Editorial Reviews:
Synopsis
Darkness falls…despair abounds…evil reigns…brbrEragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now Eragon must travel to Ellesmera, land of the elves, for further training in the skills of the Dragon Rider: magic and swordsmanship. Soon he is on the journey of a lifetime, his eyes open to awe-inspring new places and people, his days filled with fresh adventure. But chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and nothing is what it seems. Before long, Eragon doesn’t know whom he can trust.brbrMeanwhile, his cousin Roran must fight a new battle–one that might put Eragon in even graver danger.brbrWill the king’s dark hand strangle all resistance? Eragon may not escape with even his life. . . .brbrbrbPraise for iEragon/i:/bbr“Unusual, powerful . . . fresh and fluid. An impressive start to a writing career that’s sure to flourish.” –iBooklist/i, Starredbr“Christopher Paolini make[s] literary magic with his precocious debut.” –iPeople/ibr“The new ‘It’ book of children’s lit.” –iU.S. News World Report/ibr“An auspicious beginning to both career and series.” –iPublishers Weekly/ibrbrA #1 New York Times BestsellerbrA #1 Publishers Weekly BestsellerbrA USA Today BestsellerbrA Wall Street Journal BestsellerbrA Book Sense Book of the YearbrA #1 Book Sense SelectionbrbrbriFrom the Hardcover edition./i
Amazon.com Review
Surpassing its popular prequel IEragon/I, this second volume in the Inheritance trilogy shows growing maturity and skill on the part of its very young author, who was only seventeen when the first volume was published in 2003. The story is solidly in the tradition (some might say derivative) of the classic heroic quest fantasy, with the predictable cast of dwarves, elves, and dragons--but also including some imaginatively creepy creatures of evil.p The land of Alagaesia is suffering under the Empire of the wicked Galbatorix, and Eragon and his dragon Saphira, last of the Riders, are the only hope. But Eragon is young and has much to learn, and so he is sent off to the elven forest city of Ellesmera, where he and Saphira are tutored in magic, battle skills, and the ancient language by the wise former Rider Oromis and his elderly dragon Glaedr. Meanwhile, back at Carvahall, Eragon's home, his cousin Roran is the target of a siege by the hideous Ra'zac, and he must lead the villagers on a desperate escape over the mountains. The two narratives move toward a massive battle with the forces of Galbatorix, where Eragon learns a shocking secret about his parentage and commits himself to saving his people.p The sheer size of the novel, as well as its many characters, places with difficult names, and its use of imaginary languages make this a challenging read, even for experienced fantasy readers. It is essential to have the plot threads of the first volume well in mind before beginning--the publisher has provided not only a map, but a helpful synopsis of the first book and a much-needed Language Guide. But no obstacles will deter the many fans of Eragon from diving headfirst into this highly-awaited fantasy. (Ages 12 and up) I--Patty Campbell/Ip hr /="/" noshade="noshade" class="bucketDivider" size="1" div class="bucket" p clear="all" BMeet Author Christopher Paolini/Bbrhttp://wm.amazon.usa.speedera.net/wm.amazon.usa/books/eldest_300k.wmv"img hspace="4" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/books/a_plus/paolini.1.jpg" border="0" align="left" vspace="4"Christopher Paolini’s abiding love of fantasy and science fiction inspired him to begin writing his debut novel, IEragon/I, when he graduated from high school at age 15. br br"Writing is the heart and soul of my being. It is the means through which I bring my stories to life. There is nothing like putting words on a page and knowing that they will summon certain emotions and reactions from the reader. In my writing, I strive for a lyrical beauty somewhere between Tolkien at his best and Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf." I--Christopher Paolini/Ip br/br/br/ hr /="/" noshade="noshade" class="bucketDivider" size="1" div class="bucket" p clear="all" BThe Eragon/Eldest Boxed Set/Bbrimg hspace="4" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/books/a_plus/eldestboxed.1.jpg" border="0" align="left" vspace="4"br brWant to learn more about the series? Check out our review of IEragon/I: Here's a great big fantasy that you can pull over your head like a comfy old sweater and disappear into for a whole weekend. Christopher Paolini began Eragon when he was just 15, and the book shows the influence of Tolkien, of course, but also Terry Brooks, Anne McCaffrey, and perhaps even Wagner in its traditional quest structure and the generally agreed-upon nature of dwarves, elves, dragons, and heroic warfare with magic swords. Read morebrbrOrder your copy of the boxed set todayp brbr hr /="/" noshade="noshade" class="bucketDivider" size="1" div class="bucket"br p clear="all" BLearn the Lingo/Bbrimg hspace="4" src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/books/a_plus/reddragon.3.head.jpg" border="0" align="left" vspace="4"Our quickie pronunciation guide will help you get to know some of the names and places in the Inheritance series.br table border="0" cellpadding="4" width="95%" cellspacing="4" tr align="left" valign="top" td width="23%"strongAjihad/strong/tdp td width="23%"AH-zhi-hod /td td width="49%"The Leader of the Varden/td /trtable border="0" cellpadding="4" width="100%" cellspacing="4" tr align="left" valign="top" td width="23%"strongArgetlam/strong/tdp td width="23%"ARE-jet-lahm/td td width="49%"Elven word to describe Dragon Riders meaning "silver hand"/td /trp tr align="left" valign="top" td width="23%"strongArya/strong/tdp td width="23%"AR-ee-uh/td td width="49%"A powerful elf who is both beautiful and a master swordswoman/td /trp tr align="left" valign="top" td width="23%"strongEragon/strong/tdp td width="23%"EHR-uh-gahn/td td width="49%"A Dragon Rider from Carvahall/td /trp tr align="left" valign="top" td width="23%"strongRa-zac/strong/tdp td width="23%"RAA-zack/td td width="70%"Evil creatures/td /trp tr align="left" valign="top" td width="23%"strongSaphira/strong/tdp td width="23%"suh-FEAR-uh/td td width="70%"Eragon’s dragon/td /trp tr /table table border="0" cellpadding="4" width="95%" cellspacing="4" tr td width="95%" align="left" span class="tiny"*Art copyright © 2004 John Jude Palencar/span /td/tr/table hr /="/" noshade="noshade" class="bucketDivider" size="1" div class="bucket" br
