Elves and urgals and dragons, oh my!

Brisingr book review

Score: 8/10

For the uninitiated, Brisingr is the third book in the 'Inheritance cycle' by young writer Christopher Paolini. The first two books, Eragon and Eldest, were both big young adult fantasy hits. Brisingr has not disappointed, currently #114 on the Amazon.com book list months after its release. The book sold 550,000 copies on the first day of its release in September.

This is definitely my favorite in the series. The first two books (which I recently reread before reading Brisingr) are decent young adult books, but lack the kind of character depth I prefer in my fiction. In addition, the dialogue difference between the two books is remarkable; Paolini has really matured as a writer since he began his career as a 17 year-old.

The best passage in the book comes in the first half. One of the characters, an elf named Arya, is describing to the lead character Eragon what happened to her during her captivity in the first book. The passage is easily my favorite part of the novel, and the best thing Paolini has written in the three books. Its infused with such emotion and pathos, that it almost left me in tears after I read it, and I went back and read that part again.

If the rest of the book had matched that passage, Paolini would have created one of my favorite books of all time. But unfortunately Brisingr suffers from a couple of flaws. First, it's too long. Like many successful writers, it appears Paolini did not discipline himself and cut where needed. I don't mind long books, but a fantasy young adult fiction novel should not drag in the middle like this one did. Second, as good as that passage was, other major parts of the novel seemed to lack the style and emotion of other parts.

But these are minor criticisms. I loved the novel and would recommend it to anyone who's read the first two or who likes good fiction (especially fantasy). Paolini has created characters I care about, and his plots are interesting. There is little that is truly original in fantasy anymore, but Paolini has created a terrific world that wraps you up and carries into Alagaesia, a place you're not eager to leave.