the prose. We’re told the air is “sweet, fresh and very cold.” There’s ice along the streams, and small pools have frozen over. Pretty. Eragon now has a breakfast of porridge (why do they need meat again?), and goes back to the glen to look at the area of the explosion. [Edit:  As Epistler
pointed out, carrying porridge is very cumbersome, and far from ideal for the hunt.

Land of Incompetents: +1]

He can see nothing new in the daylight, so he decides to go back home. Well, that was quick. No thinks about where the egg could possibly come from, no further thoughts on how dangerous it might be, nothing. It’s time to go home, for the introduction to Carvahall, so we can’t waste more time on that nonsense.

In the next paragraph, Eragon describes “the rough game trail.” It’s faintly worn and doesn’t exist in places. He gripes about how it backtracks and makes long detours because it’s been made be animals. But it’s still the fastest way out of the mountains. Gee, Eragon, maybe the reason it’s so fast is because it makes all kind of detours, and probably seeks the path of least resistance, instead of going straight ahead, regardless of the terrain? You could also be happy that the path that takes the least effort has already been blazed for you!

We’re told that the Spine is one of the only places that “King Galbatorix” can’t call his own. One of the few places in western Alagaësia, I assume. Anyway, Galbatorix is the ostensible big bad of the series, having committed the unforgivable crime of replacing an oppressive and tyrannical order with a rule that oppresses people much less and actually creates reasonable living conditions for a large part of the population. Not that we’re supposed to see it that way, of course.

There’s two more things I’d like to say about this:

1) I’m interested why Galbatorix has the title king when he leads an empire. It’s not weird, per se, but it would still be interesting to get to know why he calls himself that.

2) According to Paolini’s website, “Galbatorix” means “big king”. That means we have King Big King. I can’t express how incredibly silly this is. Here comes a new count, one that won’t drop to zero between books: A Better Commando Name. (Credit goes to

highperformanceturtle)

A Better Commando Name: 1

Eragon says stories are still being told about how half of Galby’s army disappeared after it marched into the Spine’s forest. This will actually turn out to be mostly true far down the road, in one of the few cases where Paolini manages to fill in his worldbuilding.

“A cloud of misfortune and bad luck seemed to hang over it. Though the trees grew tall and the sky shone brightly, few people could stay in the Spine for long without suffering

an accident.”

This could certainly be interesting, and the concept of an old spell causing misfortune for everyone in the Spine is something I’d love to see, but this is never supported by the text. And here’s the count for this: Evidence, Please. Two points: one for now, and one for the stories about magic that Eragon mentioned earlier.

Evidence, Please: 2

The likely explanation for this “curse” is a combination of two factors: one, confirmation bias from the people living near the Spine, who are more likely to attribute misfortune they suffer there to a curse than to their own actions, and two, as people avoid the Spine because of the “curse” they think there is, they’ll be less familiar with the terrain and thus more likely to suffer accidents. Another factor might be the Urgals who live in the Spine. They’re also the cause of the missing army, by the way.

Eragon is one of those people…

Special for Sure: 10

…but according to him it’s not because of some kind of special gift, but rather because of “persistent vigilance and sharp reflexes.” Seems like my theory from just before makes sense, if he can stay out of trouble by just watching out well. He’s been “hiking” in the Spine for years, but he’s sensibly still wary of it. Every time he thinks he’s figured out all of its secrets, something happens that breaks that understanding, “like the stone’s appearance.”

Dead Herrings: 12

Eragon walks on briskly, eating up the leagues. When it’s evening, he arrives at a “precipitous ravine.” As it turns out, this is the Anora River, which flows to Palancar Valley. There’s some description of how the river is flowing wildly, because the river is relatively far upstream, and how there’s a low rumble in the air. It’s not bad, honestly, but it’s still quite choppy.

He camps in a thicket close by the ravine, watches the moon rise, and then goes to sleep. End chapter. Okay, I’m kidding, but the part until now is about as long as the shortest chapter in the series, so it wouldn’t entirely be out of range.

Time skip!

We’re told it “gr[ows] colder over the next day and a half.” Except that we only see the next day, October the 9^th. I certainly believe that it would also grow colder in the first half of October the 10^th, but the sentence gives the impression that we’ll also see that day in this chapter instead of the next one.

PPP: 3

Eragon keeps going quickly, seeing little of the wild animals. “A bit past noon”, he hears the “Igualda Falls” “blanketing everything with the dull sound of a thousand splashes.” How… evocative. The trail leads onto a slate outcropping, and from there the river goes down the falls.

Time to see Palancar Valley! From his high vantage point, Eragon can see the entire valley, “exposed like an unrolled map.” I… doubt he’s had the chance to see much maps, and the simile feels a bit weird.

Forgot the Narrator: 3

-The Igualda Falls are more than a half mile high (more than 0,8 kilometres) (which also checks out with how far he can see), and their base is the northernmost point of the valley.

This seems realistic enough to me, as the highest waterfall on Earth has a vertical drop of 807 metres (2648 ft).

-A little bit away from the falls is Carvahall, which is a cluster of brown buildings.

-There’s white smoke coming from the chimneys, “defiant of the wilderness around it.”

-The farms look very tiny from this height.

-The land around them looks tan or sandy, because of the dead grass around it.

-The Anora goes from the falls to the southern end of the valley, and reflects the sunlight.

-Around that spot, it flows along the village of Therinsford and the “lonely mountain Utgard.”

-After that, it turns north and runs to the sea.

A peak at the map confirms all this: the Anora flows into the Bay of Fundor (not at all a rip-off of the Bay of Fundy, folks.)

After pausing to give this little exposition dump, Eragon goes down the trail, “grimacing at the descent.” By the time he’s reached the bottom, it’s already dusk and everything looks grey. Carvahall’s lights shimmer nearby, and the houses cast long shadows. We’re told Carvahall and Therinsford are the only villages in the valley. Carvahall’s “secluded and surrounded by harsh, beautiful land.” Few come to the village “except merchants and trappers.” Okay, trappers I can see, but merchants? Why would they come to a village in the middle of nowhere?

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 4

The choppy description continues. Carvahall is composed of “stout log buildings with low roofs—some thatched, others shingled.” And there’s also a two-story building with loads of ornaments, but we’ll see that later. We’re told again that smoke comes from the chimneys, which causes a “woody smell.” We were told literally two paragraphs ago; there’s no need to repeat this.

PPP: 4

This prose is awful, too. It mainly consists of disconnected sentences, which makes it very choppy and it isn’t easy to read.

I’ll add 12 points, one for each paragraph of description that’s followed this pattern until now.

PPP: 16

Anyway. The buildings have wide porches where people talk and do business. Now and then, a window brightens as someone lights a candle or lamp. Eragon hears men talk loudly “while wives scurried to fetch their husbands, scolding them for being late.” And of course the women are described as “wives”, and they behave very stereotypical.

