I Read What?!

Chapter Twenty-Five (Part II) | Table of Contents | Chapter Twenty-Five (Part IV)

Kerlois: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to Eragon! Last time, Brom and Jeod had a mysterious conversation, we learned the Empire is quite incompetent, and Helen had some pettiness directed at her. For the reader post:

On part II of chapter 19, Chessy notes that “chopped into pieces” actually is quite understandable in context.

She also gives us an update on her fics, as well as a better magic system.

She, along with Wolfgoddess, Alec and Art_Case, point out that Eragon needs to be taught; after all, he could have destroyed Yazuac, as Brom says, so if he does not learn more, he might well have even more accidents and even kill people. It is completely irresponsible.

Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 29

Tris also leaves a fic, as does Art_Case. Finally, Maegwin points out that the talk about magic should have come earlier, which I think might have happened in “Saddlemaking”.

On part I of chapter 20, Chessy notes (as she did on the previous part) that Brom’s tactics in dealing with Eragon look like “common mindgame” tactics. I am hardly surprised, really.

While talking to her, I realised that the “impossible” tasks Brom names are even less impossible than I thought. For the baths, for example, Chessy suggested plugging the hole with silt, and I came up with diverting a stream into them or building an enclosure beneath the outlet.

Wolfgoddess made me aware of some bad phrasing: I do not mind that Eragon learns to use the sword, but I do mind that he barely gets to learn archery from anyone from now on.

On part II of chapter 20, Wolfgoddess rightly notes that quite a bit of the questions asked in that chapter are met with “who knows”, which is not a very good way to write.

Chessy and Art_Case have each written a fic, too.

Alec quite rightly asks why, exactly, magic is affected by distance. I suppose it might have to do with it being harder to touch minds at a distance; it stands to reason that working magic like that would be harder, too, but we ought to get something beyond this.

Cardboard Worldbuilding: 7

They further note that Saphira, being as blue as she is, would not stand out against a blue sky.

On part II of this chapter, Epistler points out that Brom should not be wearing a robe, as that is a quite bad choice for such an adventure as this.

Ill Logic: 23

She further notes that sending Aren away is also a bad choice because of the amount of energy it will turn out to have.

Finally, she notes that, if the Empire is being so sneaky about attacking the Varden, they should probably be hiding their purchases of Seithr oil, too.

Ill Logic: 24

With that done, let me resume with the chapter! We last left off with hearing about how “bad” Helen is, before Jeod said he should not bother Brom and Eragon with that. Brom thanks him for that and says he appreciates the hospitality, since their travels have “long been without comforts of any kind”. Have they now? I do not remember us seeing that (I am quite certain they had a fire each night) and Brom, and later Eragon, could certainly have provided some of that, so I quite doubt this. Brom then asks Jeod for a cheap shop, since the riding has “worn out [their] clothes”. …I just had to remind myself that they did get here on Snowfire and Cadoc, given how little they have been mentioned.

Jeod gets happy to have something to do and talks about prices and such until his house is in sight. Then he asks if they could please eat somewhere else, since it might be “awkward” if they all came in now. So he presumably wants to avoid Helen. Sure, it might well be “awkward”, but I do not think Helen will be happy to have Jeod avoid her entirely, and that will only cause more awkwardness later. Come to think of it, his reactions to her would be more appropriate if she were abusing him, which, since she is not, is really not making him come off well.

Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 77

Brom is perfectly fine with that, Jeod is relieved and suggests they leave their horses in his stable, which they do. (Presumably, they were only brought along to give Brom an excuse to send Eragon out.) They go to a “large tavern”, which is much nicer than the Green Chestnut, on account of not being an obvious Seedy Tavern. After a while, the main course arrives (Jeod is not said to order anything before that in this edition, I note), which is a “stuffed suckling pig”. Tasty, I suppose?

HISC: (shrugs)

Kerlois: Eragon eagerly eats of it, but he especially likes the “potatoes, carrots, turnips, and sweet apples” that go along with it, since it has been “a long time since he [has] eaten more than wild game”.

