I kinda liked Eragon until I realized it was literally star wars with dragons. Here's an interesting article on it.
http://impishidea.com/criticism/eragon-eldest-a-star-wars-plot-recapWhich I'll recap in case someone doesn't feel like clicking around.
Eragon / Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Eragon1 grows up on a subsistence farm in a remote part of the world2 with his uncle. Eragon finds a mysterious object, sent by a rebel princess, and intended for someone else. The mysterious object results in the destruction of the farm and the death of Uncle Garrow3 at the hand of the Empire’s4 agents. The agents search of Eragon, but the object leads him to the town bum ((and the person for whom the mysterious object was in fact intended)), Brom5. Brom leads Eragon to safety from the Empire, shows him that he is a dragon rider6, and trains him in magic7. And he gets a special sword that only dragon riders yield (and they have special colors)8, ((which at one point is revealed to have been his father’s)). Eragon insists on rescuing the elven princess Arya9 from the Empire’s massive dungeon10. Trouble occurs when the Emperor’s right hand man, Durza11, a black magic user12, arrives on the scene. Brom sacrifices himself to fight Durza while Eragon and Arya escape. Eragon meets a handsome, morally gray, scoundrel who assists him, Murtagh13. Shortly after arriving at the rebel camp, the Empire attacks in force, but is defeated.
Eldest / Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
In Eldest, Eragon travels to see his new mentor, Oromis14, a powerful dragon rider whose existence was a secret. ((Eragon studies with Oromis for a while, but before his training is complete he runs away to help his friends.)) The Rebels are being chased by the Empire, and are forced to relocate in Surda15. ((Meanwhile, Eragon’s sibling’s beloved Katrina13 is captured by the Empire, and he will aid in her rescue at the beginning of the next installment.)) The Empire and the Rebels have a showdown, where it is revealed that Murtagh is Eragon’s brother, and their father was the Emperor’s old right hand man, Morzan16. ((In the process, Eragon loses his sword.))
Eragon explanations:
1 Luke Skywalker
2 Tatooine
3 Uncle Garrow
4 The Galactic Empire
5 Obi-wan Kenobi
6 Jedi Knight
7 The Force
8 Lightsaber
9 Princess Leia
10 The Death Star
11 Fake Darth Vader
12 Dark Force
13 Han Solo
Eldest explanations:
14 Yoda
15 Hoth
16 Some interesting things to consider here. Some people like to argue that this isn’t a blatant rip-off, because Leia was supposed to Luke’s sibling. But all Christopher Paolini is doing is subtracting the relationship from Arya and adding it to Murtagh. The underlying value of the equation hasn’t changed. There is also some role confusion between Morzan, who is clearly Darth Vader, and Durza who is also clearly Darth Vader. ((I would argue that Durza isn’t Vader, who does little or no direct fighting in the first movie, but rather a humanoid incarnation of the Death Star. By hitting the critical spot, Eragon/Luke is able to destroy him/it. Instead, it’s Murtagh who steps into the role of Vater for the later books.)) Paolini just took Darth Vader and split him into two personality lacking villains. As it turns out, Morzan was a member of the ancient order who went to the dark side, betrayed it, and lead it to its downfall.
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