To be fair, she's a young dragon, and in this universe, you have to age a bit before you can breathe fire. Maybe that's true in other fantasy universes too, but you just don't hear about it.
Eragon has been maligned for being too much like Tolkien and like Star Wars.
So what if it is? What if you read this before any Lord of the Rings or watching any Star Wars? You'd think it was a pretty good book, especially after you learn it was written by a teenager.
I thought it was a decent book even after reading LOTR and seeing Star Wars. I think that, if I hadn't seen the criticisms about plot similarity, I wouldn't have noticed them.
Sorry if I just spoiled it for you.
Eragon, the movie, is apparently a lot worse than the book. I haven't seen it and don't plan to.
Eragon has been called Tolkien lite. Fine. Maybe Tolkien is too heavy for younger readers. Get them started with this. When the time comes, maybe they'll appreciate Tolkien even more.
