Customer Reviews

Inheritance 3-Book Boxed Set (Can.)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I personally like the Inheritance series of books. They aren't quite as sophisticated as The Lord of the Rings, or The Wheel of Time, or Dune. They lie somewhere between the Harry Potters of the World, and The Lord of the Rings.

Are some of the names inspired by other series? Sure. The point isn't to find fault with work on the basis of what was written in other works, but to see whether it can stand by itself, and tell its own story.

I think Brisingr was a brilliant addition to the series (I would agree that Eldest was a little off); and FWIW, the last 5 chapters by themselves would make the book worth it.

Having read Inheritance, I can hardly wait for the last book in the series (Empire) but that's still a couple of years away.

With regards to this hard cover set, the only reason I can imagine you wouldn't want it, is if you're waiting for the final four-box set, which will surely be released with the last book; or already own hardcovers of Eragon and Eldest.

Don't get me wrong. I love these books.

But the boxed set is horrendously misleading. I'd expect a three book boxed set to indicate either a trilogy, or 6 books.

There is a fourth (and final) book. The cover of the boxed set gives no indication of this, and until I was about half way through Brisingr I was unaware that Paolini had changed from the planned (and announced) trilogy, to a 4 book series.

So by all means buy these books, but don't buy the boxed set thinking you've got them all. It may be cheaper than buying the three books seperately, but it is going to look dodgy on the bookshelf.

This is an excellent way to purchase the three hardcover books in the ongoing Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini.

My only quibble is the boxed set has no additional features to entice a reader who has previously purchased the books separately. Though it seemingly eliminates one market of readers/collectors, the avenue is open for those wishing to purchase three hardcover books at a nice price.

Unlike what the previous commentor wrote, this epic stands alone. While I have not read the third book yet, Brisingr, this has been the best experience of a saga in my lifetime.

The original Star Wars trilogy came out before my time, and the original episodes that came out were crap compared to the B-style of the true originals.

While The Hobbit was easy to read, the rest of the Tolkien trilogy was far too nerdy or geeky to get into. There were too many words, in my opinion, that convoluted the story line.

The main thing the previous commentor forgot to mention, or perhaps didn't know, was that this is a set of books aimed to children. The age group is more of the latter Harry Potter series, where the readers are supposed to have grown up a bit and the plot begins to take a serious turn.

These books were intriguing, and the author pays such great attention to detail that you can't help but get lost in reading. The best part of the stories so far is that the author doesn't leave you completely hanging at the end of each book, for those of us who had to read the books as they have been released. Unlike the Matrix: Reloaded, each story has a sub-plot with its own story, climax, and resolution. Each book is part of the entire story, but the sub-plots make it feel like you haven't wasted a part of your life, a la the Matrix 2 where the movie ended at the middle of a climax; I had to rewatch this movie before watching the third Matrix movie in order to remember what was going on. However, looking back I can remember what the first movie was about because it was a contained story and not just a third of an epic story. (And now The Pirates of the Caribbean movies have had the same fate.)

To summarize, these are good books.

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UPDATE: I forgot I didn't update this post. I finished the third book, Brisngr, in less than 3 days after I bought it. Is it a good book? Sure, but I'm awaiting the other half. This one did feel like it was unfinished. Up until the last 10 chapters of the book or so, the story was all politics. It felt like nothing really happened, but it gave you a good idea of the authors interpretation of government's ineptitude. Bring on the fourth book, already! I need the action back in my Eragon books!

Mix together equal parts "Star Wars" and J.R.R. Tolkien, then add a generous helping of Anne McCaffrey's dragon-riders and a few random shreds of Garth Nix.

Obviously originality is not Christopher Paolini's strong suit. But that's only one of the problems with "Eragon," "Eldest" and "Brisingr," the first three books of Paolini's Inheritance series -- while there's some promise in Paolini's first book, the second and third are lifeless slogs of painfully pompous plotlessness that occasionally rev up into a battle.

The titular character is lucky enough to stumble across a strange blue stone while hunting. After failing to sell it, Eragon finds that it's actually a dragon egg, and the baby blue dragon inside selects him -- yes, him -- to hatch for and remain with forever. All the Dragon Riders were killed off by Evil King Galbatorix long ago, but for the weird old recluse Brom, who becomes Eragon's mentor. And Luke, I am your father... wait, wrong story.

When Galbatorix's men destroy Eragon's home and family, Brom and Eragon flee to find the mysterious rebels known as the Varden, and rescue the beautiful elf Arya who is haunting Eragon's dreams. But while Eragon and his dragon Saphira learn many things -- and make new allies -- the journey to the Varden brings them a terrible (and totally predictable) loss, and leads them to Eragon's first battle.

