sanctuary_in_the_pages's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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: Violence, Body horror, War, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Gore, and Alcohol
Minor: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders
darkefyres's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, War, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Pregnancy, and Racism
Minor: Sexism
clockworkhobbit's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, War, Death, Gore, Xenophobia, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Cannibalism, Confinement, Murder, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Grief, Suicide attempt, Ableism, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Medical content, Cursing, Child death, Addiction, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Rape, Islamophobia, Miscarriage, and Panic attacks/disorders
wogslandwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I first read this book as a child when it was published and it was thrilling, exciting and new and interesting. I just reread it as an adult and it filled me with the same emotions. There are pieces of the world building that are, perhaps, too simplistic or simply unimaginative, but the overall scope of the story and prose with which it is delivered more than make up for it's flaws. This book is a phenomenal installment in the series and my favorite of the four books. It has many intense and dramatic scenes that I have not even seen the like of and think about often.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Death, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Gore, and Hate crime
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Torture
This is a high fantasy book with lots of battles and sword fights. The battles have some graphic and gorey descriptions. The same goes for some of the meals that Sapphira, the dragon eats. There is also racial tension between the humans and other non-human groups which gets violent at times. There is a lot of deaths and injury to main and side characters.zombiezami's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? No
2.75
I like that the author experimented with the structure of the book, going from perspective to perspective among the different characters, but boy, did this book drag. A lot of the details didn't feel necessary, and the book felt like it was long for the sake of being long.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Body horror, Medical content, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Xenophobia
Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide attempt, and Torture
Warlizziaha's review against another edition
4.0
The middle lagged a bit, but the ending made up for it. I enjoyed the ending of this book in the series more than either of the other two. One thing that I appreciate as the series moves on is that Paolini seems to be doubling back on his earlier misogynistic take on his fantasy world. Though he can’t just undo the patriarchal system in place among the humans, the other races of this world seem a little more balanced, and the woman who do play a major role in the series are distinct and complex.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, War, Animal death, Death, Gore, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, Grief, and Slavery
spinescens's review
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
TL;DR- not to my personal tastes, but frustratingly close to being enjoyable.
*spoilers below*
This is my least favourite book of the series so far. For an almost 750 page book, nothing of real plot significance happened until maybe the last 100. The events of this story take place over a couple of weeks, but the dense, descriptive writing style made it seem like it dragged on for months. I'll be the first to admit that this writing style isn't exactly my cup of tea, but it never made the books unenjoyable before. I reached the halfway point and started to loathe picking it up again.
My criticism of the language in this series continues to this book. Why do the characters (including the narrator) speak like the only book they've read is a thesaurus?
Like the previous titles, Eragon and Eldest, the story drags until the last few chapters. The final battles are without a doubt the most gripping part of the book, and the death of Eragon and Saphira's mentors is well done and hits the reader where it hurts.
The reveal I have mixed feelings on is Brom being Eragon's father. The actual reveal I also thought was well done and surprising (particularly for a younger reader), but I think it would have been far more interesting if Eragon had actually been the son of Morzan. This, in my opinion, was a huge missed opportunity for some more character growth for Eragon. Eragon learning that his father was an evil man who worked for Galbatorix could have lead to some introspection from Eragon. Throughout the book, Eragon could have thought: "Am I a good person?", "Am I destined to be evil?", "Am I a rider solely because of my father?", and even "Are the people around me only training me so I can right the wrongs of my father?" But instead of a good character moment, Eragon is bothered by Morzan being his father at the beginning of the book, and the issue is not mentioned again until the end. Since Eragon didn't gain anything from the knowledge of Morzan being his father, the fact that it turned out to be a lie, doesn't change anything to do with the story or Eragon as a character.
Ever since Eldest, I found Eragon to be an unlikeable character. He's fine in the first book, but in the second he becomes arrogant, stuck-up, and a bit full of himself. I can't blame him completely though. It seems that every character has placed him up on a pedestal and is constantly telling him he's the best. Especially in this book, he always gets what he wants, and doesn't get the opportunity to learn from his mistakes. So when I was reading this book and kept seeing opportunities to make him more humble and likable, I became increasingly more frustrated when they weren't taken. The main offenders are Eragon going to Farthen Dur without Saphira, his interaction with Sloan at Helgrind, him failing to break the curse on Elva, and of course, the identity of his father.
