Tome Thursday: The Inheritance Cycle

Hello everyone!

Back to books, since it's Thursday and all, I would have gone to my trust little notepad where I keep my notes on reviews and the like, but then I had a different idea. 

Sometimes, when I feel like it, I can read just about anything, and then at other times my brain is pointing me to a specific book or series. In this case, it just so happened to be one I'd already finished a couple of years ago (and even so it took a freaking DECADE to get to its final point, which is probably less complicated than with GRRM's books, but, you know). But hey, my head didn't want me to read anything else, so I couldn't argue much about it and I just went with the flow I guess.

I first bought Paolini's Eragon book on a whim waaaaaay back when, I think I was still in grade school at the time actually, and the hardcover was really, really cheap. I didn't even know much about it, the blurb on the back sounded interesting, and it had a blue dragon up front.

Yeah, I know, pretty superficial.

But hey, it got me started with the Inheritance Cycle!

Okay, I will freely admit.

For some odd reason, I thought Eragon was a solo book, even though it's fairly obvious if you read it that it's really not. Maybe it was because the second book took FOREVER to get here to my country.

The Inheritance Cycle tells the story of a farm boy, Eragon, who finds a dragon's egg in the mountains and a blue dragon, Saphira, hatches from it. Together, boy and dragon discover they are to inherit the legacy of the famous Dragon Riders, who used to be the arbiters of peace in the land before one of their own, the current king Galbatorix, went mad and destroyed their order, killing them AND their dragons, pushing the race to extinction. There are only three dragon eggs left, two unhatched, and Saphira is the only female. They begin their quest towards deposing the tyrant and establishing a different rule in their land, with the help of humans, Dwarves, Elves,werecats, Urgals, and random individuals who happen to join them in their quest.

In Eragon, the first book of the series, we are introduced to our protagonist and how Saphira hatches for him; from there, we witness the death of his uncle, the destruction of his home, and his quest to avenge them with the Ra'zac, the king's formidable monsters. They are joined by Brom, who they initially think is a storyteller, but he turns out to be a Dragon Rider; their paths lead to the Varden, the rebels who are fighting to overthrow Galbatorix, and a battle in the far reaches of the mountains by the side of Dwarves to survive. Eragon manages to kill Durza, the shade, but gains a horrible scar - and an invitation to come study with the Cripple Who Is Whole.

In Eldest, Eragon accompanies the Elf princess Arya to her home in the forest, were he meets Oromis, last of the Dragon Riders, and his crippled dragon Glaedr. They will be Eragon and Saphira's teachers. At the same time, Roran, his cousin, is wanted by the Empire aand takes the whole village to the Varden, while the Varden themselves have now relocated to Surda and will be attacking the Empire in short notice because their new leader, Nasuada, believes now s the time to strike, not sit back and wait. Eragon's scar cripples him, but the dragons of old heal him, and he is able to rejoin the Varden with new abilities. However, another egg has hatched - for his brother, Murtagh, who defeats him in battle. 

In Brisingr, Eragon must find a way to defeat Murtagh, who is taught by the king and therefore stronger; the Varden continue their attack on the Empire while Eragon returns to the Dwarves to witness the crowning of their new king, as well as repair the big sapphire Saphira broke in book one to rescue him. Along the way, he rescues Roran's betrothed, Katrina, and kills the Ra'zac - and that Brom is Eragon's father. They also learn the secret of what makes Murtagh and his dragon Thorn so strong - the dragons' heart of hearts. They are given Glaedr's right before Oromis and the golden dragon fly into battle with the Elves, who emerge from their forests to join the attack with the Varden. Eragon returns to the Varden's forces during a siege, and through Glaedr's heart of hearts witnesses the death of his teachers.

In Inheritance, things finally come to a head as the united races confront Galbatorix in direct assault on the nation's capital. And on the other hand, we have a lot of character build up with Roran, Nasuada, Arya, etc. Eragon does eventually succeed in killing the king, freeing the realm of his malice - and he and Saphira have also discovered dragon eggs in the old Dragon Rider capital, meaning the race isn't extinct. They take them, and the hearts of hearts, and sail away forever to find a safe place to raise dragons. Nasua becomes queen, Roran an earl, Murtagh goes north, and Arya is crowned queen - as well as has the last egg hatch for her. There are some open endings that may be addressed at a latter point, but overall, the story comes to a general conclusion. 

This series was accused of stealing from different fantasy ones, and while I do agree it happens sometimes, I also understand the appeal - and the frustration. The fact does remain that Eragon SHOULD have been allowed, as a character, to do and accomplish things on his own without help. Yes, it makes sense to do things in a group, but sometimes, a hero does have to prove himself. He didn't usually get that chance because ohers constantly kept telling him he couldn't do it. And whenever he DID make a logical decision, they knocked him back down. 

Not to mention, the one thing that REALLY annoyed me - Arya can be a Dragon Rider AND queen of the Elves without a problem; but the moment Eragon even considers the possibility that he could be kind of the entire empire, everyone is like DRAGON RIDERS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO RULE.

Double standards, much?

Overall, I did find myself skipping through a lot of stuff in books two and three, and even four, that didn't deal directly with Eragon, as they just didn't appeal to me as much. However, I still recommend the series to any fantasy reader out there. It's easygoing and relaxed enough, and the foundations are sound.

xx

*images not mine