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ketreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
If anyone has known me for long, they would know one of my first (and still favourite) series in fantasy is The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. To say I've been looking forward to another book in this world is an understatement, though due to his less than stellar interludes such as The Fork the Witch and the Worm I was a bit cautious on having my hopes too high.
While this book wasn't terrible, it definitely wasn't the book we were all waiting for. This book takes place a year after the final battle in the final book of the series and (of course) follows the lesser seen duo of the series, Thorn and Murtagh. I really did enjoy finally seen the world from their PoV. Seeing just how the trials and tribulations of the original series had long lasting and immense effects upon these characters make them all the more important. We have a lot of small flashbacks to the horrors experienced by both Thorn and Murtagh which give better understanding and nuance to why these characters are the way they are. Seeing the bond between Thorn and Murtagh on a micro scale makes these characters all the easier to root for as individuals, and not just for their tortured past.
Sooo, the story is really where this book fails for me. I see a lot of readers rating the first half as a bit too DnD side-quest-y and finding the second half a lot more compelling but I had the opposite opinion. I loved seeing Murtagh and Thorn navigating their way towards a clear goal with a clear moral core was fantastically done. I liked seeing Murtagh contrasted against the average joe, seeing both how far he's come from being a normal human, but still so far he is away from where Eragon ended up at the end of the previous series.
-SPOILERS FROM HERE ON-
The second half seems to do away with this and introduce a whole new world-ending threat we're never seen, heard, or predicted would exist. Having this 'big bad' be introduced in such a badly paced and not as the start of a new series felt like a poor decision, in my opinion. Not only that, but the big bad retcons a lot of the previous threats seen in this world and I did NOT like that. The fact Murtagh and Thorn not only go to this potentially dangerous village with minimal warning to their friends, they also decide to just hang out there for days on end with little explanation or reason to while being aware of the fact it's a stupid and dangerous decision. Having both these characters once again go through the same trauma of capture, torture, and being broken as we get hints of throughout the book just felt gross and unearned. For a series I grew up loving for it's hopeful narrative interwoven between magic and whimsy, this book barely felt a part of that series. I understand people take this as a more 'adult' approach to Paolini's writing but it reads as badly paced and poorly thought out... I did like the first half, though. :')
While this book wasn't terrible, it definitely wasn't the book we were all waiting for. This book takes place a year after the final battle in the final book of the series and (of course) follows the lesser seen duo of the series, Thorn and Murtagh. I really did enjoy finally seen the world from their PoV. Seeing just how the trials and tribulations of the original series had long lasting and immense effects upon these characters make them all the more important. We have a lot of small flashbacks to the horrors experienced by both Thorn and Murtagh which give better understanding and nuance to why these characters are the way they are. Seeing the bond between Thorn and Murtagh on a micro scale makes these characters all the easier to root for as individuals, and not just for their tortured past.
Sooo, the story is really where this book fails for me. I see a lot of readers rating the first half as a bit too DnD side-quest-y and finding the second half a lot more compelling but I had the opposite opinion. I loved seeing Murtagh and Thorn navigating their way towards a clear goal with a clear moral core was fantastically done. I liked seeing Murtagh contrasted against the average joe, seeing both how far he's come from being a normal human, but still so far he is away from where Eragon ended up at the end of the previous series.
-SPOILERS FROM HERE ON-
The second half seems to do away with this and introduce a whole new world-ending threat we're never seen, heard, or predicted would exist. Having this 'big bad' be introduced in such a badly paced and not as the start of a new series felt like a poor decision, in my opinion. Not only that, but the big bad retcons a lot of the previous threats seen in this world and I did NOT like that. The fact Murtagh and Thorn not only go to this potentially dangerous village with minimal warning to their friends, they also decide to just hang out there for days on end with little explanation or reason to while being aware of the fact it's a stupid and dangerous decision. Having both these characters once again go through the same trauma of capture, torture, and being broken as we get hints of throughout the book just felt gross and unearned. For a series I grew up loving for it's hopeful narrative interwoven between magic and whimsy, this book barely felt a part of that series. I understand people take this as a more 'adult' approach to Paolini's writing but it reads as badly paced and poorly thought out... I did like the first half, though. :')
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Slavery, and Torture
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Well, I finally did it. After a fun but frustrating reread of the Inheritance Cycle, I have at last read Murtagh.
