The Inheritance Cycle is a series of four fantasy novels by American author Christopher Paolini. It was previously entitled the Inheritance Trilogy until Paolini's announcement in 2007 that there would be a fourth book. Set in the fictional world of Alagaësia ( /æləˈɡeɪziə/), the novels focus on a teenage boy named Eragon and his dragon Saphira. Eragon is one of the few remaining Dragon Riders, a group that governed Alagaësia in past times but were almost destroyed by a Rider named Galbatorix, who took control of the land. Galbatorix's greatest fear is that a new Rider will rise up and usurp his position as king of the Empire, so when he finds out about Eragon and his dragon, he sends his servants after them in an effort to capture them. Eragon and Saphira are forced to flee from their home, and decide to join the Varden, a rebel organization fighting against Galbatorix.

The first book in the series, Eragon, was self-published by Paolini's family in 2002 and re-published in 2003 by Knopf; it was followed by Eldest in 2005. Both were New York Times bestsellers and together sold more than 12.5 million copies worldwide. The third book in the series, Brisingr, was published on September 20, 2008, and sold 550,000 copies in North America on its first day. Publication details for the as-yet un-named fourth book have not been set.

In 2006, Eragon was adapted into a feature film of the same name, starring Edward Speleers in the title role of Eragon, as well as Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Sienna Guillory, and Rachel Weisz.

At the age of fifteen, Christopher Paolini started writing a draft of the first novel in the Inheritance Cycle after a month of planning out the series. ^[1] It took two years for Paolini to finish Eragon; one year of writing and one year of editing. Paolini's parents read the novel and saw its potential. After another year of editing, ^[2] they had it self published through Lightning Source, a print on demand company and subsidiary of Ingram Book Group. ^[3] Paolini and his family toured across the United States to promote the book, but it did not receive much attention. ^[1] In the summer of 2002, American novelist Carl Hiaasen was on vacation in one of the cities that Paolini was promoting Eragon in. While there, Hiaasen's stepson bought a copy of the book that he "immediately loved". ^[1] He showed it to his stepfather, who brought the book to the attention of the publishing house Alfred A. Knopf. Michelle Frey, executive editor at Knopf, contacted Paolini and his family to ask if they were interested in having Knopf publish Eragon. They agreed, and the book was published in August 2003 after having been edited one more time. Paolini began promoting Eragon in the United States and the United Kingdom after this, before continuing on the second novel in the series, Eldest, in 2004. ^[2] That book was released on August 23, 2005. ^[4]

Brisingr, the third novel in the series, was originally going to be the last novel in the Inheritance Cycle. ^[5] Halfway through writing Brisingr, Paolini realized the story was so complex that it was going to end up being 2,000 pages. ^[5] He decided to split it into two books, and thus the Inheritance Trilogy became the Inheritance Cycle. ^{[5] [6]} Paolini revealed this decision in an October 2007 press release, ^[7] and acknowledges that the complexity of the book is reflected by his growth as a writer since he began writing Eragon at the age of fifteen, and also as the result of having spent nearly a decade immersed in the fictional world he created. ^[5] Brisingr was released in the United States on September 20, 2008. ^{[8] [9]} No official release date for the fourth book has been given.

In the fictional land of Alagaësia, there was once an organization of people who governed the country and brought peace to the world. This group was known as the Dragon Riders, for they rode Dragons, with which they had long since made a great bond. One Dragon Rider named Galbatorix had his dragon slain by the Urgals which drove him mad. Denied another Dragon by the Council of Elder Riders, Galbatorix blamed the Council for the death of his dragon and sought to destroy the Dragon Riders. He made an alliance with a young rider, and with his help slew an elder rider, after which he slew his ally. Then, with the help of Morzan, the first of the thirteen Forsworn, he stole a black dragon, named Shruikan (possibly a reference to Japanese "throwing stars" shuriken). He forced Shruikan to do his bidding, and later destroyed the Riders and their dragons. Since then, he has ruled Alagaësia as a tyrannical King.

While an accurate time-line of various events is as yet unavailable, Paolini has hinted on an interview that based on character Elain's pregnancy, we may infer the events of the first three books to have happened within a span of months. ^[10]

Eragon lives with his uncle Garrow and cousin Roran on a farm on the outskirts of a small village called Carvahall. While hunting in the mountains, Eragon finds a dragon egg that soon hatches. He names the dragon Saphira, and raises her in secret until two of Galbatorix's servants, the Ra'zac, come to Carvahall looking for the egg. Eragon and Saphira manage to escape by hiding in the forest, but Garrow is fatally wounded and the house and farm are burned down by the Ra'zac. Once Garrow dies, Eragon is left with no reason to stay in Carvahall, so he goes after the Ra'zac, seeking vengeance for the destruction of his home and his uncle's death. He is accompanied by Brom, an elderly story-teller.

