I’ve read this
fourth book in the Inheritance series in
English and I have to admit, my comment on Eldest is now rendered invalid. I
quote: "Although I am a big fan of the story, the style of writing
sometimes falters a bit for me. I don’t know whether this is due to the
translation of the book (I have previously purchased this book in Dutch) or the
writing style of Paolini himself.
What bothers
me is sometimes theatrical sentences and emotions. Everything is blown out of
proportion and sometimes at completely the wrong moments. " Now I can
actually attribute this to the translation. Yet another confirmation that the
original (or at least English) almost always seems to be better than Dutch.
Eragon did
not have much time to find a solution to the problem with the name "Galbatorix
'. How can he defeat the king and him his dragon Shruikan when he is not even strong enough to stand up to Murtagh? It seems that
Glaedr won't be much help either, as he has withdrawn in immense
grief. The army of the Varden come closer and closer to Uru'baen and the
dangers are more threatening than they ever were.
(WARNING:
SPOILERS)
I really,
really enjoyed this final installment in the series. It is with regret that I
say goodbye to Alagaesia and its inhabitants. While reading, I wrote down a few
points that especially touched me or where I was very happy about. One is how
heartwarming I thought Eragon was. In this book (and probably also a bit in the
past, but it is only now that I really noticed) Eragon is so pure and so
honest. To better illustrate what I mean I'm referring to the part in the book
where Eragon, Saphira and Glaedr route to Vroengard. Eragon discovered during
this trip that the world is round. He seemed taken aback by this and
immediately began putting his own life in perspective. The war seemed in his
eyes inconsequential compared to the immensity of what he sees. Eragon often
has these moments and that is why I am so much in love with his character. He
sees the wonders of the world, he can still be amazed by certain things, wondering
if there is more that we might not see.
Our brave
hero is also very adept at self-mockery, just look at his fight with the snail
and how he laughs at himself as the "Snail Vanquisher", this makes
his character a lot lighter and more humane. It makes him even more humane than
the overflow of emotional moments (although this book was, in that respect, much
better than the previous one).
What I also
think is very great in the Inheritance series, is that Eragon goes in search of
the truth behind religion throughout the books. He tries to learn as much as
possible about the different religions to learn wonders which one is the right
one. Eventually, he still has no conclusive answer to his questions, but I
think it's fantastic that uncertainty towards the gods is interwoven into the
story.
Also, the
contrast between magicians and ordinary people is put forward several times in
Inheritance. In itself, I think it is ok that Paolini has chosen this, it does
seem unfair that some people may have magic while others never will have the
chance. Yet ordinary people always count on the protection and tricks of the
magicians and they support it, too. The idea of Nasuada at the end, to control
the magicians seemed all wrong (and a bit impossible) and I am happy that Eragon
has rejected her proposal.
My
conclusion: this is the best book in the series. I've heard many angry comments
about the end, especially that of Arya and Eragon, but I found the end just good.
The speaking of another's real name was in my opinion much more intimate than a
kiss. Frankly, a kiss for me would have screwed it up, after such an intense
moment of farewell.
All loose
ends were nicely tied together, all the story lines seem well to have a good
end.
Throughout
this last installment there were some very clever twists, like the Vault of
Souls, the Name or Names, the relationship between Murtagh and Nasuada that
gives him the power to eventually change his true name, and so on.
Too bad
this is the end of a great story, but it's certainly a very worthy end.
Rating:
