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A review by ndsr
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
3.0
I decided this year I would read the rest of Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, since I had read the first couple as a young teen and, like a lot of readers of my age, dropped off before the publication of the third book, and I've heard good things about Murtagh and his scifi novels.
The upshot is, it's a lot of fun as a straight-ahead epic fantasy, but there is also a lot of immaturity reflected in the character development and world building. To take an example, I imagine A bit eye-rolling, but fine for young readers.
The storytelling is very simple. Virtuous characters are to be taken as incredibly virtuous, wise characters as unfailingly wise, etc. And these virtues and wisdom are demonstrated primarily through a lot of preachy or self-righteous dialogue to other characters. It passes the show-don't-tell rule, but only just. I was reminded of a similar tendency in Brian Jacques' Redwall series.
This all sounds like I'm complaining, but there's a certain charm and even joy to childlike stories and straightforward plots. I feel particularly fond of it coming off of John Gwynne's Shadow of the Gods, which while its characters are much more plausibly adult, manages this largely through making them much less dynamic and interesting in the first place. Young enthusiasm can be cringe! And cringe is okay! I will definitely be finishing out this series this year.
The upshot is, it's a lot of fun as a straight-ahead epic fantasy, but there is also a lot of immaturity reflected in the character development and world building. To take an example, I imagine
Spoiler
the contest of the long knives was meant as an epic scene demonstrating character badassery, but it really reads like a child's understanding of how tough adults would engage in this activity, both logistically and in how the characters experience it.The storytelling is very simple. Virtuous characters are to be taken as incredibly virtuous, wise characters as unfailingly wise, etc. And these virtues and wisdom are demonstrated primarily through a lot of preachy or self-righteous dialogue to other characters. It passes the show-don't-tell rule, but only just. I was reminded of a similar tendency in Brian Jacques' Redwall series.
This all sounds like I'm complaining, but there's a certain charm and even joy to childlike stories and straightforward plots. I feel particularly fond of it coming off of John Gwynne's Shadow of the Gods, which while its characters are much more plausibly adult, manages this largely through making them much less dynamic and interesting in the first place. Young enthusiasm can be cringe! And cringe is okay! I will definitely be finishing out this series this year.