Inheritance

Published: November 8th, 2011
Inheritance
By: Christopher Paolini
Random House
ISBN-13: 9780375856112


Not so very long ago, Eragon—Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider—was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.

Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances.

The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?

This is the much-anticipated, astonishing conclusion to the worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle.

Review

   So when we left him in Brisingr, Eragon was on the move with the Varden toward defeating Galbatorix, Roran had become a total bad-ass, Elva was a slight enemy and Arya was not reciprocating Eragon's feelings.  Oh yeah, and the whole Eldunari (heart of hearts) thing had just been revealed.  I have to say that the first half of this book is all build-up toward the final battle.  Fairly BORING buildup.  I was reading this because I wanted to see how the series ended and it felt like most of this book was filled with dry descriptions of unimportant things.  I have never been a hardcore fan of Paolini's work, plus I admittedley slogged my way through the end of Eldest and again through the middle half of Brisingr.  But from the promising amount of detail and the relatability of the characters, I thought Paolini could carry it off in a fairly decent way at least.  I will say that I liked the revelations about the Rock of Kuthian, the Vault of Souls, Nasuada's scenes with Murtagh and the interactions of Roran with just about everybody.  The part where Eragon and Saphira figure out their true names was emotional as well.  However, the battle between Eragon and Galbatorix is sorely lacking in any climactic finale - it just whispers into the night unsatisfyingly.  I also abhorred the endings that were given to the main characters by Paolini.  To me duty is extremely important in fiction and real life, but seriously!  NONE of them are truly happy at the end excluding Roran and Katrina.  Considering that it was to be expected, whoop-de-freaking-doo.  I HATE the fact that I spent so much of my time getting through this monstrosity only to be so disappointed.  That said, the fact that he managed to keep me reading and make me laugh a couple of times gets him a couple of stars.  Plus, although bad, it was not the worst I've read by far.  That would be the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for which I still shake my fist at J.K. Rowling on a regular basis.  Read with caution and only if you're a serious fanatic who's dying to see how it ends. 

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*