No-Wave Feminism: 3 (anyone have a better name for this count?)

Back with the story, Eragon picks his way to the “butcher’s shop, a broad, thick-beamed building.” Why does Carvahall need a butcher’s shop? There’s no indication, neither here nor in the later segment in Carvahall, that the villagers can’t slaughter their own animals, and the butcher doesn’t have any magic tricks that might make it worthwhile either. The only reason I can think of is that Paolini thought it was “necessary” in some way, which doesn’t make for a particularly good story.

That’s Not How Any of This Works: 15

Next sentence: “Overhead, the chimney belched black smoke.” Several things I have to say about this:

-Just three paragraphs ago, Eragon described Carvahall as having white smoke rising from its chimneys. Of course, the fire may have been lit in the meantime, and trying to spot a single black plume from atop the Igualda Falls would be very difficult, but it still stands out.

-What is exactly burning that generates black smoke? It must be something that generates a lot of soot, which isn’t ideal, and I think the shopkeeper should have something better on hand.

-Okay, I know why this is actually. The smoke is black because the shopkeeper is evil. He’s bad bad no good, absolutely horrible. Paolini says it is so, so it must be true, right?

This is another issue with the series: Paolini really dislikes certain characters and does their best to make them look as bad as possible. That’s just quite bad storytelling, as Paolini doesn’t want us to form our own opinions about them; we’re supposed to go along with him and accept they’re möbius doubleplus ungood. To highlight this, there’s Petty Ain’t the Word For You. (Credit goes to

highperformanceturtle.)

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 1

Anyway, Eragon opens the door, and we get another laundry list.

PPP: 17

The room is large and is lit by a fireplace. There’s a bare counter on the far side of the room.

“The floor was strewn with loose straw.”

I can see where this is coming from; it’s an easy way to keep the place reasonably clean, but having loose straw on the floor next to an open fire is asking for disaster! This is very dangerous! Here comes a count for rampant idiocy: Land of Incompetents. Let’s see… 25 points from the prologue, 1 point for Eragon running toward the explosion, 5 points for him never thinking about the danger the stone could pose, and 1 point for this.

Land of Incompetents: 32

The shop is very clean, “as if the owner spent his leisure time digging in obscure crannies for minuscule pieces of filth.” Well, if it keeps you busy, do what you want. Behind the counter stands “the butcher Sloan.” He’s a small man and wears a cotton shirt and a long, bloodstained smock. There’s lots of knives on his belt. He’s polishing the counter with a ragged cloth.

Here's his physical description: “He had a sallow, pockmarked face, and his black eyes were suspicious.” Very negative, I must say. He’s immediately shown as suspicious, which is just such a great unbiased introduction.

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 2

And because we’re supposed to hate him, and the introduction mentions his “sallow, pockmarked face”, it’s quite clear that that’s supposed to be something to hate about him, too. That’s very much not okay, of course, and quite gross. Unfortunately, this ties into a larger theme that’s present in all of Paolini’s works to date: the equation of physical beauty with moral worth, and the focus on mental and physical health as an indicator of worth.

I can best describe it as: “You should strive to be as perfect as possible, because perfect people are the best. Physical beauty is a reflection of your moral worth. If you aren’t physically or mentally healthy, you’re broken. If you’re good, you should be pitied, because you’ll never be capable of doing anything. If you’re bad, you should be reviled, because you’re evil and dangerous.” This will occur more often later, especially in Eldest. And this gets the count Perfection is Pure. That’s the message that’s being sent, after all.

Perfection is Pure: 1

Back to the story, it’s time for the confrontation. Sloan twists his mouth as Eragon comes in. He makes a comment about how “the mighty hunter joins the rest of us mortals”, and asks how many Eragon bagged this time. How many what? Sloan should know that Eragon can’t bag deer, not like this, so I guess he’s being sarcastic. Eragon’s “curt reply” is that he hasn’t bagged any.

Eragon now tells us that he’s never liked Sloan, because “the butcher always treat[s] him with disdain, as if he were something unclean.” That seems to line up with the rest of the conversation, but we never find out why this is.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 5

The best reason I can come up with, outside of “he’s there to be mean to Eragon”, is that Sloan hates Eragon for hunting in the Spine. As we’ll soon see, Sloan hates the Spine very much. We’re told Sloan is a widower, and only seems to care for his daughter, Katrina, “on whom he dote[s].” If by “doting” you mean “is overprotective of her and won’t let her do anything”, then yes.

Evidence, Please: 3

Sloan says he’s amazed with “affected astonishment.” He turns around to scrape something off the wall, and then he asks if that’s Eragon’s reason for coming here. No, he’s coming here because he loves you just sooo much, Sloan. What do you think?

Eragon gets uncomfortable and admits that that’s why he’s here. Sloan says: “If that’s the case, let’s see your money.”

I’d like to point out that we never see anyone use money in Carvahall. The only time it’s mentioned is as part of a dowry in Eldest. So Sloan is definitely being an ass here. In fact, I have to wonder why no one’s called him out on his behaviour yet.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 6

Instead of calling Sloan’s bluff, Eragon shuffles his feet a bit and stays silent. Sloan taps his fingers and pushes a bit more, telling Eragon to come on, saying that he either does or doesn’t have money and asking which it is.

Eragon says he doesn’t really have money, but he does— Sloan cuts him off with “What, no money?” Yeah, Sloan, how dare he have no money in a setting where money doesn’t make sense. Sloan goes off on Eragon some more: he’s offended that Eragon expects to buy meat, he asks whether the “other merchants” give away their wares for free, and asks if he should just give Eragon the goods without charge.

Um, Sloan, I don’t think you’re a merchant. If you want to be one, you can just hop on the next time the merchants come along. Then you’ll have people buying your wares for money, too. And why do they keep Sloan around, again??

Abruptly, Sloan changes course and says it’s late. He tells Eragon to come back the next day with money, because he’s closed for the day. Why couldn’t he have led with this? That might have saved a lot of drama.

Eragon glares at Sloan, and says he can’t wait until tomorrow. And why not? I’m not convinced you really need that meat, Eragon.

Evidence, Please: 4

He says it will be worth Sloan’s while, because he’s found something to pay him with. He pulls the “stone” out and puts it on the counter, where it gleams a bit. Good to see you going through with your great plan to use a possibly very dangerous stone as payment, Eragon. This won’t backfire.

Dead Herrings: 13

Land of Incompetents: 33

Shine Bright Like a Diamond: 2

Sloan gets interested, though he has to mutter: “Stole it is more likely”. And who would he have stolen the egg from?? Do the people in Carvahall just have dragon eggs lying around? Why isn’t Sloan more interested in what the egg might be? This insult just makes no sense in context. Also gets a Petty point, because there’s no reason for him to say this.

Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 3

Eragon ignores the comment, and asks whether the egg will be enough. Sloan picks up the “stone”—

Dead Herrings: 14

—gauges its weight, and runs his hands over it. He puts it down with “a calculating look.” He says it’s pretty, and asks Eragon how much it’s worth. Umm, how should Eragon know that? He’s not the one who’s selling goods! But to answer your question, Sloan, it should be worth very much if you sell it to the Empire; that ought to earn you a zillion crowns. How’s that for being a merchant?

Eragon admits he doesn’t know, but says no one would have bothered to shape it if it didn’t have some value. Or maybe the act of shaping it was a pleasure in itself? *wink wink nudge nudge*

Sloan says no duh, “with exaggerated patience”, and asks again how much it’s worth. Since Eragon doesn’t know, he suggests that Eragon either finds a trader who does, or takes his offer of three crowns.

Eragon calls that a “miser’s bargain”, and says it must be worth at least ten times that. He tells us that three crowns won’t buy enough meat to last them for even a week. And how do you know that, Eragon??? Since when have you had to know how much meat a certain amount of money can buy? You don’t need to know! Carvahall doesn’t use money! So here come one extra count: Straight From Left Field. This refers to Paolini’s tendency to drop in random things.

Straight From Left Field: 1

Anyway. Sloan shrugs and says that if Eragon doesn’t like his offer, he should wait until “the traders” arrive. Either way, he’s tired of their conversation. Me too. Now we get an explanation of the traders, in the middle of this conversation. Smooth.

PPP: 18

The traders were a nomadic group of merchants and entertainers who visited Carvahall

every spring and winter.

Okay, the concept makes sense. I just don’t see why they’d visit Carvahall, and why they’d visit in spring and winter. First, why would the merchants visit Carvahall? It’s quite isolated from the rest of the Empire, and I don’t see what could make it worth their while. Therinsford and Carvahall are the only two villages in the valley, and there doesn’t seem to be some kind of special property of either the villages or the people in them, like if they were magicians who were very good at carpentry, for example. But Carvahall is just a tiny little village that isn’t special at all, which is also quite hard to reach at that. Of course, there might be reasons why they’re doing this, like they support many people who oppose Galbatorix’s reign, and they’re comparatively safe in the Palancar Valley, but should have been said. Instead, we get nothing.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 7

Second: Why do they come in the spring and in the winter? Do they make a small circuit during the winter and the spring, and a larger circuit during the summer and the autumn? What are they doing in the meantime? And why visit in winter? Why go into the isolated valley where it can snow heavily during winter?? Coming in the spring and the autumn would be much more reasonable. But no.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 8

Land of Incompetents: 34

Straight From Left Field: 2

They bought whatever excess the villagers and local farmers had managed to grow or make, and sold what they needed to live through another year: seeds, animals, fabric, and supplies like salt and sugar.

I think this is fine, actually. Still, two things: why is there a difference between “villagers” and “local farmers”? Many of the villagers are also farmers, and they’re never treated as different. Second: where do the traders get sugar from??? How is that even a thing in Alagaësia, and how isn’t it massively expensive? And it’s literally never mentioned again, which makes me suspect that it’s a thing that’s randomly dropped in because Paolini couldn’t do worldbuilding right.

Continuity Fluidity: 7

Straight From Left Field: 3

Back with the conversation. Eragon doesn’t want to wait for the traders, because it can be quite a while and his family needs the meat right now. I probably would be able to sympathise more if I didn’t know that they don’t actually need the meat.

Eragon angrily accepts, and Sloan says he’ll get the meat. He asks Eragon where he found the egg. Eragon says it was two nights ago in the Spine, which Sloan doesn’t take kindly to. As we’ll find out soon, he hates the Spine especially much since his wife died there, which explains why he’ll react so violently in a minute. And anyway, shouldn’t Eragon have known that Sloan would react like this to the egg? Even if he doesn’t know it’s a sore spot with Sloan specifically, he should know that the villagers don’t like the Spine or anything from it. This whole thing comes off as a contrivance to make us hate Sloan more, which doesn’t quite work for me.

Land of Incompetents: 35

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 4

Sloan yells at Eragon to get out, pushing “the stone” away.

Dead Herrings: 15

He “stomp[s] furiously” to the end of the counter, and begins cleaning a knife. Which is actually a very good move on his side, as it allows him to step away from the situation and hopefully calm down. Eragon asks why. As if Sloan getting angry at the mention of the Spine and the whole village hating the Spine weren’t clue enough.

Land of Incompetents: 36

He pulls “the stone” closer, “as if to protect it from Sloan’s wrath.”

Dead Herrings: 16 (stop it!)

Seriously, this is overdramatic. Sloan hasn’t given any indication that he would smash the egg, and yet, Eragon acts like it’s some kind of baby he has to protect. (I mean, it kind of is, but he doesn’t know.) It just seems like a ploy to get us to hate Sloan more.

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 5

Sloan answers Eragon’s question by saying he won’t deal with anything from the Spine (“those damned mountains”, as he calls them.) He orders Eragon to take his “sorcerer’s stone” elsewhere. Well, at least someone is suspicious of the egg, even though we’re supposed to see Sloan as unreasonable for it. And, okay, Sloan reacts quite aggressively, but he should be freaked out by the weird magical stone from the sinister mountains. I do wonder why Sloan thinks it would be a “sorcerer’s stone”. We don’t get that much information on sorcerers and we never hear something about magical artifacts they would have. I guess this is another thing that Paolini threw in just because.

Sloan’s hand slips during the scrubbing and he cuts himself, which he doesn’t seem to notice. He keeps scrubbing, and keeps bleeding on the knife. Does Eragon care? Does he think that maybe he should let Sloan calm down before trying to reason with him? Nah, of course not. What’s better than a shouting match, after all? Also, there’s no further mention of Sloan’s bleeding finger, nor of him getting a bandage. So I guess he continues to bleed over everything until everyone leaves the building. This is a good example of one of Paolini’s further bad writing habits: elements and characters often tend to be forgotten during scenes. In this case, Sloan’s bleeding finger is plain forgotten. In other cases, this can manifest as characters just standing around while they logically should get involved. The count for this is Just Gonna Stand There.

Just Gonna Stand There: 1

It doesn’t make Eragon look very good for completely ignoring this, I must say. Back to the conversation, Eragon shouts “You refuse to sell to me!” Yes, Eragon, he doesn’t want to sell to you. Then try to get meat from someone else! There will be more than enough people who’ll want to lend a hand, and this drama isn’t worth it at all!

Sloan growls that yes, he won’t, unless Eragon pays with coins. He grabs the knife and sidles away, while telling Eragon to go, or he’ll make him go. Well, that went out of control quickly, didn’t it?

