So I was reading the thread about Harry Potter copying some stuff in LotR, and that reminded me of Eragon. My friend and i both agree there is a lot of stuff that is simalar.
The "Dark gate"
The poem about two lovers being parted by the sea.
the elves came over the sea.
the Riders seem to be like Numenoreans
the place behind the waterfall.
Ra'zac. Cloaked in black, funny voices, flying steeds.
the big elf forest that people are afraid of. Mirkwood?
The book is very good, but there are quite a few simalarities.

Aye, there are a lot of similarites. I'm sure Christopher Paolini is a great reader of Tolkien. Although, there are a lot of differences, which is nice. Paolini puts more emphasis on the dragons. There's not a whole lot about dragons in LotR.

Yes, and the dragons in LotR are all seen as being "bad". Like in "The Hobbit". I think the whole dragon concept in Eragon is completing different to that in LotR. There is nothing like the Dragon Riders in LotR either. Certainly, I agree that there are races that have a similar status and relationship with the elves (such as the Numenorians, the Dunedan... interesting idea, actually, I wouldn't have thought of it myself.) but the dragon's rider's relationship with the dragons - there's nothing like that in LotR.

I also think the story style - language, how it's told, the perspective it's written from, the sorts of details given/description are also very different to LotR.

But - yes - there are similarities.
The Elves in general - sort of appearance, aloofness from other species, "immortal-ness". Also that Eragon falls in love with a female elf who is of much higher lineage than he is, even though he's higher than more of the other humans, and through being a dragon rider has a lot of elvish characteristics. Such as that he's going to live a long time - longer than he would if he wasn't a dragon rider. (sound familiar... ?)

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Yeah. There are definately similarities to LotR in Eragon.
But actually, there are for more similarities to Star Wars.

Eragon = Luke Skywalker
Murtagh = Han Solo
Brom = Obi-wan Kenobi
Galbatorix = Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Arya = Leia Organa Solo
Dragon Riders = Jedi Knights
What's-his-name(the one who trains Eragon in Du Weldenvarden) = Yoda
The Varden = The Rebel Alliance

Etc. etc.

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^ exactly, Aerandir. Of course, I definitly hope Arya doesn't turn out to be Eragon's sister lol.

I have no problem with the similarities, and I'll agree they are there. I think Eragon is an original enough story, though.

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I like those similarities to Star Wars! Cool. When it comes down to it, Eregon really is original. I mean, no author can be completely original--Star Wars, Eregon, LotR etc. just draw on themes that have been passed down for thousands of years. What makes them good stories is that the author can still make it fresh and exciting, even though they are established themes.

Aha... very familiar.

Well ... Only the names & the main love story reminds me on LotR ...
Ra'zac ... Nazgul? Yep, very sure I am.

Don´t get me wrong, I like Eragon, but I´m too infatuated w/ LotR so I´m almost paranoid about copying! lol

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Yeah. I was talking to a friend, and she said that she heard somewhere that our imagination gets it;s ideas from other stuff.

Did anyone read how Christopher begun writing Eragon? He started by taking notes from books he was reading. One day he decided to read through his notes and discovered it was very much like a story and thus began the Inheritance Trilogy. So, I guess that explains why there are similarities between other stories we know...

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Trust me, it does! And then it adds and changes what it gets, in the hope that you will fall for it and believe it's idea to be original...

Wow, Sida, hadn't heard that one before! I guess that does explain quite a bit...

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That's exactly what I thought when I read it. It seems like a mixture of elements from LotR and even more from Star Wars.
And I would not be surprised if Galbatorix turned out to be Eragon's father at the end.

Nice book, though.

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To tell the truth, I don't like books that are extremely similar to other books, especially when there are enough similarities to connect which book. Christopher is an incredible writer for so young, but he almost has no imagination. I mean, he does, but the plot wasn't exactly thought up on his own. He gets you intrigued, but when you think deepy about it, there's no real depth to his writing, unlike Tolkien and Lewis.

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I read somewhere that Paolini took notes from his favorite fantasy books and then he realized that he had basically the makings of a story in front of him, edited a few things and wrote a book. Apparently these are words from his own mouth (more or less) though I cannot remember where I heard them and can't swear on their authenticity.

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Well Christopher has said he is a massive fan of LOTR but it is a little odd that there are so many simalarites. Like well the kids name for instance, and in Eldest there is a human, an elf, and a dwarf traveling together from the mountains to a forest. Sound framilliar? Oh well I love the Inheritance books. And there are enough differences to satisfy me, even if the rest of the book relates to Star Wars

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I've heard a lot of stuff about Paolini stealing from Lotr, like names like Morgothen, Imaldris, and others.

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I noticed that 2.... many similarities... there is no originality in writting now it seems.....

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