Hope this helps:
"Unlike many complex fantasy series, this one has the good sense to begin with a synopsis of previous actors and events. It's set in the land of Alagaësia, ruled by evil Emperor Galbatorix, once a Dragon Rider. Served by the Forsworn, he destroyed other Riders who refused his rule, and seeks to control the emergence of dragons from the few eggs remaining. The Varden rebel alliance (including human, elves, dwarves and magic-users) opposes Galbatorix, as does the southern kingdom of Surda under boyish scientist King Orrin. The first book of the Inheritance Trilogy ended after an epic battle that gave young farmer hero Eragon the title of Shadeslayer. It also left him with a debilitating wound and the conviction that his friend Murtagh had been killed by (orc-like) Urgals.
Now, after further involvement in Varden politicking, and new alliances, Eragon, his maternal young dragon Saphira, elven Arya, and dwarf Orik leave for elven Ellésmera. There, Eragon receives tutelage from a master, the Cripple Who Is Whole - while not quite a Yoda, he comes close in his teaching style. Eragon develops both in martial and magical skills, and learns something surprising about the strong and silent (bit of a role reversal here) Arya. The young man has fallen hard for the elven lady, his elder by many decades. As his feelings develop, Eragon commiserates with Saphira on his unsuccessful romance. He also takes responsibility for a magical mistake he made earlier which turned a blessing into a curse. Eventually, at an important elven festival that celebrates the original détente between elves and dragons, Eragon undergoes a transformation, one that just might help him survive the coming conflict.
In a parallel story, Ra'zac show up in Carvahall, seeking Eragon's cousin Roran, who loves the butcher's daughter Katrina. Though they hide him, it's the Ra'zac's cruelty, rather than loyalty to Roran, that impels the villagers to fight back. Unfortunately, Katrina is captured by the monsters. Roran desperately wants to rescue her, but knows that he is responsible for the villagers' plight. Since it's clear that fighting the Empire will ultimately be a lost cause, Roran, now known as Stronghammer, leads an exodus of Carvahall men, women and children south through the mountains. Pursued, they hijack a ship, survive a maelstrom, and eventually sail upriver to the edge of a great battle between imperial forces and the Varden led by the lady Nasuada. There, the cousins are reunited, and Eragon learns the meaning of a prophecy that spoke of betrayal by a family member.
While the story shows its sources more than most and the characterization is rough, it's still an exciting series with innovative fantasy elements, particularly impressive given its author's youth. I like the way Paolini explores the ethics of war (for example, asking why an evil dictator should be fought, when the conflict will also kill innocents) through his story - and my younger son, who rarely picks up a tome like this, is fully engaged by the Inheritance Trilogy."
"This book resumes with Ajihad's death and funeral, the disappearance of Murtagh and The Twins (they are captured by Urgals, and assumed dead), and the election of a new leader of the Varden - Nasuada, to whom Eragon swears fealty after some internal politics among the Varden's Council of Elders. Saphira says she can fix the Isidar Mithrim.
Meanwhile, in Carvahall, Roran is being pursued by Galbatorix, who has sent the Ra'zac and a unit of Imperial soldiers to capture him and thus lure Eragon out. After repelling many attacks, they manage to drive the army away, but Katrina, Roran's fiancée, is captured by the Ra'zac. They decide to leave Carvahall and travel to Surda. Roran earns the name "Stronghammer" because he defended Carvahall with a hammer given to him by Horst.
By that time, Eragon has decided to go to Du Weldenvarden to further pursue his training. Before that, Hrothgar invites him to join his clan, which Eragon accepts. On the way to Du Weldenvarden, they go to the dwarf city containing Celbedeil, a temple. Eragon finds his choice to join Hrothgar's clan made him an enemy of a dwarf clan The Tears of Anhuin, descendants of guards of a person whose clan was killed in the war against Galbatorix. Eragon learns of the Dwarf religion and their gods.
After many adventures on the way, Eragon comes to his destination and meets Islanzadí, the elven queen. It is revealed that Arya is Islanzadí's daughter. Eragon is introduced to another Dragon Rider, Oromis; the Mourning Sage or Osthato Chetowa: The Cripple Who Is Whole, Togira Ikonoka; who shielded Eragon in the first book. Eragon and Saphira begin their training with Oromis and his dragon Glaedr. Eragon learns how to read and fluently speak the Ancient Language, as well to use various magic skills. While Eragon's feelings for Arya increase, he continues to train under Oromis's wing and suffers repeated bouts of pain from the scar on his back Durza the shade formerly known as Carsaib, gave him. Nevertheless, he and Saphira grow steadily more powerful, but he is held back immensely by the pain from his scar. On a traditional elvish celebration day of the pact with the dragons, called the Blood-Oath Celebration, or Agaetí Blödhren in the ancient language, Eragon is healed of his wound and, as an unprecedented gift from the dragons, gains elvish qualities that enhance his strength and agility.
Meanwhile, Nasuada learns that the blessing Eragon bestowed on the child in Eragon was worded wrongly due to his lack of basic knowledge of the Ancient Language at the time, becoming a curse of sorts. Eragon too is horrified when he hears of this, and promises to try and nullify it. In the meantime the girl, Elva, serves as a sort of bodyguard to Nasuada against Galbatorix's assassins, such as the Black Hand, who are discovered in the Varden.
