After spending so much time on the series, I was very frustrated with how some of the stories and relationships were being handled. Brisingr was somewhat underwhelming, and with Christopher Paolini explaining that the story was too large for three books, I was really hesitant to read the fourth.

Finally I picked it up, and because the books were so few and far between, and so large, I didn't remember some of the storylines that he was awkwardly tying up in a nice little bow. Also he more often than once led astray with some random story, or another. It made me realize that he likes to write just to write. Some of the stories have no purpose to the over-all story, and thus it's led to this strange book that is meant as a means to tie up all the many loose ends caused by his wanderings from previous books.

What's worse is that he never stops with the overbearing, and boring descriptions. Stone walls, stone floors and castles, we get it. I was tempted to skip many paragraphs and even chapters.

He often stayed with characters I didn't care for, and the few relationships that did matter to me never came to a satisfying end.

The ending, as well, felt very forced and awkwardly placed. Strange character motivations led to the ending, as though Paolini really wanted it to end the way he wanted it to, no matter what the characters or stories had to say about it. Needless to say, as others have mentioned, the ending was disappointing. While I never really got into the series, I felt the ending was somewhat depressing and led me to write this review. It didn't have to be a happy ending, but at the very least some things could have been resolved that weren't.

Paolini mentioned he might come back to this world, but he's focusing on another series at the moment. The time it takes him to come out with another book means it will be years upon years before issues with the ending get resolved, and I for one will most likely lose interest. If he writes like this I'll be very hesitant to read another of his books.