Customer Reviews
Loved. It. - By: Senbon_Zakura_xoxo, 06 Oct 2008 
Better than the first two put together (and bigger, too!)- it was a great break from my Uni studies & I wasn't disappointed! Paolini is certainly becoming a better writer as the series progresses; I think ending the trilogy here would have been a bit rushed- Brisingr allows Eragon to develop as a person & a Rider, & the result doesn't feel as if everything is being crammedin before the inevitable final conflict. Instead we have the continuing adventures of Eragon & Saphira as they mature & struggle to find Galbatorix's weakness (yes, he has one ^^)- there's enough revelations & actionin this to satisfy any Inheritance Cycle fan.
And to those moaning about extensions for commercial reasons, etc... WE GET ANOTHER BOOK AFTER THIS!!! YAY!!!
Recommended 100% ;D
xoxo
A big dissapointment. - By: Jammy, 05 Oct 2008 
After having thoroughly enjoyed the first two books, Eragon & Eldest, my expectations for the third were admittedly high. Even so, when I was reading Brisingr, the only thought that kept me reading on was that these rather lame side plots were building up to a "gripping" scene. To my dismay, this scene never came.
Paolini's influence from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is clearly noticeable, & this put me off the book. There is no doubt about it that the Paolini's creation of Alagaësia is very impressive, but it needs to be completely original, (gosh I sound so stuck up & pessimistic)!
In addition, some of the scenes were very long & I found myself losing concentration, & i'm not one for having a short concentration span. Despite the long scenes, it is not as detailed as I imagined it to be, & I believe that some stages of the book are completely unneccessary. Sorry, but parts of Brisngr have been poorly written.
To justify these perhaps hypercritical views, I came up with a thoery that, being 17, i was perhaps not young enough, & too critical to enjoy the book.
If this is the case, although i strongly doubt it, I am dissapointed that Paolini hasn't aimed Brisingr to the age group who were "the right age" when Eragon was released. But I will repeat again, "i strongly doubt it."
WELL... I think it is quite clear that I found Brisingr a big dissapointment, so I am surprised by my rating & my urge to buy the last book of the cycle. so I suppose Paolini's techniquein dragging the 3rd book out has been to keep readers hopeful that the last one of the series will be worth the bore of the third.
enjoyable... but hardly original - By: Sapphire fox, 05 Oct 2008 Better than the previous booksin the series, several strands of the previous books are rounded off (concerning the werecat's riddle) there are some decent battles, the pace of the book makes it easy to read & shifts of perspective add interest. I felt satisfied after reading it (good job I had no high expectations!)
However, several great flaws cannot be over-looked. Instead of a decent story it was more like a string of ideological debates & rather pathetic speeches on morality put togeather, forced onto a narrow plot. There is no room for thisin fantasy- only the greatest of stories could make such garbage bearable. Unfortunatly that doesn't applyin this case.
Once again, we are forced to bear pale shadows of Tolkien's middle earth- namely Paolini's 'ancient language' & the rather pompous 'on the origin of names' section at the back. We are forced to endure his rip-off versions of evles & dwarfs- of which there are no characters of real depth.
I don't like the characters. I despise Nasuada, a chimpanzee could run an army better & add more wit to proceedings. She is cold hearted & completely lacks any likeable qualities. Eragon has no spine, he more or less lets everyone else make decisions for him & has no individuality whatsoever. He moans about killing people, if he felt that bad, then why battle at all? The Varden do not strike me as a force of good but as another power-hungry organisation after the crown. There is no real distinction between them & the mad-king. Saphira is the only redeemable character- but even then- lacks any depth.
Overall the lead character & plot failed a bit. And whilst on the whole enjoyable, this is nothing original (plenty of stuff filched from star wars). It will probably still recieve a good reception though, despite quality of writing, because of it's use of age-old 'hero' patterns. Hardly 'Lord of the Rings'.
Enjoyable, but a strange change of pace - By: Michael Sutherland, 05 Oct 2008 
Overall, I enjoyed reading Brisingr - it's a worthy follow-up to Eldest. The book does exactly what Paolini sets out to doin his afterword - explore the characters a bit more, explain thingsin more detail, set the stage for the final book without rushing things. However, after the steady pace of Eragon & Eldest, you can't help but feel that not much happensin Brisingr - you almost feel like he's moving all the chess pieces into placein readiness for the final book.
It's not an agonising Robert Jordan kind of slowness, & the plot does move along relatively nicely, but compared to the other two books, it's a weird change of pace. You get the feeling that if Paolini could write all of the books again, he could make it a bit more consistent & evenly paced. That said, his authorial skill has certainly increased tenfold since Eragon, which I found vaguely irritating & slightly amateurishin places - whereas Brisingr is polished & potentially slightly too self-impressed. However, cynicism aside, Eragon's adventures continue apacein Brisingr & there are plenty of nice twists & plenty of time for Roran's own adventures. It's the kind of book you'll really love once you've got all four - but it left me wanting more. I'd agree with the previous reviewers that the attempts at humour don't really work - the book didn't really make me laugh, & (according to the afterword) the reference to Dr Who is completely out of place - I'm a fan too, but it's just not appropriate & make Paolini look slightly juvenile, which is a shame, because his writing is clearly that of a skilled adult & his overall execution is really excellent.
It's a great book, & I'm really looking forward to the fourth one. I don't want to say I'm disappointed with the book, because I never felt that way - & it is a very compelling read (I finished itin less than a week) but there are some odd points to it, & it does feel a bit inconsistent at times. Overall, an excellent book, but with some strange touches.
Overall very good - By: M. Patel, 04 Oct 2008 Brisingr was a lot better than Eldest but I was disappointed with a few things. Although I like the fact that Brom is Eragon's father, it was thrown up quite suddenly & it's quite annoying that the climaxin Eldest was when Eragon found out who his father was when he could have just found out Brom was his father anyway. Overall the book was very good & I really can't wait for the final book.