1) There is the only mention of “potatoes” in the newer edition, I see. Given that, of the other mentions, one was deleted, and the others were changed to “rutabagas” and “mushrooms”, I am quite certain this was not supposed to stay in.

PPP: 932 (I still do not think that they needed to be changed, but if you want to do so, commit to it, at least)

2) As for the other things… if I am to be strictly fair, apples do not belong in a North American setting, but given how ubiquitous they are, I do not mind exactly. Given the amount of people who have come from over the ocean (the elves and Urgals, at least) I would really expect some exotic flora. Turnips are perfectly fine, but carrots are only mentioned here, and do not belong in North America, which gives me the impression this is a continuity error.

PPP: 933

3) Has it been such a “long time” since he has eaten anything else? Let me see… it has been a month and two days, which is not that long of a time as this implies.

Space-Time Hairball: 15

It is long enough to begin to get symptoms of scurvy, but I will give no points for that, as we have already complained about that too early.

4) If he wanted to eat anything other than wild game, though, he had every opportunity for it! He spent two weeks in the gallery forest along the Ninor, which (as Alec pointed out quite well) would be certain to have edible plants. After that, I did not get the impression that the area they went through was barren, and the last bit was certainly not, so it should not have been a problem. Further, once they left the forest, Eragon deliberately hunted wild game to practice hunting with magic. So if he wanted to eat anything else, he could have!

Ill Logic: 25

They spend hours on the meal, as Brom and Jeod “swap[] stories”. Eragon does not mind this, since he is warm, a “lively tune jangle[s] in the background”, and he has more than enough food. Also, the “spirited tavern babble [falls] pleasantly on his ears”. Hmmm, I get what Paolini means, but not because of any specific virtue of the writing. If Eragon likes this tune, he would not say it “jangles”, since that is a metallic sound and not very pleasant; I also wonder what kind of instrument this is supposed to be and why Eragon does not describe the player. “Babble” is not exactly a positive word, either, and the description of him hearing it is quite clumsy. Finally, I note that Eragon, who just eavesdropped to learn more about Brom’s past, seems to be ignoring Brom freely telling stories about himself!

Ill Logic: 26

PPP: 938 (+5)

I think I know where this weirdness comes from: this scene looks rather like it was written as a placeholder, so Paolini could then move on to the next scene. Of course, there is no reason that Paolini could not have said “they went to a tavern and had good food” and skipped ahead. I, for one, do not think this adds anything at all in its current form. So they leave the tavern, by which time the sun is nearly setting. Eragon tells Jeod and Brom to go ahead, since he has to “check on something”. He tells us that he wants to visit Saphira and “make sure that she [is] safely hidden”. That is quite nice of him.

Brom tells him absently to be careful and not take too long. Jeod asks if Eragon might leave Teirm (because of Saphira), at which Eragon hesitates, before “reluctantly nodd[ing]”. Eragon, Jeod already knows that you are a Rider and you know that yourself. Why are you acting like you need to keep it a secret from Jeod?

Ill Logic: 27

Jeod says that he needs to be sure to be inside the city before dark. Then the gates close, and the guards will only let him in in the morning. If I were Eragon, I would stay inside and mentally contact Saphira from inside Teirm. It would not be the same as a physical visit, but he would still be able to update her and even check her hiding placer, and he could always visit the next day. That is not what we will get, of course, since we apparently need the tension of “will Eragon be able to get to the gates in time?”. I can understand that Eragon would do it, but it is not as inevitable as Paolini seemed to think.

Eragon promises not to be late, and then hastens for the outer wall. Once he leaves the city, he takes a deep breath of fresh air and asks where Saphira is.

HISC: The revision thankfully condenses all of Eragon’s travelling to Saphira guiding him off the road to “the base of a mossy cliff surrounded by maples”. I suppose the trees are explicitly named here to fix the error of them suddenly appearing in the earlier edition.

Kerlois: If only this could have kept up through the whole book… Saphira has poked her head out of the trees and Eragon waves at her. He asks how he is supposed to get to her. She says that she will go down to get him if he finds a clearing. Um, you did scout for this hiding place, did you not? I would think that you would have seen any neighbouring clearings, and even now, you are higher up, so you can see it better than Eragon. Why does he need to look for them?

