Review – Brisinger by Christopher Paolini (2/5 stars)

This is the third book in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. It was originally the Inheritance Trilogy. I was a bit disappointed when I heard there was going to be yet another book. I haven’t been really ecstatic about this series and I can’t understand the allure it has for people. Still, I figure I should probably finish what I started. I listened to this on audio book. The audio book was excellent in quality.

The book starts with Roran and Eragon storming Hellgrind to save Katrina. From there Eragon is stuck trying to please the Varden, finish his training with the elves, and consorting with the dwarves on their new choice for king.

Positive Things:
– This book is, in some ways, a work of art. It is very deliberately crafted, Paolini created his own languages for goodness sake.
– The politics in the novel are detailed and well (too well) thought out.
– The fight scenes are also fairly well written.
– Sephira; she is the best character and without her prescence I would have never finished the first book of the series.
– Paolini is trying to make a masterpiece; unfortunately sometimes a masterpiece isn’t all that much fun to read.

Negative Things:
– The language. Where does he get his adjectives from? I felt like Paolini was deliberately trying to use the longest words possible to describe everything.
– The politics were boring, boring, boring. There is a huge reason why a lot of fantasy cuts the politics short…it is boring.
– Eragon as a character. Eragon either does what he wants or whines about what people tell him to do. Then after this immaturity, Eragon suddenly goes off for a chapter on the philosophy of good and evil. It is inconsistent.
– The whole epic scene with Sloan. This scene is silly and ridiculous. It only teaches us more about what we already know about Eragon; he is a pompous whiny hero.
– Inappropriate descriptions during fast-paced scenes. There is one scene where Roran is in the midst of a dire battle. Roran notices and thinks about a beautiful moth flying through the battle; while in battle. This is unrealistic and not the only case where something like this is done.

On a side note the audio book had a bonus interview with Paolini. In this interview he tried to explain the Sloan scene and also explain why all the politics were included. Apparently he thought them necessary. I guess I disagree, but it is his book after all.

If Paolini had shortened the Sloan thing and cut out the unnecessary politics he could have easily finished this “Cycle” in 3 books. Eragon was bored for large portions of the book, and guess what, so was I. I am bitter that I have to slog through, most likely, another 900 pages to finish this series. I am bitter that Paolini will be making money off of me doing that. Given all that I am not sure if I will read the last book. We will see.