Direct Download: 20040303-christo.mp3

After graduating high school at the age of 15 Christopher Paolini needed something to do. So, he sat down to write his debut novel, Eragon, the first of an emerging three-part fantasy series about dragons and their riders. His parents, owners of a small publishing company, were so impressed with their son’s story that they published it two years later. Knopf picked the book up in 2003 and it was later nominated for the American Library Association 2003 Best Books For Young Adults Award. Booklist calls the novel an "unusual, powerful tale" and writes that it is "obvious that Paolini knows the genre well."