Macquarie Christian Studies Institute : Articles & Ideas

"Fantasy with Values"

Review of Brisingr, Christopher Paolini, by Kara Martin

Christopher Paolini was just 15 when he wrote Eragon, a fantasy novel that became a movie. Then came Eldest. The latest in the Inheritance Cycle series is Brisingr. This one has broken some records with simultaneous worldwide release, the largest Random House print run ever, and 550,000 copies sold on its first day of release.

The basic story follows the rise of Eragon, a dragon rider, who with his dragon Saphira, holds the hopes of several civilisations in the struggle against the corrupted dragon rider Galbatorix. He unites elves, dwarves, humans and the horned Urgals as he struggles to grow in wisdom and skill, and find the weakness in Galbatorix's defences that will lead to ultimate victory.

Some enthusiasts are comparing Paolini to Tolkien, and certainly his books have greater depth than others in the fantasy genre. Paolini has even invented a new language, and created culture and history for the people groups. More significantly there is a moral dimension to these novels.

Eragon is constantly wrestling with ethical concerns, from whether to eat animals when he is able to sense their minds, to intervening when soldiers are looting a city, to always giving his opponents the opportunity to surrender. His brother Roran also stops soldiers he finds are torturing a prisoner, perhaps a comment on the US military.

The novels have received some criticism from Christian groups because of the religious beliefs of the characters. In particular, a wise teacher in Eldest explained why the elves were atheists. However Paolini has defended himself on the basis that these are imaginary people and creatures with imaginary beliefs.

In fact, I believe there is much to commend itself to Christian readers in this novel. For one thing, there are surprisingly conservative values endorsed. Marriage is upheld as the best option for forming a family. Values such as honesty, integrity, courage, faithfulness, loyalty, care, respect, tolerance and honour are what separate those who are good from those who are bad.

There is more development of religious ideas in Brisingr, it even opens with a scene of human sacrifice, but this is condemned as an appalling practice. There is also occultic activity late in the novel which is also condemned as bringing uncontrolled evil into the world.

Eragon is curious about these and other religious practices, such as the idol-worship of the dwarves. He desperately wants to believe in a supreme power because the burden of making his way on his own feels too heavy to bear. In some ways he is expressing the restlessness that Augustine spoke about in reference to the true God of the Bible: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee."

In fact the religious ideas in this novel are primitive, with people and creatures trying to appease the gods, or trying to get something that they want. There is no sense of genuine relationship between gods and humans. Significantly there is no initiative by a god toward humans.

Towards the end of the novel Eragon discovers the existence of the heart of hearts, which is the idea of the true self on the inside. It also connotes the idea of us surrendering our true self to another. In reality, the safest one to entrust your heart of hearts to is Jesus Christ, in gratitude for all he sacrificed to enable us to have true relationship with God and others. It will be interesting to see how Eragon responds to his spirit's yearning in the fourth and final book of the series.

KARA MARTIN is a lecturer with Macquarie Christian Studies Institute, and is an avid reader and book group attendee. Kara does book reviews for Heart 1032's Open House (http://www.theopenhouse.net.au/).