Eragon becomes a Dragon Rider through his bond with Saphira. On the journey, Eragon and Brom's camp is ambushed by the Ra'zac. A stranger named Murtagh rescues them, but Brom is gravely injured. Just before he dies, Brom tells Eragon that he used to be a Dragon Rider. Murtagh becomes Eragon's new companion, and together they search for the location of the Varden. While stopping near Gil'ead, Eragon is captured and imprisoned in the same jail that holds an Elf. Murtagh and Saphira stage a rescue, and Eragon escapes with the unconscious Elf. Eragon contacts the Elf telepathically, and discovers that her name is Arya. She tells him that she was poisoned while in captivity and that only a potion in the Varden's possession can cure her. Arya is able to give directions to the exact location of the Varden: a city called Tronjheim, which sits in the mountain Farthen Dûr. When they arrive in Farthen Dûr, Eragon is led to the leader of the Varden, Ajihad. Ajihad imprisons Murtagh after finding out that he is the son of Morzan—an evil Dragon Rider that was killed by Brom a long time ago.

Eragon is at last able to rest, but a new invasion is imminent. As the battle begins, the Varden and the Dwarves are pitted against an enormous army of Urgals, deployed by Galbatorix. During the battle, Eragon faces a Shade—a sorcerer possessed by evil spirits—named Durza. After Eragon stabs Durza to death, the Urgals are released from a spell which had been placed on them, and begin to fight among themselves. The Varden take advantage of this opportunity to make a counter-attack. While Eragon is unconscious, a stranger contacts him telepathically and tells Eragon to come to him for training in the land of the elves.

Eldest begins as Ajihad is ambushed and killed, with Murtagh and Ajihad's other guards assumed dead. At his funeral, Ajihad's daughter Nasuada is elected to command the Varden. Eragon and Saphira then decide to travel to the Elven forest Du Weldenvarden to become trained as a Dragon Rider by the elves. Once there, Eragon meets Oromis and his dragon Glaedr, the only dragon and Rider secretly alive besides Galbatorix. Oromis and Glaedr, however, are both crippled, and so cannot fight Galbatorix and must hide instead. Eragon and Saphira are taught the use of logic, magic theory, scholarship, and combat, among other things.

Meanwhile, Nasuada chooses to move the Varden from Tronjheim to Surda, to mount an attack on the Empire. The Varden suffers financial troubles, however, until Nasuada learns that she can create lace with magic, and sell it at extremely low rates. Nasuada later attends a meeting with key figures in Surda's government to discuss a potential upcoming battle against the Empire. They learn that the conflict is coming sooner than they initially suspected, and mobilize forces to attack, as well as sending for help from the Dwarves. In the meantime, Eragon continues his training until he learns that the Empire will soon attack the Varden in Surda. Dismayed, he leaves without completing his training, to aid the Varden in battle.

Meanwhile, Eragon's brother Roran is hunted by the Ra'zac in Carvahall. He eventually persuades the entire village to attack the Ra'zac in the night, and succeeds in driving them off. After more conflicts with the village, the Ra'zac manage to kidnap Katrina, Roran's fiancée. Roran then stirs the village to mobilize, departing on a journey to join the Varden in Surda. They arrive just as the Battle of the Burning Plains is about to begin between Surda and its allies, and the Empire.

When conflict begins, Eragon is able to repel the opposing army using magic. Eventually, a Dragon Rider appears in favor of the Empire. The hostile Dragon Rider kills the Dwarf king Hrothgar, and soon begins to fight with Eragon. The Dragon Rider is soon unmasked by Eragon and is revealed to be Murtagh. Murtagh tells Eragon that he was kidnapped and forced into loyalty by Galbatorix after a dragon hatched for him. Murtagh outmatches Eragon, but shows mercy due to their old friendship. Before leaving, Murtagh reveals that Eragon is his brother, and takes Eragon's sword as well. Ultimately, Galbatorix's army is forced to retreat after the arrival of the Dwarves and the departure of Murtagh and Thorn. In the end, Eragon and Roran decide that they will seek out Katrina together.

Brisingr begins as Eragon, Saphira, and Roran travel to Helgrind, the sanctuary of the Ra'zac. There they rescue Katrina, who was being held prisoner, and kill one of the Ra'zac. Once they return to the Varden, Eragon discovers that Katrina is pregnant with Roran's child and a wedding is arranged, which Eragon is to conduct. Just before it begins, a small force of enchanted troops attack alongside Murtagh and Thorn. Elven spell-casters aid Eragon and Saphira and cause Murtagh and Thorn to flee, winning the battle. After the fight, Roran marries Katrina. The leader of the Varden, Nasuada, then orders Eragon to attend the election of the new dwarf king in the Beor Mountains.

After the dwarf Orik's coronation, Eragon and Saphira return to the elven capital Ellesméra to continue their training. There, Oromis and Glaedr reveals the source of Galbatorix's power: Eldunarya, ^[11] or heart of hearts. While not a dragon's actual heart, an Eldunarí allows the holder to communicate with or draw energy from the dragon it belongs to, even if the dragon is deceased. Galbatorix spent years collecting Eldunarya, and forcing the deceased dragons to channel their energy to him through their Eldunarí. Before Eragon and Saphira depart to the Varden, Oromis says that the time has come for him and Glaedr to openly oppose the Empire in combat alongside the queen of the elves, Islanzadí. Thus, Glaedr gives his Eldunarí to Eragon before they part.

