I believe.

I believe in dragons.

And I believe in Dragon Riders.

Belief in dark, hard times for hundreds of years by people always ragged and always hungry, yet believing that the hero who will save them is on the way, is paramount to seeing Eragon.

It is the story of a poor country teenager, reared by his uncle, who is tapped to be that hero. He lives in the hamlet of Carvahall, near the major town of Alajaësia. The individual who first believed in him is Saphira, a dragon. She knew in her heart of hearts that one day fate would bring them together, and as one, they would defeat the narcissist, not to mention slightly insane, King Galbatorix. He was well aware that if this event took place, his reign was doomed. The king called on his army of Ra-zacs, evil creatures if there ever was one, to find the hidden leagues of Varden, freedom fighters.

The story tells of the young teenager and the young dragon who must each grow up, stronger and wiser, in order to free the Varden by defeating the Ra-zacs. Along the way, a former Dragon Rider, Brom, becomes a mentor to Eragon, Orik appears to show Eragon the way to Varden, and of course there is a mysterious beautiful young lady, Arya. She is not only an elf, but also an expert swordswoman. She is from the elf capital of Elleszméra.

The author of this delightful fantasy is Christopher Paolini, born in 1983 in southern California and reared in Paradise Valley, Montana. Tall, jagged Beartooth Mountains rise on one side of the valley, and because they are snowcapped most of the year, they inspired the scenery in "Eragon." Home schooled, at the age of 15, he began this story as the daydreams of a teenager. Written both by hand and on his computer, he spent a year on the first draft. The second year was spent revising the book and then he gave it to his parents to read.

They decided to self-publish it and did so. They spent a year promoting the book themselves through talks at libraries and high schools. Christopher would do most of the presentations dressed in medieval costumes. The stepson of a well known author happened to buy one of the self published books while visiting in Montana, and the author took it to Alfred A. Knopf. In 2002 there were over one million copies in print just six months after publication by Knopf. It was given the 2006 Quill Book Award, the only book award chosen by consumers.

This 23 year-old first time author has captured the minds of young and old alike. He has dared to commit to paper the fanciful dreams of many of us, and has done so with panache.

If you believe that perhaps, just perhaps, there were dragons and Dragon Riders, zipping about defeating the Ra-zacs and freeing the Varden, this movie is for you.

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