At this point the door slams open. Eragon turns to look, ready for more trouble, but surprise, it’s Horst the smith, come to the rescue! At first, he’s only described as a “hulking man”, though. Behind him comes Katrina, “a tall girl of sixteen”, with “a determined expression” on her face. Enjoy her determination while it lasts. When we next see her, she’s relegated to Roran’s love interest, and damsel-in-distress. Eragon’s surprised to see her, because usually she stays away from all arguments involving her father. One, that must suck for her, having a father who constantly gets into arguments, and second, why do the villagers let him run a butcher shop if he’s being so difficult? They don’t have to put up with it.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 9 (I mean, it’s obviously a set-up to create an antagonist to Eragon, but have it make sense.)

Sloan glances “warily” at them, “and start[s] to accuse Eragon”, saying “He won’t—”, before he gets cut off. Here’s even more Sloan bashing. First, it’s quite understandable that he looks warily at Horst and Katrina, as they’ve made a somewhat threatening entrance by bursting in and preventing him from going outside if he’d want to. I just get the distinct feeling that it’s supposed to be a sign he’s eeevil. Second, the narration says he’s accusing Eragon, but we don’t see that. No, we’re supposed to assume he does, because he’s eeevil.

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 7

Horst orders Sloan to be quiet “in a rumbling voice”, and cracks his knuckles. So, instead of being calm and reasonable, or doing anything to keep the situation under control (and he should know Sloan can be like this), he just decides to threaten him. And he also puts Katrina and Eragon in a situation that can go south quite quickly. (Remember, Sloan is holding a knife now.) He could easily promise Eragon to get meat for him, and try to talk it over with Sloan. But we get this. Because Paolini needed to have a humiliation scene.

Look Away: 6 (there’s no word on how irresponsible this is)

First, there’s a description of Horst, though! He’s Carvahall’s smith (and also one of the few Carvahallians with a personality), as we can apparently see from his “thick neck and scarred leather apron.” He’s got “powerful arms” that are bare to the elbow, and through the top of his shirt his “hairy muscular chest” is visible. He’s got a black beard that’s “carelessly trimmed”, and which “roil[s] and knot[s] like his jaw muscles.” In other words, he looks like a generic smith or “strong man”, with much emphasis on STRONG and MAN.

Horst’s first line is this: “Sloan, what have you done now?” Love that Horst immediately assumes Sloan is at fault, on the basis of nothing at all. And if Sloan causes trouble so often that this is a natural conclusion, why hasn’t anyone bothered to give him a talking-to?? [Edit: as IgnoreSandra pointed out, this might be because Sloan could start a blood feud. At leas they've got some sense.]


Land of Incompetents: 37

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 8

Sloan first says “nothing”, and gives Eragon a “murderous gaze”. Oooh, scary. Now, according to Sloan, Eragon (“this… boy”, as he calls him) came in and started badgering him. He asked Eragon to leave, but he wouldn’t budge. He even threatened him and Eragon still ignored him! Okay, as much as this is untrue, Sloan’s still got a point: Eragon could have left earlier when he saw Sloan get upset. But again, Sloan isn’t allowed to be right. Case in point: “Sloan seemed to shrink as he looked at Horst.” Pfft. Who’s supposed to be the bully, again?

Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 10

Horst asks whether this is true, and I’d think he’s best ask this to Katrina, who’s not one of the two parties. [Edit: Or maybe get someone from outside to mediate, as IgnoreSandra pointed out.] Instead, Eragon says “no!”. According to him, he offered “this stone” as payment for meat, and Sloan accepted. But when he told Sloan he’d found it in the Spine, Sloan refused to even touch it. Which is a true enough account of what happened.

Dead Herrings: 17

The next line, however, is quite infuriating: “What difference does it make where it came from?”

Okay, it shouldn’t make any difference where it came from, but Eragon should know that a magical stone from the Spine would make quite a splash. He even thought of that in the previous chapter! But now, he seems to have completely forgotten about all the tales of ill fortune that are told, and his own doubts about the stone, too. The only reason for that is to make Sloan look unreasonable. And even if he’d manage to bring up the legends about the Spine as a reason not to want the egg, Horst, Eragon and Katrina could still be like “Legends? What legends? Are you sure you aren’t making things up, Sloan?” I hate this so much.

Continuity Fluidity: 8

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 11

I’ll pull out the spork for the next couple of paragraphs.

Horst looked at the stone curiously, then returned his attention to the butcher.

Dead Herrings: 18

What’s even the point of these??

“Why won’t you trade with him, Sloan?

Because the egg might be very dangerous?? It might be cursed, for all you know! It’s a matter of caution and of safety to not want to keep the egg around, Horst! You should know this! But again, Sloan is not allowed to be right, so Horst is not allowed to know that.

Continuity Fluidity: 9

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 12

By the same token, he isn’t allowed to note how weirdly smooth the egg is.

I’ve no love for the Spine myself, but if it’s a question of the stone’s worth, I’ll back it with my own money.”

IT ISN’T A MATTER OF THE STONE’S FUCKING WORTH, HORST! You should know that!! I hate this scene so much. It’s supposed to be a takedown of Sloan the bully, but instead the “good guys” are doing the bullying.

And of course there’s a mention that Horst doesn’t like the Spine either, because he has to be the better man.

Other than that, Horst’s proposal is quite reasonable, actually. Still:

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 13

~~~

The question hung in the air for a moment. Then Sloan licked his lips and said, “This is my own store. I can do whatever I want.”

And Sloan again isn’t allowed a proper retort. I mean, he’s right. It’s his store, and he can do what he wants. But still, no one has to buy from his shop, and he can’t make them either, so if he wants to keep his shop, he’ll need to be cooperative. The thing is, he could have used any number of more persuasive arguments, but instead, we’re stuck with this.

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 14

~~~

Katrina stepped out from behind Horst and tossed back her auburn hair like a spray of

molten copper. “Father, Eragon is willing to pay. Give him the meat, and then we can

have supper.”

