 Eragon is the first novel in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini . After writing the first draft for a year , Paolini spent a second year rewriting and fleshing out the story and characters . Paolini 's parents saw the final manuscript and decided to self @-@ publish Eragon . Paolini spent a year traveling around the United States promoting the novel . By chance , the book was discovered by Carl Hiaasen , who got it re @-@ published by Alfred A. Knopf . The re @-@ published version was released on August 26 , 2003 . 
