Aug09:

GAH! The first book wasn't too terribly bad. Full of cliche and clean cut good vs bag. This one was all over the damn place. Paolini still invents a very fun world, but so much of it is filled with crap.

Pros:
The world they live in. The races are fleshed out, even if the elves and dwarves are boring Tolkein derivatives. At least they have beliefs.
The action scenes are entertaining to read.

Cons:
The magic system is completely hosed. "It costs you energy" Okay, we've got logic. "You can't fight another magician because you'll both die". Whatever. Did you see this happen EVER in the series?
The romance just isn't. I suppose it's as good as a teenager can write.
"Luke I am Your Father" isn't an agreeable plot device these days.

Characters: Mostly crap. I did like the leader of the Varden. That's pretty much it. Roran was waaaay too predictable. Oh wait, Bridgit was cool if they'd given her more space. Hell, why didn't he develop a sad love triangle between Roran and Bridgit while they were looking for the other chick I'll never know. That would have been thought provoking at least.

Plot: Yea, he phoned this one in for the most part. It's all just as you'd expect it to be.

Style: He's losing me here some too. It's still "high fantasy", but I'm starting to feel some disconnect with the characters. They're just too flat. ( )

This is the second book of the series and overall I liked it. In particular I liked Eragon’s brother’s story that played out the most. Eragon’s was a bit slow and detailed. Not that its not important just that I really liked the brother’s journey a ton better. ( )

Snore. I was bored from beginning to end with the second installation of the Inheritance series. Eragon spends most of this novel continuing his training with the elves and pining away after Arya who is not at all interested in him. The prose is repetitive and dull and Eragon becomes more annoying as the story moves forward. He doesn’t seem to learn anything or just when you think he’s wised up a bit he goes and makes the same mistake over and over again. Even the big "revelations" that take place throughout the book aren't surprises at all as they were foreshadowed repeatedly throughout the first book. So even they couldn’t provide any kind of highlight.

I hate to be so negative when it comes to a book. Usually I can find something I like but I’m afraid this is an exception. I rather enjoyed “Eragon” (the first in the series) and was able to overlook some of the story's weaknesses because of Paolini's age and inexperience. But I really expected there to be some growth in book two and it just wasn't there.

I was surprised and disappointed to learn that the once three-part series was being extended to four. I would have checked out the third book to see if there were any improvements if I knew it was the last in the series. But knowing it's going to be dragged out even further makes me uninterested in continuing. ( )

Eldest opens with Eragon looking upon the battlefield of Tronjheim. It has been three days since the battle has been won, three days since Eragon killed the Shade Durza. But the mood is bleak; there is no rejoicing over the victory. The stronghold of the dwarves and the Varden Farthen Dur is littered with bodies. The battle is over for now, but every one knows that King Galbatorix has not been completely defeated.

And Eragon himself is scarred. Though he managed to kill Durza and is now known as Shadeslayer, Durza's sword has left a battle injury. The only hope for resisting the Empire of Galbatorix, wonders how a cripple like him will survive the conflicts ahead.

Then in a surprise attack, a group of Urgals murder Ajihad, the leader of the Varden and take the Twins and Eragon's friend, Murtagh prisoner. The Varden's Council of Elders wants to nominate a leader who'll be a decision maker. They want Eragon to throw his weight behind them and swear allegiance to the Council. The dwarves too would like to have a say in the matter and want Eragon to support their choice. Arya, the ambassador of the elves, keeps her own counsel. Eragon is caught in these uneasy circumstances a time of power games and strategizing.
During this adventure his own brother fights his own adventure, facing problems, which eragon has started.

In the book I saw a feeling of brotherhood and how people work hard for others. I personally think this book is marvelous and if you like adventure series this is your type. I would rate this 5 stars and it would be 8+ as it contains some violence and hard words to pronounce for younger readers.
Manpreet ( )

If anyone here hasn't read Diana Wynne Jone's "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland", may I suggest it as a rippingly funny antidote to Paolinism?

Paolini's stuff is just so much mulch. The only fun I've had from it is playing "spot the reference" - and that wore thin after the first hundred pages of the first book. Reading the second and third books felt like gawking at a nasty traffic accident.

If, instead of homeschooling by indulgent parents, Paolini had had someone like my best English teacher, who would have pointed out in short order that what he was writing was jejune, derivative and unworthy hackwork, and that unless he intended to become the Barbara Cartland of fantasy writing, he'd better find some dignity, discipline and originality - well, he might perhaps have made a writer of himself. ( )