Eragon, The Movie

Well, the reviewer from the Sun Herald wasn't very impressed:

ERAGON (M) First-rate dragon special effects don’t redeem lumpy plotting in this earnest version of the best-selling fantasy. For teens only. Rated 6/10

Do you think adding "for teens only" after such a bad review is an insult?

In spite of the critics, and they include many disappointed fans of the book, the movie seems to have done okay at the box office, both in Australia (four weeks in top ten) and USA (three weeks in top ten).

• What did you think of the movie?
  
• Could you judge it separately from the book?
  
• Do you have a reply for the Sun Herald reviewer?
  

If you are a mad fan of Christopher Paolini's books then take a look at Shur'tugal, a very impressive fan site created and maintained by a bunch of teenagers located all around America and in a few other countries as well. They do have a couple of older members on the crew (an artist for instance) but they have really done some great work through their love of Eragon and Eldest. The webmaster, like Christopher Paolini, is a home schooler.

We could also do with a book review or two of Eragon and Eldest. Any volunteers? What about you, PP, currently hogging my copy of Eldest?

Swallow the Air

by Tara June Winch

Tara June Winch is a talented young indigenous writer who won the David Unaipon Award with this story of a young girl on a journey of self discovery. May gradually works out where she really needs to go, only to discover different, harder truths than she had imagined. The triumph of this story is that May does make the journey and eventually comes home.

Not a children’s story, nor suited to the fainthearted reader for its sometimes confronting content, this book is a poetic piece which demands something of the reader and displays the talent of this promising author.

Find out more about Swallow the Air and Tara June Winch.