Here’s Katrina’s moment of awesomeness! You rule, Katrina! But seriously, she’s better at this than Horst. She doesn’t antagonise him; instead, she asks him to solve the situation and get down to dinner, which helps get the focus off the confrontation between him and Horst. Of course, it also helps that she doesn’t want this to take place, and doesn’t treat it like a show of power, like Horst does. If only we’d see this attitude more often in this series…

~~~

Sloan’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Go back to the house; this is none of your business.

. . . I said go!” Katrina’s face hardened, then she marched out of the room with a stiff

back.

So much for doting on Katrina. If anything, he’s more of an overprotective parent, who refuses to let her do anything without his permission. Not that this is ever really addressed. It does come up when Katrina wants to marry Roran, but it’s never shown from Katrina’s perspective, and it just feels like a cheap way to demonise Sloan even further. I’ll talk about this more in Eldest, though. For now:

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 15 (Sloan really needs to be frontloaded with hateful characteristics, doesn’t he?)

Back to the story. Eragon “watch[es] with disapproval but dare[s] not interfere.” Not sure why. He’s got Horst to back him. Of course, Horst doesn’t do anything either, even though he’s the adult, and if he’s gonna take on Sloan, he might as well reprimand him for this. But he doesn’t. Great.

We’re not done with this scene, either. Horst tugs at his beard a bit, then says “reproachfully” that Sloan can deal with him. Will you drop it already??? He asks Eragon what he was going to get. Eragon says as much as he could get. Horst then pulls out a purse and counts out some coins. (Why does he have those?)

Then this happens: ““Give me your best roasts and steaks. Make sure that it’s enough to fill Eragon’s pack.” The butcher hesitated, his gaze darting between Horst and Eragon. “Not selling to me would be a very bad idea,” stated Horst.”

I’ve got to ask, how does Sloan get all this meat? Do the villagers just bring it to him for some reason? Why do they still interact with him?

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 10

But just look at this. Horst orders Sloan to get Eragon food, while Sloan is acting as shopkeeper. That takes some gall on Horst’s part. I mean, Sloan would be completely within his rights to tell Horst to fuck off and to say he won’t be ordered around by his costumers, and I’d almost hope he’d do so.

And look at that threat: “Not selling to me would be a very bad idea”. And what are you gonna do, Horst? Will you evict him from the village? Will you physically harm him? What about Katrina? You don’t care about her, do you? Look at how mature Horst is, threatening someone who’s just had some kind of panic attack, who’s doing something he’s perfectly allowed to do, and bullying him into something that’s completely unnecessary. What a hero.

Look Away: 7

I also quite sure, given how much the narration hates on Sloan, that Paolini meant this scene as a good thing, where we should side with Eragon and Horst and accept their actions uncritically. So here goes the sister count: This Is Fine. This goes for awful stuff that the books treat as good things.

This Is Fine: 1

Sloan caves, and goes into the back room, “glowering venomously” (and still bleeding). There comes a “frenzy of chopping, wrapping and low cursing.” I do wonder where the chopping comes from. Does Sloan still need to chop meat, which wouldn’t be great for a butcher, or does he take out his frustration on the chopping block instead of on Eragon or Horst? Anyway, “several uncomfortable minutes” later (cry me a river), he returns with an armful of wrapped meat. Which should be covered in blood splatters. He keeps his face expressionless as he takes Horst’s money, and then goes to clean a knife, pretending they aren’t there. Maybe the best choice, but I, for one, would have loved to see Sloan go off on them.

Horst and Eragon completely ignore Sloan. Horst scoops up the meat and goes outside. Eragon hurries after him, carrying his pack and “the stone.”

Dead Herrings: 19

Eragon thinks the night air is refreshing after the “stuffy shop.” He thanks Horst, and says “Uncle Garrow” will be pleased. No he won’t, and you should know that.

Continuity Fluidity: 10

Horst laughs quietly, and says Eragon shouldn’t thank him. According to Horst: “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time. Sloan’s a vicious troublemaker; it does him good to be humbled.” Well, what a treat that you got to bully him then, Horst. But seriously, what evidence do we have that Sloan’s a “vicious troublemaker” other than “Horst said so”? And, even if he were, that doesn’t make it right to bully him! “It does him good to be humbled”, fuck off. It will only make him (rightly so) more resentful of you, because it shows him you don’t respect him. If anything, Horst, you’re the one who should get a stern talking-to, because you also didn’t care about Eragon or Katrina here. You dragged Eragon into an argument, which he didn’t ask for, and you didn’t make things any easier for Katrina either. This was just a very selfish move on your part, and I really don’t like that we’re supposed to see it as something positive.

Evidence, Please: 5

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 16

Anyway. Horst explains that Katrina heard what was happening and ran to fetch him. I guess he was ~conveniently~ around, then, because his house stands quite isolated from the rest of Carvahall. Horst says it’s a good thing he came, cause the two of them were almost at blows. At stabs, rather, but whatever. Horst says that, unfortunately, he doubts that Sloan will help Eragon or his family next time they go to the butcher’s shop, even if they do have coins. Oh, the tragedy.

Eragon asks why Sloan “explode[ed] like that.” Maybe because he hates the Spine??? Gah, we really can’t have Eragon connect the dots, because else Sloan might look sympathetic, right?

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 17

He says they’ve never been friendly (for some reason), but he’s always taken their money (which he doesn’t need). He’s also never seen Sloan treat Katrina that way. Well, Eragon, he might be treating her like that quite often, and you just don’t see it. Given how overprotective he is in Eldest, I have the suspicion he might be doing this already.

Horst shrugs, and tells Eragon to ask Garrow, because he knows more about it. Garrow’s lived there his entire life, after all. Eragon now stuffs the meat into his pack. He says he’s got one more reason to hurry home, namely to solve the mystery of why Sloan got so angry. Urrgh. He offers Horst “the stone” and says it’s rightfully his. Which is nicely considerate of him, but there’s no way Horst will end up with the stone, of course.

Dead Herrings: 20 (all from “the stone”)

Horst chuckles, and he says Eragon can keep his “strange rock”. As for payment, “Albriech” wants to go to Feinster next spring. He wants to become a master smith, and Horst’s gonna need an assistant. He says Eragon can come and work off the debt on his spare days. That’s certainly a handsome offer.

I do have to ask why Albriech (one of Horst’s sons), has to go all the way to Feinster. That’s one of the southern cities, which is, going by the map, some 580 miles (933,42 kilometers) away in straight-line distance. Coming there would also involve a long journey oversea, probably. So I do have to wonder what kind of job opportunity would be there that wouldn’t be anywhere closer. Not that we’ll ever know, or that Albriech will get the chance to do this.

