Brisingr (Inheritance, Book 3)

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Product Description
BRISINGR EXCLUSIVE: The audio edition of Brisingr features a revealing Q & A between best-selling author Christopher Paolini and editor Michelle Frey.

OATHS SWORN . . . loyalties tested . . . forces collide.

Following the colossal battle against the Empire’s warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still there is more at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.

First is Eragon’s oath to his cousin Roran: to help rescue Roran’s beloved, Katrina, from King Galbatorix’s clutches. But Eragon owes his loyalty to others, too. The Varden are in desperate need of his talents and strength—as are the elves and dwarves. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices— choices that take him across the Empire and beyond, choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice.

Eragon is the greatest hope to rid the land of tyranny. Can this once-simple farm boy unite the rebel forces and defeat the king?

Customer Reviews: Read 381 more reviews...

2 out of 5 stars

This should have been the final book. September 21, 2008
240 out of 302 found this review helpful

I was disappointed when I first heard some months ago that the Inheritance trilogy would, in fact, become longer. Part of me wonders if the 4th book wont also end up being too long, and needing to be split. Eragon certainly has more to do now than he did at the end of Eldest, and Paolini has made it clear that whenever Eragon swears an oath to someone, we're going to devote a whole lot of time to watching him do it. Given that Eragon swears a new oath every 50 pages or so (give or take), it may be a while before he gets caught up.

I have long since given up on the tiresome fantasy series of Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, and the like as I noticed that after about the 3rd or 4th book, nothing new happens. A series should be short, maintain our attention, and always keep in mind the primary conflict between hero and villian.

Books one and two of the Inheritance cycle did this. At the end of Eldest, Eragon has three things that need be done, fulfill his promise to Roran, return to Oromis, and defeat Galbatorix. The first of those is finished in the early pages of the book, but from there, we spiral away from the story and into tiresome cliche. Eragon spends pages moaning and groaning about how he has been forced to kill, but it never amounts to anything. Eragon and Roran spend pages pontificating at each other in conversations that make each of them sound as though they were raised in the hearts of academia, rather than on the farm.

As an aside, the characters talk way too much in this book. For pages. One wonders when they pause to take breath. Even other characters notice this "He certainly talks alot." says Saphira at one point. Yes, I suppose he does. But then, so do you, my dear blue dragon. So do you...

As for the plot, what is there to say? Of the three tasks Eragon had at the beginning, two are completed. But with much else along the way. Eragon visits and then leaves a mysterious hermit who'se only purpose in the book is so we wont be surprised again when he shows up next time, no doubt to give Eragon a crucial piece of information. We spend page after page waiting for the dwarves to elect the ruler we all know well in advance will be elected in a process that isn't the least bit interesting. One hopes that the elected leader is able to cut through the red tape.

We learn things about Eragon's father that don't suprise us in the least, and even dissapoint us, as they make Eragon a far less interesting character, and free him completely of the guilt that was the sole characteristic making him interesting. Galbatorix's and Murtagh's inexplicable strength is explained using a plot device that I'm sure Paolini developed only after making his two villians untouchably strong. And when Glaedr gives Eragon a gift towards the end, I knew it would mean only one thing.

This should have been the final book.

But instead of the planning and fighting against the forces of the empire, we get Eragon brooding whether or not he should eat meat or starve to death. (He eats the meat, but feels real bad about it.) Instead of studying new spells and magic, Eragon asks an Urgal for a bedtime story. And instead of a climactic battle between Eragon and Galbatorix, we get a deeper insight into the dwarven political arena than is needed or even wanted.

At this point, I'm invested in the series, however, and I await the fourth (but will it be the final?) book with the same anticipation as I await a trip to the dentist, or the DMV. It's just one of those things you don't really look forward to, except for the feeling of relief when it's all over.

4 out of 5 stars

A satisfying fantasy adventure tale September 21, 2008
238 out of 279 found this review helpful

I enjoyed the first two books of this series, and was eager to read the third. I won't outline the plot, because you can find that elsewhere. I will just tell you what I think about this book.

It is an enjoyable read, and a worthy third installment to the series. I thought that Eragon was a very good story, and Eldest not quite as good, although Paolini's writing had improved. Brisingr is the best of the three. I fell back into the story right away, and I found myself caring about the characters, even worrying about their safety. This is what I look for in fiction: it made me want to pick up the book every chance I got. If it interferes with the rest of my life, it is a very good book. Brisingr is one of those books. I am thankful to my son that he recommended this series to me.

Some reviewers of Eldest were very critical of the fact that the plot is derivative of other epics, like The Lord Of The Rings or Star Wars. I didn't mind this in the least. It is the tale of a hero's journey, complete with absence, devestation and return. It is one of the oldest tales in storytelling. We already know the story, but it is the storytelling that makes it good or bad. Paolini is a good writer. Not as great as Tolkein or LeGuin, but good nevertheless. I was able to suspend my inner critic, and enjoy the read. I recommend that you do the same.

