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A review by little_miss_darkness
Murtagh by Christopher Paolini
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Murtagh and Thorn are finally free when they stumble into a secret that might explain what happened to Galbatorix.
Finally, we get Murtagh's story. We have the beginning from the short story in The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Eragon, only in Essie's POV, while this time it repeats in Murtagh's POV. Throughout this story, we see glimpses of their past, Murtagh's childhood and what happened to Thorn while he was still a hatchling.
Before I continue, I have to mention one thing; Riders seem to get in a lot of trouble without their dragons. Or it might just be Eragon and Murtagh. I remember in the Inheritance saga how Saphira kept mentioning that Eragon keeps getting into trouble every time they're separated. It seems Murtagh and Thorn have a similar dynamic. Though to be fair, it does seem like he's at the very least trying to avoid it, unlike Eragon, rushing headlong into everything.
Now, about the Dreamers. They are basically a cult, worshipping The Dreamer of Dreams, converting people to them and sending them out to spread chaos and discontent in an effort to spread chaos and plunge the world into darkness. Bachel is definitely deranged, and I feel like Murtagh was very patient with her cryptic answers and riddles (I myself would have definitely resorted to force in his stead much sooner). Finding out that Bachel was probably the one to make Glabatorix turn against the Riders and send him and Morzan out into the world as her thralls (basically meaning no matter how strong he was, in the end, he was only her puppet), and later Saerlith as well, is quite disturbing on some level. On the other hand, it suggests that this is going to be another epic tale, this time with Murtagh at the forefront (hopefully, Nasuada and him get together in the end - fingers crossed for love overcoming all, and all that).
The Dreamers worship Azlagûr, and while it's not confirmed, I kind of think he is the gigantic black wingless dragon that shows up in Murtagh's dreams. He seems to be older than even the Grey Folk (him and the Dreamers). I have a great imagination, but when it was mentioned that one of his spikes is as big as a mountain, it's kind of hard to imagine that in scale. It's mentioned he's so old he was alive at the time when dragons didn't have wings - which makes me kind of imagine him as a massive Nïdhwal, just on land. Or maybe similar to how the Far Eastern dragons are depicted, as giant wyrms. I am of the belief that the evil isn't born, but made. So I hope we'll have more of the background in the next book as to what made him so mad and angry at the world. All we got so far are Murtagh's dreams, the shape he saw in the well and the sense of overwhelming anger when he touched Azlagûr's mind.
The last thing is that I hope we find out more about Angela in the next instalment of the series. We have a breadcrumb here, that she met Bachel once, long ago, and was so powerful Bachel met her outside Nal Gorgoth and made the ground move. I really want to know who Angela is. If she really is the Soothsayer that was once in Illirea, did she once serve Azlagûr, like Bachel and the Dreamers, but saw the error of their ways and left?
Argh, I don't know if I can wait years for the next book. I really hope Christopher Paolini focuses on Alagaësia and the characters there (though I absolutely love To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and I have that book too).
Finally, we get Murtagh's story. We have the beginning from the short story in The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Eragon, only in Essie's POV, while this time it repeats in Murtagh's POV. Throughout this story, we see glimpses of their past, Murtagh's childhood and what happened to Thorn while he was still a hatchling.
Before I continue, I have to mention one thing; Riders seem to get in a lot of trouble without their dragons. Or it might just be Eragon and Murtagh. I remember in the Inheritance saga how Saphira kept mentioning that Eragon keeps getting into trouble every time they're separated. It seems Murtagh and Thorn have a similar dynamic. Though to be fair, it does seem like he's at the very least trying to avoid it, unlike Eragon, rushing headlong into everything.
Now, about the Dreamers. They are basically a cult, worshipping The Dreamer of Dreams, converting people to them and sending them out to spread chaos and discontent in an effort to spread chaos and plunge the world into darkness. Bachel is definitely deranged, and I feel like Murtagh was very patient with her cryptic answers and riddles (I myself would have definitely resorted to force in his stead much sooner). Finding out that Bachel was probably the one to make Glabatorix turn against the Riders and send him and Morzan out into the world as her thralls (basically meaning no matter how strong he was, in the end, he was only her puppet), and later Saerlith as well, is quite disturbing on some level. On the other hand, it suggests that this is going to be another epic tale, this time with Murtagh at the forefront (hopefully, Nasuada and him get together in the end - fingers crossed for love overcoming all, and all that).
The Dreamers worship Azlagûr, and while it's not confirmed, I kind of think he is the gigantic black wingless dragon that shows up in Murtagh's dreams. He seems to be older than even the Grey Folk (him and the Dreamers). I have a great imagination, but when it was mentioned that one of his spikes is as big as a mountain, it's kind of hard to imagine that in scale. It's mentioned he's so old he was alive at the time when dragons didn't have wings - which makes me kind of imagine him as a massive Nïdhwal, just on land. Or maybe similar to how the Far Eastern dragons are depicted, as giant wyrms. I am of the belief that the evil isn't born, but made. So I hope we'll have more of the background in the next book as to what made him so mad and angry at the world. All we got so far are Murtagh's dreams, the shape he saw in the well and the sense of overwhelming anger when he touched Azlagûr's mind.
The last thing is that I hope we find out more about Angela in the next instalment of the series. We have a breadcrumb here, that she met Bachel once, long ago, and was so powerful Bachel met her outside Nal Gorgoth and made the ground move. I really want to know who Angela is. If she really is the Soothsayer that was once in Illirea, did she once serve Azlagûr, like Bachel and the Dreamers, but saw the error of their ways and left?
Argh, I don't know if I can wait years for the next book. I really hope Christopher Paolini focuses on Alagaësia and the characters there (though I absolutely love To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and I have that book too).