The Inheritance Cycle - Review

Link to the author's (C. Paolini) personal website

Book 1: Eragon

Book 2: Eldest

Book 3: Brisingr

Book 4: Inheritance

Blurb: (From Book 1) One boy...
One dragon...
A world of adventure.

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.

Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.

Review: Maybe because of both this series popularity and its effect on the fantasy genre as a whole, I struggle to find exactly what strengths this book has that would make it recommendable. I somewhat believe that's because so many of its original strengths have filtered into the genre, and are now considered standard instead of unique. That is, a potential reader has many choices for stories featuring dragon riders, and even more for those about the transformation of a farm-boy to corrupted-tyrant deposing hero. Yet I have read this series multiple times, think it is wonderful, and strongly believe it is still worth reading.

I still remember the sense of gravitas when I first got Eragon as a book. It was ginormous relative to all my other books, vibrantly blue, and the cover was simply a dragon staring at me. It would have been rude and an insult to curisoity if I didn't give it a try. This is one of the few entries on the site that are probably best read when younger, but this should not be treated as a hard constraint. The Urgals and Ra'zac are captivating, imaginative, and sometimes terrifying. The towns and various cities also felt real and different. Eragon's transformation is also lovely to follow, although Brom remains my favourite character. If you happened to have the misfortune on seeing the film, then please scrub that from your mind before considering giving this a read. It is standard fantasy that I think most everyone would enjoy, although I would particularly recommend this for for teenagers.