Welcome, friend! Today is a very special review because I am not reviewing alone! When I decided to pick up the Inheritance Cycle series again, I discovered one of my oldest reviews on Goodreads, written in 2016 for this very book! I read the book before I came to Canada in 2014. I don’t know why I am amazed by the hold that this series has on me. Inheritance was a fantastic conclusion and today, I am going to use my first review to guide my reread one. This is going to be fun. You will read my thoughts from 2016 (in bold) and 2023 (when I am writing this review). All I have changed is paragraph breaks in my old review and corrected any spelling errors that I found. Let’s get started.
Inheritance
Christopher Paolini
Goodreads | The Inheritance Cycle # 4
It began with Eragon… It ends with Inheritance.
Not so very long ago, Eragon — Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider — was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.
Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chance.
The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?
This is the spellbinding conclusion to Christopher Paolini’s worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle.
Content notes include death, injury detail, war, torture.
Inheritance – Review
How can one story have so many strong characters? I got the answer today when I finished reading Inheritance. The journey that had begun 3 books back, ended in this one and though it did justice to itself and the King fell, I wish there had been a better conclusion.
What?! I wanted a better conclusion?
In hindsight, I was not even 20 years old when I read this series the first time. I gained what I could from it and, then, I wanted a better conclusion. Coming back after over a decade has been an amazing experience. A reread is not about the conclusion. It is about the world, the characters, the plot. I barely remembered any details considering all that took place.
Inheritance is a strong conclusion to the Inheritance Cycle. I struggled with this book in the beginning. It might have a lot to do with the timing (December is a super busy social month) but another factor that contributed to this was how all the characters were feeling in the book itself. At the end of Brisingr, the Varden were actively fighting with the Empire. At the beginning of Inheritance, they were struggling to keep their hold on the cities they had conquered. Galbatorix was never supposed to be an easy foe but having sworn many of his subjects to be loyal to him in the ancient language, Nasuada was having a hard time turning people to the Varden’s cause.
With a series about war between two factions and the perspective being the one that was oppressed, the end is obvious. The bad guy will fall. Though I had read it before, how that came to be was brand new to me. The journey to get there was hard and tying up all the loose ends and setting up for a new chapter in life after Galbatroix was defeated was harder but it was all worth it in the end. Unlike my original read, I have no qualms with the conclusion.
In the first book, Angela had cast the bones for Eragon and his future had been thus:
“infinity or Long Life…This is the first time I have ever seen it come up in someone’s future… Wandering path shows many choices in your future… There is doom upon you but of what sort I know not. Part of it lies in death-one that rapidly approaches and will cause you much grief. But the rest awaits you in a great adventure… Your fate will be to leave this land forever. Where you will end up i know not, but you will never stand in Alagaesia again.. An epic romance is in your future , extraordinary, as the moon indicates-for that is a magical symbol- and strong enough to outlast empires. I cannot say that this passion will end happily, but your love is of noble birth and heritage. She is powerful, wise, and beautiful beyond compare… betrayal is clear. And it will come within your own family.”
Every part of it came true. But as I read, I forgot about her prediction really. Though the saddest part too must also come true. I wish I could say that Eragon and Arya lived happily ever after but the series was never wholly centered on them. Arya remains supportive of both Eragon and Saphira throughout and never hesitates to accompany them on their missions no matter how dangerous.
Inheritance made me forget Angela’s original predictions as well. I was too caught up in what was happening and the conclusion was clearly going to be this book so the premonition of how it all would end did not matter as much. But these predictions have always weighed heavily on Eragon and sometimes, he uses them to guide his next steps.
Clearly, part of the reason I was not so thrilled with the conclusion back then was Eragon and Arya. In my first read, I was definitely infatuated with Arya like Eragon was. First love and everything. I am proud that I recognized that his love for her was never the central plot and it makes sense that they did not end up together.
The older me agrees with how it came to be. Arya is an ever-present character throughout the book but she is always stoic and barely shares anything about herself. I didn’t particularly feel attachment towards her. I understood her reasons for doing what she did and how she lives her life but didn’t relate to them. I can recall only one key emotional moment when she shared her secret desire to have always wanted to be a Dragon Rider. If I had had more of her vulnerability and insight throughout the story, I am sure I would have liked her. That’s not how it was and I could instead build emotional connections with other characters like Nasuada, Murtagh and Roran.
This is one of those books that had a number of powerful characters that developed more than ever in this final installment.
There is something to be said about reading the books back to back compared to reading them with long term breaks in between. This time around, my understanding of the trajectory of the character growth is fresher than last time. Before, months would go by between books. All the books so far did a fantastic job of leading up to this. I know all the characters really well – their potentials, hopes, dreams, fears that I am not surprised at all by their development.
Roran, Eragon’s cousin, proves his worth in commanding and he moves higher up in ranks and respect amongst his friends and fellow soldiers fighting for the Varden.
Roran has been exceptional throughout this series. He is a common man who was meant to be a farmer but somehow ended up caught up in a war with dragons. He knows he is no one. He does not have any magical powers and he believes that the key players in this war – Eragon, Saphira, Galbatorix, Murtagh – are all being of another level. ‘Gods’ as he calls them. He understands the advantage that magicians and people with magic have over people who lack the ability. I think if Roran and Galbatorix had ever met, they would have agreed in their assessment of magic being the root cause of a lot of suffering.
Nasuada becomes a great leader and not even Galbatorix can do anything to make her submit.
