** spoiler alert ** 
 I first met Eragon when I was ten or eleven. My dad came home one day with a ratty blue book and said that he wanted to read it with me. He made it a couple chapters before he had to quit, but I was enthralled and made it through the entire book quickly, and then reread it multiple times. The book quickly rose to the top of my "favorites" list, and I couldn't imagine the anything being better. 
 Six years and many books later, Eragon lost some of its charm, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. 
 What made the book so special to me, though, when I first discovered it? 
 Well, to begin with, I was inspired by Christopher Paolini because he had been such a young author. It inspired me to start writing. So I did, and I never stopped. But there was so much I loved about the book: 
 The main character was someone I felt I could identify with. Eragon, the character, is a teenage boy who discovers a dragon egg one day when hunting. He is no one inherently special (at least, not until later books), and the way he deals with conflict reflected how I could have seen myself handling situations. 
 I loved the quick plot, the mysteries surrounding Arya and the Shade, and Saphira herself. I loved the supporting characters, and the world of the story fascinated me. 
 Christopher Paolini creates a world rich in history and mythology, populated by decent characters and creatures. Yes, the world isn't as detailed as, say, the LoTR universe, but it is still intriguing and wonderful. 
 Cliches do pop up among the characters, but most of them find their footing as the series progresses. I especially liked the addition of Islanzadi in later books, and the POV of Nasuada. I do wish, though, that Eragon himself had gotten deeper development. 
 The book, and series as a whole, is pretty good overall, but there are some issues with it that cannot be ignored. People have said that this series ripped off others, like the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, and it is pretty true. The similarities are pretty glaring. For instance the names "Eragon" and "Aragorn" and "Arya" and "Arwen." The similarities between Star Wars are even more apparent: 
 Eragon=Luke Skywalker 
 Arya=Leia/Padme 
 Brom=Obi-Wan Kenobi 
 Murtagh=Young Anakin 
 Galbatorix=Palpatine 
 Nasuada=Padme Amidala 
 Morzan=Darth Vader 
 Oromis=Yoda/Obi-Wan 
 I was able to overlook the similarities, because I was often too young to notice them when I was first reading the series, but during my numerous re-reads, the similarities became more and more apparent. Then again, many fantasy books are similar to each other, so I think it is important to view Eragon for its merits as well as its faults. 
 However, there is also the issue of the timeline of the series. Paolini never provides the readers with an explicit timeline (something that I would have liked), but there are references to dates here and there. It can be inferred that this is the general timeline of the series (the numbers I use aren't the real dates of Alagaesia): 
 Year 1: Morzan is born 
 Year 10: Brom is born 
 Year 20: Galbatorix rises to power. Morzan becomes his apprentice. Arya is born 
 Year 95: The egg is stolen from Galbatorix 
 Year 97: Murtagh is born 
 Year 98: Roran is born 
 Year 99: Nasuada is born 
 Year 100: Eragon is born 
 Year 115: Eragon finds Saphira's egg 
 Year 116: The events of Eragon and Eldest 
 Year 117/118: The events of Brisingr and Inheritance 
 This timeline is the one that I kept in my head throughout the most of the series. It was the most accurate one I could make, but there are some problems with it. It is said that Arya is 100 years old, and that she was born in the year the Empire rose. That would make the Empire 100 years old in book 1, making my timeline about five years inaccurate. But I thought I remembered the books mentioning that the egg was stolen approximately 75 years into Galbatorix's reign, and then being carried around for about twenty years before being found by Eragon. That would make the Empire 95 years old. I could be remembering things wrong, though. 
 The books themselves seem to take place over a period of about two/three years. In the second book there is a line where a character mentioning Eragon having practiced spells for less than two years, which implies that he's been a Dragon Rider for over a year, but not quite a full two years. That fits with the timeline of Eragon and Eldest (Eragon seems to cover a couple months, and Eldest about half a year or more). It is in Brisingr that things start to get complicated. 
 In Eldest, a character is stated to be four or five months pregnant. She doesn't give birth until Inheritance. This means that either half of Eldest, all of Brisingr, and the beginning of Inheritance all take place in the span of four/five months, or there is a continuity error. The error is made more confusing when another character becomes pregnant in the middle of Brisingr and gives birth at the end of Inheritance. 
 That being said, I think that the Inheritance Cycle, once it finds its footing, becomes a rather good series. It was never perfect, but it does become a strong story by the time it nears the end, and Paolini went the extra mile with writing a strong ending that wraps things up but leaves room for more later. I think that it will always have its niche audience that will adore the series and there will always be people who dislike it. 
 I'm not the fawning fan that I used to be, but I still like to revisit occasionally, more for nostalgia than anything else. I would recommend Eragon, and the entire series, to anyone older than nine who wants an entertaining, engrossing fantasy read that doesn't ask you to stay along for a large number of books, or to keep track of thousands of characters. Just remember: the movie isn't worth it.