[ads] Harry Potter vs. Eragon

[escritoireazul]

A little while back, J. and A. went to see Eragon together because A. wanted to see it. (J. didn't know what it was. This isn't surprising.) J. hated it, possibly more than I hated the book. (There's a reason I have no interest in seeing it, and that's because I find it a derivative piece of badly-written crap and couldn't even finish the book. That makes two books in my life I couldn't finish. Two. I've read a lot of crap, but that was some of the worst.)

Anyway, every time there's an ad on the television about the movie, he starts to grumble and growl and make snarky comments about it. The last one we saw said something about Harry Potter moving over and this was taking it's place. (That's wishful thinking.) J. was practically apoplectic over it, and said, "If that replaces Harry Potter, I really worry about society."

He's such a cute little fanboy. (This is the guy who, after being interviewed at the OotP book release party, was featured in the paper with a quote about how he didn't read the books, he cheated and watched the movies. He was interviewed because he was working with me at a bookstore. [He was the photographer, and his job was to take pictures of the kids with this Harry Potter cut-out provided by Scholastic. He dressed as Hagrid. He was such a good Hagrid the kids wanted their pictures taken with him, instead.] I thought the store owner [and my boss at the time] would kill him, but luckily everyone found it funny. This is also the guy who, every time I take him to a Harry Potter movie, complains to me, but loves it. He makes me laugh.)

So anyway. People choosing Harry Potter over Eragon means society is going downhill. I have to agree.

Comments

[thenewhope.livejournal.com]

word up on the not being able to finish eragon.

mary sues like that should only exist in the realms of fanfiction.

[threnody.livejournal.com]

I got a whole half page into Eragon before I put it down.

[das_hydra]

*HOW* can they compare it to HP? HP involves dragons, yes, but the only time they're really featured is when Hagrid wins an egg, Charlie Weasley brings them over for the Tri-Wizard, HP has to get the egg and fight one off, and that's the only dragon instances that are coming to my mind here.

As far as I understand, Eragon is about a "dragon rider" who apparently has magic powers and has to fight an evil dude. And that's pretty much what I get from the commercials. There is no school, there's not a bunch of wizards/witches running around, it is apparently set in a "Arthurian" type time period. HOW DOES THAT MAKE IT LIKE HARRY POTTER?!

I hear the book was written by a 14?

[saturniia.livejournal.com]

Eh, he's about 23 now, but yes, the first book was started when Christopher Paolini was in his early teens.

For the record, I forced myself to read both Eragon and Eldest, and all I can remember is going "This is what he took from Lord of the Rings, this is what he took from Anne McCaffery's Pern, and this is something straight out of Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher (which I read once, when I was nine)".

Yes, fantasy books follow a formula, but the Alagesia books aren't just formulaic. They're downright derivative. Plus, he manages to derail the only interesting character he's got living in the second book.

[thestalkycop.livejournal.com]

J's so adorable. Will he hurt me for saying that?

Apparently the OotP is out on July 13th. I'm still hoping that it will make a better movie than a book, since the book is filled with reams of unnecessary teen-wankst, and the movies like to cut out anything that isn't action - unless we're talking PoA, in which case, they cut out everything full-stop and just showed us 90 minutes of attractive but non-plot-related footage of Hogwarts.

[escritoireazul.livejournal.com]

Exactly! This is why I don't read things like Eragon, because if I wanted crappy writing and Mary Sues (not to mention derivative everything), I can read it for free online, about characters for which I might actually care. What a waste of a published book.

[escritoireazul.livejournal.com]

Well, I made it about 20 pages or so, and then promptly wished I could bleach my brain, so a half page was probably the safest place to stop (bar not starting it at all).

[escritoireazul.livejournal.com]

I don't think they were so much comparing it to Harry Potter on a direct basis, but more saying that, in the fantasy film and book genre, Harry Potter was going to be replaced by Eragon. So the ad wasn't saying that they were the same on details, but that, as they are in the same genre, they must be in competition.

[escritoireazul.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan of McCaffery, and I've never read Jeremy Thatcher, but even I could pick out the places he stole was strongly inspired by them, and other authors. It is still frustrating to me that there was so much hoopla over him but very little about how derivative his work is, while that Harvard girl got in so much trouble for, to me, what looked like something very similar.

I'd be jealous he was published so young if, you know, it was good writing. Since it's not, I'm just disgusted by what passes for publishable material.

[escritoireazul.livejournal.com]

I told him you said so at dinner last night, and he just laughed. He also said he thinks he might sneak into England while I'm at school and see if the British women go as crazy for an American accent as American women go for British accents. (Well, I don't actually think he knows any women but me who do so, but it's a stereotype, I think.)

I told him he was out of luck because everyone hates Americans right now. He told me not to destroy his dreams.

We also talked about Virginia a little. Speaking of, do you guys have any idea when you might come out?

Yeah, it blows my mind that by the time OotP comes out, I'll be almost done with my first semester of school. Yikes.

[das_hydra]

Huh, well, there's no competition for me. I'd go see HP if I had a choice. And even if I didn't, I still wouldn't read/see Eragon.