Yes, I've practically memorized the books. Yes, I saw the movie. And now that a little time (okay, a little more than a little) has passed and I've calmed down I can post about the movie without so much ... aggravation.

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I saw the movie the day it opened here in town.

You're familiar with the term "based on", aren't you? And you realize that the term "based on" means that some saw the book cover and maybe read the first page and came up with a whole story that had practically nothing to do with the book, right? Well, that's exactly what happened with the movie Eragon. It was "based on" the book.

I guess I only thought I was mistreated with the last 2 Harry Potter movies. But Eragon.... wow. They changed... everything *sigh* The only things that didn't change, I think, were the facts that Arya sent the stone/egg into the forest while she was being attacked by Durza. Eragon found the egg, the egg hatched to be Saphira, and Eragon touched Saphira that first time to have the mark (the name for which I can't spell) burned into his palm. Eragon's uncle died. Brom made a saddle for Saphira. Brom started taking Eragon to the Varden. Brom died protecting Eragon. Murtagh joined with Eragon and went to the Varden. Murtagh was imprisoned by the Varden. Durza and the Urgals attacked the Varden so there is a big falutin' battle. Eragon killed Durza with a stab through the heart using Zor'roc.

While I must admit that Eragon isn't quite the work of Tolkien or JK Rowling (though I don't suggest that those two authors should be compared against one another), the book is exceptionally popular with the young crowd - heck, my younger (13) grandson drug me kicking and screaming into the series and I love it even if it's not Tolkien, Rowling, or Brooks (okay, I like most of what I've read of The Sword of Shannara series, I admit it). It's a fun story, not overly complicated, with lots of running around defending against the bad guys - even if it does rather resemble Star Wars. Heh - that was an interesting comparison when someone brought that up to me. Actually, I heard echos of lots of other stories in Eragon and perhaps that was part of what made it rather fun.