Eragon and Saphira have come a long way from being a teen farmer boy and a newly-hatched dragon.
Now they must face the ultimate challenge and their ultimate goal– to defeat the evil king Galbatorix.
It is hard to believe that this series is done. After four, long books, starting with Eragon which was published in 2003, Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle has come to an end. Eragon Shadeslayer’s and his dragon Saphira’s quest to overthrow the evil king Galbatorix has come to its completion.
This last installment of this series was by far my favorite as brings everything to a close and brings us to an emotional ending with characters that we have been following for so many years.
Many thought that this book would be too predictable; that we have been brought from Carvahall, to Dras Leona, many other places, and all the way to Uru’baen just to be given a story that does not surprise us and leaves us empty. I tell you now that this was not the case. Paolini writes surprises into this large book that one most likely had never predicted. While some of the events that took place in this book could have been predicted easily, there are many things to keep us engaged and wanting to know what is in store.
One of the things that Paolini has a strength in is his world building. The world of Eragon and Saphira, Alagaësia, is ripe with culture and myth that is worthy to perhaps be considered as the young adult’s Middle-Earth. The reader is immersed in the sights and creatures of the land so much that they feel as if it may actually be real in some other universe.
Another thing that Paolini succeeds in doing throughout the series is develop the relationship between Eragon and Saphira– the two on which all hope hangs. The two have a great chemistry where it is believable that they have actually become close friends, they have an undying affection that bonds them to each other. Paolini does a magnificent job of doing this.
The ending of this series was as emotional as I expected it to be, if not more. The last chapter made me want to weep. The emotions pulsed from the page in torrents so fiercely that I am sure that Paolini had shed at least ten or twenty tears while he wrote it.
Christopher Paolini has penned a tale of a dragon and her Rider so fascinating and beautiful that I am sure many people will be picking up these books for a long time and let themselves be snatched up in its engaging talons.
Evan W.S. Morgan 