Brisingr

Rating: 3.5 stars
Rounded down to 3
(As true of a 3.5 stars rating as I can get. Couldn't decide whether to go up or down)

This book suffers from what each of the Inheritance cycle books suffer from... They are so bogged down in exposition and details that, to some, things feel boring. Some people did not enjoy the scenes where Eragon learns to form his own sword because of the 15-page-long-description, however, I actually did. I liked the attention to detail in the battles. It sometimes is a slog to get through, but I enjoy the worldbuilding and immersion that it creates.

Some of the plot points are typical of other words of literature. I'm trying to decide if that is actually a bad thing, since everything is derivative of other works. However, it is strange to me how obvious some of the inspiration behind the points is. Like, I know of no other work that I can point to things and say, “oh, it's [this plot point] from [movie/book]”. Perhaps that is wrong of me and I shouldn't, as the story is enjoyable enough.

Below is mostly my review posted on Eldest and Eragon with some rehashing/added stuff...

So this is my second time reading Brisingr, (Eragon, Eragon/Eldest, Eragon/Eldest/Brisingr...) this being my first time listening to the audiobook. To put it simply, Gerard Doyle is fantastic. His character voices and narration fit perfectly, and I loved the job he did. I'm actually going to continue on with Inheritance now because he does them all.

I obviously fell off for some years seeing that Inheritance was released 9 years ago, but what can you do...

I'm sure there's a hundred reviews on here talking about how this all started when Paolini was fifteen, and how at the time of Brisingr, he had spent a decade with Eragon, so I'll just say–WOW.

He takes so many things from others (in terms of influence) and handles them all so delicately that he created this wonderful, lush, dense lore that continues to grow throughout the rest of the novels. He was like a mini-Tolkien with his languages and flushed out geographic ideas. He created the Urgals and Kull instead of just recycling the typical Orcs and Uruk-hai. I found multiple points of similarity between Martin's ‘Game of Thrones' dragons and Paolini's, and yet past those he once again branched off and created his own world and lore for them in a refreshing way. I think the training and wiseness from Brom most similarly matches the ideas of Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker, including the necessary death of a mentor/father figure that thus propels the main character towards greatness. I suppose you could also easily argue that it is also like Gandalf/Frodo, however I think it's a harder argument to make that Frodo actually grew based off lessons from a knowledgable mentor (HE IS A HERO, JUST A DIFFERENT KIND!). Or, you could also point out Harry/Dumbledore–I'm sure we've all seen the memes about needing an old man mentor and a young hero to make a successful series–even though Dumbledore hid questionable important details from Harry, he still fulfilled that role.

I actually read a bitter sounding review under Eldest on here where they claim the opposite of what I am saying–ie. that Paolini does not do any of these things delicately/well and all I can say is that I'm genuinely surprised by that reaction. The main complaint I saw was drawing a comparison to Star Wars and almost calling these similarities blatant stealing. IE. “I am your father [Morzan].” And also saying that the reemergence of the twins and Murtagh was stupid/not earned. All I can say is that 1. I am a HUGE SW fan, as you can obviously see in my read books section, and I think that if your basis for disliking this book/series/author is that you think SW is the end-all for original ideas, you're just misguided. I mean right off the bat, just read Dune and see how many things are super close to some of the original SW ideas in A New Hope... 2. I have now read this book three times and each time I have loved the “surprise” of Murtagh coming back. Every single time. Sure, I also thought he was alive, but riding atop a new RED DRAGON? No, that hadn't crossed my younger mind at all. 3. If you dislike reading things that have any kind of similarities at all, I'm sorry to inform you but fantasy is not the genre for you at all. Find me something that doesn't pull strings from Tolkien, Lewis, Herbert, Martin and many others. I don't believe it can be done. Those similarities are the reasons WHY I love these kinds of books and genre. Originality would come at a cost. Probably the cost of that comfortability many look for in fantasy and that wouldn't work for me and many others.

I'm sure there are also countless ideas and influences that he drew from the million and one dragon rider series that exist in this world. However, I first started reading these books in the sixth grade, so as an eleven year old I hadn't much experience elsewhere, and afterwards this was more my basis for that kind of story than any other.

I know we've all seen/heard Paolini say things like “trying to write like Tolkien at his best” and various other stupid and pompous sounding things, but he was young and humility doesn't come easy for everyone. He had great success with these books at an early age, that could certainly do that to your head. And to be honest, it'd have been better for someone else to have said that for him, but I don't really disagree with it. I even call him a mini-Tolkien at the beginning of this review... (but lets be real...Tolkien was always at his “best”)

I will say that I think Paolini is lucky that he had spent so much time working his characters in book two, because honestly without it I would not have given a single f*k about Roran getting married or trying to become a leader. It's because of his earlier work and attention to detail that leads fans to desire more information about other characters and the day to day activities. The trouble with the dwarves even borders on getting too dry and he still (in my opinion) reels it in enough, and splits it with action, to save its enjoyability. The world of Alagaesia needs more dragon power. As fans can tell by the cover, Glaedr is the focal point of this one. Even though Oromis and Glaedr have disabilities of their own they still make the decision to enter the fight. I thought this was immediate, and obvious, foreshadowing to their doom. Even though Glaedr should have far exceeded the size and strength of Thorn, there is still a struggle between them. When the tide of battle seems to point in their favor, Galbatorix possesses Murtagh. I understand this was meant to show the power and prowess that they're up against, which is Galbatorix himself, but I still think they should have been able to achieve more in the fight. That was my only major gripe. I understand that his writing style, and seemingly his incessant need to write bible length books, is not for everyone, but this has been a 5/100% novel since the first time I read it. Now after finishing it for my second time I still don't have any real complaints. I love it and not just for the nostalgic feel, it's amazing.