Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Title:  Inheritance (Inheritance Cycle #4)
Author: Christopher Paolini

Not so very long ago, Eragon—Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider—was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.

Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances.

The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?

This is the much-anticipated, astonishing conclusion to the worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle

(Warning: this review is likely to contain spoiler from the previous books, but not Inheritance)

 The first thing I thought when I heard that this book had come out was - finally!  I read Eragon, the first in the series, when I was in sixth grade.  I'm now a junior in high school so it's been a long time, but after finishing this huge (860 pgs) book I think it was worth the wait.

Most people I've talked to about this expressed the concern that they wanted to read it but didn't remember the previous books.  I was the same way, but the beginning of Inheritance provides a short summary of everything that happened before, so anyone worrying about that can breath a sigh of relief that they don't have to re-read thousands of pages to be up to date.

The third book, Brisingr, left off with the war to defeat the evil King Galbatorix raging, and Eragon's chances not looking to good.  So upon starting Inheritance I really had no idea what was going to happen, which is refreshing among so many of today's predictable books.  

Inheritance was very similar to the other books.  Paolini's writing style is highly descriptive and meditative at times.  It's simplistic, yet he tends to throw in what I like to call thesaurus-y words, but it works.  One of the most interesting techniques used is slow motion, which I don't think I've ever actually read, but he manages to pull it off which adds a lot to battles and fight scenes.  I know that a lot of people find this kind of writing boring, but for me (probably because I'm a huge fantasy geek) it just works.

Anyway, the best part of Inheritance lies in the plot.  I've heard plenty about how Paolini's supposedly borrowed from other fantasy novels, but I still find his story original enough to capture my attention.  The book starts with the reader having no idea how Eragon's going to overcome a plethora of obstacles, and ends with most of your questions answered which is quite satisfying.  The identity of the green dragon was pretty predictable, but felt right none the less.  And the ending was - interesting.  It incorporated Angela's prophecy from the first book and I can't decide if it was unexpected or not, but it certainly felt rather melancholy.  Both happy and sad.

Overall, if you read the first three books, I would definitely recommend Inheritance.  It answers all most all of the questions, has some great action scenes, and wraps up the series in a satisfying yet unexpected way.