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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
It was a bit better than ok, but not quite good. I find this series went downhill as it went on, with the first book being good, and then a slowdropoff from book 2 to book 4. It's hard to point out something that's "wrong," and it's still a reasonable book, a pretty fitting ending to the series, but it fell into some predictable channels and was fairly unsurprising with its plot advancement. I appreciated the direction Paolini took with his romances, which was fairly refreshing to that sinking feeling I get whenever the obvious love interest is introduced in fantasy. A large portion of the book is fairly wordy, for not much advancement however, spending a lot of time explaining the world, without said explanation adding anything in particular. I found myself spending a lot of time not caring about the book in the middle and wishing it would end just so I could know the resolution to the series.
Having said all that, I found it a satisfying end to a series I've been following for years, with enough creativity in its plot advancement and resolutions that I wasn't disappointed in the conclusion to the series and the storylines of characters therein. I would recommend the series overall, especially to young adult readers looking for more fantasy.
Having said all that, I found it a satisfying end to a series I've been following for years, with enough creativity in its plot advancement and resolutions that I wasn't disappointed in the conclusion to the series and the storylines of characters therein. I would recommend the series overall, especially to young adult readers looking for more fantasy.
With this final novel, I am convinced of a few things: this series has created characters that are more realistic and human than many others; the Dutch translation of "Inheritance" is worse than it has any right to be, with inconsistencies within itself (using imperial and metric measurements within the same book, for example) and with the other books (using different translations of a name that already had a good translation in previous books); and it can get kind of frustrating after a while to have the narrator tell you that a character has a plan and explains it to others, without giving the reader any details. However, the ending takes proper care of the "what now"-feeling you get when the big adventure is complete, and it has been fun to see how Paolini, being so young when he started the series, simply became a better writer as the series progressed. All in all, I'm happy I read these books.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
Honesty this book is actually better than I remember it, definitely can see why I loved this series as a teenager but also how it’s not my cup of tea anymore. Everything was foreshadowed well and resolved well with interesting twists and turns and nothing obvious
Okay, I guess.
It was an ending. Maybe not the best it could have been, but it was dealing with baggage from the previous books. A few parts of this book feel pretty fluffy, or don’t have a ton of purpose; I feel they could be combined with other scenes. Some moments Paolini does nail it tho. The rest… *shrug*. I felt (ME PERSONALLY) that the characters were a bit lacking (not unique to this book), and the final ending unsatisfying. There are a few moments here and there that are really well done, just not as many as I was expecting or hoping for. There are a few more objective critiques that I have, but those are spoilers and I’ll leave them out.
6.5/10
It was an ending. Maybe not the best it could have been, but it was dealing with baggage from the previous books. A few parts of this book feel pretty fluffy, or don’t have a ton of purpose; I feel they could be combined with other scenes. Some moments Paolini does nail it tho. The rest… *shrug*. I felt (ME PERSONALLY) that the characters were a bit lacking (not unique to this book), and the final ending unsatisfying. There are a few moments here and there that are really well done, just not as many as I was expecting or hoping for. There are a few more objective critiques that I have, but those are spoilers and I’ll leave them out.
6.5/10
adventurous
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A (mostly) satisfying end to the series.
Well. I's hard for me to be objective about books in a series - I can't tell you about writing style (good or bad), pacing, character development... because I am so involved with the story and the charaacters I have grown to love (or hate), my inner English teacher is stifled a bit. So - while I was thrilled to see how it finally wound up (Thanks, Paolini, for not stretching it out unnecessarily like Brisingr), I did NOT enjoy some of his plot choices. Cue spoilers.
a. A plot diagram has a big rise ending in a climax - the highest point of action - which for the Inheritance is the ultimate defeat of Galbatorix (yeah, I hate that name, too. so cheesy). After the climax is a short (SHORT!) decline where the author wraps the story and then the end of the diagram and thus the plot. So why, why???, was Galbatorix defeated on page 719... and the book had 860 pages?!?!? Sorry, BORED NOW!
b. So you make me read 150 or so access pages and then... Arya and Eragon don't even end up together?? Seriously???
c. It's small but: what happened to Eragon's damn belt?!? You spent, I dunno, three pages expounding on its loss, even sending Eragon back into the Hall 300 pages later to search for it... and it never reappears?? Is this a cheesy way of sparking a spin-off series (oh , sorry, CYCLE, for those of us too good for normal book-ish words)? Where the hell is the belt???
Whew. Sorry, had to get that off my chest.
Overall - I was entertained, I can't deny that. And, Inheritance (what's with the completely unoriginal title, by the way) was MUCH better than Brisingr in terms of pacing and action (okay, maybe a little of my inner English teacher coming out there). Overall, recommend, because once you start a CYCLE (not series, mind you), you gotta finish it!
Spoiler
a. A plot diagram has a big rise ending in a climax - the highest point of action - which for the Inheritance is the ultimate defeat of Galbatorix (yeah, I hate that name, too. so cheesy). After the climax is a short (SHORT!) decline where the author wraps the story and then the end of the diagram and thus the plot. So why, why???, was Galbatorix defeated on page 719... and the book had 860 pages?!?!? Sorry, BORED NOW!
b. So you make me read 150 or so access pages and then... Arya and Eragon don't even end up together?? Seriously???
c. It's small but: what happened to Eragon's damn belt?!? You spent, I dunno, three pages expounding on its loss, even sending Eragon back into the Hall 300 pages later to search for it... and it never reappears?? Is this a cheesy way of sparking a spin-off series (oh , sorry, CYCLE, for those of us too good for normal book-ish words)? Where the hell is the belt???
Whew. Sorry, had to get that off my chest.
Overall - I was entertained, I can't deny that. And, Inheritance (what's with the completely unoriginal title, by the way) was MUCH better than Brisingr in terms of pacing and action (okay, maybe a little of my inner English teacher coming out there). Overall, recommend, because once you start a CYCLE (not series, mind you), you gotta finish it!
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No