Article summary

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini -- of which Brisingr is the latest -- shows every sign of becoming one of the most exuberant and entertaining fiction sequences in modern writing, with a scope and ambition that genuinely takes the breath away. This is a fantasy world which is cleverly designed to appeal to the widest possible range of readership; the inevitable echoes of JRR Tolkien are transformed into something rich and strange here, and the events of the earlier books are being drawn together in the later developments with masterly assurance.

After the massive, punishing battle against the Warriors of the Empire, Eragon and Saphira are licking their wounds, having barely survived. The Rider and his dragon have an oath to fulfil; they must aid Katrina in escaping the most terrible danger. What follows is an epic journey, quite as action-packed and vividly described as anything in fantasy fiction. As in all the best such literature, the odds are overwhelming, nothing can be taken at face value, and the evil forces ranged against the protagonists are as vile as one could wish.

Christopher Paolini clearly now feels that he has readers securely in his pocket, and is prepared to take his time to achieve some of his best effects -- a tactic that pays dividends. So often with fantasy fiction, outlandish situations are relied upon to carry the action, and there is no shortage of them here. But Paolini is canny enough to realise that the characterisation of an endangered protagonist is crucial to maintain our involvement, and (as in previous books), he always takes care of business in this regard. Don't be put off by the daunting length of this book -- Paolini justifies every word in Brisingr. You'll find yourself reading it as quickly as many a shorter book. --Barry Forshaw

Customer's review

good read but lacking in excitement

This will satisfy fans of the series but there isn't really any story progression - paolini dwells more on character development and past events before eragorn was born. Although this extra background information helps add to the story and readers find out more about lesser characters, I couldn't help but be underwhelmed by the lack of action that you would expect from a fantasy story about dragons, especially after the last two books.

Don't do it .......

This is just awful. I tolerated the first two being both derivative and badly written and put it down to a young author finding his feet. But this is the worse of the three.

The book is predictable in extreme as the young hero lives out the author's adolescent Dungeons and Dragons adventures.

I tried. I really really tried but half way through I abandoned it. I was sick of falling out of the world he almost creates when he insists on using a 'big' word trying to impress the reader with word knowledge instead of doing his best to retaining the readers immersion. This will become one of three books I have ever started and never finished out of the hundreds I've read.

I can only say go read some more and see how the real writers do it.

If your older than 9 and looking for something to read, buy something else!!

Do I really have to give it a star?

Finally growing up

My biggest dissapointment? Getting to page 749 and: "Here ends the third book (...) the story will continue and conclude in book four." Urg! I waited for ages. When will I find out what happens in the end?

However I was delighted to see that Mr Paolini has finally put down the lexecon of synonyms which he seemed so attached to in books one and two. Red is red. There is little need for so many "carmine, crimson, sanguine, maroon, ruby, scarlet..." We got the point!

Although the seven-hundred-odd-page book suddenly became two seven hundred-odd-page-books I can certainly see why. I enjoyed following Eragon in real time, as perplexed as he as to how he would ever find his way out of this mess. I enjoyed the detail, the side-stories, the progressive discovery. I also thought the passage from what Eragon was up to, to what the Varden were up to, much less brutal than in book two where every snapshot between Roran and Eragon broke the flow and stopped the reader from getting truly involved in the plot.

All in all, a better book by my standards than it's predecessors. Now I just have to wait another three years for the end.

Brisingr

My 9 year old son and I have LOVED this series and can't wait for the fourth and final book. We both wish we could be dragon riders and are totally captivated by the relationship between Eragon and Saphira. The story can be a bit gruesome at times, but it is also touching and funny as well as exciting and totally un-put-downable! We recommend it!

So we finally have it...the next piece of Inheritance

The author is growing up and so is his writing. It seems in this book that he has stopped trying to tell everything all at once. It appears to have a direction and an end in sight but more importantly he may actually have a plan.

I had no objection to the fact that the 'trilogy' was extended, in a way it needed to be to let us learn a little about these people and their politics. That is what this book gives us that is missing in the first two a background to fit the events into. Only problem I wanted more info!

I agree with the review of Me, if he ends it well with a minimum of cliches then it will be a good sort of series.

Brisingr (Inheritance Cycle)

Article summary

Customer's review

good read but lacking in excitement

Don't do it .......

Finally growing up

Brisingr

So we finally have it...the next piece of Inheritance

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