1 out of 5 stars

Promises, promises! September 25, 2008
227 out of 324 found this review helpful

Somebody needs to tell Christopher Paolini that no matter how 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 hero 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. But after sending his cousin and future in-law off, 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 new facts about his own past, and is given a possible key to his future...

Originally the finale of the series, "Brisingr" commits a lot of literary sins, but the worst is the main plot -- it doesn't have one. Instead it has a string of side plots loosely knotted together, with no central storyline to hold them in place. A battle with Murtagh, sentencing Sloan, 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.

Simply put, "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 to chitchat with Eragon for what seems like hours. Even Paolini seems to be aware that it's pretty bloody dull, because then he'll throw in a brief battle. But despite those battles, 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 when Eragon returns to Ellesmera, and has to deal with a couple climactic plot twists straight out of "Star Wars." But it's not nearly enough to salvage the book. And the worst part of all is that Paolini tries to be funny -- while there are a few cute moments such as Saphira sneezing fire, most of his humor is staggeringly unfunny. Examples: Nasuada's much-lauded and nonexistent 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 heated battle to note the color of a Lethrblaka's blood and compare it to copper verdigris. His choppy, awkward dialogue doesn't sound like anything a person would actually say or think, especially not a teenage boy ("Even we, who were boys but a short while ago, cannot escape the inexorable progress of time. So the generations pass...").

And while Alagaesia apparently revolves around Eragon, Paolini does his 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 mercy. And the open worship of him becomes downright nauseating: children frolic before Eragon, leaders don't dare to 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.

2 out of 5 stars

"...events have been dark and bloody of late." September 28, 2008
93 out of 110 found this review helpful

I'm not your typical Eragon basher. I find the professional Eragon detractors tiringly obsessive, and every time someone clogs up a message board with another hey-this-is kinda-like-Star Wars post he's SURE is pure unprecedented genius insight, I'm certain an angel loses his wings.

Unfortunately, the series is growing into the complaints. Paolini does have talent, but his sales figures and incredible life story have allowed his manuscripts to go unchecked, and his writing flaws are getting worse, not better.

Three major problems with "Brisingr":

1) It's way too violent. It opens on a group of fanatics who slice off their own limbs to prove their faith, whose rituals we observe in loving detail. (The head priest has lopped himself down to just a torso.) We soon continue to a torture victim whose eyes have been pecked - eaten - out of his face. "Gore" is Paolini's favorite word, particularly when it is "smeared" on something, and we get endless graphic depictions of Roran's hammer smashing an enemy soldier's skull/throat/arm/spine, its owner rejoicing in the carnage. I don't expect war to be bowlderized, but the book revels in charnel for its own sake and is too bloody for readers under thirteen.

2) Eragon has become a bit of a sociopath. A reunion with one of his childhood bullies - who's just been through horrific torture - becomes a control-and-humiliate fantasy that's disturbing. When the typically closed Arya touchingly recounts her love's recent death and how it stole all joy from her world, Eragon's heart is unmoved; he feels only irritation and jealousy, fuming that he will "not be discouraged in his suit". (Has he been reading "The Game"?) The book's ruminations on the morality of killing reach only the uninspired conclusion that it's unavoidable in war, and we're thus meant to take a certain satisfaction when Eragon joyfully dispatches even those ordinary men forced into service by Galbatorix. I guess the debate was meant only to free us from our nagging moral reservations.

As in "Eldest", Eragon's praised to high heaven by every single soul, given credit for every achievement. At points, the book seems to have other characters only so that they can sing of their inferiority to its shining star.

3) As nearly every other commenter has noted, it's too bloated, with deadly pacing. Galbatorix's nightmarish Ra'zac servants are dealt with early, leaving Eragon to dither with rebel leader Nasuada and go off on a few preparatory errands for about 600 pages. (A 200-page detour into dwarf politics is particularly deadening.) We keep waiting for the meat to arrive, for some crisis or confrontation, and (save for a quick and inconsequential early battle with Murtagh) it never comes. There is no real climax, save for the easily-accomplished sacking of one city and a death we all long saw coming, albeit not in such meaningless circumstances.

The lack of individual voices in the story makes things drag all the more; every character has an identical manner of speaking, all bloviation and overexplanation in high-fantasy Olde Englishe. Paolini too often substitutes scads of meaningless proper names for the little moments that make bring a fantasy world to life.

A few of those moments slip through, though, like the dotty old man who roosts in the majestic ruins of a half-toppled, tree-like tower, harvesting peas. Or when Arya, on a whim, braids a miniature ship from wild grasses and breathes into it magic that will allow it fly for perpetuity; Eragon wonders what stories people will tell of it in the years to come. I laugh at the self-important magicians' society Du Vrangr Gata, whose study of the ancient language is not as complete as they think and whose name therefore translates into the Alagaesian equivalent of Engrish. I like the atypically crusty elven smith, intolerant of how "too polite, too refined, too precious" her Tolkien-influenced race has become, or the touches of culture (family totems, bedtime stories) Paolini has given his orc race. For those who like dragons, Saphira's a sparkling specimen.

