But before we go any further, let me throw in one of those SPOILER WARNINGS! DON’T READ UNTIL YOU’VE FINISHED INHERITANCE! So, let’s start with what I liked about the book. And this is going to be a very in-depth section, so just be ready.
From the start, I noticed that Christopher Paolini was going to be going full throttle with Inheritance. From the right-into-the-action start in the city of Belatona, to the lonely voyage that marked the conclusion of both the book and the series, I was enraptured by the skill, heart, and soul that Mr. Paolini poured into the climax and finale to the series that made him who he is today. I was impressed by the flow that Paolini utilized, rarely was there a lull in the action, and even those existed solely as transition.
Of the manner in which the series was wrapped up, I must say that I was surprised and impressed; indeed, it was not the sequence of events that I imagined to take place. Most surprising to me were the true secret of the Vault of Souls and the absence of the new dragon from both most of the book and all of the real action.
And speaking of the new dragon, Fírnen, arguably the biggest mystery in the whole series, filled few of the expectations readers had of him. This is something I give Paolini a lot of credit for: taking note of predictability, and reversing its advantage. What I mean here is that readers predicted several things about the new dragon: that his Rider would be Arya, that he would be a male, that he would be a love-interest for Saphira, etc. All three of these turned out to be the case; however, Paolini did not allow predictability to dictate his story. With Fírnen’s Rider, it was an accurate prediction that Arya would be the one to bond with the long-awaited green dragon. However, I don’t know of anyone that expected that he would not appear until after he was truly needed. In the case of being a male, this was confirmed during the climax of Eldest, but it was expected, by me at least, that he would become the “alpha male” if you will, of the dragon race. I did not expect him to serve as a relatively minor character. And finally, most readers and polls that I saw correctly predicted that the green dragon would serve as a “love interest” for Saphira. Once again though, the true situation was unpredicted, as Fírnen did not really progress past the “love interest” stage, or so we’re led to believe.
The Vault of Souls was something that really caught me off guard. My assumption leading up to Inheritance was that the Vault would somehow contain the souls of the slain Riders, and that they would be able to reach out to their enslaved partners who were being manipulated by Galbatorix. The reality of the Vault was completely unexpected for me. I can’t say that I was completely pleased with it, (more on that later) but it was definitely a very clever plot twist on Paolini’s part.
The final aspect I want to cover in this section is Galbatorix. The final villain in the series - and the shadowy tyrant that has plagued Alagaësia through-out all four books in the Cycle - did not disappoint in his appearance, or his actions. In fact, his first act after being introduced in a physical sense was to torture Nasuada through very despicable and sadistic means. Paolini obviously wanted his readers to despise Galbatorix, and I can honestly say that I didn’t like the “good king” in the least.
On an off-shoot of the Galbatorix sub-section, I also would like to mention how impressed and awed I was by Shruikan’s appearance. Leading up to Inheritance, I was naturally expecting Shruikan to be a terrifying and awesome creature befitting the servant of the evil king. However, I was blown away by the sheer awesomeness of Shruikan. This is a dragon who is so massive that Eragon was able to hear the clatter of claws on cobblestone from several kilometers (and yes, I believe that America needs to switch to the metric system, but that’s for another time) away. He was so big that his wing was mistaken for a floor-to-ceiling curtain. I for one was really pleased with Shruikan’s portrayal.
Now we move on to the negative third of the review (a figurative third, not an actual one). There are not many things I can say I didn’t like about Inheritance. That being said, there are a few. The biggest thing I didn’t like about Inheritance was the fact that Fírnen did not make an appearance until nearly the end. Granted, I thought the reality was still good, but I would’ve liked to have seen more of him. The dragons are my favorite part of the series, so I was disappointed when the “infamous” green dragon was not present for the majority of the book.
The next thing I was disappointed by was the fact that we really didn’t learn much more about the Riders themselves. I would’ve liked to know a little bit more about Vrael and some of his Knights on Shining Dragons (yeah, I said it). I did like the inclusion of Umaroth, but as I said, I would’ve liked to have known more about his Rider. For example, I’m curious about how Vrael became leader of the Riders and what kind of responsibilities the position carried.
Finally, I was somewhat disappointed with the final battle. Like Harry Potter (but thankfully not to the same degree) the final confrontation was somewhat anticlimactic in comparison to the build-up. I would’ve liked to have seen more unique spells and cunning, and I believe that the “explosion”, while dramatic, was not a very entertaining fate for the King. I would’ve liked to have seen something a little more ironic or fitting, such as a disarm-and-kill with Vrael’s blade. That’s just me though.
As far as what I would’ve done with Inheritance, I can’t really say much. I was really impressed with Paolini’s work and I hope that my own book is half as good. I guess the only thing I can really say in this section is a repeat of the final battle argument – I would’ve went for a more “fitting” death.
In conclusion, Inheritance had a few faults, but they were negligible, and mostly my personal preference. I can honestly say that this was the best book I’ve ever read. I only wish that they had done a better job with the movie adaptation of Eragon so that there would be a possibility of a movie version of the other three books. Oh well, that’s a rant for another time.
Let me know your thoughts and opinions. I look forward to reading them and I will see you all next time!
Saberdragon Out!
Final Score for [Inheritance]:
Hype Score: 8
Production Score: 9
Effectiveness Score: 9
Innovation Score: 10
Opinion Score: 10
Total: 46 out of 50
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