Why I bought this? I've been waiting for it forever. That's why. My daughter too.
Synopsis: It is the third book in the Eragon series. If you haven't read the first 2, I'd start there. You'd be totally lost beginning on the 3rd book. If you like dragons, it's a series you should read. The first book is Eragon, and the second is Eldest. This third book starts with Eragon seeking to rescue his cousin's fiancee and then continues, as he tries to repay his debts to the Varden, the dwarves, and the elves.
What I thought? After so many sequels that had let me down this year, I was worried that this one would be the same. Whew! That was not the case! This one did not disappoint! (Except for the fact that I thought it was the last in a trilogy and discovered about 10 pages from the end that it wasn't. I was thinking that there was no way Paolini was going to be able to wrap up the story in 10 pages, so I flipped over to see if there was any indication of that and found this: "Here ends the third book of the Inheritance cycle. The story will continue and conclude in book four." I about had a conniption right then and there, but I quickly got over it, because I still had the last 10 pages to go. Nice long aside, eh?) I don't want to have any spoilers here so I won't, but I just have to say that I love Arya better and better with each book. I have to give Paolini his props. He did a great job, and he has really grown as a writer. His prose was much better than in his previous books. It's like he's been to college or something. =)
My daughter's rating: ***** As with last week, she wanted to throw out the restrictive 5 star limit. In her book, 5 was apparently not enough. Her actual rating was 10 stars. A bit excessive, if you ask me. "Seriously?" I said. "10 out of 5 stars?" She looked at me like I was a complete moron and said, "Yeah!" *shakes head at daughter's complete disregard for rating conventions* At least you get the idea how much she liked it.
My rating: ***** It almost lost half a star because of the not ending the series thing, when I expected it to, but I decided I couldn't do that. My enjoyment was still way up there. Plus, I now have a book 4 to look forward to. This is up from what I would have given the other 2 in the series. Eragon and Eldest would have gotten 4s. Not that I didn't like them. I loved them, but they were not as well written as they could have been.
CS: 4 This is for violence really. Fighting and the horrors of war. My daughter was thinking that the score should be a little higher though. Maybe a 5 or 6. (She's 14, for those who don't know. You can gauge for your children accordingly.) There is not really any language that I can recall. Sorry, but I read it when it first came out in Sept. I'm reviewing now though because my daughter just read it this week. She couldn't really recall any language either, so I think you're good there. She's pretty quick to notice that.
Only one review this week, since this was so long.
15 comments:
Great review, Lois! I heard this one wasn't as good, but what do I know? I haven't read any of them yet. They are on my list, though!
I sure hope the 4th one is good. When does it come out?
Thanks! Some may not have liked it. I guess that's always a matter of opinion, but I really enjoyed it. I don't know if it was just because my sequel bar had been lowered so much or what, but I was completely engrossed in it while reading and couldn't put it down.
I haven't checked into when the new one comes out. If the last one was any indication, it's going to be a while--years.
I've put off reading this one, but maybe I'll add it to the list this year.
BTW, I saw your name mentioned over on NB's blog. Nice.
Thanks, PJ, that gave me quite a jolt yesterday.
You asked me to comment, so I will. I STILL SAY IT NEEDED TEN STARS! *sigh* It makes me sad...
Oh well! I'm now currently writing mini comics about Ryojin and Tatakai. When I'm done, remind me to show you!
Anyway, I further reiterate my prior point...
TEN STARS!!
Where's the venom and daggers?! *browses 1-star reviews at Amazon* :P
I know, you'd probably want to go anonymous if you criticized authors all the time. Fair enough. :)
Lioness, I hear ya yelling at me! Ten stars, schmen stars. At least I reffed your opinion.
Justus, I'm sorry. You won't get much venom and daggers from me here. It's generally going to be books I like that I review since I'm only doing 1 or 2 a week. If I had unlimited critique space though and complete anonymity, watch out the venomous daggers would be flying. Mwahaha! Aw, who am I kidding? I probably wouldn't even do it then. Generally speaking I would only do that one on one. LOL!
I really didn't like Eragon--it felt too contrived for me. But I love how much your daughter loved the book :)
Beth, I can see where you're coming from. The first one was a little contrived, but I enjoyed how the dragons were portrayed. I think the books got better as Paolini went. I think the story has gotten richer as he's gotten older.
My daughter is very opinionated about the books she reads.
ACK! OK! We have a lot in common! (Except I did not read this book or series! hahah!) LOL! I too have felt recently that I was at the end of my bloggy reading rope.. but ahh! I'm fascinated and sightly obsessed with blogs! NOW I must read yours! So I have to ask... what's your book about? And yes, steal away! LOL! He's an actor for pete's sake... I'm sure he'll love the extra work! Eeeeh! He really makes a FABULOUS Darcy though! heheheh!
He does. He's British, right? Ah, Darcy, I swoon!
I bet you'll love next weeks choice of books. I can't wait to share it. I am totally LOVING it so much. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in years--maybe ever. Perhaps that's overstating a bit, but not much.
I read Brisingr over Thanksgiving break and I really enjoyed it. The first book was terribly straightforward and not one I would normally re-read, but Brisingr, I could read again. I also noticed an improvement in quality of the series.
I'll be glad when the series is finished, though. I don't like it dragging on and on... I just want to know the ending and move on with my life and reading
Hannah, I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I understand the sentiment of getting on with it. I'm torn though, because once it's done it's over.
Interesting. I read the first book and enjoyed it well enough. I never got around to the second, though. So, I guess I'm not a hard core fan. :)
I wouldn't really call myself a hardcore fan. My daughter is, but I did get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
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