Friday Favorites: The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

Eragon (2002), Eldest (2005), Brisingr (2008), Inheritance (2011)

Welcome to the first edition of "Friday Favorites !" Every Friday I will share with you some of my favorite books and why I love to read them over and over again. For this week, I chose not just one book, but the first three books of Christopher Paolini's epic Inheritance Cycle. The final book, Inheritance, was released just this week. If you haven't read this series, I would highly recommend you do so, especially if you love epic fantasy stories.

I first read Eragon because my little brother loved it and I loved to talk about books with him. I immediately fell in love with Eragon the character and Eragon the book. At the time, I didn't know it would be an almost decade-long love affair with Christopher Paolini's world. I latched on to each book and read them quickly, savoring my journey through the darkness and light with Eragon.

In interviews, Paolini has admitted that his epic fantasy draws on some of the greatest stories in the genre, such as The Lord of the Rings. And, you can definitely feel those elements as you read the first three books of The Inheritance Cycle. Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, go on an epic journey to find love, rescue those they love and save their world from total destruction.

It's hard for me to just talk about one of the books as I encourage you to read them. Each book tells a complete part of the story, but to truly understand Eragon's quest, you have to read the first three books together. Like many of the epic stories that have come before, Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr have a lot to them. There is a lot of story there, and sometimes Paolini gets so lost in the details of the world he has created that, as a reader, I was tempted to skim through the middle sections of the story. Characters were added, new parts of the kingdom were explored and it gets a little hard to keep it all straight. Still, the books are well-written and so completely of Paolini's world that you can't help but love them. Despite the lengthy descriptions in the middle, I was more than a little frustrated when I realized Brisingr wasn't the last book in the series!

If you're looking for an epic story where good battles evil, fantasy rules supreme and dragons still fill the sky, pick up Eragon, the first book in The Inheritance Cycle. As for me, I'm off to buy Inheritance and finish a story years and years in the making. I already know it will live up to my imagination.

~ Emily