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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For fans of the Inheritance Cycle (like I was growing up), this book is a thrilling continuation of the saga we know and love and a really interesting look at one of the Cycle's more interesting characters: Murtagh and Thorn.
I'll start with the positive. Murtagh and Thorn's relationship is the absolute star of this book. Even through the weaker portions of the plot, the bond between Dragon and Rider, the healing of old scars, the confrontation of trauma all serve as a potent backdrop for this reunion between us readers and one of the Cycle's best anti-heroes. By the end of this book, I honestly felt more attached to Murtagh and Thorn than I remember feeling for Eragon and Saphira.
There's also the lore. This being a standalone side story, I was not expecting such broad expansions of the world we already knew. However, MURTAGH (the book) sheds a great deal of light on the events of the Cycle, such as some of Galbatorix's hidden facets, secrets the fallen order of the Dragon Riders kept, and an interesting new side to the magic of the world.
Plotwise, the story is at its strongest at its apex, in the third act when things have come down to the wire. Once I got to the climax of the story, I simply could not put the book down and found myself devouring pages to learn what happened at the end.
Here is where I will get into my critiques.
On the lore side, I feel like the worldbuilding of this book was heavily weighed down by its predecessors. If you're a fan of some of the big name high fantasy epics like The Wheel of Time or the Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson, you probably already find the magic of the Inheritance Cycle... lacking. Complexity isn't the issue—the vagueness of the rules, the way they can be bent to serve the needs of the plot, and most importantly *SPOILERS FOR INHERITANCE CYCLE* giving Murtagh the Name of Names, allowing him to literally rewrite the rules of magic at his whim make magic feel more like a plot device than a living, breathing part of the world. Paolini does introduce new facets to the magic system that I did not expect. However, these new aspects often read as an attempt to retcon existing holes or problems created with how magic ended at the conclusion of the original foursome of novels.
On the story side, the plot can feel very meandering throughout the first 2/3s. As the mystery at the heart of the plot heats up, I find Paolini used side quests or diversions to pad the length of the novel and to space out revelations. But all they served to do was annoy me because, even though some of these side quests become tangentially related later on, they never felt fully necessary and were therefore distractions.
Lastly, I have to mention the writing. Paolini has grown as a writer since the days of Eragon and its subsequent quartet. That much is apparent from the first pages of MURTAGH. However, there are a lot of glaring writing crutches in the novel that stick out and start to pull you out of the immersion of the novel after awhile. Starting sentences with the word "And" is not a bad thing in fiction. It becomes one, though, when you do it 5-10 times on a single page, when just merging the sentences would've suffice and kept the meaning. Some of the dialogue can also come across as wooden or modern-ish in its vernacular (Thorn saying: "How goes it?").
All in all, as a fan of Eragon, this was a fun return to the world and reacquaintance with the characters. The ending clearly sets up for more adventures, and Paolini has me on board! I do hope he can work through some of the kinks in his world and writing, though, so that future adventures have more cohesion and overall better delivery. 4/5.
I'll start with the positive. Murtagh and Thorn's relationship is the absolute star of this book. Even through the weaker portions of the plot, the bond between Dragon and Rider, the healing of old scars, the confrontation of trauma all serve as a potent backdrop for this reunion between us readers and one of the Cycle's best anti-heroes. By the end of this book, I honestly felt more attached to Murtagh and Thorn than I remember feeling for Eragon and Saphira.
There's also the lore. This being a standalone side story, I was not expecting such broad expansions of the world we already knew. However, MURTAGH (the book) sheds a great deal of light on the events of the Cycle, such as some of Galbatorix's hidden facets, secrets the fallen order of the Dragon Riders kept, and an interesting new side to the magic of the world.
Plotwise, the story is at its strongest at its apex, in the third act when things have come down to the wire. Once I got to the climax of the story, I simply could not put the book down and found myself devouring pages to learn what happened at the end.
Here is where I will get into my critiques.
