Inheritance 04. Inheritance

by Christopher Paolini

English language

Published Dec. 28, 2011 by Alfred A. Knopf.

ISBN:: 978-0-307-93074-3

(21 reviews)

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 Alagaesia? And if so, at what cost? This is the much-anticipated, astonishing conclusion to the worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle. - Publisher.

14 editions

Jack Indaboks reviewed Inheritance 04. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

5 Star Series. 3 Star Ending.

4 stars

Content warning Mild spoiler of ending trope

The melancholy "he saved the world for all but himself" trope is so overdone. It felt like Paolini had a certain ending in mind and fought against his own worldbuilding to get there. It did not have to end that way. And the meaninglessness made the less-than-happy ending that much more unbearable. I'll admit that I'm biased toward happy endings. I'm a hopeless romantic. But I can still appreciate a melancholy ending if it's narratively satisfying. Paolini tried to do that, but he failed to convince me that it was the only solution so it fell flat.

I did find a nice fanfic alt ending. Reads like fanfic - dialog voice isn't quite right and development is somewhat lacking, but the plot is so much better and more believable than the original, especially if you read between the lines and make the connections that the fanfic author fails to make explicitly: m.fanfiction.net/s/7558100/1/

theRealBassist reviewed Inheritance by Christopher Paolini (The Inheritance cycle -- bk. 4)

Review of 'Inheritance' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is my favorite book in the entire series. The ending is pretty predictable and leaves me at least wanting another book. Still it's one of my favorites.