Today marks our favorite author’s 33rd birthday, and what better of a way to celebrate than with a Saphira cake?
Christopher first wrote Eragon when he was just 15 years old. It’s hard to believe that 18 years have passed since he first brought Alagaësia to life! Today is a great time for us to come together as a community to send our well wishes and thanks to Christopher for creating a universe that has brought joy, happiness, and excitement to millions of fans across the globe for close to two decades!
This is also a fun day to learn more about Christopher and the wild ride he’s had in his 33 years on Earth!
- Christopher was homeschooled for his entire education and graduated from high school at 15 – the same year he wrote the first draft of Eragon
- Christopher applied to and was accepted by Reed College but chose to defer his attendance to promote the self-published version of Eragon
- Christopher and his family first published Eragon in 2002 through their small company, Paolini International, LLC
- Christopher’s books have sold over 40 million copies in fifty-three countries
- Christopher sat atop the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher Weekly bestseller charts for each of his books – sometimes for spans of a year or more
- Christopher was awarded a Guiness World Record for being the “youngest author of a bestselling book series” (awarded on January 5, 2011), a record he holds to this day
- Christopher is more than a best-selling author – he’s also a talented artist! His illustrations have adorned the inside of the Inheritance Cycle novels and include the map of Alagaësia, dragon eyes, Rider swords, and more
- Christopher is colorblind, which influenced the unique way Saphira sees the world
- You’d think that the author’s favorite dragon color would be blue, given Saphira’s scales, but his preferred dragon color is actually purple!
- Christopher based the early version of Eragon off of himself (and initially named Eragon “Kevin”)
- Christopher based Brom off of his father, Kenneth, and based Angela off of his sister. The boat Eragon sails off in at the end of Inheritance, Talita, was named after his mother
- Christopher has traveled the world in the decade since Eragon was released by Random House in 2003! He’s visited North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia! He’s recently traveled back to Europe and to Prague in the Czech Republic
- Christopher is hard at work on a sci-fi novel, which will be his first release following the publication of Inheritance in 2011!
Update: A talented group of Russian Inheritance Cycle fans illustrated Christopher alongside the series’ main characters to create the ultimate birthday card! (Source)
