You all make valid points, of course. As I said, all still huge Sues and Stus, just not as much so as we all think. I like to think that Paolini was at least trying most of the time. He did at least try to make good characters- early on, anyway. I kind of get the sense that he stopped trying about halfway through Brisingr. He did use a lot of deus ex machina stuff. But the series sort of started out pretty alright and then went downhill, you know?

Inheritance (the final book) was where stuff really got bad though. That was where we got Roran taking down a city with no particular plan, Galbatorix basically creating (and Eragon surviving) a small nuclear blast, the Vault of Souls, and Arya becoming a Rider, not to mention Angela's absolutely ridiculous fighting ability.

Forgive me, but the Redwall series took a similar downturn towards Mr. Jacques' unfortunate death. I love almost every single one of the series that I've read up to now, but Rogue Crew killed me inside. I think anything written after it would be unbearable. Seriously, Skor wore tanned hides and still got called a good guy. Think what would happen if a vermin wore otter hides. Sure, the same sort of double standard exists in the real world, but that may be taking it a bit far. It's not the worst book I've read, not by any means, but I still stand that it wasn't exactly good, although I did enjoy it. Probably more because of Razzid and the Wiltuds than anything. I hated Skor though- almost as much as I hate Fernflower. I didn't like Rake Nightfur a whole lot either. Dual-wielding claymores? Hah, no. That's about as plausible as Eragon's learning to read in a week.

Keep in mind I'm still a loyal fan of the series and don't murder me or anything. The only series I haven't found fault of some kind with yet is LotR, though I'm sure it's there.

What gets me about the whole series is that it's so inconsistent. Eragon is a complete idiot most of the time, except for random instances of pure genius when it would be convenient for him, such as learning to read in a week. His healing ability seems to come and go as well; he cured cancer in a few minutes, but it takes him more than an hour to heal a cleft palate. Elven magic is explained in great detail, there's even a spell glossary in the back of the book, but dragon magic is hardly explained at all, and often acts like a deus ex machina. The Elves, we have all agreed, are a giant race of Sues that completely rip off Tolkien's Elves, so shouldn't the fact that Eragon is slowly turning into one be a somewhat Stuish trait? And sure, he doesn't get the girl he wants, but I seem to recall several others being interested in him. His one major physical flaw is totally erased during the aforementioned Blood-Oath celebration.
I have a whole 'nother rant for his sword, which you claim to not be a Sword of Stuness. Your first argument, that the sword was not unique, is only half true. Yes, other Dragon Riders had swords of a similar nature, but each one was a different color and was specially made for that rider. The fact that Eragon named his "fire" in a magical language in which words have power and didn't expect it to burst into flames is an astounding lack of logic on his part. What also gets me is the blacksmith, who belongs to a supposedly peaceful race, yet is incredibly skilled at making swords. Inheritance-verse Elves don't even use swords, so how was she able to practice? That's not the sort of thing you learn from guesswork and approximation.
When it comes to this series, I can't help but root for the bad guy. Galbatorix is just a cardboard cutout of a villain, and even then he hasn't really done anything wrong. I mean sure, he killed a few people, but Eragon has killed dozens more. And he really hasn't done anything bad as a ruler, if anything he made the country better. He kind of reminds me of Ventinari in that everyone hates him, but they have to admit that he does his job well.
- This has been a rant on the Inheritance Cycle by TheMadHatteress.

...that the entire elvish race is one giant homogeneous lump of Sue. They are simply the best at everything, and seem to have all the answers.

I still see them all as Sues. I'd just like to offer some counterpoints to your arguments:

Firstly, Eragon's name is on letter away from being "dragon". Honestly.

Eragon's personality

Foolishness seems here to replace the "adorable clumsiness syndrome" found in certain female Sues.

He can be a genius sometimes- he learned to read in less than a week- but these stints of increased intelligence are rare and short.

Plot-induced intelligence, perhaps?

Eragon's story

Just one thing: He gets redemption points when the romance spends most of its time not going his way[...].

Even if he doesn't succeed at everything doesn't subtract Sue-points away from him. The author still *has* to show us some sort of suspense/drama/struggle, ne?

Eragon's weapons

I agreed until this bit: The biggest difference between Eragon's blade and the literally hundreds of others? His lights on fire.

Is that not the very definition of Speshul?

And then he messed up again by dropping his blade in surprise.

If I was fighting with a weapon and it suddenly decides to light itself on fire, I'd drop it too. Dropping your weapon in surprise doesn't really make you less of a Sue, mate...

Eragon's abilities

He can place multiple wards on half a dozen VIPs and still not die from sudden energy drain in battle. Sure, he might have constructed the spell so that it runs on the people themselves but surely *they* do not have the stamina of an Ubercharged half-elf half-human? The energy loss would be like piling ten centimetres of plate armour on your back and running a marathon in the middle of the Sahara.

With no water.

As for the other characters...

Arya: Completely agree.

Roran: This is the guy who killed about 200 soldiers by himself, wrestled a Urgal to the ground, breached a city with a completely improvised plan, and armed with so much plot armour a Dalek would have trouble scratching it.

Stu.

Nasuada: Feels off for me. Her resisting Galbatorix's attempts to undermine her sanity is sketchy, considering the king managed to break every single person he wanted to manipulate.

Elva: Sue. A toddler suddenly as mature as an adult? Doesn't fly with me, even if magic is involved. I think a child with her powers would go mad rather than to grow up like she did.

Also needs to be disciplined.

Angela: Speshul weapons? Check. Mysterious (read: completely unexplained) backstory? Check. Powerful influences? Check. Powerful magic user? Check. The fact that she becomes a walking plot device by the fourth book doesn't help either.

Solembum: I don't even know, to be honest. He seems pretty okay, if not a bit plot-devicey.

Brom: Seems decent. In my opinion, one of the more plausible characters in the story, even if he was practically a clone of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Orik: Agree on the fact that he's not a Stu, but I'm not sure if I follow your reasoning. Being rude, alcoholic, slightly crazy, and "unrefined" does not automatically subtract Sueishness points. Beware the Anti-Sue.

Nar Grahzvog: I like this guy. Agree with you on the fact that he isn't a Sue, but once again not because he is "ugly" and part of the monster-turned-ally-race.


...aaaand that's all I have. Thoughts?