Brisingr (Inheritance, Book 3) (The Inheritance Cycle)
by Christopher Paolini
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Book Reviews of Brisingr (Inheritance, Book 3) (The Inheritance Cycle)
Book Review: You can't judge a book by its cover!
Summary: 2 Stars
Yes, it's a brilliant dust jacket - well done! However, the book leaves me sorely wanting - it's like it got past an editor somehow; a proper editor would have slashed this book in half at least. Could have been written better in say 150-200 pages tops!
First, let me say, I thought Eragon was great (not the movie), Eldest less so, but still a fine achievement, and kept me satisfyingly on edge for the next one. Brisingr is verbose, long-winded and kind of sappy. You simply start to not care about these characters, which is a deathblow. Pages and pages and pages and pages go by that could have been compressed into far fewer - the Varden's still encamped and STILL getting ready. Sure, that's war, but I don't want such the granular feel of it. I want a story that draws one in - things need to happen for a purpose or get rid of them.
This has a lot of Eragon and Saphira pining for each other and Eragon regretting the life he's taken from bugs and shrubs: yes, the concept's nice, but it seems like a self-indulgent melancholy rather than a moral struggle. This book feels rushed perhaps with contract deadlines, or that the writer, such a young brilliant writer, was perhaps pushing his art - Paolini's presence is felt in this one, and decidedly wooden. I respect the effort, but, simply put, this feels like an unfinished manuscript - a river without banks!
A few weeks have passed since I wrote this and I want to add something. Yes, I thoroughly still agree that this is the weakest book in the series thus far; perhaps the best review I've read so far is this one: "...events have been dark and bloody of late.", September 27, 2008 By racapowski. Check it out -
But the best story of our time is most likely Lord of the Rings (with a possible more recent argument in there for Harry Potter - because it's reached so, so many people). So many have come along to try and emulate that Tolkein style and give us a satisfying reading experience, and none have succeeded so well as the young Paolini - his books accomplish what no others have. I am writing again today, because I think we need to acknowledge this aspect to be fair.
I also imagine the stress of notoriety, a film, publishers looking for a release date, etc. - may have happened here, and caused a book to be released prematurely; an editor did not do the necessary slashing to make this a tight read and, as I say above, it becomes a river without banks.
Ultimately, I think the volume needs to stand on its own and so this is really no excuse, and this one sadly doesn't - but I wanted to acknowledge how much he has grabbed our attention with his work and to wish him well. My advice to the young writer: better luck on the next one, and absolutely hold on to it until it's done!
Book Review: Paolini needs to relax
Summary: 3 Stars
Brisingr, the third book of the Inheritance tri/quad/quintology? is written as if the author had had a gun placed to his head during the writing, which in a sense, I suppose he did. The plot is good, with a large amount of deviation from the overall storyline, which amounts to a slow, steady progression of the war of Surda vs. the Empire and Gallabatorix. The story flows well, but the devil crops up in the details.
Eragon, the now half-elf Dragon Rider, still reeling from his disastrous fight with Murtagh and Thorn, is sent scampering around the realm, rescuing Katrina from the Ra'zac, serving as emissary to the dwarven confederation while they decide on a new monarch, and being on call to defend the Varden from Thorn and the Empires army. During this time, Eragon tries to make up for past failures, suceeding somewhat, and failing somewhat as well. The detail and precision are a bit scattered, sometimes providing a rich background to the scene, and sometimes glossing over nut and bolts to advance the plot.
Paolini however, seems to suffer from a typical condition of series authors. He thinks everyone else is as familiar with the previous books as he is. While I could recall the general storyline of Eragon and Eldest, a synopsis, however brief, would've been a welcome refresher. As its written, you almost have to reread the prior books to be able to appreciate the plot currently being handled. Details, names, and places resurface regularly that make no sense given that theres no context or recap to place them. Dialogue has become more archaic, and sometimes confusing given the characters, with soldiers and random wanderers talking like wizened scholars and philosophers.
Magic continues to place the greatest role in the story, and while Paolinis use of it remains rather inventive, there are time when it would've been easier and simplier to deus ex his way through the encounter. Some instances are needlessly confusing or overly complex, although there are other that're rather pleasing for their originality. Paolini needs to pick a happy medium. While I want magic more complex than that of Harry Potter, with thought and planning put into it, making every spell its own Rubiks cube makes the usage of the device clunky and dull.
The Inheritance series latest installment is a worthwhile read, but you can almost feel the authors pain through the pages. He tried to make Brisingr too many things to too many people, and wound up with a novel that feels overly stretched and rather bland. That having been said, considering his prior successes, one hopes he takes this stride, and tells his publisher to cram it when it comes to volume 4's release date. So long as he is given time to write what he wishes, I feel confident it will return to his prior standard.
Book Review: Pretentious, Poorly Written, and incessant driveling
Summary: 1 Stars
Essentially, in 748 pages, Eragon did 4 things, and yet Paolini somehow couldn't fit the end of the trilogy in one book. Thus, there will be a 4th book to finish the trilogy (now called a cycle). My biggest qualm with this series not ending in 3 books, is that this book was verbose with very little action.
Eragon's 4 actions:
1) Killed the Razac- this took about 60 pages
2) Visit Tronjiheim to hurry the dwarves in picking their king
3) Went to Ellesmera (for a 2 day conversation)
4) Flew to Feinster for a battle
Actions 3 and 4 occurred in the last 150 pages, and because Eragon agreed to support Orik, he spent most of action 2 wandering around the tunnels, gettng attacked once, and moaning about missing Saphira. The rest of the text usually involved a lot of transit...Eragon running (whoohoo), Eragon and Saphira flying against strong headwinds, and flying in good weather. Perhaps Paolini thinks this transit time is important and interesting due to the long travel sequences in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but first, that was a series about a journey...therefore travel is necessary, this series is about war more than anything else, and second, Tolkien was a much much more gifted writer than Paolini.
