I was tidying and sorting my bookshelves earlier, and I stumbled across these book. I thought to myself, what do I actually think about them, and this prompted my review.
In all honsesty, I don't know what to make of them. Eragon, the first book was published in 2003. I absolutely adored it. The world was so magical, so mysterious. I fell in love with the character of Eragon. Just a simple farm boy but with a destiny so different, so spellbinding. It was perfect, and I read the book multiple times. Then I learnt that the second book, Eldest, was to be published in 2005.
Great! I couldn't wait. Christoper Paolini was a genius to me, and Eldest would be devoured. But sadly, I came back down to earth with a bump. Whereas Eragon had been so amazing, Eldest simply wasn't. It was messy. It didn't feel right. The characters grated on me. The writing was more like a list than a masterpiece. I was so let down. And the plot didn't seem to go anywhere! A whole 700 pages and I felt no further than when I had at the end of Eragon.
Still, I thought to myself, it's a trilogy, and there's only one book to go. You've come this far, you might as well see it through. So, when I found out that the third book was to be published September 2008 I couldn't wait.
And then Paolini dropped a bombshell. There were no longer going to be 3 books. The Inheritance Trilogy had become The Inheritance Cycle, with the addition of a fourth and final book. This in affect, didn't actually mean anything to me. I actually thought it would be a good thing. Wow, if he'd had to add a WHOLE book to get all the answers in, to tie everything together, what on earth must happen in this next book? So I waited patiently. Brought it. And the answer to my question was... Nothing.
Brisingr is possibly the most disappointing book I have ever read. I couldn't believe it. I didn't think it could get any worse after Eldest, but I was completely wrong. 700 pages, yet again, of absolutely nothing. I was bored stiff reading it, and no word of a lie, it took me 6 months to read. I just got so fed up that I had to read something else. Major disappointment.
And he broke the theme for the titles. A 6 letter word, beginning with E, so that was a bit annoying too.
So as it is, we're going in to the finale no further along than we were at the end of Book 1. Great. Good job Mr. Paolini.
I'm going to read Book 4, only because I've come this far, and I want to see how it ends. I really hope Paolini can redeem himself. An amazing book, followed by two dire books. Odds are, he's got to write a good'en sometime soon!
