On Brisingr and Inheritance

My journey to read more brings us to the latest two books I’ve read: the final two books in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. These two books update the reading list of the year to include:

19. Brisingr [Christopher Paolini; 2008] (7/5/25 - 7/24/25)

20. Inheritance [Christopher Paolini; 2011] (7/24/25 - 8/10/25)

Considering both of these books are each over 800 pages. I’m pretty proud of the progress. I aimed to read about 50 pages a day if possible, which is pretty close since it took me about 18 and a half days to read each. Since the next book, Murtagh, is just barely over 700 pages, I’m really hoping I can finish it by the time the school year starts. It’s a little daunting but we’ll see how I manage! Just like I did with the previous two, I’d love to give a lightly-spoiling retrospective on each.

Brisingr

Named after the word for ‘fire’ in the Ancient Language, Brisingr details Eragon and Saphira’s continued fight against the king Galbatorix.The book picks up immediately after the last book, Eldest, left off with Eragon and his cousin Roran targeting the Ra’zac. This kicks off a series of continued progressions on the part of the Varden: battles waged, lives lost, a wedding, a coronation, a sword… The ending is incredibly climactic, flashing back and forth between multiple characters in a very high-stakes bittersweet upset, but ends abruptly afterward.

So my thoughts? The book is well-written and packed with action, but in addition to the usual complaints of Paolini’s writing, it ends far too abruptly. The author shared that this book was initially the last book in the trilogy, but it became so massive that he split it in two, meaning it needed a new ending. I don’t hate the ending at all. It’s incredibly meaningful and proves the book isn’t afraid to have real consequences. But it doesn’t feel like the true final event for the book. The series continues to be wordy in a somewhat frustrating way. I’m continuing to look up SAT and GRE words that are peppered through. It’s a great opportunity for the age bracket to learn some new vocabulary, but it’s a hurdle for anyone else. Despite that, I like watching Eragon grow into his own in this book. He really starts to act like a leader and is even more cohesive with Saphira. On the note of dragons, Saphira gets some chapters to herself this time from her POV and it helps her feel like an incredibly relatable and dynamic character as the book progresses and not just an ally to Eragon. The book balances somber and hopeful notes, makes the war against Galbatorix have real gravitas, and pushes the reader on to the next book without feeling overly like filler. Highlights for me included Eragon’s quest to find a sword and continued entanglement and wrapping up of plot treads that were laid in the first book. This book continues the 4/5 rating for the series. It could tone down the wordy writing, but hits hard with how dynamic the characters continue to be. If you’ve read the first two books, I continue to recommend this at the very least so you can see Eragon grow up a bit and continue toward his goal.

Inheritance

The final book in the cycle takes big hits at Eragon and his allies, some final actions against Galbatorix are put in motion so help Eragon and the Varden win the war. The last remaining line of the prophecy from the first book gets some resolution, granting Eragon knowledge and power that he desperately needed. He still isn’t strong enough to fight the Empire alone, but with the help of the dwarves, elves, werecats, urgals, humans and pretty much whoever else will join, Eragon and the Varden move toward Galbatorix and his allies. The whole of this book feels like rising action, leading up to the ultimate decision Eragon has to face: will he be able to challenge the king and save the land, or will his power prove to be insufficient?

It’s hard to give a review on the final book in a series without any major spoilers. I really liked this book though, more than the rest. I remembered the least from this book. Since it’s been about fifteen years since I wrote it, huge chunks of memory was missing and believe it or not, I didn’t remember how it ended. I also think had skipped entire sections when I was younger, so it explains a lot that I didn’t remember much. This book served as a really satisfying culmination of four books, thousands of pages, and years of writing. Eragon comes into his own in a new role, the Varden faces hardship and triumph alike, and we’re left wanting more. Unfortunately, we had to wait about ten years until we got more. I reread this series to prepare for reading Murtagh, a book recently released taking place in the same universe after the events of the original series. I can’t recommend this enough if you’re interested in reading Murtagh, or anything else in this world, since there’s a lot of plot development and changes in the dynamics between characters. This book heavily spoils everything that happened between Eragon and Inheritance, so getting to read through the series is very warranted. Anyway, Inheritance is probably the best in the series, solely based on the resolution. Also, you can tell that Paolini was older, possibly even a young adult, when writing this book. The themes feel more mature, the resolutions more grounded, and even though there’s the dangling carrot of potential future books, the book and series don’t feel incomplete or lacking. There’s even a good bit of time committed to the resolution following the climactic events that take place in the last 150 pages of the book. It’s nice to see so much energy and information committed to bringing the reader down and settling them off of the crazy ride they’ve been on for so long. This book still gets a 4/5, simply because I felt that as Paolini grows into his own, he’ll get better and better as a writer. This book is really great, and the best so far, but it could absolutely be better. The pacing could be a bit more measured, and the story could manage its switching between perspectives with a bit more choice.

I’m onto the next book, Murtagh, so we'll see how the writing changes as the author ages. I have high hopes. I’m over 100 pages into this one and it’s a bit convoluted so far: more like a strange James Bond-style caper, but I’m liking it enough.