Also, Paolini stated in is excuse for not finishing the series in 3 books, that this gave him an opportunity to explore the characters. However, Eragon's incessant moaning over the ethics of killing and the difference in his morals from those of elves, isn't what I would call an interesting expose into the minds of Eragon and the other characters. In fact, it only leads the reader to realize that Eragon is indeed a whiny child, given far too much authority because a dragon hatched to him...but that more than anything, the author expects us to believe Eragon to be an upstanding ethical person who we should all exalt as the best person to lead because he fears it.
I have always found Paolini's writing pretentious, but it seems to have only gotten worse with his success. The only reason for the success of his series is the more than fortunate timing of the "Lord of the Rings" films and "Harry Potter" series generating a boom in interest in fantasy...however this series cannot compare to either of those. Tolkien and "Harry Potter" fans will find The Inheritance Cycle superficial, unimaginitive, poorly written, and lacking in action.
The similarities, such as 3 young unknowing people thrown into the wars of previous generations, are not enough to make the Inheritance Cycle a satisfying read...which is only more frustrating because it doesn't end when it is supposed to- and unlike the other LOTR and HP series'- you very much want this one to end.
Book Review: Continues, but does not end...
Summary: 3 Stars
Christopher Paolini, Brisingr (Knopf, 2008)
I don't think it counts as a spoiler to say right off the bat that the most unsatisfying thing--by far--about Brisingr is the fact that what was originally supposed to be a trilogy has now grown into a four (at least) book series; if you were waiting for this under the impression that all would be resolved at the end, you'll have to wait longer. I rush to add that that's not entirely a bad thing, as Paolini's world is quite a fine one, and it's not at all frustrating to look forward to another five hundred or so pages of Eragon, Saphira, and their friends and compatriots.
Brisingr opens with the resolution of one of the many plot threads left open at the end of Eldest; Eragon, Saphira, and Roran are off to rescue Katrina, Roran's fiancée. This extended opening scene is the kickoff for most of the vents that occur in the book, which actually doesn't advance the series' main storyline a great deal; at the end of the book, the war against Glabatorix is in pretty much the same state as it was in the beginning. This is a book of character, much as Eldest was; Roran's storyline continues on, and he becomes a main character in his own right, while Eragon and Saphira continue working on honing their skills. Meanwhile, the dwarves have to choose a new ruler, and Eragon and Saphira have to head back to Farthen Dur, being honorary dwarves themselves.
Because this is a character novel as opposed to a plot novel, those who considered Eldest to be a weaker book than Eragon will probably have the same problem with Brisingr. I was of the opinion that Eldest was actually a somewhat better book than Eragon, and my opinion continues in this book. Paolini's writing skills are a pretty obvious parallel to Eragon's martial skills, and if Paolini actually planned it out this way consciously, then I'm even more impressed. (I imagine it's a subconscious thing, however.) That said, I did expect there to be a good deal more advancement of the main plot; Eldest may have been a long diversion, but while Eragon and Saphira were off getting themselves trained in the woods, the war was still raging outside, and lots of stuff happened. Here, it feels as if the timeline has gone off the rails rather than it being a case of Galbatorix sitting and biding his time. (After all, the events in the first scene really kind of beg retaliation from the other side--retaliation that is offered the barest of lip service here.) So while it's unarguable that Paolini is improving as a writer, I'm not sure he's improving as a plotter. We'll have to wait for book four to find out. ***
Book Review: A bit... verbose
Summary: 2 Stars
I understand that Christopher Paolini is a young author. It takes awhile to truly find your voice as a writer. Therefore, I had no qualms brushing off some of the striking similarities the first two books had to other well known works such as Star Wars. I mean come on... Eragon/Luke has his uncle killed so he leaves with Brom/Obi-Wan to learn the ways of the Dragon Rider/Jedi? The comparisons go on. But the books were fun to read, no argument there. Refreshing even, in some ways, simply because they were not dragged down by all the drama and plot twists most authors feel they need to inject in their fiction these days.
It was that refreshingly simple style that struck me as the first thing the third book was lacking. From chapter one we are bombarded with Eragon's doubts about where he draws the line in morality. Should he kill in cold blood? Should he consult everyone and their brother about every action he makes? Should we care?!? In all honesty, these are things that Eragon should have explored after his FIRST battle in book one. Why is this all suddenly surfacing now??
In the first book Eragon became a dragon rider and began to discover his new skills. In the second book he receives elf training and is imbued with super human skills. With several major battles under his belt and even more minor skirmishes, a reader should rightfully expect book three Eragon to be a lean, mean, fighting machine. But the only thing that really seems to have improved with him is his ability to drag a conversation out to unbelievable lengths. Paolini frequenly inserts conversations that last for pages but cover very little ground. As soon as I saw the word "oath" on a page, I found myself starting to skim. Eragon, for some reason, has this compulsory need to state oaths every 50 pages or so and word them in a way that would put most legal documents to shame.
Despite my complaining, I did find that I enjoyed the book for the most part. Though my enjoyment could have been brought about partially by desperation for a sense of resolution with the series. I think I was just left feeling kind of disappointed. I have been waiting for over a year for this book to come out and it feels like all the waiting was in vain. We have here a nice, juicy 700 page book that could have easily resolved the 3 or 4 loose ends the second book left for us. But absolutely NOTHING was covered. None of the characters evolved or changed. No relationships were explored that hadn't done so already. And we still haven't even really met the bad guy!! How do we know if he's REALLY that bad?!?