Ill Logic: 28

Well, he looks at the cliff and says it will not be necessary, since he will climb up. Maybe you should do that when you have more time for it and can actually think on what will be the best route? This is just begging to be caught outside the city. I do like that this is something that actually fits with the way Paolini wants Eragon to be rash (and something I might conceivably have done, too). Saphira objects, because it is “too dangerous”. I doubt that, given that Eragon has quite some experience with rough environments, and she does not say what is so dangerous about it, either. Eragon says that she worries too much and tells her to let him “have some fun”. Given her earlier overprotective behaviour, I am fully with him; in fact, I would not be surprised if she said it is “too dangerous” because she just does not want him to climb the cliff.

Eragon pulls off his gloves and gets to climbing, “relish[ing] the physical challenge”. He finds plenty of handholds, which makes climbing easy, and soon he is high above the trees. Yes, I am certainly seeing how dangerous this is. Halfway up the cliff, he rests for a bit. After that, he reaches for the next handhold, but he cannot reach it. He gets “stymied” and looks around for other ones, but there are none whatsoever. Then he tries to back down, but he cannot reach the last foothold. Throughout all of this, Saphira stares at him. He gives up and says he could “use some help”.

I do feel there is a thumb on the scales here. It is certainly possible for Eragon to get stuck like this, but I do find it quite convenient that he did not note this before arriving at the ledge, but only when he wants to go on. Further, I think that Eragon could easily use magic to float himself down to the previous foothold or up to the handhold. Of course, if he did that, we could not have the following scene, so that will not be happening. Let me have a closer look at this following scene, then.

This is your own fault.

Yes, it is. Does that mean he does not “deserve” your help, then? I do note that Eragon asked for help just now, and did not in any way that Saphira was responsible. That is not an appropriate situation to use this response in; if he were being arrogant about this or blamed Saphira for not warning him, she would be quite right in giving such a snarky response, but he just asked an honest question, so a response amounting to “nuh-uh, I will not help” is not a good look.

Yes! I know. Are you going to get me down or not?

Does this look like either scenario I just described? He is short with her, yes, but that is probably because he remembers her previous abuse (making him fly with her and her threatening to abduct him if he gets into trouble again this morning) and does not want it again. And I do like that he refuses to put up with her nonsense.

If I weren’t around, you would be in a very bad situation.

Well, if you were not around, he would not be in trouble, since he specifically came here to meet you. More to the point, Eragon only took this risk because he trusted you would help out if anything went wrong; if you were not around, I doubt he would have bothered. If you are to complain about anything, do it about his assumption that you would help him out, not about “Eragon is so stupid that he would climb a cliff without anyone to help him”.

I further note that she really wants to hear some acknowledgement like “thank you so much for being willing to help me out with a situation I caused myself”, and, as we will soon see, she will only help him out once Eragon gives her that or something like it. It is quite the same as when she made him promise to fly with her and I hate it here, too.

Eragon rolled his eyes. You don’t have to tell me.

It might as well be that Eragon does not realise what she is trying to do, but he is having none of it in any case, and I do like it.

You’re right. After all, how can a mere dragon expect to tell a man like yourself what to do​?

You did not tell him what to do, though! You only said that climbing the cliff was “too dangerous” and once he resolved to climb up, you let him! I do not think a warning counts as “telling him what to do”, either, so you are complaining at nothing once again.

Further, you indeed cannot expect to tell him what to do, at least not with something like this. He only endangers himself with this climb, there is little danger in it and you are there to help out if things go wrong. Since that is the case, I see no pressing reason for you to demand actions from him, and so you should let him be. Eragon does not owe Saphira obedience, after all; he is not her servant, nor has he promised her to follow whatever she says. Still, she clearly thinks she does, because… well, because she is a dragon, given her “mere dragon” part.

I also note that she calls him a “man”, which… feels almost like she is accusing him of being sexist in not listening to her. The trouble with that is that Eragon has not shown himself to be sexist toward her, and that he clearly ignored her because he wanted to have some fun. (I would almost think that she is doing this to distract from her own bad behaviour.)

