Brisingr

I was a really big fan of Eragon when it first came out and I can still (sort of) enjoy it. Although the last time I read it, I ended up writing all over it little editorial comments. I did and do like the fantasy world that Paolini introduces. Granted it's a fairly generic world, but it's presented consistently and vividly and that's one of my favorite things (besides dragons!). By Brisingr, though, I began getting a little tired of Eragon. He didn't seem to change a whole lot besides getting some fighting ability. The book overall was a slow read for me. Perhaps I was just in a reading slump or I wasn't really into fantasy at the time, but the story seemed to move more slowly.
I believe that there is nothing really wrong with this book, and it successfully carries on the plot of the Inheritance cycle. As far as fantasy goes, it is a good read, and the language is not difficult to follow. If you don't mind the main character and you are a fan of dragons, you'll love it.

I've kept up with the Inheritance "cycle" (now that the author has decided a trilogy isn't cutting it) out of a desire to see a story I've invested in to its conclusion. I hesitate to call it an obligatory read on my part, but it's more because I'm invested in the story now than I am eager to read more by Paolini. His writing has struck me as amateur, if refreshing for its brevity at first, since the beginning.

To keep this as spoiler-free as I can, my biggest issue with Brisingr--and with the entire series, truthfully--is what I can only call the easiness factor. The conflicts and trials of the story often end up more or less resolved in the same chapter in which they are brought up. And the few extended tribulations of Eragon or the other characters, once they are finally put to bed, are handled in a disturbingly deus ex machina fashion. At the end of nearly every chapter I was struck with this thought: "He really could have saved himself the trouble of writing twenty pages and just not had this happen in the first place."

Okay, I can't really do this without an example, so there are spoilers in this paragraph. In one sequence, Roran, Eragon's cousin, is sent on a raid on an enemy unit under a captain he dislikes. At first the man is competent, according to the narrative, but (it seems to me) since the author is invested in making the man difficult to like, he ends up being shown as massively incompetent. It just wouldn't do if the man were good at his job but a jerk, would it? That would make Roran look stupid. Thanks to the captain's incompetence, the company ends up in a dire situation and only Roran's bravery and, yes, insubordination win the day. Roran is therefore punished for insubordination by being lashed in front of the army. He is told beforehand by Nasuada that he cannot seek a mage to heal his wounds, because he must suffer them naturally in order to learn a lesson. This is all well and good--he was a hero, but he still did something that required punishment. Only it doesn't end there. Nasuada decides that she needs Roran (meta translation: Roran is supposed to be a hero in the story and has to be in the thick of action to continue to be important) and has put him at the head of a new company of men. Therefore she brings in magic users to heal his wounds so he can be in fighting shape. Meanwhile, the man he disobeyed in the first place--to the point that a lashing was deemed necessary for not obeying him--has been axed from his position. So at the end? Roran is lashed, yes, but suffers no lasting damage and is promoted, while the man he disobeyed is punished. Why did we go through this? What was the point? By the end, it felt like I was having Roran's "hardship" thrust upon me because it seemed like he should have some, only for it to be immediately removed because it was inconvenient to the ongoing story. It was artificial.

Beyond these problems, the story is as engaging as it was in the first two books, if a little cliché. My position on the story has not changed, and I will likely pick up the fourth, and supposedly final, book when it is released. Ultimately, Paolini has a good overall framework for an intriguing fantasy story, but his own writing and the lack of heart in the details leaves it flat.