Customer Reviews

Brisingr: Inheritance, Book III

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I understand the other reviewer's complaints about the story. And I would have to agree with the point that christopher has seemed to have forgotten some of his details and has perhaps paid less attention to them than in prior books. However, i myself found the book fun to read and have no complaints about a choppy writing style. Also there are not near as many "dwarf politics" as you might expect from some other reviews. I didn't think that the book was dragging on or that there were holes in the plot. However, as soon as you start reading you know there is no way he will finish the story in three books. I suppose he could have tightened the plot some but personally i don't mind the low points between minor climax. I have not experianced "buyers regret" with this book and if you liked the other two books this one should not disappoint.

After the heart-pounding action we saw in Eldest, which was an excellent follow-up to Eragon, Brisingr brings the excitement down a few notches. Maybe it's the overexpectation after reading Eldest, but I found this book to have too much conversation, politics, and too many diversions. It's still a good read for those who want to follow the storyline; however, be prepared to skip a few paragraphs or even a few pages of unnecessary prattle. This book could have been a little shorter and a little more whole. It is still a good tale, regardless of its flaws, and still worth an afternoon's tea and biscuits.

Somebody needs to tell Christopher Paolini that no matter many elves and dwarves you include, moral debates and politics do not an epic fantasy make.

Unfortunately that's only one of the problems with Paolini's third long-winded, short-plotted fantasy novel about the adventures of the More-Special-Than-Thou Eragon. "Brisingr" reads less like a coherent novel than like a string of unevenly-written side plots -- and the last one improves somewhat, it cannot save the third Inheritance Cycle book from being as lifeless as the dead trees it's printed on.

After a gratuitously gory cult scene, Roran and Eragon make the journey to a mountain citadel to rescue Katrina, and find themselves facing the very last Ra'zacs.

But after sending his cousin and future in-law on their way, Eragon finds himself facing a moral dilemma -- he's found Katrina's treacherous father, and isn't sure how to punish him. Be assured that whatever choice he makes is the right one, because he's a Dragon Rider and therefore Utterly Awesome. Meanwhile, the Varden are threatened when a chief of Nasuada's native people challenge her to a bloody duel, and she has no choice but to accept.

Oh yeah, and Murtagh and his newborn dragon arrive with a bunch of nerveless warriors for a surgical strike on the Varden citadel. But even after that, there are many other problems -- a forthcoming wedding, Roran's assignments on dangerous missions, and the upcoming nomination of a new dwarf king. And when Eragon finally returns to Ellesmera, he learns the truth of his own past, and is given a possible key to his future...

Though originally the finale of the series, "Brisingr" is a classic example of "middle book syndrome" -- it fails to advance anything except the myriad subplots that the Inheritance series is littered with. Every time one sidestory ends, Paolini slaps in another one, and another one, and another. The battle, the whole Sloan-sentencing, the Trial of the Long Knives, creepy psycho-kid Elva, the sexy furry elf, the dwarf politicking -- all of these are strung on one after the other, with little to connect them.

Beyond that, "Brisingr" is boring. The entire book sags painfully under pretentious moral pondering and endless political bickering, to the point where characters will even stop during a battle (Murtagh and Islanzadi especially) to yap for what seems like hours. Even Paolini seems to be aware that this is bloody dull, because then he'll throw in a brief battle. But the biggest source of tension is everybody worrying that Eragon might get hurt, because they Just Can't Win The War without his awesomeness.

The plot does take a slight upturn near the end when Eragon returns to Ellesmera, only to face a talking tree, a grumpy blacksmith and a couple plot twists straight out of "Star Wars." But it's not nearly enough. Neither are Paolini's leaden attempts at humor -- while there are a few cute moments such as Saphira sneezing fire, most of the humor is jaw-droppingly unfunny. Examples: Nasuada's nonexistant wit, and Angela's talk about Monty Python bunnies. I wish I were making that up.

And in his efforts to out-Tolkien Tolkien, Paolini's purple prose has become almost a parody of itself -- he's so intent on details that Eragon stops during a battle to note the color of a Lethrblaka's blood. His choppy, awkward dialogue doesn't sound like anything a person would actually say or think ("Even we, who were boys but a short while ago, cannot escape the inexorable progress of time. So the generations pass...").

And Paolini does his superstrong, supertalented, all-around awesome self-insert no favors. There are feeble attempts at character development by making Eragon whine and angst about killing people, but it doesn't stop him from coldly killing anybody he fights, including a young man begging for his life. The open worship of Eragon becomes downright nauseating: children frolic before him, leaders don't dare punish him, and injured soldiers announce "We fought for you, Shadeslayer!"

The other characters basically are there to infodump Eragon every few pages, on everything from sharpening swords to dragons' internal organs. The only halfway interesting characters are the angry Murtagh and his dragon, and Oromis for what few scenes he has. Everyone else is either a 2-D bad guy who hates Eragon, or a 2-D good guy who just loves him.

"Brisingr" may be the "ancient language's" word for fire, but Christopher Paolini's third novel doesn't really have any. Awkward, plodding and lacking a real plot, this flame was out before it even started.