Eldest had made me fall in love with some characters we didn't really know in the first book, and Brisingr made me feel like I was a fool for doing so. Nasuada being the main offender. I really liked her in Eldest, but I straight up didn't like her in this book (especially in the second half). Despite this though, the chapter titled 'Trial of the Long Knives' rubbed me the wrong way. Beware, this chapter explicitly depicts images of self-harm. You can absolutely skip it without missing anything really important. The purpose of this trial is for Nasuada to prove that she is capable of leading the Varden. Not only does she prove this is the previous book, but also later on in this book (when she gives Roran 60 lashes for disobeying orders). Upon reflection, I found asking why the only black character had to physically mutilate herself to near-death just to prove to others who wouldn't credit her past achievements?
All-and-all this book had some enjoyable moments, but they are far outweighed by the number of frustrating and boring ones.
*spoilers below*
This is my least favourite book of the series so far. For an almost 750 page book, nothing of real plot significance happened until maybe the last 100. The events of this story take place over a couple of weeks, but the dense, descriptive writing style made it seem like it dragged on for months. I'll be the first to admit that this writing style isn't exactly my cup of tea, but it never made the books unenjoyable before. I reached the halfway point and started to loathe picking it up again.
My criticism of the language in this series continues to this book. Why do the characters (including the narrator) speak like the only book they've read is a thesaurus?
Like the previous titles, Eragon and Eldest, the story drags until the last few chapters. The final battles are without a doubt the most gripping part of the book, and the death of Eragon and Saphira's mentors is well done and hits the reader where it hurts.
The reveal I have mixed feelings on is Brom being Eragon's father. The actual reveal I also thought was well done and surprising (particularly for a younger reader), but I think it would have been far more interesting if Eragon had actually been the son of Morzan. This, in my opinion, was a huge missed opportunity for some more character growth for Eragon. Eragon learning that his father was an evil man who worked for Galbatorix could have lead to some introspection from Eragon. Throughout the book, Eragon could have thought: "Am I a good person?", "Am I destined to be evil?", "Am I a rider solely because of my father?", and even "Are the people around me only training me so I can right the wrongs of my father?" But instead of a good character moment, Eragon is bothered by Morzan being his father at the beginning of the book, and the issue is not mentioned again until the end. Since Eragon didn't gain anything from the knowledge of Morzan being his father, the fact that it turned out to be a lie, doesn't change anything to do with the story or Eragon as a character.
Ever since Eldest, I found Eragon to be an unlikeable character. He's fine in the first book, but in the second he becomes arrogant, stuck-up, and a bit full of himself. I can't blame him completely though. It seems that every character has placed him up on a pedestal and is constantly telling him he's the best. Especially in this book, he always gets what he wants, and doesn't get the opportunity to learn from his mistakes. So when I was reading this book and kept seeing opportunities to make him more humble and likable, I became increasingly more frustrated when they weren't taken. The main offenders are Eragon going to Farthen Dur without Saphira, his interaction with Sloan at Helgrind, him failing to break the curse on Elva, and of course, the identity of his father.
Eldest had made me fall in love with some characters we didn't really know in the first book, and Brisingr made me feel like I was a fool for doing so. Nasuada being the main offender. I really liked her in Eldest, but I straight up didn't like her in this book (especially in the second half). Despite this though, the chapter titled 'Trial of the Long Knives' rubbed me the wrong way. Beware, this chapter explicitly depicts images of self-harm. You can absolutely skip it without missing anything really important. The purpose of this trial is for Nasuada to prove that she is capable of leading the Varden. Not only does she prove this is the previous book, but also later on in this book (when she gives Roran 60 lashes for disobeying orders). Upon reflection, I found asking why the only black character had to physically mutilate herself to near-death just to prove to others who wouldn't credit her past achievements?
All-and-all this book had some enjoyable moments, but they are far outweighed by the number of frustrating and boring ones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Self harm
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