Editing Eragon (section)

{{Short description|2002 book by Christopher Paolini}}
{{about|the novel by Christopher Paolini|other uses of the name||}}
{{Distinguish|Aragon}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name              = Eragon
| image             = Eragon book cover.png
| alt               = Head and neck of a dragon. She has spikes on her scaly curved neck and antler-like projections over her eyes. Also a light teal color.
| image_size        = 200px
| caption           = Knopf edition cover by [[John Jude Palencar]], featuring the teal dragon [[Saphira]]|
| author            = [[Christopher Paolini]]
| illustrator       = [[John Jude Palencar]]
| cover_artist      = [[John Jude Palencar]]
| country           = United States
| language          = English
| series            = ''[[The Inheritance Cycle]]''
| genre             = [[Young adult fiction|Young adult]]<br />[[Fantasy fiction|Fantasy]]<br />[[Utopian and dystopian fiction|Dystopian]]<br />[[Bildungsroman]]
| publisher         = [[Paolini LLC]] (first edition), [[Alfred A. Knopf]]
| release_date      = 2002 (first edition), August 26, 2003 (Knopf)
| media_type        = Print (hardback & paperback) and [[Compact disc|audio-CD]]
| pages             = 509 (Knopf)<br />544 (Paolini LLC)
| isbn              = 0-375-82668-8
| isbn_note         = (First Knopf edition) {{ISBN|0-9666213-3-6}} (Paolini LLC)
| dewey             = [Fic] 21
| congress          = PZ7.P19535 Er 2003
| oclc              = 52251450
| followed_by       = [[Eldest]]
| notes             = Copies sold: 24.55 million{{citation needed|date=June 2019}}
}}
'''''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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Paolini, Christopher |title=Brisingr, or, The seven promises of Eragon Shadeslayer and Saphira Bjartskular |at=Back Cover |date=2008|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |isbn=978-0-375-82672-6 |edition=1st |location=New York |oclc=182526089}}</ref> 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-publishing|self-publish]] ''Eragon'';<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alagaesia.com/author.php|title=About the Author|website=Alagaesia.com|access-date=2017-03-23|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170514213407/http://www.alagaesia.com/author.php|archive-date=2017-05-14}}</ref> 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.

The book tells the story of a farm boy named [[Eragon (character)|Eragon]], who finds a mysterious stone in the mountains. The stone is revealed to be a dragon egg, and a dragon whose name is [[Characters in the Inheritance cycle#Saphira|Saphira]] hatches from it. When the evil [[Characters in the Inheritance cycle#Galbatorix|King Galbatorix]] finds out about the egg, he sends monstrous servants to acquire it, making Eragon and Saphira flee from their hometown with a storyteller named Brom. Brom, an old member of an extinct group of Dragon Riders, teaches Eragon about the ways of the Rider.

''Eragon'' was the third-best-selling children's hardback book of 2003, and the second-best-selling paperback of 2005. It placed on the [[New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times'' Children's Books Best Seller list]] for 121 weeks and was adapted as a [[Eragon (film)|feature film of the same name]] that was released on December 15, 2006.