Wow. Brisingr, Book 3 in the Inheritance Cycle, by Christopher Paolini, was terrific, awesome, amazing. Overall, it was one of the best books that I've ever read. Two of my favorite scenes in the book were surprisingly, not ones that are spoilers, so I can describe them here!In the first one, Roran and some of the solidiers of the Varden are attacking an army of the Empire's men who are attacking Surda. During the battle, which takes place in a raided and small Surdan village, Roran is able to find a good place to fight. There is a wall of wagons blocking off most of the allyway, so that only a few solidiers a a time can get through. There are a couple of archers on the rooves of the surrounding buildings that are helping Roran. Roran is getting beat up anyway, but the mound of Empire bodies that he is fighting on is steadily getting higher. By the end of the battle, Roran is beat up, but Carn, the spellcaster with the group heals him and tells him that overall, Roran himself killed 193 solidiers. It was such an awesome scene.
In the second scene, Rorans leadership is challenged by an Urgal that is in the group Roran is leading. The only way for them to settle the disagreement without him offending the Urgals on behalf of the Varden, is for them to wrestle for leadership. Surprisingly, Roran was able to tire him out and he won. It was a great scene.
I loved it. By the way, tonight, I get to go to the Christopher Paolini book signing. I am beyond excited.
7 comments:
I won't even get into my thoughts on Inheritance here. You won't want to hear them.
Well, you see, you like the books...
um, sorry to say - my thoughts tend to side with Q's...they are not very nice...
my problem (and it really is a problem) is after i have started a book, no matter how boring it is, no matter how immature. no matter how much i hate it...i have to finish it or else ill have nightmares about how it could have ended. as a standing tally, i had nightmares about the book "the Fallen" for 2 straight weeks before i was able to find someone that had another ARC of it.
so, the only reason im reading the eragon series is i started the first book - now i have to finish the series to finally stave off the unseen demons.
Hmmm... I really loved these books. Why don't you guys like them? Not quite your kinda fantasy, or just not the right story, or something like that?
I think I have three main problems with the series:
1. He tries to tell the reader his characters are something they aren't.
2. It's VERY poorly edited.
3. I think he's actually trying to write an SAT prep book.
Eragon as a character just bugs me, which isn't the first time a character has driven me crazy. He comes across as an arrogant jerk who never listens to anyone else, and when Paolini tries to pass him off as humble I just think, "No. No way."
I think it would have been a much better book if they had chopped half of it out, personally. The story has promise, but the execution is a little shaky. I am convinced that the only reason he was published is because he was so young, and I think that was a mistake. I actually liked Eragon, but I really despise Eldest.
Oh, and in Brisingr (which was much better than Eldest but still should have been subjected to hack-and-slash editing), he uses the word 'preternaturally' on the first page. I almost died laughing, because that said to me that he thinks his audience is adults 100 years ago. I'm sorry, it isn't.
Wow, that turned into quite a rant. I'm sorry. I just kept remembering things that bothered me. I do like the premise, though it is cliche and often predictable, but I think I've grown out of Inheritance.
What think you, Jacoby?
And I expect a blog post on the Paolini book signing. I want to hear about it!
hmmm. i guess its was all very cliche. a farmer boy finds an object of great power that helps him save the world....as a very broad review.
i did enjoy reading it - its just not one of my favorites
it also seemed....uh, plagiarized? it was a copy of the star wars movie....like an exact copy of the first movie (or the 4th if you look at it that way)
dont get me wrong though, i would love to meet this person for reals....
wow, I didn't know such a discussion was on here!
I understand that Paolini's books can be very exhausting to read, and I also understand that using a large word on the first page isn't the best of ideas.
And I also see the similarity to the star wars movies, but if you have read Brisingr, those similarities end when so much of it changes, which I was really proud of Paolini for doing.
I have not yet finished Brisingr, as I have three chapters to go, but here's my take, on a few things:
Paolini is incredibly talented. No matter which way you look at it, he is a good writer to be able to complete three books of such a huge size, especially at such a young age! I have attempted to write a novel, and am still attempting it, and it is so no small feat. If you tackle it, you are tackling a job.
I don't like Roran. Hands down, yuck. Sorry Brian....he gets on my nerves, but I don't hate him. I liked him alright in the first book. I don't care enough about him or relate to him enough to care about reading his part of the adventure, although two of his last chapters in the book (the whipping post and butting heads, with the urgal) were very good. I agree with you there.
I dislike Katrina even more than Roran. My favorite parts of the Inheritance book to read are Eragon's. I disagree, I don't think that it was plagiarized, but I also admit that Paolini borrows an enormous amount of inspiration from his favorite authors. I think that with Paolini, you either love it or hate it, and I'm kind of with Brian, I love it. There are some elements about Eldest and Brisingr that I dislike, but I am still very glad that I took the time to read the book. It even inspired me to add a different layer to my book that I abandoned a long time ago! To each his own though, right?
WOw, that was a long comment. Anyway, I'll deal with my likes and dislikes of the book when I post my review...but I know...it looks I did that here...but you have no idea how much I've left out. :D I can't wait to see what happens in the last three chapters though!
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