Career
He started his work on his first novel, Eragon , at the age of 15. This novel would become the first of a four-book series (six, including the spinoffs) set in the mythical land of Alagaësia.
In 2002, Eragon was published for the first time by Paolini International LLC, his parents' publishing company. To promote the book, Paolini toured over 135 schools and libraries, discussing reading and writing, all the while dressed in "a medieval costume of red shirt, billowy black pants, lace-up boots, and a jaunty black cap." He drew the cover art for the first edition of Eragon, which featured Saphira's eye, along with the maps on the inside covers of his books. [7]
In mid-2002, the stepson of author Carl Hiaasen found Eragon in a bookstore and loved it; this led to Hiaasen bringing it to the attention of his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf. [8] [9] Knopf subsequently made an offer to publish Eragon and the rest of The Inheritance Cycle . The second edition of Eragon was published by Knopf in August 2003. At the age of 19, Paolini became a New York Times-bestselling author. [10]
In December 2006, Fox 2000 released the film adaptation of Eragon in theaters around the world. It received mostly negative reviews from critics, [11] and made a combined domestic and international gross of $249,488,115 USD against a production budget of $100,000,000. [12]
Eldest , the sequel to Eragon, was released August 23, 2005. The third book in the cycle, Brisingr , was released on September 20, 2008. Although The Inheritance Cycle was originally planned as a trilogy, a fourth book, Inheritance , was released on November 8, 2011, in the US, Australia, New Zealand, the EU, and India, and was subsequently translated and published in 53 countries. The Inheritance Cycle has sold more than 41 million copies.
On December 31, 2018, The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm , the first book in a series called Tales of Alagaësia, was published and released to the public.
Paolini's new science fiction novel, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars , was released on September 15, 2020, by Tor Books. [13]
In October 2021, Christopher released Unity , an interactive Fractalverse story on his science fiction website Fractalverse.net. [14]
On July 25, 2022, Variety reported that Paolini was co-writing a live action television series adaptation of Eragon for Disney+, with Bert Salke executive producing. [15]
On October 3, 2022, Paolini announced Fractal Noise , the second installment in the Fractalverse and a prequel to To Sleep in a Sea of Stars . It was published on May 16, 2023. [16]
On October 8, 2022, it was announced that To Sleep in a Sea of Stars has been optioned by Made Up Stories and Snoot Entertainment. [17]
On November 7, 2023, Murtagh was released as the latest installment in Paolini's world of Alagaësia. [18]
Influences
Paolini's literary inspirations include the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and E. R. Eddison, as well as the epic poem Beowulf . [8] Paolini has said that Eragon was "specifically inspired" by Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher , by Bruce Coville. [19] Other literary influences include David Eddings, [19] Andre Norton, [19] Brian Jacques, [19] Anne McCaffrey, [19] Raymond E. Feist, [19] Mervyn Peake, [19] Ursula K. Le Guin and Frank Herbert. [19] Other favorite books include works by Jane Yolen, Philip Pullman, [19] and Garth Nix. [8]
Nature influences much of Paolini's writing. In an interview with Sir Philip Pullman and Tamora Pierce, Paolini said that Paradise Valley, Montana, is "one of the main sources" of his inspiration.
In the acknowledgments of Brisingr , Paolini acknowledged the influence of Leon and Hiroko Kapp's The Craft of the Japanese Sword for his description of the forging of Eragon's sword. [20] Additionally, Paolini has admitted that he is a Doctor Who fan, which inspired his reference to the "lonely god" (the epithet given to the Doctor by the Face of Boe in the episode "New Earth"), [21] [22] to "rooms that are bigger on the inside than the outside" (from "Questions Unanswered" in Inheritance), as well as to Raxacoricofallapatorius, the home of the Slitheen ("Blood Price" in Inheritance). [23]
Carl Hiaasen is an American journalist and novelist. He began his career as a newspaper reporter and by the late 1970s had begun writing novels in his spare time, both for adults and for middle grade readers. Two of his novels have been made into feature films, and one has been made into a TV series.
