Book Review: Brisingr

And no, for the last time, I didn’t spell the title wrong. I can’t help it when authors use made-up words for their titles. It’s their perogative.

Overall: Decent series so far, it’s worth a read if you like fantasy. It’s not my favorite, but it’s not terrible either.

Brisingr is the third installment in the Inheritance Cycle (that was supposed to be… and probably should have been a trilogy) by Christopher Paolini who had most of Eragon written when he was just fifteen. If nothing else, I read Eragon simply because I wanted to know if a fifteen year old really could write a decent novel. I was surprised, and actually enjoyed Eragon and most of Eldest. Brisingr, overall, was not a disappointment but there were a few things that had me shaking my head. First off, each book keeps getting longer and longer as though Mr. Paolini is thinking ‘I wonder how long I can make the next book?’… and Brisingr is no exception. In fact, Brisingr was in dire need of a non-biased editor. This definitely could have been a trilogy because this third book should’ve been about half its size– each journey Eragon takes has 2-3 pages simply describing the journey. It doesn’t make your characters seem more realistic if you have them eating a meal and complaining about how hard it is to get to sleep at regular intervals… it just makes the book drag. And drag. And drag. I really wish I still had a copy of the book to count up how many times we get a description of Eragon eating or complaining about how exhausted/sore/tired/but-still-couldn’t-sleep he was feeling.

That said, I did manage to trudge through the entire book and it was decent, I still like the series. It’s exciting (overall… including Eragon and Eldest), and I’m anxious for the fourth and final (it better be) installment of the series. It’s true that you can see the author’s influences (and love of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy) but I think he does bring his own adjustments to the story that sets it apart from Lord of the Rings and Star Wars (mostly).

Another good thing about this series is that it is relatively PG rated. Which is nice to find. You can still tell a good story without resorting to base language and sexual themes. Does Eragon have a love interest in the series? Yes, but descriptions of her are tasteful and pure. It makes for a better story, in my opinion. Plus, he has a little bit of trouble wooing her, as it is… but he likes her as her, not her as a body and so presents a better idea of the ‘love story’ aspect of the adventure.

Despite the length issues of Brisingr, I still thought he managed to tell a decent story and I hope the fourth book is published soon.