Nasuada has made a momentous decision and moved the Varden to Surda, and the threat of war with Galbatorix seems imminent. Upon hearing of this, Eragon immediately leaves for the battle in Surda, but not before receiving gifts from Oromis and Islanzadí. During Eragon's very long stay in Ellesméra and travel to Surda, Roran travels and meets Jeod Longshanks in Teirm.
Jeod, as a member of the Varden, helps Roran lead his group of Carvahall villagers to Surda and tells Roran and the villagers about Eragon and Brom, knowing this because Brom was his best friend. Eragon arrives to find the situation poised on the edge of battle. The armies of the Varden, together with the army of Surda, camp on a plain opposite the vast armies of Galbatorix.
Before the battle, four Kull offer to act as a bodyguard to Eragon during the fight. Angela the herbalist poisons the enemy's drinks and bread, killing many soldiers, and causing the officers to hallucinate. Meanwhile, Roran, Jeod, the people of Carvahall and Uthar Wynn, the head sailor, take command of the new Empire ship, the Dragon Wing, leading it to Surda. They manage to cross a large maelstrom called The Boar's Eye to shake off pursuing Empire ships, and arrive in time in Surda.
The battle begins, and Eragon is able to repel the opposing armies for some time with his new forces, but the tide soon turns. During the fighting, Roran arrives at Surda, and his group of villagers join themselves to the forces of the Varden. Then, with the appearance of the dwarves from the east, the situation changes again, until the appearance of an unknown Dragon Rider who kills Hrothgar, the dwarf king. Also at the same time Eragon feels two new, powerful, spell casters arrive on the field of battle and recognizes them for the Twins, thought dead. The Twins systematically start killing off the Varden's group of mages and sorcerers who are under Eragon's command.
But Eragon faces off with the unknown rider in both aerial and ground fights and ultimately unmasks his opponent, revealing Murtagh. Murtagh tells Eragon that the Twins had betrayed the Varden and taken him to Galbatorix. Galbatorix made Murtagh and Thorn, his red dragon, swear in the ancient language to try to capture Eragon; Galbatorix knows the true names of both Murtagh and his dragon, and thus is able to control them. One of the two remaining dragon eggs has finally hatched which was eagerly awaited by Galbatorix for a long time. Murtagh also reveals that Galbatorix is working to save the dragon race by capturing Saphira and having her mate with the third dragon hatchling, still lying dormant in its egg. He and Thorn prove to be more powerful than the battle-weary Eragon and Saphira, while Murtagh displays the great and terrible potency of his magic powers, using spells that would have killed a normal human. Eragon senses Murtagh's mind is different, as if Eragon can hear multiple spirits inside Murtagh's mind. Murtagh decides to have mercy on them, but before leaving them, he reveals that Eragon was the youngest son of Morzan and Selena, and that therefore Murtagh is Eragon's elder brother. Murtagh takes Zar'roc away from Eragon, saying it should rightfully have been his, an inheritance from Morzan. Eragon decides that even though Morzan may be his parent, Garrow was his father and Roran is more of a brother than Murtagh. In the meantime, Galbatorix's army is forced to retreat after the arrivals of the Dwarves, the death of the Twins, and the leaving of Murtagh.
In the end, Eragon and Roran decide that they will seek out Katrina together. Through scrying Eragon comes to believe she is being held captive by the Ra'zac in Helgrind.
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List of characters
Main article: List of characters in the Inheritance cycle
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Critical reaction
Eldest was received poorly by several critics, mainly due to its length and similarities to Lord of the Rings, Dragonriders of Pern, and Star Wars. School Library Journal noted that Eldest lacked originality, but would still find reception among fans. It also acknowledged that Eldest is heavily inspired by Tolkien (Lord of the Rings), Anne McCaffrey (Dragonriders of Pern), and George Lucas (Star Wars).[4] BookBrowse also criticized Eldest, but said, as School Library Journal noted, that nothing the reviewers can say will stop some children from reading the book.[5] Entertainment Weekly rated Eldest as one of the worst five books of 2005, calling it a "700-page drag."[6] The Boston Globe gave a negative review for Eldest, criticizing the very low points and for "drama that rises to a wet pop."[7] The Christian Science Monitor gave Eldest a C+ grade. Similar to other reviews, it criticized the long plot and its similarities to Lord of the Rings and Dragonriders of Pern, as well as the lack of humor. The review commented that Roran, one of the secondary major characters, had the best part of the book.[8] SFSignal also gave Eldest a poor review, giving it one out of five stars. The main reason of this was for its dull pace. The SFSignal review, like The Christian Science Monitor, did say that Roran had the "strongest sequence"[9] in the book.
There were also some more positive reviews of Eldest. Bookmarks Magazine saw Eldest's similarity to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern, but said that Eldest displayed more emotional depth than Eragon.[10] Publisher's Weekly also gave a positive review for Eldest, praising the revelations in the final pages.[11] Barnes and Noble gave a very positive review for Eldest, in particular for its style, characters and themes such as friendship, forgiveness, responsibility, and honor.[12] Eldest also won the 2006 Quill Award in Young Adult Literature.[13][14]
2007-11-02 12:27:29
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answer #5
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answered by johnslat 7
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