Eragon bows a little bit, delighted as he is. My, he’s actually delighted and thankful! He explains that Horst has two sons, Albriech and Baldor, and they both work in his forge. Taking one’s place is a generous offer. He thanks Horst again, and says he looks forward to working with him. Eragon’s glad that he can pay Horst, because “his uncle would never accept charity.” Your uncle has also kept you apart for literal years, so I’m inclined to disregard him. Eragon now remembers something Roran’s told him before he went hunting. He says that Roran wanted him to give Katrina a message, but since Eragon can’t deliver it, he asks if Horst can get it to her. Horst says of course.

So Eragon relays it: Roran wants Katrina to know he’ll come into town when the merchants arrive, and he’ll see her then. Horst asks if that’s all. Eragon gets embarrassed, and says Roran also wants Katrina to know she’s the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen and he thinks of nothing else. Ro-mance ro-mance ro-mance! Pity their relationship ends up being a garbage fire; it might have been something.

Horst gives a big grin, and winks at Eragon. He says Roran’s “getting serious”. Eragon says yep, and smiles back. He asks Horst to think Katrina for him, because it was nice of her to stand up to Sloan for him. He hopes she isn’t punished for it. Wow, he actually shows concern for others! The next line ruins it a bit, however: “Roran would be furious if I got her into trouble.” This looks like Eragon only cares about Katrina as far as it concerns Roran, which isn’t… great.

Horst says not to worry about it. Sloan doesn’t know Katrina called him, so he doubts Sloan will be too hard on her. And that’s it qua worry. Good to see Horst cares so much about her. Horst asks if Eragon wants to have dinner with “us”, us being Horst, Albriech, Baldor, and Elain, Horst’s wife (and she’s often reduced to just that, too). Eragon declines, because Garrow’s expecting him. He ties his pack shut, puts it on his back, and gets on the road. He raises a hand to say goodbye to Horst. Bye, Horst, see you in some chapters.

On the road now. The meat slows Eragon down, but he’s eager to be home, so the going is easy. Carvahall ends “abruptly”, and he leaves its lights behind. The “pearlescent moon” is visible over the mountains, and it bathes the land in a ghostly reflection of daylight. Everything looks bleached and flat. Gee, just like the writing in this book.

Cut the end of his “journey”, as he turns off the road, which continues southward. I puzzled over the setting for a bit here, but it works out if you assume they’re south of the Anora River. The road isn’t wedged against the mountains, so it can go a bit southward in a valley that runs southwest-northeast. Well, from this point a “simple path” leads straight through waist-high grass and up a knoll, which is almost hidden by elm trees. Eragon crests the hill and sees a “gentle light” shining from the house.

I’ve gotta say, I’ve always pictured the farm very differently. I’d completely forgotten it lay on a hill, for one. I thought it lay quite close to the road, with trees only behind it. Goes to show how memorable those descriptions are.

Now come three paragraphs of blocky description.

PPP: 21

The house has a shingled roof and a brick chimney. Eaves hang over the “whitewashed walls”, and shadow the ground below. Seems quite modern to me, especially the whitewash, but then again, it’s fantasy. It doesn’t have to accord to a single time period, as long as it’s consistent. The house has an “enclosed porch”, and one side of it is filled with split wood that’s ready for the fire. The other side is cluttered with a “jumble of farm tools”. Seems like something you’d want to organise, and should have organised already after ten years of living there, but what do I know.

Land of Incompetents: 38

Here comes the next paragraph:

The house had been abandoned for half a century when they moved in after Garrow’s wife, Marian, died. It was ten miles from Carvahall, farther than anyone else’s. People considered the distance dangerous because the family could not rely on help from the village in times of trouble, but Eragon’s uncle would not listen.

And we won’t get much more information about Marian, like ever. No focus on what she was like, or what she wanted to do, or anything. And this is also a pattern with this series: quite often we have male characters who get quite some screen time, who will have a Dead Wife who barely gets any characterisation or existence. So there we go.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 11 (quite someone to leave out)

No-Wave Feminism: 13 (a whole character gets 10 points)

I do have to wonder about the house. Why had it been abandoned for fifty years before Garrow moved in? I’d expect it to be in quite poor state after such a time, though I guess Garrow could have patched it up… And who built this house originally? Someone from Carvahall? Why bother to build a house ten miles away? Who lived in here fifty years ago, and why did they leave? It just feels too convenient, and it’s not necessary either. I mean, something like “The inhabitants of this farm died a few months ago, and Garrow saw a great opportunity to leave Carvahall” would work just as fine, and be less weird. As is, it sounds like a great place for a ghost story, or *puts on conspiracy hat* the perfect place for a dragon to keep his charge nicely isolated from others.

The Story Behind the Story: 2

Something else: we’ll learn later that Eragon has only “faint memories” of Marian, which implies he was relatively young, say five. As Roran is two years older than Eragon, he would have been seven, then. So they’ve lived ten miles from Carvahall for most of their lives now, which means that contact with the rest of Carvahall is relatively difficult, and I’m not really glad about them being so isolated. To be fair, we’ll see later that Eragon’s been in Carvahall often enough, and he can walk the ten miles well enough, so maybe that’s not that big of a problem. [Edit: As IgnoreSandra pointed out, it's still quite a walk, even though the narration seems to treat it like a much shorter distance. It's weird how much Eragon is socialised with the people of Carvahall. Maybe he spends a lot of time there to escape his home situation?

Missing Puzzle Pieces: +1]

What certainly is a problem, as said in the paragraph, is that almost no one can be there in time in case of emergency. Some examples:

-If Roran would break a leg, Eragon and Garrow would need to transport him over ten miles to Carvahall. In the village, they’d have to travel a far shorter distance, and there would be people who could help.

-If any of them feels ill or something, they can’t “just” go to see Gertrude, the village healer, which means they’re much more likely to keep messing around with illnesses that could have been prevented than in the village, or that they might completely miss health-related things because there’s no one but them to judge.

-How about if there were a fire? The farm might burn to the ground before the people in the village caught wind of it.

And if it was just Garrow who lived like this, then, fine, it would be his own responsibility. It would still be quite ill-advised, but I wouldn’t have a problem with it, per se. In this case, though, Garrow has also put Eragon and Roran in a dangerous situation for most of their childhood, which is very not okay. It’s quite the miracle they came out as unscathed as they are.

What bothers me even more about this is that it never comes up in either Eragon’s or Roran’s perspective. There’s never any reflection on their childhood; they never think “gee, maybe it was quite irresponsible of Garrow to keep us isolated like that”. If there were, I would be able to take it much better. It would indicate that Paolini had given it some thought beyond its mention here. As is, it feels like something much too serious to just throw in like that. I mean, I’m quite sure this counts as child abuse, and yet it’s never given any consideration.

Look Away: 17 (this is quite serious)

And it also makes me hate Garrow before I’ve even met him. Especially this part: “People

considered the distance dangerous because the family could not rely on help from the village in times of trouble, but Eragon’s uncle would not listen.”