Some spoilers for this book and the previous books to follow.
This book was published twelve years after Inheritance and more than twenty years after the initial publication of Eragon. In that time, Christopher Paolini has definitely grown as a writer. His descriptions are tighter and more vivid. Side characters are differentiated in ways that they weren't before. Murtagh's character arc is difficult and mostly well-executed. And unlike in the previous books, the ableism, in this case Murtagh and Thorn's internalized ableism around their PTSD, feels more like an intentional character choice and less like the author violently hating disabled people.
Elsewhere, Paolini has also learned how to write evil girlbosses. Yay?
And he seems to have developed a more nuanced understanding of cult members and survivors of trauma in the intervening years, though that understanding still feels incredible surface level.
While I know that there is an overarching thing that he's aiming for with further installments in this series, it felt to me like half of this book was just Paolini realizing that he'd broken his magic system in Inheritance and trying to find ways to deal with that. On the whole, I didn't mind this. Murtagh encounters challenges that can't be surmounted using the Name of Names. He realizes how limited his vocabulary in the Ancient Language really is. He finds creative solutions to his problems. I liked this.
What I did NOT like was the reveal that the new big bad had been the big bad the whole time and the reason why Galbatorix was the way he was. Maybe this is a personal taste thing, or maybe it's just down to the execution, but I was so excited when there was a new threat that was different from Galbatorix and so disappointed at the reveal that *gasp* it was Azlagur the whole time! It felt lazy to me.
The pacing was, as usual with Paolini's books, horrendous. I know that a lot of the side quest things (like the stuff with the werecat children) will be picked up again in a later book, but it was still very inelegantly done. Even if plots are ongoing, the main threads of a book should be resolved in that book. There was definitely a better way to weave things together.
And the one long chapter in Ilirea at the end to wrap everything up and attempt any sort of proper development of Murtagh and Nasuada's relationship? Silly. Ridiculous. Yes, better than the 200 pages of conclusion at the end of Inheritance, but come ON. Both characters deserved more than that.
Overall, this book is generally better than the previous installments on a craft level, and Murtagh is a more compelling character than Eragon, who also faces much harder personal challenges, but the pacing was so bad and the Nal Gorgoth section dragged SO MUCH and overall it needed some restructuring and reconsidering in places. Also, I didn't have any nostalgia making me like it more than I naturally would have (other than a general fondness for Murtagh and for Nasuada), and this made the rough parts even more difficult for me.
Some spoilers for this book and the previous books to follow.
This book was published twelve years after Inheritance and more than twenty years after the initial publication of Eragon. In that time, Christopher Paolini has definitely grown as a writer. His descriptions are tighter and more vivid. Side characters are differentiated in ways that they weren't before. Murtagh's character arc is difficult and mostly well-executed. And unlike in the previous books, the ableism, in this case Murtagh and Thorn's internalized ableism around their PTSD, feels more like an intentional character choice and less like the author violently hating disabled people.
Elsewhere, Paolini has also learned how to write evil girlbosses. Yay?
And he seems to have developed a more nuanced understanding of cult members and survivors of trauma in the intervening years, though that understanding still feels incredible surface level.
While I know that there is an overarching thing that he's aiming for with further installments in this series, it felt to me like half of this book was just Paolini realizing that he'd broken his magic system in Inheritance and trying to find ways to deal with that. On the whole, I didn't mind this. Murtagh encounters challenges that can't be surmounted using the Name of Names. He realizes how limited his vocabulary in the Ancient Language really is. He finds creative solutions to his problems. I liked this.
What I did NOT like was the reveal that the new big bad had been the big bad the whole time and the reason why Galbatorix was the way he was. Maybe this is a personal taste thing, or maybe it's just down to the execution, but I was so excited when there was a new threat that was different from Galbatorix and so disappointed at the reveal that *gasp* it was Azlagur the whole time! It felt lazy to me.
