Brisingr (Inheritance Cycle #3)

by Christopher Paolini

Overview

The third book in Christopher Paolini's blockbuster series has been announced! Pre-order now, and get ready to learn what awaits Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, on September 20, 2008.

From the publisher:
Christopher Paolini, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eragon and Eldest, the first two books in his Inheritance series, will write an additional, fourth novel about his hero Eragon, it was announced today by Nancy Hinkel, Publishing Director of Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children's Books. Originally planned as a trilogy, Inheritance will now include four complete novels written by Paolini and be named the Inheritance cycle.

"I plotted out the Inheritance series as a trilogy nine years ago, when I was fifteen. At that time, I never imagined I'd write all three books, much less that they would be published" said Paolini. "When I finally delved into Book Three, it soon became obvious that the remainder of the story was far too big to fit in one volume. Having spent so long thinking about the series as a trilogy, it was difficult for me to realize that, in order to be true to my characters and to address all of the plot points and unanswered questions Eragon and Eldest raised, I needed to split the end of the series into two books."

From the publisher's January 16th press release:
Following the #1 bestselling novels Eragon and Eldest, the third book in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance cycle will be titled Brisingr, it was announced today by Nancy Hinkel, Publishing Director of Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children's Books. Brisingr (BRIS-ing-gr), an Old Norse word for fire, will be familiar to fans of the cycle as the first word in the ancient language that Eragon hears. The jacket for Brisingr has been illustrated by the renowned John Jude Palencar, illustrator of both the Eragon and Eldest covers.

"Brisingr is one of the first words I thought of for this title, and it's always felt right to me," said Christopher Paolini. "As the first ancient-language word that Eragon learns, it has held particular significance for his legacy as a Dragon Rider. In this new book, it will be revealed to be even more meaningful than even Eragon could have known."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781606405741
Publisher:	Findaway World
Publication date:	07/28/2010
Series:	The Inheritance Cycle
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.30(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI. Author of the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance). Creator of the World of Eragon and the Fractalverse. Holder of the Guinness World Record for youngest author of a bestselling series. Qualified for marksman in the Australian army. Scottish laird. Dodged gunfire . . . more than once. As a child was chased by a moose in Alaska. Has his name inscribed on Mars. Firstborn of Kenneth and Talita. Husband. Father. Asker of questions and teller of stories.

