Christopher Paolini lives in Paradise Valley,Montana,where he wrote the first book Eragon.Homeschooled by his parents,Paolini graduated from high school at the age of 15,but felt he was not yet mature enough for college,so in his spare time he wrote Eragon.After writing the first draft for a year,he spent a second year rewriting it,and then presented it to his parents.They saw the book's potential and published it in 2001 through their home-based publishing company,Paolini International.
Paolini and his family toured across the US to promote the book.Over 135 talks were given at bookshops, libraries, and schools,but the book did not receive much attention.Paolini said,“I would stand behind a table talking all day without a break—and would sell maybe forty books in eight hours if I did really well...It was a very stressful experience.I couldn't have gone on for very much longer.”
In the summer of 2002,American novelist Carl Hiaasen was on vacation in one of the cities that Paolini gave a talk in.While there,his stepson bought a copy of Eragon that he “immediately loved”.He showed it to his stepfather,who brought the book to the attention of the publishing house Alfred A.Knopf.Michelle Frey,executive editor at Knopf,contacted Paolini and his family to ask if they were interested in having Knopf publish Eragon.The answer was yes,and Knopf republished Eragon in August 2003, which was followed by Eldest in 2005, Brisingr in 2008, and Inheritance in 2011.