Of course, I am quite sure this is meant to be a funny scene. Eragon takes a foolish decision and gets stuck, Saphira calls him out on his foolish decisions, Eragon does not want to admit it, Saphira pushes some more with “humorous” hyperbole, and finally Eragon admits and she comes to get him. Even if that would be precisely what is going on, I would still not be happy to see Saphira essentially keeping Eragon hostage until he does what she says. That is abusive nonsense, and I do not find abuse especially funny. Some further thoughts:

1) I do not quite like that Saphira stares at him the whole way he climbs up, since that comes across as more than a bit aggressive to me.

2) This whole dialogue would be much better if it were had while Saphira is helping him up, because that would remove the abuse and make the actual intention shine through more clearly.

3) I know that the line above was meant to be hyperbole… but given what we have seen of her, it really is not, and that does feel worth highlighting specifically, along with her apparently thinking that she can order people around because she is a dragon.

HISC: In the self-published edition, she now says that it is “none of her business” if Eragon wants to get stuck climbing rocks. Saphira, Eragon made an honest mistake; can you please stop ragging on him?

Kerlois: At least that was removed. Let me show what comes next:

In fact, everyone should stand in awe of your brilliance of finding the only dead end. Why, if you had started a few feet in either direction, the path to the top would have been clear. She cocked her head at him, eyes bright.

Well, I do stand in awe of Saphira taking Eragon to task over Paolini’s thumb on the scales, if only because of the sheer gall that takes. More seriously, this actually undermines Saphira’s insistence that it is “his own fault”. Sure, he should have scrutinised the cliff more closely, but if this is literally the only dead end, he might, by rights, have expected not to land on it. That he did comes down to bad luck rather than foolishness on his part, so she comes off even worse.

Further, Eragon has not said he did not do anything wrong or the like, so her first complaint does not fit anything he actually does, either. She is once again ascribing things to him that he does not do.

Finally, her cocking her head is clearly because she wants to prod him into giving her what she wants, if she had not made that clear enough yet. It is too bad that she wants an admission that he is personally responsible for random bad luck from him, though, since that is utter nonsense.

All right! I made a mistake. Now can you please get me out of here? he pleaded.

And there is the admission, then, because Eragon clearly should have followed Saphira’s wishes (just because she is a dragon). He would not admit her wisdom at first, which would give him staying on the cliff as punishment, but now he has seen the error of his ways and is nicely submissive and pleading. This is how it comes across, at least.

I also dislike that Eragon is yet again prevented from putting up much a protest. Sure, he is allowed to complain now, but he is not allowed to consider magic to go up or down or to bring up that he needs to go back to Teirm quite soon. Even his protests are meant to show that he is being unreasonable, and he just is not allowed to win, because Paolini does not want him to.

…Come to think of it, Saphira might just have planned this. The cliff is a decent hiding place, but she had no good reason for telling him to come to the most inaccessible way of gaining the top unless that was the point of it. That also explains her comment about “if there are clearings”; if given the choice between climbing the cliff right before him and having to search for a clearing that might be there, he would choose the former, after all. Further, the way that she stares at him while he climbs up would fit if she is trying to look if he will stay on the path where he will get stuck.

This also fits well with her complaints earlier in the day about him getting into trouble. After all, she would probably have realised that she could not well literally tie Eragon to her back if he got in trouble. Consequently, she set up a scenario where she let Eragon get into “harmless” trouble and then show him the error of his ways (and mock him) until he admits that she was right. The problem with that is that Eragon is not just an object for her to manipulate (to adapt a quote from Eldest), but someone with desires and a will of his own, which means this is hurtful and abusive. In fact, thinking over her other interactions… I think that Saphira sees nearly everyone that way, with the exceptions of Brom, Arya, and some people we have yet to meet.

Given that she is a dragon and that she will be given quite some authority later, that will become a quite large problem. I cannot blame her very much for it yet, given that this has probably come into existence because of Eragon’s bad parenting, but someone should still make it quite clear to her that this is not okay. That will not happen, of course, since Paolini believes that Saphira is nearly always right, and she will only get much worse from here out. If only Paolini was a bit more aware of his writing; Saphira could make a great tragic villain…

So, let me score this:

For the Good of the Cause: 34 (+10)

Ill Logic: 27 (-1)

Well, Saphira has now got what she wanted from Eragon, so how does she reply when Eragon asks her to get him off the cliff?

