The Harry Potter series did much to spark interest into younglings who had never thought that reading could be enjoyable, but it created a monopoly over these budding fans of fiction, overshadowing other works and series. Now, the Harry Potter series has finished, but the love of reading it inspired should not abruptly end. On September 20, 2008 the third book of The Inheritance Trilogy, Brisingr, written by Christopher Paolini, was published, causing one noteworthy change, The Inheritance Trilogy became The Inheritance Cycle.

     The Inheritance Cycle follows a plot that has been seen by readers before; there are dragons, magic and swords, a corrupt kingdom, and a rebel faction. In fact, it is argued by critics that the first book, Eragon, is nothing more than a plagiarized synthesis of other fictional works, such as “Star Wars”, A Wizard of Earthsea and “The Lord of the Rings”. These arguments hold merit when applied to the first book, but in Eldest, Paolini shows that he has his own ideas to work off of the foundation he set in Eragon.

Brisingr continues where Eldest left off, with the story told from the perspective of three key characters, where Eldest used only two. This time around, Paolini has fleshed out the changing of views by evening out the length of chapters between the characters; perspective changes about every three to four chapters. 

    The characters of The Inheritance Trilogy changed very little throughout Eragon and Eldest, the majority of characters so rigidly and unrealistically defined by clichés that the series became annoying to read at times. The cast of characters includes the naïve, impatient farm boy destined for greatness, the old man whose purpose is guiding the youth, and the woman with incredible fortitude that completely undermines the “growth” of the farm boy. Brisingr does not break the trend much, but the characters do feel less forced, moving just a little beyond their original archetypes. Whether or not this is a good thing depends on one’s initial reaction to the characters and if they prefer character progression to go beyond the physical. One of my largest gripes with the Brisingr, and the series in general, is that for the most part, the non-major characters and antagonists are much more interesting than the main characters, because they do not fall well into any one cliché. The special attention paid to minor characters makes the key characters seem even less original.

    The pacing in Brisingr is consistent; it is never slow, or rather it never slows down.  There are plot twists, and there are many. The twists are generally adequately done, though some more experienced readers will spot them from miles away, finding a few that will make eyes roll. Twists are evenly distributed throughout the book, allowing readers to absorb the “shock” factor; which is nice, as you are not bombarded with one crucial plot element after another and making it easier to keep up. There is no “falling action” because there is no ending. The story just stops. There was an attempt at a cliffhanger, but it resembled a dirt mound rather than anything else. Even though the series is not over with Brisingr, some kind of closure would have been nice.

    Despite my many grievances with The Inheritance Cycle, Brisingr is an improvement over its prequels and is still a thoroughly enjoyable book. If you have read and enjoyed Eragon and Eldest, read Brisingr. If you are a fan of fantasy, then I recommend the series. If you liked the Harry Potter series, then read it. If you did not like the Harry Potter series, then I still suggest you try it, as it is not quite as teen-angst filled as Potter was, and when it is, it passes quickly.