I had great expectations form this part, in part because of the delay. However, I did not find the narrative enjoyable. The author spent too much time, words and pages on needless details that do not move the story along. There are long periods in the book when nothing happens, and then a few pages with crammed up action and then back to ho-hum.
The second thing I did not like about this book is that killing and fighting seems to be described in a little too much detail. I understand part of it needs to be present to make aware the dilemmas faced by Roran and Eragorn. However, there are pages where all that is described is how people were killing people. Ok, the story is about war and people are killing people. However, it seemed repetitive.
Third thing that I did not like is how Eragorn's behavior is described. I felt that there were many holes in Eragorn's treatment. I felt that there is a lot of things that as a person with that kind of responsibility he should be doing, but instead not doing like keeping the stones in his belt charged with energy, or asking Oromis about advanced magic to counter spells, or ask him about what the Ra'zac had said before dying (about Galbatorix's quest). Roran gets gored by a bull but forgets to tell Eragorn that his wards have a hole in them.
Of course I like the books and pay attention while reading them! :-) But I feel the narrative could have been much tighter while leading to the same result.

I thought that this was an amazing novel, the description was amazing, but a tad too in depth, the plot was great, and the many subplots just added to the readers intrest.
my only complaints are:
it seemed more like he was trying to play catch up to make sure that the next book could be written, and to make sure that the next book would be the last. he was trying to play tie up too, where he left an incredibaly large amount of un-answered questions in the past two books, and he decided to use brisingr as the answer to them all. there weren't many new ideas added to the plot, because this book is just a set up for book 4. it wasn't as exciting as the past two, but once again, it's only because he asked way too many questions in the last two books and realized, if i want to end this series, i need to answer them all. so that would be why the writting style is so choppy.
during this book though he did answer many of the questions that the readers have been anticipating for quite some time, but some of his solutions to eragons dilemas seemed too easy and too obvious.
a dragons heart of hearts is interesting, but i would never use it as a reason as to why galbatorix is getting stronger. and rhunons way of forging a new sword for eragon was much too obvious. how are the next riders gonna get new swords though ? in eldest, her oath was not needed, because eragon didnt need a new sword at the time, or she could have made the oath, but she should honestly have had an apprentice, so that in this book a new sword could be forged by a student of the great rhunon. but rhunon also makes a good point, and i think she made it cause paolini realised the mistake he made in eldest: the elves are too polite and too uptight and too slow-paced (so to speak). he answered that question with : "although we elves are a slow-moving race, when the time comes for action, we move swiftly" (paraphrased from the novel).
lastly, if he wanted a proper ending to this book, that also left a beginning to the next, he should have made oromis and glaedr hint as to how eragon could sever the link to galbatorix's and murtagh's eldunari, because it seemed as though tht this novel never ended, that there was missing another 50 pages, although there are about that many pages of endless contemplating on rorans or eragons part.

all i ask from paolini is to answer the remaing questions in book four, smoothly, properly ans interestingly as well. not only that, but throw the varden another bone other than eragon being the first (and last) free rider fighting for them. and dont take three damn years to write it, seriously, i doubt many readers will like that, and all you're doing is making the readers, and future readers, expecting a master-piece for taking way too long, but all they will get is a semi work of art. dont raise up the readers expectations for book 4, like you did with book 3, and then smash them to the ground.

i know from what you've read that it might not seem as though i should have given it a 4 star rating, but i only wanted to point out the cons, in hopes that paolini can write and even better novel than this one, and it would be an endless amount of pros :P
but on top of that i figured that the person who is reading this review doesnt want to hear of the amazingness of the plot, which they would get from the book's website, where the author only chooses the best reviews, but the cons too, to balance the scales. also the reader of the review might also not want me to spoil the entire plot just by telling all the pros that happen throughout.

great novel, but once again: you answered the questions too quickly (and you wouldnt have had to if you had not asked so many in the first place) and the solutions to eragons many dilemas were either expected or seemed too easy to be true. and lastly, DO NOT DRAG THE RELEASE DATE SO FAR THIS TIME, it only makes you look worse and raises the expectation for the novel !!

anywho, keep up the great work!

I am a new fan, having read all three books in a week. I LOVE them and cannot wait for the next installment! These are books that are going to be read over and over.

I loved that I was able to find the item I wanted quickly and it was shipped
within the time frame that was set out. My only wish would be the shipping
time frame could be faster.
Thanks from a satisfied customer.

I enjoyed this book the most out of the series so far. I think that Christopher Paolini's writing matures in each book and this one was gripping and satisfying and hard to put down at the end of the night! The story itself is so imaginative and the characters are compelling. It is what you want in an aventure-fantasy novel and leaves you wanting more. Can't wait for the 4th book now!

Expecting that Brisingr was the final offering of Paolini's fantasy trilogy regarding the habitants of Alagaesia, I was pleasantly surprised when I realized near the end of the book, that the story must continue. Paolini has now made Inheritance a `Cycle' and that, it should be.
This book was as good, if not better then Eldest: Book 2. The story moved at a much quicker pace, as characters seemed to develop more through their actions then through description. The words couldn't come quick enough when reading, as the storyline's for both Eragon and Roran intensified.
The Inheritance CYCLE has the potential to solidify itself in Fantasy literature as a "must read".

While I was disappointed that there will be another book, the whole book is enlightening to the whole world Eragon lives in. While some say that the long explanations are tiring, I both agree and disagree. Without the vivid descriptions of events and places, the book would lose some of it's impact. Yet, at times, it seems the Author has lost sight of his vision for the Inheritance series.

If you have read the other two books, I do recommend this one. Despite some of it's problems, it is an entertaining read.