"Eldest" picks up immediately afterwards, with Eragon badly wounded and the leader of the Varden murdered. But despite the rebels' turmoil, Eragon is told that he has to accompany Arya back to her home city of the elves, to be taught by a crippled elf named Oromis. Unbeknownst to Eragon, his hometown of Carvahall is being ruined by a band of Galbatorix's soldiers, and his newly-engaged cousin Roran may be their only hope. And our hero's truncated training leads to strange new changes in his body and mind, as he prepares for a devastating new battle against Galbatorix -- and a horrifying new discovery. Yes, you can probably see it coming.

And "Brisingr" picks up right after that, with Roran and Eragon going on a mission to rescue Roran's fiancee from the Ra'zac, while Nasuada is forced to undergo a bloody challenge to retain leadership of the Varden. And even after another fight with Murtagh, Eragon has to deal with a forthcoming wedding, Roran's assignments on dangerous missions, and the upcoming nomination of a new dwarf king. And when Eragon finally returns to Ellesmera, he learns new facts about his own past, and is given a possible key to his future...

Lofty elves, kings-in-waiting, humble farm boys who become revered leaders for no particular reason, nasty goblinesque creatures, cryptic mystical women, special swords, evil tyrants who are evil because they just are, wise mentors, and telepathic dragons in a variety of colors. Christopher Paolini never met a fantasy cliche that he didn't like -- and the "Inheritance" trilogy simply oozes with them.

At first, Paolini paints these typical sword-and-sorcery stories with rather stilted but promising prose -- "Eragon" has some raw potential, and you can detect Paolini's enthusiasm as he explores his invented fantasy land. Unfortunately with "Eldest" -- Paolini's prose becomes bloated, sluggish and painfully smug, with dialogue that becomes more painfully wretched with each chapter ("I walk between the candle and the dark").

It also signals the end of a fast-moving plot -- for two books straight, Paolini treads water in a sea of lace-making, anti-religious preaching, engagement woes, sword woes, and political woes. He whips up a battle every now and then -- either at the book's end or when things get too dull, and spends most of the rest of the time pondering on whether it's okay to kill people. The nadir of all this is Eragon's training, the bulk of which consists of doing yoga and watching ants -- even the hilariously homoerotic moments with Oromis and Roran can't make all this entertaining.

But the biggest problem is Eragon himself -- despite being portrayed as a noble, brave, compassionate soul with a brilliant destiny, he's none of that. He's given a little belated angst over killing people (though this doesn't stop him from coldly killing a young soldier begging for his life), when he isn't being uniformly worshiped by the Varden, Elves, Dwarves and villagers.

The supporting characters are not much better -- Brom and Oromis are intriguing but deeply underdeveloped as characters. And while Eragon spends three books drooling after the elf Arya, she's a snotty ice princess whose looks are all she's got. Everyone else is either a 2-D bad guy who hates Eragon, or a 2-D good guy who just loves him.

Christopher Paolini's not-terribly original fantasy series starts off with the flawed but readable "Eragon," before sliding downhill into the painful "Eldest" and the tediously plotless "Brisingr."

These were my first audio books ever! Loved listening to them on long distance drive from work! Best books ever can't wait to finish the fourth one!

My wife and I bought this set for my 9 year-old daughter for Christmas. The books are hard for her to get in the library because they are checked out all the time. The quality of the books in this set is very good. My daughter loves the stories. They are a little violent, so not for really young kids and the reading level is about 6th grade, but my daughter is a good reader and is on her second time through these books. Good fantasy fiction that catches her attention and encourages young people to read.

I bought this set of books for my 17 year old son, and he loved each and every book. He read the first book, and couldn't wait to read the 2nd and 3rd. I've never seen my son devour a book like he did these. He is now asking me when this author will be writing more. I highly recommend these books for those of you with teens who are into fantasy tales.

Maybe you've reached this conclusion but here it is again: Eragon is Luke Skywalker! Not exactly, but he's almost there! The storyline is similar, the tragedies are virtually identical.

If you want to read something with a new plotline, this is not the series for you. If you want to read Star Wars with dragons in it, here's your series!

Honestly, I like it.

An absolutely amazing set of books. I could easily leave it at that and hope readers will take my word, but for the sake of it, I'll say a little more.

Paolini is a prodigy of the fantasy genre if ever there was one. It is an wonder that, having started Eragon at age fifteen, the series has come out as wonderful as it is. The trilogy (with a fourth book coming sometime in the future) follows a young adolescent, Eragon, in a fantasy world of elves, dwarves, and of course, dragons. Eragon's quest begins when he mysteriously receives what he believes to be a valuable blue stone that turns out to be an extremely rare, almost extinct dragon egg. From there he must fight, and sometimes flee, the wrath of an evil king who has held Eragon's world in an iron grip for far too long. On the way he makes powerful friends, enemies, and uncovers his own shrouded past.

If you're looking for good, strong, well-written fantasy, this is the place to go. Paolini creates a world with a history, governed magic, and ancient languages possibly bested only by Tolkein-a world that you should not miss out on if you are at all a fan of the fantasy genre.