Eldest Book Report

By Gabriel Hilleson

 

 

                Eldest is the second book in the inheritance series.  It begins with Eragon walking on the former battle field in Farthen Dur.  Then he is contacted by Jormunder (Ajihad’s second-in-command) telling him that Ajihad was returning from hunting Urguls in the tunnels bellow Farthen Dur.  When they saw them returning from the hunt they are dismayed to see that they are attacked from the rear by some of the very Urguls they had been pursuing.  Hurrying down to their aid, Eragon is dismayed to see that he is too late.  Later he met with a council to decide on Ajihad’s successor.  When they unanimously decide on Nasuada (Ajihad’s daughter) Eragon swears fealty to Nasuada so as not to end up being a pawn of the council.  Later after Ajihad’s funeral Eragon, Arya, and Orik travel to Du Weldenvarden to complete Eragon’s training.  Once there Eragon is shocked to find that Arya is the daughter of Queen Islandzadi.  Later he is lead to some cliffs and finds to his delight that his new instructor is a rider that escaped the fall.  They begin the very next day.  They first split up Saphira trains with Glaeder (the dragon’s name) and Eragon is to train with Oromis. Next they begin with a routine of poses that are meant to enhance flexibility and balance.  After that they train with the sword.  After a couple of days training Oromis decides that Eragon should sword fight with another student, but since there isn’t any other student he is sent to fight an Elf.  When he fights this Elf he finds that it is more than a mach for him.  And then he strains himself and ends up sprawling on the ground. In class he starts training with magic.  After a couple of weeks of this training comes an Elven celebration.  During this celebration his features are changed and his back is healed in the most remarkable way.  When he goes to spar with his Elf opponent he finds that not only is his appearance altered and his back healed but that his muscles are enhanced.  He is then able to defeat the Elf.  Not long after the celebration Eragon scrys Nasuada to see that all is well and finds that a battle is coming.  Immediately after promising Oromis that he would return to finish his training, he prepares to leave.  The next day after receiving gifts from the Queen and Oromis he and Orik left for Surda.  Upon reaching Surda they find that Nasuada, King Orin, and the combined armies had already started out to the chosen field of battle.  Once they caught up with armies Eragon and Orik prepared for battle.  During the battle Eragon is horrified to find that Galbatorix got one of his dragons to hatch furthermore the rider is Murtag who was lost in the attack on Ajihad.  Finally Eragon is stunned to witness his cousin Roran jump out of a boat that had recently sailed up a nearby river with renforcements.  How did Roran come to be in Surda?  Will Eragon defeat Murtag?  This book is not only telling Eragon’s tale but also Roran’s and even some of Nasuada’s.  This book does have more reference to religion and world view.  For example on his way to Du Weldenvarden Eragon stops at a Dwarfish city were he finds out more about the Dwarfish gods and religion.  And in Du Weldenvarden Eragon asks about the Elves religion and finds that they do not worship anything.  From this display of the different religions and world views the question can be raised, is the author exploring different religions.  On the whole the book Eldest is a really good book.

Eragon Book Report

    By Gabriel 

One of the newest series I have read is the Inheritance Series.  The series is still in progress; its author Christopher Paolini began his first book Eragon when he was still a young teenager.  The book Eragon takes place in a medieval setting in a land called Aligasia were once Dragon Riders kept the peace but now an evil Emperor holds sway over his Kingdom.  The main character is a fifteen year old boy named Eragon (whom the first book was named after).  Eragon’s mother abandoned him to live with his uncle and disapered, if that wasn’t strange enough when Eragon goes on a hunting trip he hears a boom and sees a flash and suddenly this large blue rock appears.  To Eragon surprise the rock turns out to be a dragon’s egg and hatches at Eragon’s home.  Month’s later strangers appear looking for him and the egg.  In the process of trying to find him the strangers kill Eragon’s uncle and flee.  Filled with rage Eragon pursues the strangers bent upon revenge with his adult dragon Saphira and the village story teller Brom.  On the run Brom tells Eragon that the strangers are called the Razac and that they are formidable opponents and so trains Eragon to be a Dragon Rider and how to use magic.  One night Eragon has a dream where he sees a beautiful Woman.  He doesn’t think much of it except that it is a nice dream.  Then one day they reach a City called Teirm form where they hope to find a way to track the Razac.  There mission successful they find out that the Razac are hiding in a mountain called Helgind once they get there they enter the city to make inquires.  They recognized and they had to flee the city but are ambushed and Brom is killed by the Razac but Eragon is saved by a young man his own age called Murtag. Together they burry Brom and head to City called Giliad where a man there could take Eragon to the Varden (a resistance that fights the Emperor Galbatorix).  While there Eragon manages to rescue the woman that was in his dreams from torture in the Emperor’s prison.  Upon closer examination the woman is actually an Elf.  Once Eragon escapes to the Varden he helps to repel an army of Urgals (a goat like creature who stands upright) and an evil Shade (someone who is possessed by evil spirits who can use magic).  Unfortunately he is wounded in the battle.  Will Eragon be able to defeat the Empire?  It does contain magic though in different ways of summoning it.  One way that Eragon uses is to speak an ancient language; another way that he doesn’t use is to summon spirits.  Also it does not have many references to religion or worldview. I highly recommend this book.

