Oct 21, 2008 10:08 AM
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Brisingr is the third book of the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini and was preceded by Eragon and Eldest. The fourth and as yet unnamed book is expected to bring the story of Paolini's hero, Eragon, to a close. These books are pure fantasy, and deal with dwarves, elves, dragons and magic in an alternative world.
For the uninitiated, Eragon, a farm boy, finds a dragon egg while hunting. This triggers a series of events which culminate in him becoming one of the last Dragon Riders, and the sole hope for a world ruled by a despotic magician. The first two books in the series follow his travails as he escapes the forces of the empire and gets educated in the skills, such as magic and fighting, which are necessary to take on a ruthless king. In Brisingr, the war finally begins, but we have to wait for the last book in the series to unfold the end of the story.
Brisingr follows the patterns set in the previous books of the series, and the language, story-line etc are similar. While it may not be as gripping as Eragon, it is definitely a better endeavor than Eldest, which felt as if the author was at times writing more to fill the pages with flowery language than with any intention of moving the story forward. In Brisingr, the story is more tautly woven, and most of the time you will be loathe to put down the book as you are always keen to find out "what happens next?". One place the author flounders, however, is when he has to deal with the romantic inclinations of the hero, and then the book becomes very sloppy and boring, with a definite juvenile touch. I feel that Paolini would be much better off if he dealt with fantasy alone, and left romance to those who are better equipped to deal with it. He has a number of predecessors, such as Tolkien and Frank Herbert, whose lead he can follow in this matter.
While critics have found similarities between Paolini's writing and the Star Wars trilogy, that does not take anything away from the beauty of his work. Similar parallels have been drawn about Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings too!
Though classified as children's stories, the books of the Inheritance series will be a captivating read for most adults who are interested in science fiction and fantasy. You need to be a little older than the average Harry Potter fan to be able to appreciate these books. And I would strongly recommend that you read the first two books before trying your hand with Brisingr, or you may not really follow the nuances in the story. All in all, Brisingr is a very interesting novel, and worth reading.