On the lore side, I feel like the worldbuilding of this book was heavily weighed down by its predecessors. If you're a fan of some of the big name high fantasy epics like The Wheel of Time or the Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson, you probably already find the magic of the Inheritance Cycle... lacking. Complexity isn't the issue—the vagueness of the rules, the way they can be bent to serve the needs of the plot, and most importantly *SPOILERS FOR INHERITANCE CYCLE* giving Murtagh the Name of Names, allowing him to literally rewrite the rules of magic at his whim make magic feel more like a plot device than a living, breathing part of the world. Paolini does introduce new facets to the magic system that I did not expect. However, these new aspects often read as an attempt to retcon existing holes or problems created with how magic ended at the conclusion of the original foursome of novels.
On the story side, the plot can feel very meandering throughout the first 2/3s. As the mystery at the heart of the plot heats up, I find Paolini used side quests or diversions to pad the length of the novel and to space out revelations. But all they served to do was annoy me because, even though some of these side quests become tangentially related later on, they never felt fully necessary and were therefore distractions.
Lastly, I have to mention the writing. Paolini has grown as a writer since the days of Eragon and its subsequent quartet. That much is apparent from the first pages of MURTAGH. However, there are a lot of glaring writing crutches in the novel that stick out and start to pull you out of the immersion of the novel after awhile. Starting sentences with the word "And" is not a bad thing in fiction. It becomes one, though, when you do it 5-10 times on a single page, when just merging the sentences would've suffice and kept the meaning. Some of the dialogue can also come across as wooden or modern-ish in its vernacular (Thorn saying: "How goes it?").
All in all, as a fan of Eragon, this was a fun return to the world and reacquaintance with the characters. The ending clearly sets up for more adventures, and Paolini has me on board! I do hope he can work through some of the kinks in his world and writing, though, so that future adventures have more cohesion and overall better delivery. 4/5.
ok cliffhanger…. a new story in alagaesia feels like revisiting a familiar comfort and i do think that paolini’s exploration of character continues to be a strength. murtagh is not perfect, he is certainly not as morally certain as eragon, and he’s also not as skilled or trained and that was very clear. that being said, i miss eragon and saphira; the world really isn’t the same without them. also bachel is a bitch, but she was kind of hot??? i do support women’s wrongs on occasion. and uvek slays i love him. also THORN!!! thorn!! character development!! ok i’m done now.
I really liked reading from Murtagh's perspective, and Christopher Paolini has improved a lot as an author.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Love the World of Eragon. I was a bit sceptical at first because I wasn't a big Fan of Murtagh. But now after reading the book, I really got to know him and like him.
Have to say that the story unfolds pretty slowly. I like slow paced books, but this one took many chapters to really make me curious. That's basically the only critique I have for this book. Except that it is rather dark at times and also in the endit's kind of an apocalyptical atmosphere because Murthagh has only just begun to deal with the "true evil". So definetly an open end. And i found it quite hard to read so much of Bachel torturing him and them suffering. It felt like it took forever.
What I'm happy about tho isthat there wsd a Reunion with Nasuada. I wished so badly fof an appearance of Eragon or Arya but i guess that will have to wait till the next book
Have to say that the story unfolds pretty slowly. I like slow paced books, but this one took many chapters to really make me curious. That's basically the only critique I have for this book. Except that it is rather dark at times and also in the end
What I'm happy about tho is
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Ho hum. I was so bored the entire way. I committed to finishing it because I want to read eveything in this universe, but good lord…. I should have stopped after the first four. Novella is not with the time, nor is this.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Die Entwicklung von Murtagh in Christopher Paolinis neuestem Buch ist fesselnd. Seine tragische Vergangenheit am Hof von Galbatorix und die entsetzliche Folter, die er und Dorn erleiden mussten, verleihen dem Charakter eine tiefgreifende Emotionalität. Im neuen Abenteuer stellt sich das Duo einer Gefahr, der selbst Galbatorix nicht gewachsen war, und die Spannung zieht sich wie ein roter Faden von Anfang bis Ende. Murtagh zeigt sich erneut als ein unglaublich cooler Charakter, der die Leser mit seiner Komplexität und Stärke beeindruckt.
I’m so glad that Murtagh and Thorn got to have that story! And I sincerely hope that ending means we’re getting more of the Inheritance series!