Friday, December 30, 2011

Inheritance.. finally

For those who do not know, Inheritance is the 4th book in the Eragon series. There's Eragon.. I have amnesia.. I cannot remember the 2nd book's name for the life of me..then there's Brisingr and finally Inheritance.

The entire story starts with Eragon, who becomes a dragon rider and his dragon Saphira. I thought the first 3 books were okay. I did not find them to be breathtakingly exciting or anything of the sort. So, my expectations were not very high from the 4th instalment in the series. In the first book, it was all about Eragon and Saphira. Uptill the 4th book, some other characters also came into prominence like Nasuada, Roran etc.

Like any other book, there has to be an "evil" to be conquered.. the objective to the entire series. In this instance, evil is present in the form of Galbatorix, the magician.

So here, I thought, the entire finale will be about Eragon defeating Galbatorix and there would be nothing else to it. I simply bought it as I had already read the first 3 books and just had to finish the 4th for my own satisfaction. And no, curiosity had nothing to do with it.

Funnily enough, I quite enjoyed the book. Inheritance, I am happy to report, is not about Eragon and Saphira. Yes, they do have their own part to play. But so do all others and their role is definitely not inconsequential. In fact, if anything Eragon couldn't have achieved anything much without them. And that stands out.. and I quite like it.

I liked the character of Roran. The strength of character, the intellect I should say.. way better than Eragon. I quite liked Nasuada,Murtagh, Orik, King Orrin, the magician Angela, the werecat Solembum etc. Each one had a definite role to play and I enjoyed reading about each one immensely. I do not think I would be off the mark, if I say all of these characters undermined Eragon and Saphira. In fact, that's the very reason I liked it. It was by far the best of the series.

There were 2 things though I couldn't come to terms with - a) Galbatorix. After the entire build up to Galbatorix, the character is weakly etched into the book. Throughout the entire first 3 books, his character builds fear, despair in one.. pretty much like Voldermort. Sadly, the strength of character doesn't live up to the build up at all. He appears and disappears as quickly.

b) It is quite a thick book. And it keeps you absorbed, almost till the end. The post Galbatorix part gets a bit annoying and becomes more of a drag. I just wanted it to end. But it goes on and on and on with Eragon dithering over things. It was so not required.

But all in all, surprisingly, I enjoyed it. Time worth investing in.



4 comments:

Bluestocking said...

You already know I think I am not a big fan of the series. I think I would have loved to hear more about Nasauda and Murtagh. They are much more interesting and deep than Eragon and Arya. Roran was IMO a bigger hero than Eragon with all his magic. And i totally get your views on Galbatorix. What an anti-climax!

Ru. said...

I am yet to read, the number of pages is frightening...and I was thinking if I will hv to read hundreds of pages on what saphira ate and how eragon meditates etc etc. But good to read your review.
I too think Roran, Murtagh were much more interesting.
ps: book 2 is Eldest!

Moonshine said...

@Bluestocking lol. Yes I do know you are not a big fan of the series. Same was the case with me.. but the last book brought me from neutral to slight positive! :) Roran was totally a bigger hero and much more deep than wily nily Eragon

@melee Trust me on this.. Inheritance is quite a page turner.. and you do not need to read about Saphira chewing.. well not too much at least!!! :)

Oh yeah, Eldest. Least liked of the 4.

Gobri said...

I just finished Eldest and as I told you, I battled with it. But I am going to stick with and finish the series.
I am re-reading LOTR right now, though, to confirm the existence of superb fantasy writing.