This is the last and fourth book in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance series. It's been a long time coming, though not as long as the Harry Potter series and certainly not as anticipated. After remembering that it came out Autumn of 2011 , I bought it during winter break of 2011-2012 and read it through. Overall, I certainly enjoyed it more than Breaking Dawn by Stephaine Myers, but it didn't even compare to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling. I was left with mixed feelings upon finishing the book and am hesitant about reading it again anytime soon. I wrote this review after reading it, but forgot about posting it,
Like the previous book in the series, Brisingr, Paolini writes from Eragon, Roran and Nasuada's perspectives. However if you count the amount of chapters with Nasuada's perspective, Paolini might as well have just cut those chapters out. I found them a bit pointless and lacking. And while a change in perspective does help one keep tract of the story's development, it also drags. Paolini may have had need to add a fourth book to this series, but with all of his lengthy descriptions for nearly everything, it was much longer than needed. If you've ever read the full version of Les Miserables by Hugo Victor where there was this entire chapter describing the sewers, that's basically what Paolini did with Inheritance, except with multiple chapters. Had he cut out much of scenes with Roran and Nasuada's interactions with minor characters, Eragon's reflection on his life and relationship with Arya, and nearly every battle with every single enemy they encountered, this story would've been an easier and more enjoyable read.
Another issue I had with this book was what was supposed to be the climax. After trudging through the endless battles and jumping back and forth between perspectives, I was dying just to get to the climax. But in the end, I put my hopes up too high. I was disappointed by how they overcame Galbatorix and couldn't help but think: "Seriously? That's it? *disbelief*" I think I was ready to shut the book and end there if I hadn't noticed there was still nearly a quarter of the book to go through. It's frustrating to leave a book unfinished...
So I continued to read on and grudgingly mentally congratulated on Paolini for giving the story a lengthy closure. (Though perhaps it leaves little for the imagination to create and build upon.) My only issue with the ending was mainly the relationship between Eragon and Arya. It was extremely cheesy and almost like those scripted romance scenes in Star Wars without the kissing.
In conclusion, if I had to give this book a rating, then it'd probably be a C. Paolini created a beautiful fantasy world, but this last book didn't do much justice. I admire his creativity, but sometimes...inspiration can lack. And it certainly did so here.