And there are *dwarf ninjas*. That's gotta count for something, with someone.

My point is that the books need less Gary Stu carnage and more gems like these. Show us why this world is worth fighting (and fighting and fighting) for.

And we need some actual change to come out of all these pages. Roran's love soothes his anxiety over his battlefield casualities by opining that he'd be evil only if he actually enjoyed killing. Later - whaddaya know - Roran DOES come to love killing, quite enthusiastically, but the book forgets to look at him any differently. Eragon makes a few crucial mistakes in dwarfland due to arrogance and petulance, but he is still lavishly praised from here to Valinor. Nasuada endures a (naturally) bloody duel for leadership of the rebel faction, yet she is viewed no differently by her people afterward. Murtagh's horrific tragedy, the king who hosts the rebel Varden yet resents being pushed to the sidelines in his own country, the new hot elf guardsman who's really a lion-type furry and whose musk gets all the females...er, in heat - nothing comes of any of it. (The waste of Murtagh, who now apparently exists only to be ruthlessly dispatched, is particularly criminal.) C'mon, Rowling introduced and destroyed seven whole Horcruxes in the same space! Pick a story and develop it!

Also, are we gonna SEE Galbatorix before this series ends? There is an evil EMPEROR in this evil empire, correct?

Enough sarcasm, though. Again, it's senseless to waste your life hating these books as some do, all anti-Shur'tugal; better simply to move on to other stories. Myself, I just wish someone would guide Paolini - edit him down, focus him - so the rest of us got more out of his talent.

1 out of 5 stars

A total miss on Paolini's part... September 24, 2008
43 out of 59 found this review helpful

Christopher Paolini is often marketed on trivial things about him as a person, such as how he was 15 when he started to writing the series, but what has become quite clear with Brisingr, the third book in what was suposed to be a trilogy (and has been proven by brisingr, should have reminds a trilogy)lacks the skill to handle a long series.

Brisingr is best discribed as 600 pages of nothing, leading to 150 pages of something. The First 600 pages of this book contains practically no value, and adds nothing to the series as a whole. It moves without feeling or meaning, and is nothing more then overly verborse filler. aside from the first three chapters of the book, which actually move the story along, from that point on, until around page 600, nothing really happens but random events that seem rarely to add to the plot of the book, but simply drags the reader through murky half battles, and lots of traveling.

The reason I am giving this book a one star rating is because it lacks story. by the time you get to page 600, you are met with a repeat of a previous plot that was used in a earlier book, which was lifted from a Star Wars in the first place, and in the second time in the series when he uses this Star Wars ripoff, it is tireing, and annoying. Sure, it gives a nice little confidence boost to eragon, but at the cost of repreditive use of dirivative plotting already used by Paolini in the series.

he follows it with a J.K. Rowlingesque plot device that was fresh and engaging when J.K. Rowling used it, and even though Paolini introduces a similer concept, with a few vague differences, the sheer numbers he utilizes to make his point is in my personal opinion to be massive overkill. J.K. Rowling understood that less is more, and Paolini seems to think why do a handful when you can do a vaultfull.

what follows is some more traveling, and I do not belive it to be a spoiler to speak of a battle, simply because he already made the battle clear to readers months ago, and it is expect. The problem however is that the turning tide of the battle in Brisingr is nothing more then a repeat of the turning point in a previous battle Paolini has written already. instead of useing a more inventive and unused within his world twist, he regurgitated something he has done before. the effect is to make it seem he just wasnt to be bothered coming up with something new.

in the end, with 600 pages of fluff in a 750 page book, I can see how this book could have been easily condensed to about 400 pages without dramatically changing anything about the story other then the length of the book.

ultimately, this will now leave a haze of questions over Paolini, the most prominate being if he really split the final book into two parts for money? or if he split it up for art? given the lack of plot in this book, and the incredibly length for something with such little value, and further unoriginality on his part, I am leaning towards it being a matter of money.

Did Paolini feel he would be a one hit wonder, and wanted to make sure he spread it out enough to squeeze as much as he could. with the failure that was the film (mainly due to the inability of the scriptwriter and film studio to make a legitimate translation that doesnt cut out all the important parts in haste to make a FX jubiliee.) I could see Paolini wanting to make up for the money he thought he should have gotten from the film.

all I know for sure, this book did not earn praise. it copies to much, drags on to long without anything of value, and lacks the ammount of plot of even most 300 page fantasies such as harry potter and the Sorcerer stone. when a 300 page book written for a younger audience has more to give to its readers then a 750 page book written for teenagers, then you have to question the authors motives.

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