Literary Style and Genre
Eldest falls in the genre of juvenile fiction and fantasy. Reviews often commented on how Eldest borrowed from the fantasy genre. Other reviews criticized and praised the writing style of the author. Los Angeles Times, while noting that the writing was more mature, criticized the novel for being inconsistent and having an archaic style. An Entertainment Weekly review was negative toward the story because it was slow-paced, while The Washington Post said Eldest needed to be shortened. A reviewer from The Boston Globe said:
"He is to English as a bad dog to a chainsaw: he worries it, and worries it, and devastation spreads around him."
On the other hand, Barnes & Noble called the writing style fluid and Children's Literature praised the story for being richly detailed. Kirkus Reviews compared the story to a patchwork of fantasy elements and characters, then concluded that it, despite being derivative, was exciting and held together well.
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