She pulled her head back from the edge of the cliff. After a moment he called, “Saphira?” Above him were only swaying trees.

Yes, she simply pulls back entirely, seemingly leaving him to his fate. She could easily have told him that she will be back soon, but apparently she just wanted to punish him that little bit more. I do hate this.

Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 30

“Saphira! Come back!” he roared.

I can hardly blame him here, since he has quite some reason to think that Saphira has just abandoned him to stay on this cliff for a whole night! I also think she can stand to be screamed at for a bit, honestly.

Saphira then comes for him, jumping off the cliff wit a “loud crash” and “flipping around in midair”. That presumably means she turns around to face him, though it is confusingly worded. Also, good job on staying inconspicuous, Saphira! So she floats down to Eragon (and she is compared to a bat) and then “grab[s] his shirt with her claws”, scratching his back as she does so. She pulls him into the air and Eragon lets go.

This is a quite bad idea. I suppose she could lift him this way, but it bears the risk of his shirt tearing and him falling to his death. Further, she tears up his shirt and gives him scratches on his back, which might even infect. If she grabbed a hold of him with both her hands and then lifted him, he would be much more secure, and she would not be required to hurt him or tear his shirt. And sure, those latter two things will be forgotten soon, but this is still not nice.

Ill Logic: 28

Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 31

PPP: 940 (+2)

She flies him up, then puts him “gently” down on the top and pulls her claws out of his shirt. Then she says “Foolishness”, because she apparently just has to give him a final reminder of how “stupid” he was being, no matter that she set this up herself! It is pure victim-blaming.

Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 32

HISC: This edition then removes Saphira talking about how he should not be “more senseless” than he has to be (very insulting) and them discussing one of her examples. After that, Eragon looks away to study the landscape. Given that this edition goes from Saphira’s remark to Eragon looking at the landscape, it looks rather like he is quite done with her nonsense and looks away so she will leave him alone. It is a rare occasion where simply cutting has actually improved the book.

Kerlois: At least it does cut off Saphira’s abuse definitely. The cliff gives a great view of the surroundings, including the say, and “protection against unwelcome eyes”. Only birds will see Saphira here, he says (and do we ever), so it is an “ideal location”. You do realise that this area also has a less steep side, since it is a cliff, and that local people might climb this cliff for whatever reason and find Saphira? Yes, it is unlikely, but that is something to consider.

Saphira now wants to know if Jeod is “trustworthy”. Eragon does not know. I get what he means, namely that he is not wholly sure, but this makes it sound like he should not be around Jeod at all for fear of being betrayed. He then tells everything that has happened to him since he left Saphira. Once he is done, he says that “forces [] that [they] aren’t aware of” are circling them, and sometimes he wonders if they can ever understand the “true motives” of those around them, since they all seem to have secrets. Well, you can observe them closely and then you will probably learn some more about their motives. As for secrets… you could try to get them to trust you and then they might share their secrets. I know this will not work very well with Brom, but you would do will to keep in mind that he is considerably more secretive than most.

Saphira’s answer is rather different. She says this is ~how the world works~. He should ignore “all the schemes” and just trust in every person’s “nature”. So, Brom is good, he means them no harm, and they do not “have to fear his plans”. Saphira, Brom has been abusing Eragon quite often, he has nearly killed Eragon, he has threatened you, and his plans have nearly resulted in the both of you getting caught by the Ra’zac. You really need to give us a better example.

Even outside of examples, this does not make much sense. It is not just “the way of the world” that you cannot understand the true motives of the people around them and do not know their secrets; that depends on the people around you and it is not immutable. In fact, this almost seems like she is saying this to keep him from leaving his situation, by convincing him that he cannot get a better deal elsewhere.

Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 33

As for “ignore the schemes and trust in everyone’s nature”… people in Alagaësia do not have any kind of set “nature”, Saphira. With the true names, that will even become an important plot point! Even if that were the case, that does not mean you can simply trust the plans of Good people, either. They might well not know relevant things or not be rational on certain points, so you should keep an eye out for if these plans are actually working out well. I would wish that Paolini had put some actual thought into this “philosophy”…

Eragon says he hopes that they do not have to fear Brom’s plans (good on him for still having doubts!). Saphira then brings up the plan for searching the shipping records, which she finds “a strange way of tracking”. I suppose that depends on your ~point of view~, Saphira, as I find that quite reasonable. Now, in the self-published edition, Eragon says there is no other way and they talk about that, after which Saphira only brings it up a week later. The HISC has already pointed out how little sense that makes, and Paolini clearly realised that, too, and actually fixed it! He presumably set out to fix some other things while he was at it, and we will see how well he succeeded at that.

Well, in the present edition, we get the dialogue from “Of Reading and Plots”, which has been smoothed out a bit (which spares us Eragon’s “you mean with magic” question and two times “I’m not sure” in the same paragraph). The insertion is not wholly smooth, and would be better if Saphira said it seems difficult rather than weird, but I am still glad with this.

So, she asks quite rightly if it would be possible to use magic to see the records from outside of the room. Eragon is unsure, though he figures that you would need to combine the words for “seeing with distance” or maybe “light and distance”. Why would you need to use “distance”, though? The problem is not that you are too far away to see the scrolls; it is that there is a barrier between you and them and you need to see through it. The use case for these words would rather look like that for television. If I were to come up with some better words, I would use “light” (or líjothsa in the ancient language) and “seeing”, since he wants to see with light into the records room. That is another reason that his suggestions would not work: the room will presumably be dark unless someone comes in, so he needs to use light for the task. Still, both of his guesses are not bad for a first attempt.

He thinks it seems “rather difficult” and resolves to ask Brom, which Saphira finds wise. It is a good idea not to go experimenting on his own, certainly. We segue back to material originally in this chapter as they fall into silence. After a bit, Eragon says that they may have to stay in Teirm for a while. Saphira says with a “hard edge” that she will be left outside, as always. Given how awful she was just now, I find it a little hard to sympathise, but she certainly is right to be irritated over it. After all, she will be left to wait considerably longer than at Therinsford, Yazuac, or Daret and, since Brom and Eragon could easily have found out the Ra’zac’s hiding place by themselves, without any valid reason.

Eragon says that is not what he wants (then you could maybe come up with another technique to find the Ra’zac?) and that they will travel together “soon enough”. Saphira wishes that will happen and Eragon hugs her. This is a nice moment, but I have trouble appreciating it due to her earlier behaviour, unfortunately. Eragon then notices how quickly the light is fading. He says he needs to go now, or else he will be locked out of Teirm (oh no!). She can hunt tomorrow and then he will see her in the evening (do take care to be earlier then). Saphira offers to take him down, Eragon climbs on her back and holds on tightly as she flies over the maples to a “knoll”. Yes, that will not be noticeable at all.

Ill Logic: 29 (for her general lack of hiding skills)

Eragon gets off, thanks her and then runs back to Teirm. This edition removes mention of him having trouble finding his way back (maybe because the journey to her was removed, too?). So he sees the portcullis just as it is beginning to lower. He calls out for the guards to wait, runs even faster and slips inside “seconds before the gateway slam[s] closed” (I would say “slammed shut”, but I will not complain). So Eragon does not have to spend the night outside Teirm; that is nice to know, though I would not have predicted anything different. One of the guards says (with an accent) that Eragon cut it “a little close”. Eragon says it will not happen again. This is also not a great way not to attract attention, I would say.