Anne Patricia Carson is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, classicist, and professor.
Eragon is the first book in The Inheritance Cycle by American fantasy writer Christopher Paolini. Paolini, born in 1983, began writing the novel after graduating from home school at the age of fifteen. After writing the first draft for a year, Paolini spent a second year rewriting and fleshing out the story and characters. His parents saw the final manuscript and in 2001 decided to self-publish Eragon; Paolini spent a year traveling around the United States promoting the novel. The book was discovered by novelist Carl Hiaasen, who brought it to the attention of Alfred A. Knopf. The re-published version was released on August 26, 2003.
Eldest is the second novel in The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini and the sequel to Eragon. It was first published in hardcover on August 23, 2005, and was released in paperback in September 2006. Eldest has been released in an audiobook format, and as an ebook. Like Eragon, Eldest became a New York Times bestseller. A deluxe edition of Eldest was released on September 26, 2006, including new information and art by both the illustrator and the author. Other editions of Eldest are translated into different languages.
Eragon is a 2006 fantasy adventure film directed by Stefen Fangmeier and written by Peter Buchman, loosely based on Christopher Paolini's 2002 novel of the same name. It stars Ed Speleers in the title role as well as Jeremy Irons, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlyle, Djimon Hounsou, Garrett Hedlund, Joss Stone, and John Malkovich, with Rachel Weisz as Saphira the dragon. The film also marked the film debuts for Speleers and Stone.
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in addition to leading American literary trends. It was acquired by Random House in 1960, and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group division of Penguin Random House which is owned by the German conglomerate Bertelsmann.
Brisingr is the third novel in The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. It was released on September 20, 2008. Originally, Paolini intended to conclude the then Inheritance Trilogy in three books, but during writing the third book he decided that the series was too complex to conclude in one book, because the single book would be close to 1,500 pages long. A deluxe edition of Brisingr, which includes removed scenes and previously unseen art, was released on October 13, 2009.
Eragon is a third-person video game released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows, developed by Stormfront Studios and published by Vivendi Games. Also released are unique versions of Eragon for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and mobile phone handheld gaming systems, primarily developed by Amaze Entertainment.
The Whoniverse is a British media franchise and shared universe centring on the BBC television series Doctor Who, its spin-offs and other associated media. The shared universe nature was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters, usually deriving from the main programme.
Inheritance is a 2011 fantasy fiction novel written by American author Christopher Paolini. It is the fourth and final novel in The Inheritance Cycle tetralogy.
The Inheritance Cycle is a tetralogy of young adult high fantasy novels written by American author Christopher Paolini. Set in the fictional world of Alagaësia, the novels focus on the adventures of a teenage boy named Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, as they struggle to overthrow the evil king Galbatorix. The series was originally intended to be a trilogy until Paolini announced on October 30, 2007, while working on the third novel, that he believed the story was too complex to conclude in just three books.
The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm is the first book in the Tales from Alagaësia series by Christopher Paolini. It was published on December 31, 2018. Set in the world of The Inheritance Cycle a year after the events of Inheritance, it consists of three short stories, the second of which was penned by Paolini's sister, Angela.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a 2020 science fiction novel written by American author Christopher Paolini and published under the Tor imprint of Macmillan Publishers. The book is unrelated to his Inheritance Cycle series. In an interview, Paolini described the book as adult-oriented as opposed to the young adult genre of his previous books.
This is a partial list of books for which American artist and illustrator John Jude Palencar was the cover artist or illustrated the cover and interior pages.
Fractal Noise is a 2023 science fiction novel written by American author Christopher Paolini and published under the Tor imprint of Macmillan Publishers. It is a prequel to the 2020 book To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and was released on May 16, 2023.
Murtagh is a 2023 fantasy novel by American writer Christopher Paolini.
