Here we’re taking a look at the second book in the Inheritance Cycle. I
already gave Eragon a positive review after re-reading it after years of
mocking it. I never actually got to this book, Eldest, after I first read
Eragon, so I’m going in blindly with this one. Will it be as good as Eragon?
Worse? Let’s see. Spoilers ahead, this is Eldest.
In this
second installment of the series, Eragon travels from the Varden to the land of
the Elves to train under a secret rider named Oromis. There, he learns more
about what it means to be a rider and how to be the best he can be.
I really
enjoyed this book, even more so than Eragon. The writing seems to have been improved on. While I enjoyed the
first book, it still felt dragging and overly descriptive in places, but that
doesn't seem to be the case here.
The world
building that was started in the series' starter is further elaborated on and
becomes more nuanced here. We learn a great deal more about aspects like Elven
culture, magic, the old language, ceremonies and more. I was honestly sad to
see Eragon leave Ellesméra to partake in the climax battle, as I felt like
there were still many secrets over there to explore. But I definitely think
we'll go back there, or at least learn more about cultures and the like
elsewhere.
I actually
liked the characters here more than in the first. Don't get me wrong, I
definitely liked some of them in Eragon, but they felt a bit less deep and
interesting there. In Eldest, they're further flashed out. I'm starting to
really enjoy Eragon and Saphira as leads, and also developed a fondness for the
characters of Orik and Angela. Oromis was an interesting character, too. I'm
still not too keen on Arya, but maybe the future books will change that.
Something
that did actually annoy me is that spoiler, the book makes a big deal out of
Eragon suffering because of the scar Durza gave him, only for the plot point to
completely solve itself without much trouble when Eragon's body adjusts and
heals itself as he gets more Elfish features.
There's
plenty of plot twists in this one. Some of them I wasn't too big on, such as
Eragon blessing a child in the first book going wrong and having interesting
results, but others I genuinely was really intrigued by, such as Oromis' and
Glaedr's existence. I could also really call it after the fourth dragon
appeared, Murtagh would be its rider, after being really unceremoniously
"killed" early on in the book. I'm also not sure how to feel about
Eragon and Murtagh being related, Murtagh now being evil and Morzan having been
their father.
As for
other points, I was glad to see Nasuada and Roran return and even get their own
POV's, though I definitely couldn't get into Roran's part of the tale as much
as the others. I grew bored reading his parts at times, but luckily they
weren't too long and Eragon's story still remains the main focus. Also, seeing
Eragon and Roran meet up again felt really bittersweet.
Overall I
had a great time reading Eldest and definitely am looking forward to checking
out the third installment in this series.
Rating: 4/5
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