Beginning
this month, the Alagaësía Newsletter will
now feature exclusive entries from Christopher Paolini
himself! Read below:
Hello, everyone! This is my first post of what will
become monthly updates on news about Eragon,
what I’m currently up to, and my progress with the
all-consuming project of my life, Eldest,
which will be published in Fall 2005.
I
thought that I would begin by giving you a brief overview
of some notable events of the past few months and
what’s upcoming:
The
biggest piece of news is that the Fox 2000 studio
optioned Eragon for a movie. Whee! I’m delighted
because the thought of seeing Eragon on the
big screen is really incredible.
In
addition to working on Eldest, I’ve also
been working with my editor on a special edition of
Eragon that will be released this fall. It
will include quite a bit of information on the ancient
language and the dwarf language, a brief dissertation
on the origins of the names in Alagaësia, another
piece of art by me—Zar’roc or Saphira flying—and an
exclusive fold-out map of Alagaësia. I’m really
looking forward to seeing it!
Last
month I went to the UK on a promotional tour—my first
time overseas. The Random House UK staff was absolutely
wonderful, and all of my signings and events went
flawlessly. One of the highlights of my visit was
getting to see the His Dark Materials play, by Phillip
Pullman, in London. It was a great adaptation of the
trilogy, with a great cast . . . Lyra couldn’t be
better, and Timothy Dalton plays Lord Asriel! Also,
I got to meet Garth Nix—we had a joint photo shoot
for a Glasgow paper—which was an incredible treat
because I had just read, and thoroughly enjoyed, the
Abhorsen series.
The
strangest event of the tour happened in Dublin, when
I was interviewed on television by Dustin the Turkey—a
hand-puppet. I had a five-minute segment between various
children’s programs. I suppose that you have to be
interviewed by a turkey at least once in your career.
Dustin even interrogated Ireland’s prime minister
at one point! I say interrogated because Dustin tends
to shout.
On February 27 Knopf is sending me back on tour in
the US to ten cities for two weeks. I look forward
to meeting some of you along the way!
Once
I get back home, I will be concentrating on writing
Eldest!
May
your swords stay sharp,
Christopher
Paolini
