Eragon: A Brief Summary

Eragon is a book filled with mystical intrique, magic, folklore, dragons, and great battles between good and evil. It starts by describing the life of a young farm boy who, like all living within the reaches of the Empire, is under total dictatorship by the evil ruler Galbatorix. Carvahall, Eragon's home town is quiet and generally undisterbed, until Eragon finds a strange blue egg while hunting. Laters, it cracks, revealing a dragon. Eragon names it Saphira, and keeps it a secret from everone else. Soon, some of Galbatorix's soldiers show up along with two vile, hooded beasts, looking for Eragon. When the jig is up, Eragon flees with Saphira into the Spine, a nearby mountain range, and when they come back, Eragons finds his farm burned, and his uncle dead. Eragon vows to avenge his father, and sets off with a man named Brom to find and kill the Ra'zac. Along the way, Brom teaches Eragon much about swordfighting, and the basics of magic. Brom is shrouded in mystery, all Eragon knows about him is that he was Carvahall stoyteller, and someone who he can trust. When Saphira, Brom, and Eragon track the Ra'zac down to Dras Leona, Eragon encounters the Ra'zac, and the trio flee from Dras Leona. They seek help from the Varden, a rebel group who oppenly opposes Galbatorix. Along the way, Urgals, nasty creatures, kill Brom, but are soon dispatched by a mystery bowman named Murtagh. Eragon is then imprisoned in Gil'ead and magically sees a fair elf maiden in the same prison. Eragon attemps to esacape, and is helped by Murtagh once again. They free Arya, the elf, but Eragon fights a shade named Durza. A shade is someone controlled by evil spirits, and is much more powerful than a normal human. Eragon thought he killed Durza, but only wounded him. Their only hope now is to fly into the vast Hadarac Desert, and seek help from the Varden. Arya had been tortured and was left unconscious, and needed medical attention from the Varden. Guided by mental images, they find the Varden, but are pursued by Kull, a large race of Urgal. Arya is healed, and Eragon, Murtagh, and Saphira are safe. However, the Urgals found the Varden's hiding place, a huge hollowed out mountain with the Dwarven Capitol of Tronjheim inside. Farthen Dur, as the mountain is called, was hidden by the massive Beor mountains, but Galbatorix now knows where the varden are. Soon, a huge army of Urgals, employed as mercenaries by Galbatorix. The Varden defeated the Urgals, but at a great price. Hundreds were dead. At the end of the battle, Eragon was forced to again face Durza. With the help of Saphira, Eragon was able to stab the Shade through the heart, killing it. However, Eragon was slashed on the back by Durza, wounding him greatly. Through his suffering, a voice contacted him, and identified itself as the Cripple Who is Whole. Eragon is called to the Elven Capitol of Ellesmara in Du Weldenvarden to complete his training...