Big for the summary of the previous books!

I have started this series 18 years ago. While Harry Potter brought me to reading fantasy, Eragon brought me to epic fantasy and definitely started my love of dragons. Therefore, I am definitely biased when reviewing the series.

The last book was far from perfect. I encountered various issues. Firstly, the Roran POV of siege was unnecessary (I actually appreciated his POV in Eldest). We could have only gotten his last battle POV.

Next, there was definitely one case of "let's bring unknown side character with us so they can die in a situation that could have killed anyone". Oh dear, what a lucky coincidence that we had one throw away character with us.

I had a feeling that we went back with Eragon's progress a bit so there could be more training montage. Like he slipped back to kind of emotional fighting and that's ok, but he should have been able to realise that by himself. Instead, it's served to us as a sudden revelation.

The way he pushed Elva was weird. She is a little kid. She has no obligation to help you.

Again, the same with Solembum. You are telling me that Eragon was expected to pressure him that far?

Actually, I gave this 4* at first because of the satisfying ending but as I was going through the problems I decided to get over my bias and give it just 3*.

The last book ended the series very well, but it was a bit frustrating to get to the end. It explains why I put it on-hold for such a long time. ( )

Inheritance is the fourth and last book in the Inheritance series—an epic tale of dragons, elves, dwarfs, sorcerers, and other assorted supernatural creatures. Within the 800-plus pages, we witness the end of the evil Galbatorix and the beginning of a new era of dragons and riders. There is plenty of action as the Varden and their allies fight the evil forces. While magicians casting good and bad spells help and hinder the outcome, Eragon and Saphira carry the day. Of course, politics is always an underlying torment in the aftermath. The scope of this series, with the expansive creation of fictional landscapes, creative languages, and imagined characters, is staggering. Reading it was a fantastic experience. An excellent achievement for Christopher Paolini, these books will enchant scores of future generations. ( )

This review is more about the entire series than about this particular book. Since it is rather difficult to rate this book without discussing the complete series, I will try and do my best to place everything in a bit of perspective.

No big spoilers, I promise.

The writing of the Inheritance cycle took almost a decade to complete. The themes and characters of the story mature evenly with Christopher Paolini. Eragon clearly ages along with the writer although the events in the book take a lot less time than 9 years.

The prose of the first book is unpolished. Sometimes it threatens to fall in the shallow, treacherous marshes of repetitive descriptions of trivial activities. The first book consists mainly of Eragon traveling together with various personages and the story continues to trudge on without much happening. Although the travels are described in details, it hardly adds anything to the credibility of the characters or the charm of the setting.

After the arrival of a teacher in the second book of the series, the entire tone of the story changes. The skills and self-consciousness of Eragon grow by the page and suddenly the main character struggles with moral and social problems most readers can relate to. From an rough draft of a generic fantasy book for young adults, the story transforms into a more mature novel with philosophical coming-of-age themes. This is continued in book three and the larger part of book four.

Some reviewers criticize Paolini for using a too moralistic tone throughout the later books. There are some strands of buddhist ethics and practice here and there, but in overall I find them appropriate in the plot and for the recommended audience.

The ending of the book, however, is as unpolished as the beginning. I'm afraid I can't give away much of the problems I had without spoiling the entire story. Luckily, I am convinced that books two, three and four make up for the flat characters and slightly naive plot of the first book. I can recommend this series, even if just for the interesting way the author deals with the (normally very cliche) theory behind Magic.

It's too bad for both the author and readers that only the least interesting book of the series was made into a film. The film-adaptation was so badly made it probably ruined the chances of ever getting a proper sequel.

( )

I put reading this one off for a long time, because I was so disappointed with the 3rd book and frustrated that there was going to be a fourth when touted as a trilogy. That being said, I did enjoy the story and how the characters really came into their own in this conclusion. There were times that it was predictable and there were times where the story took me totally off guard. The predictability, I can live with. My only real complaint on this one was that the book seemed to not so much start but fall right back into the story after the last book. It was kind of strange getting back into it after such a long break. Overall, better than average and entertaining. ( )

It is done. This 4th installment of the Inheritance series delivers on action and adventure. The plot lines for the most part of nicely tied up. The only thing that keeps this book from going above 3 stars is the extensive overuse of words. Mr. Paolini took the phrase "show don't tell" and at points had me wishing he would share "just the facts." There are so many details, some of which looked like they would fit nicely in the plot (like the cray man searching the books for something... was it it the name of all names? Galbatrox' name?), yet nothing ever comes of it. Every word, every detail must have a purpose or it is just wasted ink. But that's just the opinion of a busy librarian who has over 2000 books on her to-read list. ( )