Meanwhile, the Varden begin the siege of Feinster, a city in the Empire. As the siege begins, Eragon and Arya depart to find the leader of the city, but discover that three magicians are attempting to create a Shade. While racing to kill the magicians, Eragon has a vision through Glaedr's Eldunarí showing Oromis and Murtagh fighting. In the midst of the fighting, Galbatorix posseses Murtagh and tries to lure Oromis to his side: when he fails, and after Oromis suffers a seizure, Galbatorix uses Murtagh to kill him and Glaedr is killed shortly after. After the vision, the magicians have managed to create the Shade Varaug, whom Arya kills with help from Eragon. After the successful siege, Nasuada tells Eragon the Varden's plans for invading the Empire.

The Inheritance Cycle has been criticized for its derivative nature. The novels have often been compared to Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter ^[12] due to numerous similarities in the plots. ^{[13] [14] [15]} Sarah Smith of The Boston Globe noted the similarities between Paolini's Inheritance Cycle and J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. She commented that because Tolkien spent longer on the background of his novels than Paolini "has lived, the world of The Lord of the Rings is coherent and thought out in ways Paolini can't match yet. No shame on Paolini that he's currently less than Tolkien. But he does have many of the faults of a beginning writer, and some of them an editor should have caught." ^[16] IGN's Matt Casamassina, however, said Paolini "demonstrates that he understands how to hold the reader's eyes" and therefore separates his novels from "countless other me-too fantasy novels." ^[17] Colin Whisler of the San Antonio Express-News saw the similarities as an advantage for Paolini, commenting that the series "should appeal to Lord of the Rings fans and Harry Potter readers." ^[18]

Eragon received mixed reviews from critics after it was released. Liz Rosenberg of The New York Times Book Review criticized it for having "clichéd descriptions", "B-movie dialogue", "awkward and gangly" prose; she concluded the review, however, by noting that "for all its flaws, it is an authentic work of great talent". ^[19] Chris Lawrence of About.com thought Eragon had all the "traditional ingredients" that make a fantasy novel "enjoyable", and concluded that "the characters are interesting, the plot is engrossing, and you know the good guy will win in the end." ^[20]

Like Eragon, Eldest received both negative and positive reviews. Paolini was cited by Commonsense Media's Matt Berman as having developed as a writer from Eragon. Berman thought the dialog was "less hackneyed and clichéd." ^[21] Bookmarks magazine thought it displayed more emotional depth than Eragon. ^[22] School Library Journal noted that Eldest lacked originality, but would still find reception among fans. ^[22] The Christian Science Monitor criticized the long plot and its similarities to The Lord of the Rings and Dragonriders of Pern, as well as the lack of humor. The review commented that Roran, one of the secondary major characters, had the best part of the book. ^[23] Barnes & Noble praised the novel's characters and themes, such as friendship, forgiveness, responsibility, and honor. ^[24]

Critics of Brisingr commented on the novel's length and Paolini's growing maturity in his treatment of characters. David Durham of the Washington Post said Brisingr "reconnects with the core elements that animate Eragon's tale" toward the end of the book, and Paolini shows growing maturity during some "quiet" moments in the book. Durham also found that Paolini added depth to some characters from the previous novels in the Inheritance Cycle. ^[25] In contrast, Sheena McFarland of the The Salt Lake Tribune said that Paolini "hasn't learned how to create characters that readers can relate to," although she praised him for strong female characters in Brisingr such as Arya and Nasuada. ^[26] Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) reviewer Kathleen Beck criticized the length of the book, accusing Paolini of "plainly [enjoying] wandering around in his fantasy world" and urging him to provide a cleaner finish to the series. ^[27] Children's Literature writer Jamie Hain gave the book a positive review, praising the action scenes, as well as the appeal to both male and female readers. She asserts that it is a "long read", but it is "worth it for those who reach the end." ^[27]

The first two books in the Inheritance Cycle, Eragon and Eldest, have sold over 15 million copies worldwide together. ^[28] They were both New York Times bestsellers. ^{[29] [30]} Eragon was the third best-selling children's hardback book of 2003, ^[31] and the second best-selling paperback of 2005. ^[32] It placed on the New York Times Best Seller list for 121 weeks. ^[33] Brisingr sold 550,000 copies in North America on its first day. ^{[34] [35] [36]} Brisingr sold 45,000 copies on its first day in the United Kingdom and was the fastest-selling children's book in the country in 2008. ^{[37] [38] [39]} In Australia, the book sold 141,000 copies in 2008, making it one of the country's top ten best-selling books of the year. ^{[40] [41]} Brisingr debuted at number one on USA Today's top 150 bestsellers list. It stayed on the list for 25 consecutive weeks until March 3, 2009. ^[42]