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Book Reviews
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| ISBN: 0375826726
Written: Monday June 8, 2009 - 6:08 PM
Author: Christopher Paolini
Category: Young Adult
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| I’ve been eager to review the third and final book in the Inheritance Trilogy for some time now. It was an opportunity to finally see Galbatorix and the end of this extended war. I’ve been with the series since it was first released and I was excited to see its conclusion. As I sit here now, having finished the book, I am very conflicted.
The first thing to take note of is Brisingr is not the last book in the series. At some point during the writing process, Christopher Paolini decided to upgrade it from a trilogy to a ‘cycle’ which means that now the series will be four books long. Under normal circumstances, I would be happy about this fact. I loved the first two books in the series, and to have two more is a good thing, right? Well, if the final book is anything like Brisingr then this is a terrible thing.
Brisingr takes place shortly after the events of Eldest. Eragon and Roran are reunited and they ban together to free Roran’s beloved, Katrina, from Helgrind. The book begins a bit more action packed than Eldest but shortly in, the momentum of the story grinds to a halt and doesn’t pick up again until the last fifty or so pages of the book. There are some interesting points throughout, but they are spread so far apart that it’s like walking through a desert only to find a small cup of water every twenty miles. Rather than the ongoing fight between Galbatorix and the Varden, we are instead forced to read page after page of Eragon wanting a sword, looking for a sword, not finding a sword and then giving up. Then we read more of the extended dwarf councils which, while intended to be tedious and long winded to the dwarves, doesn’t have to be to us. And while Roran was the champion of Eldest in this book he is little more than a one man tank who goes beyond human feats in a way that is unbelievable even in this world of magic.
While trudging through this book’s low points, I seriously considered giving it a one out of five score, it was that bad. I read in the afterward of the book that the author was thankful to his editor who managed to cut down large sections of the book, and I couldn’t help but think he didn’t cut enough. Had these long tedious sections been removed, there would have been no need for a fourth book. Considering I’ve already waited for three books to finally see Galbatorix, I’m not sure I want to wade through another. He can’t be that great.
It is a shame that this book had as many problems as it did, considering the quality of the first two. It almost feels like Christopher Paolini has degraded as a writer rather than improved. He is making mistakes that a writer with his experience shouldn’t be making, right down to the naming of chapters. (“I need a sword!” is not a good name for a chapter.) I also believe its high time he removed Angela as a character. I understand that it is based off his sister and she is intended as comic relief, but her character feels so far out of place that I feel like it really is his sister rather than a character in this world. Her jokes are more confusing than funny and she comes off as more condescending and bitchy than I think she is supposed to. Maybe that’s what he intended, but she offers nothing to the story other than vague prophecies and dead one-liners.
It frustrates me when the final few chapters of a novel are amazing, but the first several hundred were mind numbing. The only reason I forced myself to finish this book is because I wanted to know how it ends, and I didn’t even get that. I’m sure I will force myself to read the final book in the series, but unless it’s a non stop action-fest of epic proportions, then I am going to declare that Christopher Paolini ruined his own series.
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