Inheritance Thoughts

It's been a busy few weeks, so I've been a bit lazy in writing on this blog.  But I really do want to share my thoughts on Inheritance by Christopher Paolini.  I'm going to try to do it without spoilers, but if you haven't read it, and are planning on it, don't say I didn't warn you...

The series up to this point, has been the story of Eragon and his dragon Saphira battling the evil empire that has taken control of the country Eragon lives in.  Eragon works with rebels, as well as other "species" of citizens, like dwarves, elves and werecats (no, it's not important to know what a werecat is, just go with it.)  The story is a classic good vs. evil tale, very "Lord of the Rings"-ish.  This last book tries to wrap everything up nicely, but in my opinion, is a little lacking.  Obviously, good triumphs evil, though I won't tell you how, and Eragon becomes a hero.  But despite that, the ending is very sad.  I don't want to give it away, so it's really hard to write this, but it seems like Paolini is purposefully leaving enough loose ends so that he can tell another tale.  Which is fine, if he wasn't selling this book as the last in the series.  I think there would have been better ways to leave himself openings for more tales than just failing to resolve loose ends and provide a less than satisfying conclusion.  I don't like ending books feeling depressed, and that's how I felt at the end of Inheritance.

While writing this, I looked over a few reviews of the book from just regular readers like myself, and I see that many people feel the same way I do.  Too many loose ends and a depressing ending.  I did read also that Paolini has written that he might return to these books someday to continue writing, which validates my first thoughts, but "maybe" returning to write more shouldn't be an excuse for such a weak conclusion.

I will say that this book was actually really enjoyable to read.  It reads very much like the other three books and had the ending been a bit better, I would be singing nothing but praises for the book.  And while I know that we can't always have perfect endings or happy endings, in books or life, I really felt that this book dropped the ball.  I guess I'll just have to hope that Paolini does decide to write another book to answer his fan's questions, because I'd like to re-read the series again some day, but I'm not going to bother until he can provide me with some answers!