Christopher Paolini

CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI

To fully commit yourself to SF and fantasy, it takes more than a little guts. Just ask Christopher Paolini, a Montana teenager who appeared at a local high school wearing lace-up boots, pantaloons, swordsman's shirt and beret. "It's a farming community and there are all these ranchers' sons, and there I am standing on stage in a medieval costume. I was petrified," he told Christian Science Monitor. Yet this wasn't the annual Halloween contest, and Paolini isn't your average Tolkien-obsessed kid. The nerve-racking appearance was the first of over 130 Paolini made nationwide at schools, bookstores, libraries and fairs; hecklers be damned, the costumed 17-year-old had his very own fantasy book to promote grassroots-style: Eragon, part one of a trilogy to be known as The Inheritance.

Such brave, tireless marketing savvy paid off handsomely for Paolini, now 19. Eragon originally self-published by his family, has sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and currently sits at number 3 on the New York Times bestseller list for children's chapter books--right behind heavyweight authors Lemony Snicket and J.K. Rowling. Like the book's wunderkind author, Eragon's title character is an adolescent destined for greatness. Residing in the troubled kingdom of Alagaesia, Eragon's adventure begins when he discovers a shiny, blue dragon egg in the forest. When the egg hatches, Eragon names the infant dragon Saphira; he's inherited not just caretaking responsibilities but the helm of an ancient, long-dormant brotherhood known as the Dragon Riders. This poses a mortal threat to the vicious rulers of Alagaesia, and young Eragon soon has no choice but to become the chief defender of his people.

Hailed as a "solid, sweeping epic fantasy" (Kirkus Reviews) and "an auspicious beginning to both career and series" (Publishers Weekly), the burgeoning franchise began when Paolini was the same age as his protagonist: 15. The precocious, home-schooled teen had just earned his GED and was taking a break before starting college. With not much else to do around the rural family homestead (18 miles away from the nearest town), Paolini gave himself "a wild challenge . . . to produce a book-length work, without any intention of publishing it," according to an online interview. The genre would have to be fantasy for the budding author, a rabid fan of Tolkien, Phillip Pullman, Mervyn Peake and Octavia Butler. As for the specific subject, he had major dragon on the brain--with a twist.

"I was thrilled by the idea of a young man becoming linked with a dragon," he said. "Eragon cares for [Saphira] from the moment she hatches. That makes their relationship very different than if he had suddenly joined up with an age-old dragon. This way, they're both young and exploring the world for the first time."

Two years and two drafts later, Paolini turned his manuscript over to his author-parents, who happened to own a small publishing company. Amidst the final round of revisions, in which he drew the original cover illustration, interior maps and a self-portrait for the back cover, the 17-year-old had a crucial decision to make: accept a full scholarship to Reed College in Portland, Oregon or take his debut novel on the road. He chose the latter, donning that memorable costume as he read passages to initially reluctant audiences nationwide.