Brisingr
Ratings479
Average rating3.8
Sorry, from what I read of this book: It Sucked. But I think thatz just ‘cuz I haven't been in a Fantasy mood for, oh say, the past year or so..Sorry :(
Ah Brisingr... I got about 300 pages in and realized something- nothing had happened. It had been 300 pages of running around and dialogue. It was kind of boring, but I stuck with it. The book is about 800 pages long, with maybe on 250 pages of actual action- mostly by side characters.
Everyone was surprised when Paolini announced the series would consist of 4 books, instead of three. I have a theory as to why. Paolini, being an inexperienced author is suddenly faced with having to write the conclusion with what could be considered an epic (I use the term loosely!) and a series that's become wildly popular. He doesn't really know -how- to end it yet, not in a way that's going to please the readership, so we get this dilly-dallying tidbit of a novel. He'd set up the enemy in the world to be so unimaginably powerful that it would come cheesy to end the story where he was at.
I'm hoping he can recover from this and end the series strongly. The book is worth reading if you want to finish the series... But I would not recommend the series in general. While it's a nice idea, Paolini doesn't have the skill to fully pull it off yet.
Wow. Seriously didn't see that one. Totally caught of guard. Love it and this is where I think the series hit its peak. I recommend it to anyone. And I mean anyone and EVERYONE.
A great book that showcases a lot of character development, especially for Eragon. Some of the reveals in the book are fantastic as well. I enjoyed a lot of it but I think the main plot didn't advance too much. I feel like there is a lot of events they are going to have to cover in the fourth novel.
I would give jt a 3.75. The attention and way this book is fleshed out is with great care. At times it feels certain pages could just be removed as they don't add much to the story. The level of detail and creative world building does give this story a bump to a 4 star.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Rounded down to 3
(As true of a 3.5 stars rating as I can get. Couldn't decide whether to go up or down)
This book suffers from what each of the Inheritance cycle books suffer from... They are so bogged down in exposition and details that, to some, things feel boring. Some people did not enjoy the scenes where Eragon learns to form his own sword because of the 15-page-long-description, however, I actually did. I liked the attention to detail in the battles. It sometimes is a slog to get through, but I enjoy the worldbuilding and immersion that it creates.
Some of the plot points are typical of other words of literature. I'm trying to decide if that is actually a bad thing, since everything is derivative of other works. However, it is strange to me how obvious some of the inspiration behind the points is. Like, I know of no other work that I can point to things and say, “oh, it's [this plot point] from [movie/book]”. Perhaps that is wrong of me and I shouldn't, as the story is enjoyable enough.
Took me a few hundred pages to start enjoying it but it's still great nonetheless. Lots of action and finally getting answers to unanswered questions!
Below is mostly my review posted on Eldest and Eragon with some rehashing/added stuff...
So this is my second time reading Brisingr, (Eragon, Eragon/Eldest, Eragon/Eldest/Brisingr...) this being my first time listening to the audiobook. To put it simply, Gerard Doyle is fantastic. His character voices and narration fit perfectly, and I loved the job he did. I'm actually going to continue on with Inheritance now because he does them all.
I obviously fell off for some years seeing that Inheritance was released 9 years ago, but what can you do...
I'm sure there's a hundred reviews on here talking about how this all started when Paolini was fifteen, and how at the time of Brisingr, he had spent a decade with Eragon, so I'll just say–WOW.
He takes so many things from others (in terms of influence) and handles them all so delicately that he created this wonderful, lush, dense lore that continues to grow throughout the rest of the novels. He was like a mini-Tolkien with his languages and flushed out geographic ideas. He created the Urgals and Kull instead of just recycling the typical Orcs and Uruk-hai. I found multiple points of similarity between Martin's ‘Game of Thrones' dragons and Paolini's, and yet past those he once again branched off and created his own world and lore for them in a refreshing way. I think the training and wiseness from Brom most similarly matches the ideas of Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker, including the necessary death of a mentor/father figure that thus propels the main character towards greatness. I suppose you could also easily argue that it is also like Gandalf/Frodo, however I think it's a harder argument to make that Frodo actually grew based off lessons from a knowledgable mentor (HE IS A HERO, JUST A DIFFERENT KIND!). Or, you could also point out Harry/Dumbledore–I'm sure we've all seen the memes about needing an old man mentor and a young hero to make a successful series–even though Dumbledore hid questionable important details from Harry, he still fulfilled that role.
I actually read a bitter sounding review under Eldest on here where they claim the opposite of what I am saying–ie. that Paolini does not do any of these things delicately/well and all I can say is that I'm genuinely surprised by that reaction. The main complaint I saw was drawing a comparison to Star Wars and almost calling these similarities blatant stealing. IE. “I am your father [Morzan].” And also saying that the reemergence of the twins and Murtagh was stupid/not earned. All I can say is that 1. I am a HUGE SW fan, as you can obviously see in my read books section, and I think that if your basis for disliking this book/series/author is that you think SW is the end-all for original ideas, you're just misguided. I mean right off the bat, just read Dune and see how many things are super close to some of the original SW ideas in A New Hope... 2. I have now read this book three times and each time I have loved the “surprise” of Murtagh coming back. Every single time. Sure, I also thought he was alive, but riding atop a new RED DRAGON? No, that hadn't crossed my younger mind at all. 3. If you dislike reading things that have any kind of similarities at all, I'm sorry to inform you but fantasy is not the genre for you at all. Find me something that doesn't pull strings from Tolkien, Lewis, Herbert, Martin and many others. I don't believe it can be done. Those similarities are the reasons WHY I love these kinds of books and genre. Originality would come at a cost. Probably the cost of that comfortability many look for in fantasy and that wouldn't work for me and many others.
