Geography (3) - Christopher Paolini

About Christopher Paolini:

Christopher Paolini was raised in Paradise Valley, Montana. After graduating from High School at the age of 15, Paolini began work on his first novel in the Inheritance Cycle, "Eragon".

Paolini set his stories in a mythical land of his own creation called Alegasia. The stories follow a young boy called Eragon, who discovers a dragon egg and grows up to become a key figure in the liberation of the country from the evil king, Galbatorix.
Paolini based one of the characters in the series on his own sister. This character was Angela the herbalist, who is a very smart and sarcastic person, but also slightly crazy.

Eragon was published by Christopher's parents' publishing company in 2002. Paolini designed the cover and drew the maps for the first edition of this book. He then spent the next year travelling around the United States promoting his novel in libraries, schools and book shops.

The step-son of a famous author, Carl Hiassen, found the novel in a book shop and fell in love with it. He brought it to the attention of the publishing house, Alfred A Knopf, who offered to publish the rest of the books in the series.

The Inheritance Cycle has become a worldwide best selling series. The last book in the series is due to be released in November after much anticipation from fans.

Montana:

The world of the text, Alegasia, is largely based on the geography of Paolini's home in Montana. He even named certain geographical features, such as rivers and mountain ranges, after the places he experienced in his childhood. For example, the Beartooth River in "Eragon" is named after the Beartooth Mountains that surround Paradise Valley.


Paradise Valley is in the upper section of the Yellowstone basin and is a beautifully scenic place. It is surrounded by snow capped mountains with large grass lands and rivers in the centre. The valley has lots of hot springs since it is situated very near to the Yellowstone caldera. A caldera is a huge bowl shaped depression formed when land collapsed after a volcanic eruption. The Yellowstone caldera is one of the largest in the world.