Author: Christopher Paolini
Published: 2011
Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Four – The Inheritance Cycle

Book One Review | Book Two Review | Book Three Review | Book Five Review

Synopsis From Goodreads:

It began with Eragon… It ends with Inheritance.

Not so very long ago, Eragon — Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider — was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.

Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chance.

The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?

This is the spellbinding conclusion to Christopher Paolini’s worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle.

My Take:

Inheritance continues, and concludes, the story of Eragon and Saphira that began in Eragon, and continued through Eldest and Brisingr. If you’ve read through those books and made it this far, you should know what to expect: a story that covers the fate of the continent of Alagaësia, with intertwining stories of elves, dwarves, humans, and monsters, with various chapters from a select few characters’ POV. It is the longest of all of the books at 849 pages and continues with the maturity that has been hard won in the previous books. I was gratified to see the added depth to the character of Arya in the previous book, Brisingr, and that it continued into this one as that was one thing that I thought was lacking in the first two.

But this book is not the easiest to read because the first half to two-thirds is solid war. The movement of armies, sieges, battle plans, and battles could seem boring to some. Get on with the final confrontation already! But it continues with the realistic vibe Paolini has tried to give this series in the last two books. If he had fast-forwarded it, it would’ve cheapened the slow build of the previous books and lessened the impact of the struggle. The characters in the story wanted to “just get it over with” too but knew they only had one chance and weren’t sure they were ready, making them want to put off the final confrontation if it was possible. And Paolini puts you into that conflict of feelings as well.

Another thing I appreciated about this book was that it didn’t end two pages after the final confrontation.  There is time to wind down from the conflict, see how things wrap up, and say goodbye to characters you’ve gotten attached to. Paolini does a good job of bringing things full circle, giving you a good idea of how the “and they lived happily ever after…” would go if he had used that phrase. But ***POSSIBLE SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT*** I cannot finish reviewing this book without mentioning, even if I try to say it obliquely so that all is not given away, the one major issue I had with this book. It is with the ending. Really, it is with just one small part of the ending, like a drop of potent sour to a gallon of awesome. It doesn’t ruin it all, but it does give it a taint that can be hard to overcome. And it is in this small part that I think it is most evident that it was written by a man because I think a woman would have at least left the door cracked open to the possibility, not shut it as firmly as it was. So I rewrote it in my own head and left that possibility open to…someday. If Paolini had done that, I think the rosy glow of the completion of a great adventure story would have hung around long after I was finished reading the book. As it is, the series ended for me with that slight off-note that made it more difficult to enjoy the triumph of all the rest.

All in all, I think it is an amazing, well-written adventure story that is set in a world that is fantasy, but in many ways reminiscent of our own. It is filled with characters that do things we can only dream of, but from time to time we can see reflections of ourselves or people we know. It is a series that I have now read more than once, and have appreciated it for different reasons the second time through. It is a series that if you like fantasy adventure stories and you can handle diving into books with hundreds of pages, I would recommend.