Who is Ignorance?

Written by Gabriel

The character Ignorance in the book Pilgrim’s Progress is a pilgrim in search of the Celestial City, but he actually represents those who are false converts to the Christian faith.   In the book it said that Ignorance was “born in a country that lay off a little on the left hand.”  Christian and Faithful meet Ignorance as soon as they left the delectable mountains.  When they meet Ignorance and ask him where he is going he replies that he is going to the Celestial City.  They then see that Ignorance has no mark on his forehead and has no scroll to identify him.  They then ask how he means to enter through the gate without a mark on the forehead or a scroll.  Calmly Ignorance replies that he “knew his Lords will” and that he was a “good liver” that he “gave every man his own” and he gave “tithes to the church.”  That is what he said that makes him a false convert.

Now you may say, “Isn’t it good to pay tithes, live a good life, give each man his own, and know our Lord’s will?”  Yes these are all good things however living a good life is not what makes you a Christian.  In Ephesians 2:8-9 the Bible declares, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.”  That passage says it all.  We have been saved through faith in Christ.

In the book having faith in Christ and being accepted as a Christian is represented as a Pilgrim being allowed entrance at a wicker gate that is the beginning of the way to the Celestial City.  When we read in the book we find that Ignorance did not enter at the gate but entered the path some other way.  Hearing this Christian is led to believe that Ignorance will not be accepted at the Celestial City but will be refused as a trespasser.  In the end Christian is right.  In Galatians 1:8 it clearly states “But even if we or and angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other that the one we preach to you, let him be eternally condemned!  In this verse when it refers to “the Gospel we preach to you” it is referring to the Gospel of Christ.  So when it says “if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned”, it is saying that if anyone is preaching a gospel contrary to that of Christ Jesus let him be eternally condemned.  When Ignorance said that even though he never entered by the wicker gate (or wasn’t accepted by grace through faith) he thought he would be accepted because he led a good life.  He was preaching a different gospel than that of Christ Jesus.  At the end of the book after Pilgrim and Hopeful were accepted Ignorance was denied entrance and two angels flew him to the hole in the hill (a byway to hell) and threw him in.  We can now derive that since Ignorance who represented the false converts was condemned, Bunyan was asserting that all false converts (those who believe they can enter heaven by living a good life) will be eternally condemned.  Let us take warning and make sure that we are truly saved.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

Book Review: The Hobbit

  From his birth on January 3, 1892 J.R.R. Tolkien was destined to write books that would not only become some of the greatest fictional books of all time but would open the readers’ eyes to a new way of seeing the world.  After fighting in World War I, he was a professor at Oxford University until his retirement in 1959.  His first book was The Hobbit.  In it he creates a short, wooly-footed, human-like creature called a hobbit, who is taken from a quiet and luxurious life to go on an adventure.  Gradually as he survives dangers and is brought closer to the main objective he is turned from a quiet and self-indulgant hobit into an adventure-hardened hobbit.  On returning to his home he finds he is no longer respected by his fellow hobbits, who disapprove of his adventures.  He has unknowingly prevented a terrible disaster which Tolkien reveals in The Lord of the Rings.  J.R.R. Tolkien shows his genius for imagination in this book series.  I think it is really wonderful that Tolkien was a Christian and a friend of C.S. Lewis, another one of my favorite authors.

Book Review: Bridge to Terebithia

This book is a classic, worthy of its Newberry Award and rivaled in beauty only by Where the Red Fern Grows. The main characters of this book are a boy named Jesse Aarons and a girl named Lesslie Burkes. Even though it didn’t look very promising at first, they became very close friends when they started to use their imaginations to create the fabulous and creative land of Terebithia, where they had many adventures. As a warning, Leslie believes in animal rights and the Aarons think that church is very boring. There is a strong belief in unidentified spirits and the Lord’s name is used very casually throughout the book. Jesse’s older sisters are very nasty. Other than that, Bridge to Terebithia is a book fit for the affections of readers.

Book Review: Peter and the Starcatchers

  This book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson  is a worthy specimen of good literature.  If you or your kids like Peter Pan, then you might enjoy this exciting prequel.  The main characters are Peter (Pan) and a girl named Molly Aster.  The conflict of the story is to capture a large supply of a powerful substance known as starstuff that is on the loose.  Starstuff is a luminous substance that sometimes falls as a shooting star.  It gives one the ability to fly and heal himself among other uses.  It affects certain animals, changing a horse into a Centaur, a fish into a mermaid, and a bird into a fairy.  Peter and Molly must act fast or else the starstuff might fall into the wrong hands. 

This is a fun-filled adventure full of pirates, indians, a giant crocodile, mermaids, and adventure.

Potentially objectionable is the pirates’ use of a giant sail called “The Ladies” shaped like a giant corset.  There is also some bloodshed.  There is mention of the Greek gods as actually existing, but not as actual gods.  Other than that, I think that most people would enjoy this book full of answers, andventure and fun.