So they already told him of the dangers, but he still ignored them and went ahead. What a great parent.

Anyway. On to more description. A hundred feet (30 metres) from the house is a “dull-colored barn”, where two horses, “Birka and Brugh”, live, along with chickens and a cow. Will we ever get to see any of those animals? Nope. They’ll get referenced like twice, and then they’ll disappear forever. In fact, there’s a count for this phenomenon: Drop It Like It’s Hot. (They’ll taper off eventually, I promise)

Drop It Like It’s Hot: 1

Sometimes, there’s also a pig, but they’ve been unable to afford one this year. A wagon is wedged between the stalls. On the edge of their fields, a thick line of trees stands along the Anora.

Now Eragon’s done describing, he’s reached the porch of the house. He sees a light move behind a window. He calls out to “Uncle” (that’s how he and Roran call Garrow), saying it’s him and asking Garrow to let him in. Garrow first slides back a shutter, and then opens the door.

Now we get to see Garrow! He stands with his hand on the door. “His worn clothes hung on him like rags on a stick frame. A lean, hungry face with intense eyes gazed out from under graying hair. He looked like a man who had been partly mummified before it was discovered that he was still alive.”

Well, that’s a… flattering description. Are we sure he’s doing alright? This sounds like he’s starving or has some kind of disease. The part about mummification also absolutely does not belong in something supposedly written from Eragon’s perspective.

Forgot the Narrator: 4

That also means this, thankfully, isn’t Eragon’s opinion on Garrow. Eragon looks questioningly at Garrow, who says Roran’s sleeping. We’ll see him next chapter. Now comes another choppy paragraph of description.

PPP: 22

The light comes from a lantern that stands on a wood table so old “that the grain [stands] up in tiny ridges like a giant fingerprint.” Nice simile. Near a “woodstove” lots of cooking utensils are tacked on the wall with homemade nails. I guess Garrow did that. A second door leads to the rest of the house. The floor’s made of boards that have been smoothed “by years of tramping feet.”

Eragon pulls off his pack and takes out the meat. Garrow isn’t happy with this: ““What’s this? Did you buy meat? Where did you get the money?” asked his uncle harshly as he saw the wrapped packages.”

Wow, calm down, Garrow. So what if he buys meat? As we’ll find out later, you’ve got loads of money, so expending a few crowns on meat shouldn’t be too much trouble for you. Furthermore, Eragon believes his family needs this to survive the winter. If you didn’t want him to buy meat, you should have told him you don’t need it! And maybe you shouldn’t immediately argue in bad faith, Garrow. Maybe you shouldn’t immediately be so harsh on Eragon because he values being alive and healthy over your arbitrary decision to live alone! I mean, tell me you’re abusive without telling me you’re abusive.

Eragon takes a breath before answering, which tells me he knows very well he’s going to get yelled at by Garrow and is trying to prepare himself. Lovely. He says that no, Horst bought it for them. Does Garrow let him explain what happened? Nope, of course not. I hate him. Let’s look at his response.

“You let him pay for it? I told you before, I won’t beg for our food.

It isn’t begging, Garrow! It’s simply asking other people for help! And that isn’t “weak”, either! It’s just a normal part of human experience, and there’s nothing “weird” or “wrong” about it! And if you won’t “beg” for your food, don’t impose those rules on others, especially not on those within your care! If you’re gonna die because you want to be ~independent~, then don’t burden other people with it. I hate how utterly selfish Garrow is with this, and I hate how it’s never brought up.

If we can’t feed ourselves, we might as well move into town.

Oh nooo, you’ll move into a place where people will notice if you’re lying wounded in your house, and where there’s actually a healer at a convenient distance. You’ll move to a place where you and your kids will be able to actually have easy contact with other people. I absolutely fail to see what will be bad about this. The only thing that will be hurt is maybe Garrow’s pride, but that’s an easy price to take.

Also this line is like Abuse Tactic #1867. “If we can’t even X, we might as well do Y.”, in which Y is something undesirable, X is often overblown, and it doesn’t follow at all that X will lead to Y. Especially if it’s making the person it’s said to feel guilty for contributing to Y.

Before you can turn around twice, they’ll be sending us used clothes and asking if we’ll be able to get through the winter.”

So what?! Okay, you may not like it, but you’ve got Eragon and Roran to consider, too! They’re living in your house, after all! God, you’re selfish! And why wouldn’t they ask if you’d be able to get through the winter? You’re in a far from ideal position for that, after all. They’d just care for you, and not want you to die. Is that so absolutely horrible? Apparently so.

Garrow’s face paled with anger.

Oh, fuck off, Garrow. You’re angry that the villagers care for you? You’re angry that Eragon did something which he thought was necessary for survival? Well, Garrow, maybe you aren’t suited to parenthood at all. Maybe you should look beyond yourself for one second and actually bother to look at the needs of your kids, Garrow!

Eragon snaps back that he didn’t “accept charity”. He explains Horst agreed to let him work off the debt “this spring.” Um, Horst said you could work it off next spring, IIRC. Still, I don’t mind; Eragon’s in a quite emotionally demanding situation at the moment. He explains further that Horst needs someone to help him because Albriech’s going away. And I do feel bad for Eragon here.

Garrow’s not done yet, of course:

“And where will you get the time to work for him? Are you going to ignore all the things

that need to be done here?” asked Garrow, forcing his voice down.

The one positive thing I can say about this is that he keeps his voice down, at least. I hate how he immediately argues in bad faith: he only shows the problems and assumes that Eragon will ignore his farm jobs. If you assume without any evidence that Eragon will be slacking off on his farm jobs when he can, that says more about you than about Eragon.

Eragon now hangs his bow and quiver on hooks next to the front door. He says “irritably” that he doesn’t know how he’ll do it. I don’t blame him; he probably just wants Garrow off his back, and he’s got months to figure it out. He says that, besides, he’s found something that could be worth some money. (Like they need it.) He puts “the stone” on the table.

Dead Herrings: 21

Garrow bows over it, and gets all greedy: the look on his face becomes ravenous, and his fingers twitch. Great to see he gets all excited over this, but couldn’t even be assed to say “hi” to his cousin, or not be abusive to him. He asks if Eragon found it in the Spine. And with that the things they just said are completely forgotten. And because nothing gets ever made of this:

Look Away: 18

Nearly done. Eragon says yes, and explains (in prose, thankfully) what’s happened. Then he says this: “And to make matters worse, I lost my best arrow.”

What? Why would he have a “best arrow”? I don’t think any of his arrows would last long enough for Eragon to look at their performance, and pick one of them as the best. And what makes this arrow “the best”, then? Does it have some kind of magical properties? I really don’t know.

Straight From Left Field: 4

He says he’ll have to make more before long. (I guess he does? It never comes up.) They then stare at “the stone” in the “near darkness.” Why is there near darkness? There’s a lantern on the table! There’s been no mention of anyone putting it away or closing it, so what the fuck?!

Continuity Fluidity: 11

Dead Herrings: 22

Garrow asks how the weather was, while he lifts “the stone”.

Dead Herrings: 23 (this is almost unreal)