After catching his breath, Eragon goes through the dark city to Jeod’s house, where a lantern hangs outside “like a beacon”. He knocks and a “plump butler” opens and usher him in without speaking. I… am not quite sure that term wholly fits with the time period Jeod’s house seems to be from. No, it indeed does not, so…

Did Not Do the Research: 106

We get a description of the inside: There are “tapestries” on the stone walls, “[e]laborate rugs” on the “polished wood floor” and “three gold candelabra” hang from the ceiling. We get a mention of smoke “drift[ing] through the air and collect[ing] above”. …Where is this smoke coming from? It cannot be from the candelabra, since those hang at the ceiling and no open doors are mentioned, so my first thought would be that he house is on fire! In any case, why does Jeod let smoke regularly drift into the main hall? I have no idea what is going on here, so I think this is the closest I can give:

Did Not Do the Research: 107

HISC: This description is significantly shortened and revised from the original, I note, and I do think the lack of reaction Eragon now shows does hurt this. It also creates an awkward pattern of paragraph lengths, as the butler speaking after that is its own paragraph. For the smoke… the original says that it comes from candles along the walls, which just makes me wonder why Jeod has not come up with anything better, and which would not exactly create as much smoke as seems to be implied.

PPP: 941

Kerlois: The butler shows Eragon the way and says that his “friend” is in the study. He also calls Eragon “sir”, which I wanted to note. The butler then leads him past “scores of doorways” (just how big is this house that there are more than forty doors from here to the study??) until the butler lets Eragon into the study. We get a description of that: it has all kinds of books on the walls, which, unlike those in the office, come in “every size and shape”, a lit fireplace and an “oval writing desk” where Brom and Jeod are “talking amiably”. …Why is it so notable that Jeod’s home study has differing kinds of books? Those in the office were clearly records, while these are not, so more variation is only to be expected. I doubt they would come in every shape, though; they are generally rectangular for good reasons.

PPP: 943 (+2) (for this and an awkward fragment)

Brom greets Eragon jovially, saying they were getting worried about him and asking how his walk was. Eragon wonders why he is in such a good mood, and why he “doesn’t just come out and ask how Saphira is”. …Because the butler has literally just left the room and he might hear it? You do realise that he might just tell this to other people, do you? I honestly think that Eragon might just not consider it because the butler is “just a servant”. It is a quite weird attitude for him to have, but it does fit with the book, so…

All the Isms: 17 (classism)

Ill Logic: 30 (because I just realised that Brom should have cast a spell against eavesdropping earlier)

PPP: 944 (for another “I wonder” question)

Eragon says it was pleasant, though he was nearly locked out of Teirm. He also finds Teirm big, and he had trouble finding Jeod’s house. Jeod chuckles at that, saying that when Eragon has seen “Dras-Leona, Gil’ead, or even Kuasta”, he will not find “this small ocean city” that impressive any more. I can certainly see Dras-Leona, since that seems to be the second-largest city in the Empire. Gil’ead… when we see it in this book, it is mostly a military outpost; when we see it in Murtagh, it is a full-fledged city, but the title character can still walk across it in what looks like a decent time to me, so it would not be as large as Jeod is suggesting. For Kuasta… it is quite isolated on the coast, so I highly doubt it would be even as large as Teirm (and we will never hear much about it, either, which only adds to that). The “ocean city” bit baffles me too, not only because Kuasta is just as much one as Teirm is, but also because… it almost seems to imply that it is less impressive because it lies on the ocean? I am not getting the logic. In any case, this inconsistency might well have come because Paolini had not ironed out the details of Gil’ead and Kuasta yet, but catching this is what a thorough revision is for.

PPP: 946 (+2)

Jeod does like it in Teirm despite how small it is. When it does not rain, he finds it is “really quite beautiful” (something I would probably agree with). Eragon does not react and asks Brom if he has an idea how long they will stay here. Brom does not know, as it depends on whether they can get to the records and on how long it will take to find out the hiding place of the Ra’zac. Yes, we could already have found that out ourselves. He says they will all need to help (so you volunteered Jeod already? Does he actually agree?), since it will be a “huge job”, and he will talk to Brand tomorrow to see if they can see the records. Good luck with that, Brom, though it would be a bit foolish to ignore the easy option. As for it being a huge job… I do not suppose Jeod, who has several books of records on hand, could give you tips on how to do it faster?

HISC: This edition removes Brom’s quite unnecessary line about them needing another way to get to the records if Brand refuses, and Eragon weird “except that…” line.

