Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Murtagh

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Murtagh by Christopher Paolini

44 reviews

sweetheart_ok's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don't usually fall for the bad boy type, but I needed some Murtagh in my life! I chose Murtagh because I had read the rest of the Inheritance Cycle series by Christopher Paolini, and I wanted to know what was next, not to mention that I have a burning curiosity to know more about Murtagh.

The book picks up immediately after Inheritance and follows Murtagh as he decides what to do now that he is free from Galbatorix and the world is saved. It is immediately clear that Murtagh and Thorn are destined for danger and adventure as they encounter a mysterious and lethal group. Murtagh and Thorn decide to investigate on their own as the rest of Alagaesia's heroes are busy cleaning up after the war. Murtagh quickly realizes that there is something more sinister going on than they could ever anticipate, and the two of them face one of their biggest challenges yet.

I loved getting to know Murtagh and Thorn, including their complexities, sarcasm, and brooding mannerisms. The plot flows well, and the conflict builds appropriately throughout the story. The group they meet is so mysterious and dangerous that I have trouble predicting what the source of their power is, whether it is real, and who will prevail in the end. I felt tense as I worried about Murtagh and Thorn, not only from the outside forces, but also the conflicts in their minds and hearts.

I wish the final battle could have been more detailed, and I would have liked to have more information about how Murtagh's path will unfold moving forward, but I am delighted at the growth we see from both him and Thorn in the tale. I also was thirsting for some news of Eragon and Arya even if it was just a tidbit. I think Paolini could have woven in more details from previous characters and books without detracting from this story.

Overall, this is a must-read for Paolini fans. We need to encourage him to keep writing books on Alagaesia and its characters. If you are a fan of fantasy, adventure, danger, personal growth, dark characters, anti-heroes, and mystery, this is the book for you. It is a fast flowing read that will keep you intrigued until the end. Happy reading!

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thestarsandthemoon's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was skeptical at first, with it being so long after the og books were released *cough*Mysterious Benedict Society*cough* , but I really enjoyed it. Murtagh was always an complex character I enjoyed and I'm glad to see more of his story

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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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johannaplatt's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this - the new POV was very refreshing and allowed the author to break away into some more morally grey moments with Murtagh and Thorn. The plot was engaging and kept moving throughout, and both main characters were forced to confront uncomfortable truths about themselves. Particularly loved Thorn's depiction and growth, and the evident depth of connection between them both. Would love to see more from these two!

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1navn's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Boring, repetitive, circular.
I have a bit of hope for the next one, as the ending to point towards a more interesting setting.

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defymavity's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book feels like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign in the best way possible

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suicana's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was difficult to rate because as a standalone, I'd give this at least 4 stars. Compared to the Eragon-saga however, I was a bit disappointed. I still love the world and enjoyed the glimpses you get of Alagaësia post-Galbatorix, but I'm not sure I enjoy the direction the plot is taking with an even bigger (literally), even more evil next villain for Murtagh to defeat. It felt a bit... cheap. The book also felt very slow, even if it was interesting throughout. Still, I'm invested now and will continue reading once the next book comes out.

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amaranthine_dragon's review against another edition

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adventurous tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Really nice to be back in Alegasia [sic]. Like other reviews have said, there was a lot of introspection and some of the action felt like a zelda quest (here's a goal! But to get there you must do ____ and to do that you need to collect _____).

The third quarter of the book was my favorite in terms of character development and interactions, but while I liked the climax, I thought there were a few places where the resolution could have been stronger given the setup provided.

namely: Murtagh's fear of spiders suddenly vanishing when he encounters a giant one why? And the new name of za'rok not really every being mentioned until the moment he renames the sword both sat odd with me.

There are also some lose ends despite it being a standalone, and a lot of buildup to a relatively short climax. I was impressed by how many elements played into what we already knew about the world, it made the story feel a lot tighter and kept the world interally consistent. That said, I wouldn't start with Paolini here as part of the fun of this book was the callbacks to the first series.

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belady147's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love Murtagh as a character and I love this book. I honestly can’t think of anything I didn’t like about it. The writing, the pacing, the characters, the character growth, character relationships, the plot, everything was so so good. Obviously I’m biased as I already loved Murtagh as a character (like I already said) but I honestly believe that this is the best book of the Inheritance Cycle by far. It was also darker than any of the other books. I like darker, angsty things (which is another reason why I am biased towards this book) but pages 450-570 or so were rough even for me.

What a fantastic book. I’m super excited to see where the story goes from here. I hope that we continue to get Murtagh’s POV in future books.

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gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It took me many, many months to get through this, but my gosh it was a fantastic read. Murtagh has always been my favourite morally grey character and to have a whole 600+ page book dedicated to him and Thorn was everything I could have wanted (besides just being back in this world again).

Getting to learn more about Murtagh's character arc and see where life took him and Thorn after all the events that transpired throughout the Inheritance Cycle was fascinating. I felt as though we were really given a chance to get to know them as more than 'the vilains' and it was beautiful.

To see how their tortured past (especially with Galbatorix) triggers them still was heartbreaking and so realistic in a person. The empathy I felt was overwhelming at times - I just wanted to reach through the pages of the book and give them both a big hug. It warms my heart to know that they are least have comfort in each other.

The character growth from both of them in this novel was incredibly impressive, working through the torments of their memories and wanting and trying to get through the other side was so inspiring but what really drove that inspiration further was that it wasn't done overnight. With Thorn especially, we really got a deeper understanding of how his forced growth as a hatchling and cruel trials Galbatorix made him go through affected him still and how he struggled awfully with confined spaces because of that. It was was heartbreaking to see his frustration and fear, being stuck in the cruel moments of the past that brought the fear on.

A theme I really enjoyed in Murtagh was the significant role dreams played - I believe that was also a concept in TSIASOS, so I found it intriguing to see how differently Paolini explores that theme in his sci-fi and in his fantasy, respectively.

A little side note here, but I couldn't help but love the little notes of "mmm", or 'hrmph'.. It just felt so intrinsically human.

I loved getting to see more of the world and did get annoyed at Murtagh's endless curiosity always getting him into trouble, but the things we discovered about the goings on after what we hoped would be a long lasting peace was worrying and I'm so eager to find out what happens next!

What else is in store for Murtagh and Thorn?

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