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Title: Amazingly overrated
Review: As I read this, I was constantly shocked by the complete lack of originality of the book. It is one thing to be influenced by great fantasy writers, quite another to unabashedly lift ideas from them, as Paolini does. Many of the people praising him do so because they are caught up in the hype of his being a 15-year-old writer. I suggest they read Anne McCaffrey's books to see what a whopping amount of her dragon lore he has borrowed. For the source of his treatment of elves and dwarves, look no further than JRR Tolkien.Bottom line - disappointing for someone who is familiar with his sources, and is evaluating the book on its merits as a work of fantasy, not as 'a-work-of-fantasy-written-by-a-fifteen-year-old'. It might be 'original' for someone who is not.
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