Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini: The Last Free Dragon Rider:

Personal Rating

*This review may contain spoilers. *

The Inheritance Cycle is a worldwide bestselling, four-book high fantasy series written by Christopher Paolini, about a farm boy, Eragon, and his adventures with his dragon, Saphira, in the magical land of Alagaësia.

Of the four books, I loved Brisingr the most because it was at that point that Eragon could finally hold his ground. Eragon has that chosen-one-destined-to-be-savior-of-mankind element to it, but unlike most works of the same theme, Eragon actually worked for his goal. Instead of the protagonist winning against the antagonist due to undeserved innate talent, I’ve seen Eragon struggle against forces way too powerful for him, felt his pain, self-doubt, and his anger at himself for being weak felt his hope and determination and watched as he pushed past his boundaries to do what he believes is right. He experienced wins as much as he faced losses and failures. 

Aside from character development, I’ve also appreciated the dialogue, of which there is a lot more than I usually like. Save for a few parts that I had to look up a specific elvish/dwarf phrase at the annex, I didn’t get lost with the exchanges and enjoyed the banter between the characters. 

Despite its global success and recognition, there is one major flaw in the narrative that made this a brilliant but forgettable saga. And that is the lack of sense of need. 

As an example, in the Harry Potter series, it was established that neither Harry nor Voldemort could live while the other survives. There is an immovable, unwavering need to succeed, with no room for compromise or alternative. Whereas in Inheritance Cycle, Eragon wants to overthrow King Galbatorix because he is said to be an evil king. Eragon is fighting not to stay alive, but because he is the champion who would free all races from tyranny; races Eragon didn’t believe or knew existed until halfway through the first book.

The relationship between Eragon and Galbatorix is too distant to create a proper impactful conflict. There is no blood owed to his person or his significant others, no direct conflict of motive. Hence the fight between them was leaning to the side of being anti-climactic. 

With all the four books worth of effort to paint Galbatorix evil and for all the race’s talk of vengeance against him, Galbatorix never harmed Eragon directly. When the Ra’zacs went to Carvahall and killed Eragon’s uncle, it was to retrieve the dragon egg that was stolen from Galbatorix. When Brom died, it was because Eragon stubbornly went on his way to the enemy stronghold despite his ineptitude. All Galbatorix’s terrible deeds were told, were done before Eragon’s time, and had hurt people with whom Eragon has no deep relationship with. 

Overall, Inheritance Cycle is two thousand pages full of adventure, magic and elves, dwarf cities and their wealth, the fierce battles in medieval armors, and, most of all, magnificent dragons! If you’ve enjoyed The Lord of the Rings or ElfQuest: Blood of Ten Chiefs, this book is a must-have for you!

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