On Earth, and more specifically in England, Arthur is a simpleton who goes to the pub on a regular basis and roots for his hometown football club. His best friend is a bizarre man named Ford Prefect, who unbeknownst to him is an alien whose objective is to write about Earth so he can put an entry into the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which helps people navigate the universe safely. When Ford learns that the Earth will be blown up in order to build an intergalactic highway, he whisks Arthur and him onto a passing spaceship. Thus begins their crazy and completely outlandish adventures across time and space, and Trisha, a human, and Zaphod, Ford’s alien cousin, soon join them. The book’s purpose is to use sarcasm and humor to entertain the reader and amuse us with the utter absurdity of the situations. An example of this is when Arthur says, “Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?” It is rarely serious or deep. However, one of the main themes throughout was loyalty. There were many times when Arthur wanted to just run away because he was frightened by space and the prospect of the universe, but by staying with Ford he went on amazing adventures and discovered many things about himself and humanity. Another is the place of humans in the universe. Arthur learns that dolphins were actually smarter than humans in this quote, “For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.” But he learns that humans have done good because they served as research subjects for fourth dimensional beings as they tried to discover the meaning of the universe. This novel is one of the funniest I have ever read, and I think it was fantastic. Its only weakness is that it doesn’t describe settings as vividly as it should. Overall I rate it a 4.75 out of five.
In the world of Alagaesia, the young dragon rider Eragon continues his conquest to rid the world of evil and help the rebellion defeat the empire and start a new regime across the land. He is the last dragon rider and his dragon Saphira is the last of her kind. On the opposing side is King Galbatorix, who has led an evil reign for over a century, and Eragon’s brother Murtaugh, who is also a dragon rider. The dwarves and elves join the rebellion’s side as they slowly move towards the empire’s capital, readying themselves for the ultimate battle. The leader of the rebellion is a young woman named Nasuada, the leader of the dwarves is King Orik, and Arya, an elf, is the leader of Eragon’s personal bodyguards. The novel uses very descriptive and flowery language. An example is, “It's impossible to go through life unscathed. Nor should you want to. By the hurts we accumulate, we measure both our follies and our accomplishments.” Although it is very descriptive and it has great action scenes, the book often gets to slow parts that seem to drag on for pages upon pages without ending. It does have a touch of sarcasm, like when the character Angela says, “Safe travels to you and Saphira, Eragon. And remember to watch out for earwigs and wild hamsters. Ferocious things, wild hamsters." Like Hitchhiker, Inheritance preaches loyalty above all else. Eragon could’ve at numerous times abandoned the rebellion and flown off to anywhere he wanted to and lived his own life, but he stayed the course and followed them as far as possible, never giving up and keeping his promise to be loyal to them. Another is the value of humanity within the world of Alagaesia. Humans are generally looked down upon by the other races because the king, Galbatorix, is a human who killed off all of the dragons and the riders and rules the land with an iron fist, and humans are in part blamed for this. Then Eragon, a human, becomes the next dragon rider (in the first book) and now as the rebellion gains steam all of the races must look up to him to be their savior and must trust him like he is one of their own. Overall, the book is thrilling and very imaginative and gives a respectable end to the series (which I started reading a decade ago), but does slow down at parts and wouldn’t make a lot of sense if you haven’t read the three previous books and is also very long. I give it a 4.2 out of five.