The pacing was, as usual with Paolini's books, horrendous. I know that a lot of the side quest things (like the stuff with the werecat children) will be picked up again in a later book, but it was still very inelegantly done. Even if plots are ongoing, the main threads of a book should be resolved in that book. There was definitely a better way to weave things together.
And the one long chapter in Ilirea at the end to wrap everything up and attempt any sort of proper development of Murtagh and Nasuada's relationship? Silly. Ridiculous. Yes, better than the 200 pages of conclusion at the end of Inheritance, but come ON. Both characters deserved more than that.
Overall, this book is generally better than the previous installments on a craft level, and Murtagh is a more compelling character than Eragon, who also faces much harder personal challenges, but the pacing was so bad and the Nal Gorgoth section dragged SO MUCH and overall it needed some restructuring and reconsidering in places. Also, I didn't have any nostalgia making me like it more than I naturally would have (other than a general fondness for Murtagh and for Nasuada), and this made the rough parts even more difficult for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
offtheraels's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This book has all the usual issues of a Paolini story and had NO RIGHT being that long—but I had SO MUCH fun re-entering this universe and hanging out with my fave broody, poetry-writing, dragon-riding bad boy with parental issues. It was also good to read a YA fantasy sequel/spinoff that admits to the extensive PTSD of its characters, and I would have liked to see more ~healing~ instead of the more ~trauma~ (especially with Thorn, has he not been through enough???)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Slavery, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Death of parent and War
crixyloo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Torture
nikkihill22's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.75
I really enjoyed this installment in Alagaesia! Murtagh was always a fan favorite so it was very enjoyable to read through his POV, he got fleshed out in all the ways the reader had previously assumed about him but hadn't been confirmed through Eragon or Roran's POV. Thorn was a delight to hear more from, Paolini does a great job of making each dragon feel distinct. This really makes me want a book from Arya's POV so we can learn more about Firnen too.
The story itself was a little slow paced. For much of it, it felt like it didn't have any larger impact on the world, although the way Paolini left the end of the book makes me certain that this will come back. This may not be "the book 5" of the inheritance series, but i definitely do not think that it will be a skippable part of it. I do think that a lot of it was reminiscent of the Roran chapters of Eragon- if you didn't like those when you read them, this might also be a miss for you.
A lot of it read like filler, for instance everything prior to Nal Gorgoth feels like part of a different story, as if Paolini wasn't sure how to quickly bridge the gap between Inheritance and Murtagh. But i did enjoy the character moments that that portion of the book brought us, so i can't complain too much about it.
All in all, it wasn't my favorite part of the World of Eragon, but i did think it was an enjoyable read and it makes me excited for a return to the world and the main series.
The story itself was a little slow paced. For much of it, it felt like it didn't have any larger impact on the world, although the way Paolini left the end of the book makes me certain that this will come back. This may not be "the book 5" of the inheritance series, but i definitely do not think that it will be a skippable part of it. I do think that a lot of it was reminiscent of the Roran chapters of Eragon- if you didn't like those when you read them, this might also be a miss for you.
A lot of it read like filler, for instance everything prior to Nal Gorgoth feels like part of a different story, as if Paolini wasn't sure how to quickly bridge the gap between Inheritance and Murtagh. But i did enjoy the character moments that that portion of the book brought us, so i can't complain too much about it.
All in all, it wasn't my favorite part of the World of Eragon, but i did think it was an enjoyable read and it makes me excited for a return to the world and the main series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Blood
Moderate: Religious bigotry
kew16's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death
greenrequiem's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Torture, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and War
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
manonastrid's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
This is definitely upper YA. The themes are on the heavy side. That being said, Murtagh grows so much in this book, I felt deeply for him and Thorne, their mental battles are some of the best written I've ever read. Both of them have different struggles born from the same experiences. I would highly recommend teens who have parents living with mental health diseases read this. It is possible to rise above and survive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Torture
v_neptune's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-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
4.0
It was fantastic being back in the world of Alagaesia! I found parts of the story a bit slow but the insight into Murtagh and Thorn as characters were absolutely fantastic! There were parts that I cried when they recounted their experiences and trauma.
I'm interested to see what Paolini will do next in the Inheritance Cycle!
I'm interested to see what Paolini will do next in the Inheritance Cycle!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
PTSD
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