In the third installment of The Inheritance Cycle, Eragon and Saphira find themselves once again with their loyalties stretched in all directions. There is the promise Eragon made to Roran, his cousin. Beyond that they must also help to protect humans, elves, dwarves, and urgals. It is a heavy load for two so young to be carrying. Will they be able to protect everyone as well as continue on their way to defeating Galbatorix? Will they fail?

I was eager to start reading this book after finishing Eldest, and I am happy to say that I enjoyed this book even more than Eldest. The beginning is much smoother, and it wasn't at all hard for me to fall into the story. I was actually trying to read faster in order to see what was going to happen next!

My favorite part of this entire book were the few chapters in Saphira's point of view. It was incredibly interesting to finally learn more about her thought process. I've heard her that her attitude could be compared with that of a cat, and I'd have to agree. She's very sure of herself and quite proud of her abilities.

The ending was beautiful, intermingling feelings of sadness and hope. You know when you're reading a book and you get this sense of foreboding? That's what happened to me. I guessed that I knew what was going to happen, yet from that point on I hoped it wouldn't. It did happen, though, and it hurt. There are battles throughout the book with people dieing, but when these beings died and the book ended, I felt the sense of hopelessness, yet also that this would give Eragon and Saphira a push they needed to defeat Galbatorix and end his rule over the empire. I guess I'll have to wait on the fourth book in order to finally see!

Overall, this was a really great read! This series as a whole really captured me, which is pretty impressive considering that I am not much of a fantasy lover. So many things were left open in this book, and I'm really curious to see if the author will be able to wrap up this series satisfactorily in just one more book.

My rating- 4/5 stars

Posted by Melanie at 8:07 AM View Comments    

Labels: 4 stars, Brisingr, Christopher Paolini

Eldest continues the story of Eragon and Saphira and as we are told in the end of Eragon, he and Saphira go to train in Ellesmera, land of the elves. Meanwhile, Eragon's cousin Roran leads Carvahall in a fight against the horrifying Ra'zac. (Sorry for the short summary, but that's all I could think of without giving away a bunch of stuff.)

I just finished the book, and the ending was amazing! It left me somewhat satisfied, while also wanting to rush out and read the next book. It was great. Wow.

Although the ending was great, the beginning was a different story. There was nothing wrong with the plot, but it took a while to settle myself into the story, mainly because of the POV changes. In the previous book, all is told from Eragon's perspective. That's what I was expecting in this book as well, but that wasn't the case. Parts of the story were told from Roran's and Nasuada's POV as well. However, once I realized what was happening I began to enjoy seeing circumstances from everyone's perspective.

Many new characters are introduced in this book, and many characters that were minor in the first book took on more important roles. Although it took awhile to familiarize myself with everyone, they all played important parts to helping flesh out the story.

The main thing I enjoyed about this book was the plot. It was incredibly interesting with many turns. Things happened that I didn't expect to expect! The plot kept me mesmerized!

Overall, this book was very good. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first, but I did enjoy it. And I can't wait to get started on the third.

Posted by Melanie at 11:12 PM View Comments    

Labels: 3.5 stars, Christopher Paolini, Eldest

Eragon happens to find a beautiful blue stone in the forest and hopes he will be able to trade it in order to buy food for his family to last through the winter. Little does he know he’s on his way to the journey of his life. The young dragon and Eragon are thrust into a world that Eragon had only heard stories about, and finding out things he never could of even imagined. Eragon’s future is a mystery, and no one knows if he will be able to be a legendary dragon rider.

It took me awhile to get around to reading this book, but I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed it! I’d put off reading it because I haven’t read much fantasy in the past and didn’t know whether it would fit me. After one of my friends recommended it to me, I finally picked it up.

The plot in this story is very intriguing. The book just sucks you in! In most of the book, it looks like the circumstances could go either way, good or bad. They didn’t always go good, which was somewhat refreshing from all of the happily ever after stories I’ve been reading lately. I liked the way things were explained. Many things that exist in the book do not exist in this world, and things were explained, I didn’t feel like the pace of the story slowed down too much. Although many of the characters were intriguing, I’d have to say that Solenbaum, the werecat who makes relatively brief appearances throughout the book, would have to be my favorite character. His dry sarcasm is quite refreshing!

Overall, a great read!
My rating- 4/5 stars

Posted by Melanie at 11:30 AM View Comments    

Labels: 4 stars, Christopher Paolini, Eragon