Book Review: Murtagh by Christopher Paolini (Inheritance Cycle #5)

 

It's been a while since I last visited the Inheritance Cycle. So with this new release, let's catch up! Spoilers ahead.

Now in exile after Galbatorix's fall, Murtagh and his dragon Thorn end up in a new adventure when they sense that something is amiss. They go on a journey and discover Bachel, a witch who seems to be the source of the evil. But standing up to her and her cult is much harder than both initially thought.

Overall I had a good time with this book. It wasn't perfect but I genuinely enjoyed the journey here and it felt good to return to the world of the Inheritance Cycle. Now without Eragon as protagonist the series does take a different turn, but I found both Murtagh and Thorn to be very likable characters and I loved reading about their bond, they're genuinely really close and in a different way than Eragon and Saphira are. Murtagh definitely gets his time to shine here. My favorite character in the story is definitely Uvek the Urgal, though. He develops a genuinely strong bond with Murtagh and it was just very satisfying to see. He was a great character to read about.

Now for what I didn't like as much: the pacing. The book drags a little. Specifically the first third is an entire side-quest and it all amounts to Murtagh getting some information he needs, but otherwise it connects very little to the main plot of defeating Bachel. I feel that this part should've either been cut short, or it should've directly connected more to the main story. It does, of course, connect in a way because Murtagh needs the information before he can proceed on his quest, but it still feels largely unattached. The first part of the book is "catch a giant fish so you can impress and join the city guard so you can free a werecat". The rest of the book is "defeat an evil witch and her cult from enacting who knows what kind of evil". It just doesn't mesh very well together.

Also the rest of the book drags a bit. It becomes a bit repetitive with the amount of scenes there are of Bachel and Murtagh talking, Bachel trying to convince him to join her side, Bachel doing something evil and torturing Murtagh, etc. After a while it got old and I feel that at least some pages could've been cut or shortened. Not that I minded reading the current length, but it does drag here and there. 

But aside from this, this was a good book with an interesting plot, neat characters and relationships and it does truly feel like a soft reboot for the series. I do wonder if in a future installment we'll get more Eragon and Saphira, though, since they're very absent here. 

Rating: 4/5