The events that had Nasuada as the centre were epic. How could I have forgotten that she was kidnapped? Throughout this series there have been many moments when I have been surprised at the lack of my memories of these highly emotional and important events. Ever since her perspective was introduced for the first time, Nasuada has shown herself to be sharp, intelligent, and fearless. She is not afraid of conflict. The cost of the war may worry her but the cause means the world to her and she will do everything she can to succeed. The time when she was in the Hall of the Soothsayer was a battlefield of her will and senses. Torture could not break her. She was willing to forget herself rather than abandon her values.
She knew herself capable but it was only in her moments of despair that Murtagh was there to remind her. Being seen changed everything for Nasuada. His encouragement and kindness helped her keep going. I love the way she thinks and I am convinced that she rightfully deserved the title of High Queen. Throughout the series she faced many challenges of governance and war. After all, the Varden was its own kingdom, nomadic in nature it may have been back then. She is well equipped to run an Empire but that too will be a journey.
Murtagh was the one I was most happy to read about though. Like Eragon, he is no longer who he was when their story started. Bound to the King, he is too weak and gives way to his helplessness till Nasuada is captured. I think that is what leads to the true making of him. But even after the war ends, he has the hardest choices to make.
Murtagh is the whole reason I returned to this series. It has been worth it. I remembered little of the kind of person he was and this was an in-depth reminder of who he is and where he has been. I love that even back then his storyline mattered to me. He is the child who has figured out how to be quiet and not be seen around Galbatorix. He is oppressed and feels anger towards the circumstances that have led to this.
Meeting Nasuada changes everything for him. For the first time, there is someone outside of Thorn who cares about him and gives him encouragement and strength to do what he wants to. He wants to save Nasuada and this grows his defiance of the Mad King. He starts to look for ways to help her and ultimately, his proximity to the king is the king’s undoing. Galbatorix was confident that he had full control over Murtagh and in his blind faith, he failed to see Murtagh changing.
Murtagh may have grown and become wiser but he knows that public opinion, prejudices and hurts take a long time to heal. He is unwilling to prove himself to the people on the heels of the war. He wants to let things calm down and, with Thorn, he takes leave. Though I never got Murtagh’s perspective, I was always interested to know what was going on with him.
Eragon is who has developed most though. His encounters with dragons and their wisdom seem to have given him more insight into a lot of matters including himself. He is the most powerful after Galbatorix and I applaud the way in which he overcame the King’s power. He was hopeless and he accepted it but before giving himself to the King, he tried once and for all to make him understand all that he had done. It was always more of a battle of the minds. He is a foster brother to Orik, the Dwarf king and also pledged to Nasuada and thus his decisions have a far greater consequence.
Eragon and Saphira know that they are no match for the king. With their meeting approaching fast, Eragon is worried and dissatisfied with his strength and progress. He Inheritance is the first time when Eragon and Saphira visit Vroengard, an island with significant historical importance as the former home of the Dragon Riders. The city on this island served as the dwelling place for the Dragon Riders, and the descriptions of this location were mesmerizing. Paolini paints a picture with words of structures many times bigger than a dragon, a wreckage that has been sitting undisturbed for a century, a sickness in the air that has changed the place forever. The time spent is pivotal to Eragon’s growth and equips him with the tools and knowledge to face what comes next.
Galbatorix’s end was phenomenal and though I had read it before and clearly it had an impact on me, reading it again was like reading it for the first time. Eragon sent out a plea, a wish, in his deepest darkest moment of desperation. I was reminded of the events that took place during the last war at Vroengard and felt that the storytelling did a great job of bringing it all together from past into the present.
I will surely read all the books once again!!! Their journey is one such unforgettable adventure.
I laugh at ‘unforgettable’ because there’s so much I forgot. I will stop lamenting eventually. I am grateful that this series lingered as something amazing, even if the details were blurry. I loved what I discovered, and rediscovered, and I wonder what all I will notice in reread number two.
After reading them all there is one thing that now I can say: Sad endings are not just about death. It is sacrifice that makes some stories legends.
It sounds like this was the first book that made that reality clear to me. Death is the ultimate sorrow but there are many other things that happen in life that make it sad. I don’t view the way Inheritance ends as a sad end anymore. Inheritance Cycle is the story of a legend, a young boy, to whom a dragon egg hatched. In order to get vengeance for his foster father, he gets caught up in a war that has been brewing for decades. The existence of him and Saphira signifies the return of the Dragon Riders. The dragons in their eggs are awakening, as at least one more hatches through the course of the story. The mantle falls on him to take up arms against the mad king and establish a new order. To bring back the almost extinct species of dragons and bring peace to the world. There is a lot of work ahead of Eragon. He has grown much and fought a fair share but the task ahead of him of recreating the Dragon Riders will be a tough one. I picked up The Fork, the Witch and the Worm and it is doing a great job on the path there. I don’t know if I felt like this before but today, I want to read more of Eragon’s efforts. I don’t really want to leave Alagaesia. I want more of this world and the different races. I would love to read what happens next, centuries and ages.
The Inheritance Cycle reminded me how powerful fantasy series are. Done right, they offer escapism, a familiarity, life with characters that we care about so much, sometimes even historical riches and legends. I have thoroughly enjoyed rereading this series and I am glad that Clinton encouraged me to read it.
Young me truly did a better job of writing without spoilers. Nowadays when I write reviews, I avoid the major ones but I may mention some plot points that I need to discuss. No matter what kind of storytelling it is – movies, books, tv shows – knowing the end never hinders my experience of the actual. I follow a similar theory for reviewing that the details I mention are not going to stick with you. If I get you excited to read a book, that is what you will remember. If you are like my husband who can recall assumed-forgotten spoilers at the worst moments, I am sorry to dampen your experience later.
On a different book in this series? Check out Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr book reviews.
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