Paolini's Writing gets Worse with Practice

[edward9]

I read the first three chapters of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars for sporking purposes. I was struck by how much worse the writing was. In terms of objective measurements like grammar and sentence structure it is worse than the Inheritance Cycle. The Inheritance Cycle seems to have had a copy editor and I cannot imagine To Sleep in a sea of Stars was copy edited. A copy editor edits into a certain style and just the use of punctuation defies any system I am familiar with. I am no expert but I have never seen punctuation patterns like that. For semi objective things like writing style and structure I think most editors and writers would find it worse than the Inheritance Cycle. As has been pointed out by others nothing of significance happens in the first three chapters other than introducing the main character.

What struck me the most is the degradation in an admittedly more subjective area. The story was really boring. I found it difficult and unpleasant to read too but it was really really boring. It was so boring I could not find much to spork. Everything is just too blah, empty, with nothing to it. It is hard to imagine so many words could say so very little. How do others find To Sleep in a Sea of Stars compares to the Inheritance Cycle? Am I the only one who thinks Paolini's technical writing skills have gotten noticeably to massively worse?

Comments

[epistler]

It's certainly gotten even more lifeless and soulless, which is probably half the reason why it's so paralysingly dull. The Cycle was often extremely boring, but never to this degree. I've had my copy for months and still am nowhere near finishing it. I have never given less of a shit about what happens next in a book. Even with Inheritance I was curious to see how it ended. Here, not in the slightest.
And it's gotten a lot more mean-spirited as well. I've mentioned that before, but it bears repeating. It's just so actively unpleasant.

[cmdrnemo]

I think I've been pretty clear about my feelings on this one. The book is crap on a remarkable scale. It's so terrible we had a debate on whether or not he was trying to create the worst book ever published.

Yes his old books sucked. But, this new one has all the checked out disinterest of his worst coupled with clear evidence of an ego only listening to praise.

This book is clearly a rough draft crapped out by a bored millionaire who missed his life's calling and is making a pathetic effort to convince himself otherwise. It belongs in a rejected stories box forgotten in an attic to gather dust in silence. Should he ever learn even the most basic aspect of his chosen profession it will be nothing more than an embarrassment.

[baronleduc]

It's been years I didn't read Eragon/Eldest, and I don't have the books at the moment. So it'll be hard for me to compare Chris's writings between Eragon and TSiaSoS. I do remember the first time I've read Eragon, it was, at best, kinda pleasant. But it wasn't painful to read through, unlike TSiaSoS.

What I can tell you, though, is that I have barely, barely, made over one hundred pages into the Space Book, and its pretty much boring. There is no tension, no characters, no plot, no emotions. Nothing. Chris wrote alot of words, but it felt empty. Kinda remind me of my old writings. Urgh...

The worse part for me, is that everything is being told, not shown in his prose. So I do not feel what the character's feels when X happens, nor what Y is going to do instead of Z. It's drives me nuts. Like Paolini has written a movie script instead of a novel. Did he forget what type of media he's doing ?

The more I tried to read TSiaSoS, the more I've questions for the editor who read through this and thinks 'Yup. This book is going to be a very bestseller. Well done, Mr. Paolini! Good job!'.

So I'm gonna say that yes, Chris Paolini's writings are getting worse.

[ultimate_cheetah]

It has gotten worse. He at least tried with Eragon/Saphira, but the bond between Kira/Soft Blade is nonexistent. We are just told about it, and it is so disappointing. Also, at least Durza and the Ra'zac were sort of interesting. The jellies and nightmares are not, at all.