Review: "Eldest" by Christopher Paolini

[LunaRowan]

Book Details:
Title- Eldest (Inheritance Cycle #2)
Author- Christopher Paolini
Published- 2005: Alfred A. Knopf
ISBN- 0-375-82670-X
Pages- 668 pages
Genre- Young Adult - Fantasy
Rating- 4 of 5

My Review:
Young Paolini's second installment of the Inheritance Cycle exceeds expectations, following the success of Eragon. One of the most widely read young adult fantasy series, the Inheritance Cycle follows farm boy-turned-Dragon Rider, Eragon and his dragon Saphira to all ends of their world of Alagaesia to avenge the death of Eragon's uncle, Garrow, to destroy the evil King Galbatorix, and to restore peace and prosperity to all races in the land. Along the way, many allies, as well as enemies, are made, weaving a memorable storyline with a complex web of memorable characters.

Eldest begins and ends in the wake of battle, with Eragon and Saphira's grand adventures and personal growth filling the pages in between. We also follow the struggles of Eragon's hometown of Carvahall through the eyes of his cousin Roran, another strong personality fighting for the greater good, among his own personal reasons.

I did find this book to be slow-moving and often difficult to keep my attention on, as many long journeys and battles take place, as is almost mandatory for the fantasy genre. Yet I also found myself unable to put it down for long, desperate to discover the many plot twists and secrets along the way.

My personal opinion is that one cannot be a fan of the fantasy genre, adults and young adults alike, and pass up the chance to briefly live in the world of Alagaesia through the four Eragon novels. While some parts are slow-moving and tedious, I encourage every reader to continue on, as every scene is significant in some way, to the series as a while. If nothing else, the characters and races represented show great thought and imagination and make the series definitely deserving og the hype that followed its publication. Readers, and all fans of the fantasy genre, do yourselves a favor and pick up the Inheritance Cycle- you won't be disappointed.

[Londera]

I love the fantast genre and books set into medieval times. Personally I enjoyed this one more than the first book.

[Dragonsend]

Thank you for the recommendation this sounds like a great series and one I want to try.

[Nisha Ward]

Read this when I was much younger but I'm still thrilled by the level of worldbuilding that went into creating this world. Eldest certainly expanded on that by throwing us into the fire with the world of the elves juxtaposed against the goings on of Carvahall and how Roran himself became much more than he was in the first book.

[Monet_va]

I loved this book and definitely agree with your rating! Great review.

[kirthana_shivakumar]

I loved this book when I read it! Thank you for the review!