Eldest (Inheritance)

Oh why? This was a massacre of popular stories OTHER PEOPLE WROTE! I fully expected Morzan to come back from the dead Kenobi-style and announce to the world, "Eragon, I am your father." and Eragon to anguish over it for the rest of the book. OH WAIT! That last part actually HAPPENED! Garion was also overdue for an appearance, coming in to say, "Why did you steal the cool mark on my hand that I have to keep hidden?" And for added fun, why not throw in a cute little scene where Arya's scent WAFTS toward Eragon, and she smells suspiciously like pine needles and another spicy scent. Oh wait, I think he did that too! Somebody read too many of his mom's romance novels when he was younger! This was a horrible book. If you value your sanity, IQ level, or anything else, DON'T read this. I regret actually borrowing this book from the library, and genuinely feel sorry that they spent money on this piece of cliched, predictable drivel.

I was one of the many who picked up on the fact that the first book was basically the plot of Star Wars transplanted into Middle Earth. I naively thought that this could not possibly continue into the second book. How very wrong I was.

First though, while being predictable is its main problem, its first and most obvious problem is that it's just too long. Now, I don't have a problem with long books. I've read plenty of six or seven hundred page books in a few days. But this one has the added problem of not being terribly interesting. I literally checked this book out and started to read it four different times before I finally made it all the way through. The characters were never drawn out enough for me to care about them.

The plot is basic enough. Simple farmboy suddenly has amazing destiny. In this installment, Eragon goes to see Yoda, sorry I mean... oh wait, I can't remember his real name, to recieve training and guidance. Meanwhile his cousing Roran fights the Ra'zac when they try to capture Carvahall and then kidnap his fiancee Katrina. There's a big battle at the end, but we don't see much of it because we're too busy watching Eragon have an Epiphany about his father.

Sound familiar? That's because it's all been done before. The entire time I was reading this book I felt as if I'd already read it. And that made it predictable. And the shocker twist ending? Well, anyone who's seen Star Wars could have seen that one coming. In the end this book is okay, it just doesn't compare to the stories it tries to mimic. It isn't as masterful and epic as Lord of the Rings, or as engaging as Harry Potter, or as original and fun as Star Wars. If you've already read/seen all those, then, yeah, this might be a good read for you. But if you haven't... well, I suggest you go do that before investing your time in this series.

Honestly, it was a disappointment. The first book was pretty alright. But this one was more of a rushed work with stolen plotlines from lord of the rings, star wars, etc. It was slow moving with many pointless chapters that did little to progress the story. Character developments were little. Arya became more annoying and has no tolerance for different beliefs. Eragon became more pathetic and emotionally weak. The elves and dwarves were spinoffs of Tolkien's works. The best part was the end when Murtagh, the only decent character was brought back. A book that you may read once and will never want to look at it again.

I've picked up my Audio CDs several times for a long trip, and each time, I find myself putting something else in. With Eragon, I didn't seem to have this problem. However, with Eldest, I get bored at parts, and just drift off into other thoughts. It really doesn't keep you wrapped into it.

I wish I could say more about it, but at this point, I'm hoping this is just one of those books in a series that has to be done to tie other books down the road together.

The follow up to Eragon is not quite as good as the original. I liked Eragon more because of the development of Saphira. Now that she's grown up and the relationship between her and her rider has plateaued, the other elements aren't as interesting. Plus, the ending is downright unbelievable and unrealistic given the situation leading up to it.