Eragon

Eragon is the first book in The Inheritance Cycle by American fantasy writer Christopher Paolini. Paolini, born in 1983, began writing the novel after graduating from home school at the age of fifteen. After writing the first draft for a year, Paolini spent a second year rewriting and fleshing out the story and characters. His parents saw the final manuscript and in 2001 decided to self-publish Eragon; Paolini spent a year traveling around the United States promoting the novel. The book was discovered by novelist Carl Hiaasen, who brought it to the attention of Alfred A. Knopf. The re-published version was released on August 26, 2003.

The book tells the story of a farm boy named Eragon, who finds a mysterious stone in the mountains. The stone is revealed to be an egg, and a dragon named Saphira hatches from it. When the evil King Galbatorix finds out about the egg, he sends monstrous servants to acquire it , called the Raz’ac, forcing Eragon and Saphira to flee with a storyteller named Brom, who teaches them the ways of the Dragon Riders.