Read an Excerpt

Eragon stared at the dark tower of stone wherein hid the monsters who had murdered his uncle, Garrow.   
He was lying on his belly behind the edge of a sandy hill dotted with sparse blades of grass, thornbushes, and small, rosebud-like cactuses. The brittle stems of last year's foliage pricked his palms as he inched forward to gain a better view of Helgrind, which loomed over the surrounding land like a black dagger thrust out from the bowels of the earth.
The evening sun streaked the low hills with shadows long and narrow and—far in the west—illuminated the surface of Leona Lake so that the horizon became a rippling bar of gold.
To his left, Eragon heard the steady breathing of his cousin, Roran, who was stretched out beside him. The normally inaudible flow of air seemed preternaturally loud to Eragon with his heightened sense of hearing, one of many such changes wrought by his experience during the Agaet’ Bladhren, the elves' Blood-oath Celebration.
He paid little attention to that now as he watched a column of people inch toward the base of Helgrind, apparently having walked from the city of Dras-Leona, some miles away. A contingent of twenty-four men and women, garbed in thick leather robes, occupied the head of the column. This group moved with many strange and varied gaits—they limped and shuffled and humped and wriggled; they swung on crutches or used arms to propel themselves forward on curiously short legs—contortions that were necessary because, as Eragon realized, every one of the twenty-_four lacked an arm or a leg or some combination thereof. Their leader sat upright upon a litter borne by six oiled slaves, a pose Eragon regarded as a rather amazing accomplishment, considering that the man or woman—he could not tell which—consisted of nothing more than a torso and head, upon whose brow balanced an ornate leather crest three feet high.
"The priests of Helgrind," he murmured to Roran.
"Can they use magic?"
"Possibly. I dare not explore Helgrind with my mind until they leave, for if any are magicians, they will sense my touch, however light, and our presence will be revealed."
Behind the priests trudged a double line of young men swathed in gold cloth. Each carried a rectangular metal frame subdivided by twelve horizontal crossbars from which hung iron bells the size of winter rutabagas. Half of the young men gave their frames a vigorous shake when they stepped forward with their right foot, producing a dolorous cacophony of notes, while the other half shook their frames when they advanced upon the left foot, causing iron tongues to crash against iron throats and emit a mournful clamor that echoed over the hills. The acolytes accompanied the throbbing of the bells with their own cries, groaning and shouting in an ecstasy of passion.
At the rear of the grotesque procession trudged a comet's tail of inhabitants from Dras-Leona: nobles, merchants, tradesmen, several high-ranking military commanders, and a motley collection of those less fortunate, such as laborers, beggars, and common foot soldiers.
Eragon wondered if Dras-Leona's governor, Marcus Tabor, was somewhere in their midst.
Drawing to a stop at the edge of the precipitous mound of scree that ringed Helgrind, the priests gathered on either side of a rust-colored boulder with a polished top. When the entire column stood motionless before the crude altar, the creature upon the litter stirred and began to chant in a voice as discordant as the moaning of the bells. The shaman's declamations were repeatedly truncated by gusts of wind, but Eragon caught snatches of the ancient language—strangely twisted and mispronounced—interspersed with dwarf and Urgal words, all of which were united by an archaic dialect of Eragon's own tongue. What he understood caused him to shudder, for the sermon spoke of things best left unknown, of a malevolent hate that had festered for centuries in the dark caverns of people's hearts before being allowed to flourish in the Riders' absence, of blood and madness, and of foul rituals performed underneath a black moon.
At the end of that depraved oration, two of the lesser priests rushed forward and lifted their master—or mistress, as the case might be—off the litter and onto the face of the altar. Then the High Priest issued a brief order. Twin blades of steel winked like stars as they rose and fell. A rivulet of blood sprang from each of the High Priest's shoulders, flowed down the leather-encased torso, and then pooled across the boulder until it overflowed onto the gravel below.
Two more priests jumped forward to catch the crimson flow in goblets that, when filled to the rim, were distributed among the members of the congregation, who eagerly drank.
"Gar!" said Roran in an undertone. "You failed to mention that those errant flesh-mongers, those gore-bellied, boggle-minded idiot-worshipers were cannibals."
"Not quite. They do not partake of the meat."
When all the attendees had wet their throats, the servile novitiates returned the High Priest to the litter and bound the creature's shoulders with strips of white linen. Wet blotches quickly sullied the virgin cloth.
The wounds seemed to have no effect upon the High Priest, for the limbless figure rotated back toward the devotees with their lips of cranberry red and pronounced, "Now are you truly my Brothers and Sisters, having tasted the sap of my veins here in the shadow of almighty Helgrind. Blood calls to blood, and if ever your Family should need help, do then what you can for the Church and for others who acknowledge the power of our Dread Lord._._._._To affirm and reaffirm our fealty to the Triumvirate, recite with me the Nine Oaths._._._._By Gorm, Ilda, and Fell Angvara, we vow to perform homage at least thrice a month, in the hour before dusk, and then to make an offering of ourselves to appease the eternal hunger of our Great and Terrible Lord._._._._We vow to observe the strictures as they are presented in the book of Tosk._._._._We vow to always carry our Bregnir on our bodies and to forever abstain from the twelve of twelves and the touch of a  many-knotted rope, lest it corrupt_._._."
 

Editorial Reviews

As an adult, I read Brisingr with a mixture of admiration for Paolini's accomplishments and an awareness of the book's flaws, which prevented me from being fully won over. But that's hardly a slight. Had I read this novel when I was 13, it would have kept me up straight through the night. For that matter, I might have even stolen a few bits from it for D&D. And that's a compliment.
—The Washington Post

David Anthony Durham

The much-anticipated third book in Paolini's Inheritance Cycle continues to rely heavily on classic fantasy tropes. The novel launches with magician and Dragon Rider Eragon, his cousin Roran and the dragon Saphira on a quest to rescue Roran's betrothed. The cousins soon split up, and Roran undergoes his own series of heroic tests, culminating in a well-choreographed and intense fight against an Urgal (a ram-human hybrid). Eragon, at the same time, encounters treacherous dwarves, undergoes even more training with the elf Oromis and gains a magical sword suitable for a Dragon Rider. The silly revelations about Eragon's background in the previous book, Eldest, are given a new spin near the end, but the change is neither unexpected nor interesting. Predictably, the book concludes with even more character deaths and another battle, but those expecting a resolution will have to wait until the next novel. The cliched journey may appeal to younger readers of genre fiction. Older teens, even those who might have first cut their teeth on Paolini's writing years ago, are less likely to be impressed. Ages 12-up.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 7 Up