Kerlois: Eragon “shift[s] uneasily” now and says he does not think he will be able to help. Brom asks why not, since he will have “plenty of work”. …So his first assumption seems to be that Eragon is trying to get out of it, instead of having a legitimate reason (and this is Eragon’s quest, so it is his call if he wants to go on!). …Alright, time for an abuse count. Yes, it is very late for this, but I just want to know if the abuse is really much worse in this book than in the others, like I think. 20 points for Garrow, 10 points for Brom beating him in chapter 16, 10 for his further abusive training, 5 for breaking into Eragon’s mind, 20 for Eragon mistreating Saphira, 5 for Saphira pulling him out of his mind without warning, 10 for Saphira abusing him after Daret, 15 for her actions today, 10 for Brom’s general behaviour toward Eragon, and 1 for this…

Abuse Count: 106

Well, Eragon lowers his head and says he cannot read. Combined with him shifting uneasily, this quite clearly indicates that he is afraid that Brom will get angry at him… for something he is not in any way responsible for. Yes, that is a very healthy relationship! Brom is instead stunned and asks if Garrow never taught him. Did this never come up during the times he visited Brom, then? And did Brom not think to ask if Eragon could actually carry out their plan at any point between him coming up with it and now? And why would he even assume Garrow, the person who kept Eragon so isolated, would want Eragon to learn how to read?

Ill Logic: 31

Eragon is puzzled to hear that Garrow could read, which I am too. We get a note that Jeod watches with interest. Brom says that “of course” he did so. He calls Garrow a “proud fool” and says that he should have realised that Garrow would not have taught Eragon (yes, you should), since he “probably considered it an unnecessary luxury”. Yes, he most probably thought that… I am a bit surprised to see Garrow get called out on his bad behaviour; it is just a pity it does not stick. Brom is now angry. He says it sets his plans back, but “not irreparably”. He will just have to teach Eragon to read, which will not “take long if [he] put[s] [his] mind to it”.

You do not actually need to do that. Eragon just needs to be able to recognise the names of the cities and the keywords for Seithr oil. Being able to read will certainly help him, but it is not a necessity for this search. Of course, this also means that the actual search will be delayed even further. It is not a big problem, because Eragon will be learning things and that is potentially nice to see, but I do find it a bit annoying.

As for Brom’s comment… good luck with that, given how much he sucks as a teacher. Eragon winces at this, saying that Brom’s lessons are “usually intense and brutally direct” and wondering how much more he can learn at a time.

HISC: “You can learn as much as is necessary, if you just put your mind to it, and if you cannot, you are a lazy bastard.”

Kerlois: That about sums it up… I guess that “intense and brutally direct” is one way of saying that Brom has often beaten him up and sets out to make him feel bad during their lessons, which is abuse. It is a quite roundabout way of saying it, though, which puts no blame at all on Brom, and since I am certain that Eragon does not like this, it is misleading and dishonest.

Abuse Count: 107 (I also count the narrative excusing abuse for this)

History-Rewriting Narrator: 4

I also think that Eragon’s reaction makes quite some sense, given that Brom wants to teach him this as soon as possible, and that he thinks it necessary to continue their plans. I would expect an even worse experience than usual in that case. Thankfully, that does not happen, but the worry is founded. He “ruefully” says that he supposes it is necessary. …It is just so obvious that something is going wrong here, even without the context.

Jeod takes this as a sign to tell Eragon how much he will enjoy it. After all, there is much to learn from “books and scrolls”. He gestures at the books in the room and says they are his friends and companions, and they make him “laugh and cry and find meaning in life”. While Jeod has misunderstood Eragon’s reasons, I do agree with the sentiment (else I would not be here), and I note that reading books might even help him get out of his predicament, by showing him that this is not the way it has to be. Eragon does find it sounds “intriguing”.

Brom remarks on Jeod always being a scholar. Jeod thinks he has become a “bibliophile” by now. Eragon wants to know what that means and Jeod explains it means “One who loves books”. Well, thank you for explaining this new word to us, Paolini, even though it does not fit the world at all.

Ignored the Narrator: 57

With that done, Jeod goes back to talking with Brom, and that is where I want to stop for the time being. See us next time, for the last part of this longest chapter!