#theforkthewitchandtheworm #christopherpaolini #talesfromalagaësia A stunning new collection of stories based in the world of the #inheritencecycle , continuing the adventures of #eragon #bookblogger #bookstagram #bookstagramfeature #coverkidsbooks #instabook #ireadya #teenlit #kidslit #teenbooks #teenread #newbook #yalit #bookblogger #bookstagram #bookstagramfeature #coverkidsbooks #instabook #ireadya #teenlit #kidslit #teenbooks #newbook #newfictions #newfiction https://www.instagram.com/p/BqvIxVIHOyb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ws9yiyftozzb
I started reading the #inheritencecycle a little while back, and I'll post a combination razzle-dazzle picture later, but this book was bloody excellent. As opposed to the first two, this book had a very dark feel to it most of the way through, and it's ending has made me need to start reading #inheritence immediately. Lord of the Rings, eat your heart out; this series is brilliant. #eragon #brisingr #dark #bookstagram #bookworm
So, I first read Eragon (the first book in the Inheritence Cycle) by Christopher Paolini in 2005 and I finished the final book in the Cycle (Inheritence) for the second time the other day and I have some thoughts I figured I'd throw up on Tumblr.
While I was initially kinda let-down by the ending of the series, I definitely enjoyed it a lot more the second time around. Not reading to find out what happens let me enjoy it a whole lot more and really appreciate the way things panned out. I still feel that he left way too much open and way too many loose ends (which he plans to tie up in 9 planned new books set in Alegeaisia) but I suppose I can accept that.
The issue isn't with Christopher Paolini or his books. I enjoy his style of writing but in the last year I've been introduced to not only A Song of Ice and Fire (By George R R Martin) but also The Kingkiller Chronicle (By Patrick Rothfuss) and those two series have shattered my expectations and perceptions of a good fantasy story. Both these series feature writing and stories that just go far beyond the scope of Paolini's. As hard as Paolini tries to bring in new elements from different fantasy settings - true names are a good example - he's too predictable and formulaic of an author in a lot of ways. While I enjoyed the last 100 pages of Inheritence - it is so very clearly inspired by The Lord of The Rings and inspiration is good, but sometimes you're a little too close to the source work and that's unnerving in some ways.
I've loved reading The Inheritence Cycle as I've gone through school - I'm sort of in a state of realising that Paolini's writing in Eragon and Eldest was damn impressive because of his age when he wrote them, but in Brisignr and Inheritence it's barely changed. Some of that is style sure but even so, some of the weaknesses in Paolini's writing that I can accept in Eragon and Eldest just aren't as easy to overlook in Brisingr and Inheritence.
Maybe it's just me, but the series has never been as strong as I felt it was in Eldest - thematically in particular. At the start of Brisingr, we're basically shown that Eragon is completely fucked-up from his fight with Durza - he's crippled and all his potential as a dragon rider is basically thrown away and then the novel goes on about how he overcomes his handicap in order to be the dragon rider he was born to be. You get to meet Oromis - who is wierdly more human than others in a lot of ways - and get to see the exciting city of Ellesmera and the culture of the Elves. Additionally, Eldest follows Roran who has to step up and be the big man in his family after Garrow's murder and the book shows his story of becoming a leader. Then you have Nasuada who has to deal with the challenges of leadership of the rebellion and it all comes together at the Battle of the Burning Plains where everything that Eragon, Roran and Nasuada have been working towards comes to fruition. I always note that Murtagh's murder of King Hrothgar sets in motion Orik's journey to inherit the responsibilities of his father and then when the big reveal that Eragon's father was Morzan (despite this being basically ret-conned) finally comes it throws everything out tilt and throws the reader back. So yeah, I really like Eldest and I dunno if the series has ever revisited that high for me.
For all my little gripes about Inheritence - I fucking loved the siege of Uru'Baen. Holy hell that was a great section of the book. Just, the cutting between Roran on the ground and Eragon facing off against Galbatorix was so perfect and stuff :D
That said, gripes about how so much time was spent building Galbatorix up as this non-generic villain and then he turned out to be a generic villain amused me. From all the talk of Galbatorix's magnificent and charismatic dialogue I expected dialogue that matched up when instead all we really got was generic dialogue + Eragon telling the reader how convincing it sounds.