Christopher Paolini's saga of good vs. evil in the world of humans, elves, dragons, and other magical creatures continues in this installment (Knopf, 2008) which spends a great deal of time giving background information about earlier connections and obligations on the part of Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, as they battle Galvatorix and his minions. Eragon's efforts to martial allies and find himself a suitable weapon are paralleled with the story of his cousin, Roran, who is also dedicated to the cause, but whose life is equally complicated because of a love interest and his desire to go back to living a "normal" life. Both heroes grow in their understanding of themselves and others as they assume additional leadership roles. The story includes horrific battles, a wedding, a king's coronation, and many major losses. Saphira's point of view adds additional dimension to the tale. Gerard Doyle ably voices the emotions of the characters and expertly moves between young and old, male and female, human and animal. The pronunciation of strange place and character names just rolls off his tongue. There is a lot of talking in this book, which slows down the pace. An interview with the author and his editor concludes the audiobook.-Edith Ching, Washington Latin Public Charter School, DC

School Library Journal

Praise for The Inheritance Cycle:

A #1 New York Times Bestseller
A #1 Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A #1 USA Today Bestseller
A Wall Street Journal Bestseller

"An authentic work of great talent." –New York Times Book Review

“The new ‘It’ book of children’s lit.” –U.S. News & World Report

"Paolini is a spellbinding fantasy writer." –The Boston Globe

"A breathtaking and unheard of success." –USA Today

“Christopher Paolini make[s] literary magic.” –People

“Unusual, powerful, fresh, and fluid.”—Booklist, Starred

“Will appeal to legions of readers who have been captivated by the Lord of the Rings trilogy.”—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

The long-awaited third novel in Paolini's Inheritance Cycle will not disappoint devoted fans. Swords, sorcery, and plenty of "Chosen One" teenage angst await the listener. But wait, there's more—Gerard Doyle's performance takes the excitement and high fantasy of the story to dragon-soaring heights. He voices all the characters well but never overacts. Considering the length and breadth of the novel, the listener will be grateful. While the text does drag at points, Doyle is able to keep the listener mostly satisfied and engaged—Eragon's wallowing in fear and self-doubt might wear thin in print, without Doyle's energy to keep the emotions flowing. Doyle handles Paolini's fantasy language with ease and style, reminding the listener that some books improve when matched with a sympathetic, talented narrator. A.H.A. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2008 - AudioFile

2023-07-31
The epic (length) fantasy begun in Eragon (2003) treads water for 58 chapters.

As the Varden alliance, held together with difficulty by its hard-nosed leader, Nasuada, maneuvers toward a head-to-head confrontation with the dauntingly puissant king Galbatorix, Eragon and Roran, his cousin, engage both together and separately in a series of set piece raids, quests, rescues, sieges, and missions, including pursuit of Katrina, Roran’s betrothed who was taken by the Ra’zac. Eragon emerges with a revelation about his origins and a new sword that has the sometimes-inconvenient habit of bursting into flames whenever its (titular) name is mentioned. As events move toward a large but not climactic battle, yet more matches—between Eragon and Murtagh, his dragon-riding sibling, and between Eragon and yet another magically created Shade—signal that the wells of authorial creativity may be running low. In any case, though too much of the prose runs to mannered lines like “from the Crags of Tel’naeír, Saphira flew low over the swaying forest until she arrived at the clearing wherein stood the Menoa tree,” the standard for invective remains high—as with, “you failed to mention that those errant flesh-mongers, those gore-bellied, boggle-minded idiot-worshipers were cannibals”—and several women in the cast rival the men for strength of character as well as martial and magical skills. Let Galbatorix and his enslaved minions beware!

A patchy, ponderous place holder—though a mighty fan base ensures no lack of readership. (map, pronunciation guide, glossary) (Heroic fantasy. 12-15)

Kirkus Reviews