I'm sure there are also countless ideas and influences that he drew from the million and one dragon rider series that exist in this world. However, I first started reading these books in the sixth grade, so as an eleven year old I hadn't much experience elsewhere, and afterwards this was more my basis for that kind of story than any other.
I know we've all seen/heard Paolini say things like “trying to write like Tolkien at his best” and various other stupid and pompous sounding things, but he was young and humility doesn't come easy for everyone. He had great success with these books at an early age, that could certainly do that to your head. And to be honest, it'd have been better for someone else to have said that for him, but I don't really disagree with it. I even call him a mini-Tolkien at the beginning of this review... (but lets be real...Tolkien was always at his “best”)
I will say that I think Paolini is lucky that he had spent so much time working his characters in book two, because honestly without it I would not have given a single f*k about Roran getting married or trying to become a leader. It's because of his earlier work and attention to detail that leads fans to desire more information about other characters and the day to day activities. The trouble with the dwarves even borders on getting too dry and he still (in my opinion) reels it in enough, and splits it with action, to save its enjoyability. The world of Alagaesia needs more dragon power. As fans can tell by the cover, Glaedr is the focal point of this one. Even though Oromis and Glaedr have disabilities of their own they still make the decision to enter the fight. I thought this was immediate, and obvious, foreshadowing to their doom. Even though Glaedr should have far exceeded the size and strength of Thorn, there is still a struggle between them. When the tide of battle seems to point in their favor, Galbatorix possesses Murtagh. I understand this was meant to show the power and prowess that they're up against, which is Galbatorix himself, but I still think they should have been able to achieve more in the fight. That was my only major gripe. I understand that his writing style, and seemingly his incessant need to write bible length books, is not for everyone, but this has been a 5/100% novel since the first time I read it. Now after finishing it for my second time I still don't have any real complaints. I love it and not just for the nostalgic feel, it's amazing.
The final two books of Paolini's series are the best.
While some complain that they are long (I have no idea how they made it through the second one), I actually think Paolini's pace and amount of detail is just right. I am not a fan of a lot of useless description and not once did I feel like it was being dragged on. That said, it is all very introspective, which I like and understand how others may not. I like a book that makes me think and understand, one that doesn't just walk you though as irrelevant things happen. While again others may argue, I can't think of a plot point that didn't serve a purpose to the narrative as a whole.
I think Paolini crafts his world carefully and with reason, and finally his writing reaches its full potential in Brisingr. Inheritance is a good companion to it.
the story is nice...but the author takes so long detailing everything...so...
I was pretty disappointed with this book. It was rather long, and not much happened. I plan to read the last book, but mostly because I'm so invested at this point having read the first 3, and I'd like to see how he ends things at least.
I found it interesting that this book was longer before editing, because I think it could have easily been half as long as there was so much useless fluff.
(I wrote this review about 5 years ago when I first finished the book. I'm just copy/paste this here. I would try to write the review in a more “professional” manner but it's not worth my time)
The first book was ok. Even that it had similarities with Star Wars and The Wheel of time, even that it had actions that made you think .... WHY?? it was short and ok to read.
The second book was LONG and booooring. I mean, it was SOOOOOOOoo boring.
Ok the 3rd book is out. The price is even higher that the other books. Yea yea it's a best seller.
So what do we get? An even longer book. A book that attacks your intelect. Stupid dialogs. The only interesting part of the book are the last 50 pages.
Eragon it's still an %%#hole. Yea his a teenager. That's how teenagers behave. But come on. YOU (Eragon) are an KNIGHT. You have power. People put your hopes in you and you are still an arogant prick. People tell you don't behave as you should but YOU STILL don't listen.
If you are maximum 15 years old, or this is the only book you'v read, this is an awasome book. If not, you will just get anoyed. VERY annoyed.
I'm not going to give up exact examples because of spoilers, but you will see dialogs like this:
- Hey. Let me heal your wounds!
- No. There are others who may need help.
- But man! Look at your wounds. It will only take a ...
- I SAID NO! Leave me alone!
- But look at you!
- Ok but do it fast.
——–
Belive me. You will read something like this in the book.
It seems everyone is a prick in this book. They all defy superior's orders.
Not to mention this is the type of the book you know GOOD will win. It's just a mather of time.
I don't feel like there is WAR. Galbatorix can attack in any moment. They can attack and YOU KNOW you are not prepared. Nooo. They have time to love. They have time to disobey orders. They have time to QUESTION the orders. I bet they know they will win anyway.
P.S. For the people who praise the last 50 pages. Yea. They weare nice. But 50 pages are not 760 pages.
Ich erinnere mich, dass mir der dritte Teil am schwersten fiel. Währen dich bei den Vorgängern gar nicht aufhören konnte zu lesen, war es hier stückweise “Arbeit”. Gleichwohl hat mich das Ende wieder sehr gefesselt. Ich weiß noch, dass ich die politischen Probleme dieses Bandes sehr ermüdend fand. Ich weiß allerdings überhaupt nicht, wie ich heute dieses Buch lesen würde. Vielleicht würde ich gerade den dritten Band heute spannender finden, als ich das als Jugendlicher vermochte.
