The fact that a 15 year old wrote this is impressive. However, I felt like I was reading the narration from a computer role playing game, without the fun of being able to direct the action myself. The book makes a fine first draft, but should have gotten alot more work before being published. It doesn't even come close to Harry Potter, much less Tolkien. The only character that really comes off is Saphira, all the others seem like stereotypes. I see a great future for Paolini as a designer of computer role playing games, but writing a novel takes more than just a bald description of the action.