He grabs the stone very tight, as if he’s afraid it’ll disappear suddenly. Which tells me he really really wants to sell it, which he’ll also try next chapter. It’s also quite telling how focussed he is on getting money, even though he doesn’t need it and barely wants to expend any of it. Who’s the miser here?

Eragon says it was cold. It didn’t snow, but it did freeze each night. Garrow gets worried, and says that tomorrow he’ll have to help Roran finish harvesting the barley. If they’ll also manage to get the squash in, the frost won’t bother them. He passes “the stone” back to Eragon.

Dead Herrings: 24

He tells Eragon to keep it. When the traders come, they’ll find out what it’s worth. He says selling is probably the best thing to do, because “[t]he less we’re involved with magic, the better…” Okay, that’s fair enough. This egg could cause you a world of sorrow (and it will), and it’s best not to hang on to it. But the solution, though! “This egg is magical and could be very dangerous, SO we will try to load it off on other people, without caring about what might happen to them. At least we won’t have problems.” You couldn’t even think of laying the egg in the woods or somewhere? Or destroying it? No, because you want money, which you don’t even need. You fail, Garrow!

Look Away: 19

Imagine if you’re a member of the traders and you get mind-controlled by Umaroth into going back to Palancar Valley and delivering the egg to Eragon. That’s the kind of curse the egg could bring. Garrow doesn’t even think about it.

Garrow asks why Horst paid for the meat (he got over that awfully quick, didn’t he?), and Eragon explains his argument with Sloan. He just doesn’t understand what made Sloan so angry. And okay, I can understand that Eragon doesn’t understand it. I’d just wish he had some empathy for Sloan.

Here’s Garrow’s explanation:

Garrow shrugged. “Sloan’s wife, Ismira, went over the Igualda Falls a year before you were brought here.”

First: of course his wife died a very long time ago, and of course we won’t ever get any backstory on her.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 12

No-Wave Feminism: 23

“A year before you were brought here” isn’t terribly clear. I assume it means a year before you were brought to Carvahall in the first place, which would be the year 2483.

Okay, according to Garrow Ismira “went over the falls” and presumably fell to her death. And that’s all the detail that we get. We have no idea why she fell over or what the she was even doing up there. My theory is that she got murdered. I’ve got three reasons for that: 1) there’s no reason for her to be up there, considering the villagers hate the Spine, and it seems unlikely that would’ve changed much in 16 years, 2) even if she were up there, she probably would have been wary anyway, and she especially wouldn’t have gone near the huge waterfall, and 3) that might explain why the whole matter seems so hush-hush. I don’t have any suspects for it, though. I’ve seen suggestions that it could be Sloan, but I can’t think of any motive for him, and he seems to genuinely hate the Spine… Maybe it could have been one of the trappers that we learn about in Eldest, who come hunting in the region? Might be something to explore.

He hasn’t been near the Spine since, nor had anything to do with it.

Fair enough.

But that’s no reason to refuse payment. I think he wanted to give you trouble.”

Well, Garrow, I think wanting to avoid being reminded of a traumatic event is a very good reason to refuse payment!! And anyway, it’s his shop! He’s perfectly within his rights to refuse payment, especially because of such a reason! It’s just tactful not to want to subject him to that. Not that I blame Eragon for not knowing that, because that’s something Garrow should have said earlier.

And that second sentence. “I think he wanted to give you trouble.” How fucking sympathetic! I really don’t like Garrow anymore. And it’s this:

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 18

Does Eragon in any way react to this? Nope. Which is another feature of Paolini’s writing: often, after a character says something, their conversational partner doesn’t react, either because there’s a timeskip, or because they carry on with something completely different. And this goes under:

Reaction, Please: 6

Eragon just sways for a bit and says it’s good to be back. Garrow’s eyes “soften[]”, and he nods. How endearing. Eragon stumbles to his room, pushes “the stone” under his bed, and falls on the mattress. They’ve got quite a luxurious house, if they’ve got separate rooms and whole beds. Something to keep in mind.

Dead Herrings: 25

He thinks “home”, and for the first time since before he’s gone hunting, he relaxes completely as sleep overtakes him. End chapter.

And as Eragon falls asleep at the end of the chapter, that means:

Protagonist Unconsciousness: 2

This chapter was quite empty. Eragon got home, we were introduced to Carvahall, and some of the people in it, and we saw Garrow, but that was it. A large part of the chapter was devoted to Eragon and Sloan arguing, with an uncomfortable bullying scene, and later on, there’s even more abuse from Garrow. The chapter has contributed approximately nothing to the larger plot, or to the book in general.

Next chapter will be in two parts, as we’ll finally get to hear things from outside of the Palancar Valley. See you then! The counts stand at (I’ve included future counts, too, so this is a complete list):

Content:

A Better Commando Name: 1

Bullyay: 0
-----Murdered by the Convocation: 0

      -----Perfection is Pure: 1

CARS (Clumsy Attempt at Racism Subplot): 0

Hell-Bound Partners: 0

Just Drink the Poison: 0

Land of Incompetents: 38 + 1

Look Away: 19

No-Wave Feminism: 23

Petty Ain’t the Word For You: 18

RVMP (Racism Very Much Present): 12

Some Parent You Are: 0

Some Teacher You Are: 0

Special for Sure: 10

Straight From Left Field: 4

That’s Not How Any of This Works: 15

The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 0

The Story Behind the Story: 2

This Is Fine: 1

Use 'Em As You Will:  1

What Dragons?: 0

Writing/Style:

Dead Herrings: 25 (25 already!)

Drop It Like It’s Hot: 1

Evidence, Please: 5

Forgot the Narrator: 4

Just Gonna Stand There: 1

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 12 + 1

PPP: 22

-----Continuity Fluidity: 11

Reaction, Please: 6

Shine Bright Like A Diamond: 2

Thanks for Explaining: 1

Cliffhanger Chop: 0

Mid-Scene Break: 0

Other Ending: 1

Protagonist Unconsciousness: 2

Comments

[kudzumac]

Looking back, I never realized how fucked up the bit with Sloan was, and how Garrow was a pretty nasty asshole.

Then again, I was like, a young teen, I think- I can't remember when Eragon originally came out, but I do know it was long before I graduated high school.

[pangolin20]

You read it too? I didn't know that!

And yeah, only while doing this chapter did I really see how awful the bit with Sloan is.

Then again, I was like, a young teen, I think- I can't remember when Eragon originally came out, but I do know it was long before I graduated high school.

Hey, you're on I Read What?! for a reason, after all. :)

[kalinara]

I liked Katrina. It sounds like she'll have a bigger role in later books? I might enjoy that.

[pangolin20]

Well, sadly she'll mostly get relegated to Roran's love interest, and housewife. There will be more awesome characters later on who don't get pushed to the side, though.

And if I might ask, what is your impression of this book until now?

[kalinara]

It's a bit early, but so far I definitely think the age of the author is very apparent. I think there's some decent ideas here, but the execution needs a lot of work.

It's a shame, really. I think they were so happy to market the series based on Paolini's youth, but if he'd had a few more years to work on it, with a stronger hand for an editor, this actually could be a decent to good novel.

[pangolin20]

Oh yeah, certainly. Unfortunately it's only downhill from this book. His more recent work isn't much better, either.

Congrats on finishing the Golden Queen!