Eragon: the Inheretance Cycle

The Inheritance Series

The author of Eragon, Cristopher Paolini had made three more books to follow up Eragon's quest for peace in his world: Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. The first book Eragon tells the tale of a farm boy named Eragon whos fate is changed when he finds a blue stone in the woods during his night in the woods. He kept the stone and it then hatched into a baby dragon. An old sage in the neighborhood named Brom, became his teacher. Together along with Eragon's dragon Saphira, they travel miles and miles away, training on how to become a true dragon rider so that when the time comes he is able to face the evil king, Galbatorix, and reshape his world back to the way it was before the tyrant's rule

Eldest takes place after Eragon was successful against defeating the king's right hand man, the Durza. Wounded from battle, Eragon and Saphira soon take part in another battle that involves another dragon rider. Eragon had thought that the only rider that was in existence was only him. It turns out that his friend Murtagh (met during the first book) had switched sides and joined Galbatorix towards his plot for tyranny. They both fought, but in the end Murtagh had beat him without much effort at all. At that moment Eragon realized that he would never be able to beat the king and restore peace to the land if he can even beat a new rider that has just gotten his dragon. He decides to make a trip to the elven country where he meets a former rider to learn and improve upon his magical abilities and swordsmanship.

Brisingr in my own opinion takes a different follow up compared to the other books. It tells about Eragon still continuing his training over at the eleven country. It also talks about his brother Roran who is taking a different path towards finding his brother. It all started from the first book. Roran wanted to leave his village and get married to a girl named Katrina. When he found out that his brother is a dragon rider fighting in the war, he packs his bags to go look for his brother, and also join the resistance. Eragon then is reunited with his brother and they take leadership in the resistance. Later Roran and Katrina then have a baby.

Inheritance is the last book of the series. Eragon faces hard months of training against the fight between Galbatorix and his men. There are no second Eragon does not defeat Galbatorix he will fail in restoring the world to its former self. Eragon is learning more and more secrets every day before he faces his greatest challenge. Murtagh who is going through drastic changes within himself is deciding whether he should team up with Eragon or to continue to serve Galbatorix. Months later before the final fight, Eragon discovers a tunnel. In that tunnel is filled with dragon spirits. With that Eragon finally has enough power to face Galbatorix.

Eragon

Eragon is about a young man named Eragon who has the fate of becoming the next dragon rider. It all starts when he finds a blue stone in the woods while hunting for deer. He brings the stone back home, not knowing what trouble it will soon cause him. Later that stone would then hatch into a dragon, later named Saphira. He would take care of her, but the evil empire is on the hunt for him and his family for the Saphira. He runs away from home with Saphira, and lucky, an old former dragon rider named Brom volunteers to go away with him to teach him the ways of the dragon rider. With the skills that he learns, he is able to defend himself against the empire.



Analysis of Themes

One of the themes in the book is the idea of the coming of age. During the beginning of the book, Eragon thought of himself as another farm boy that was trying to make a living out of the things the hunted for. Once Saphira hatched he learned a great deal about responsibility, and that his world and its problems were greater than what he has realized before. He also now realizes that since he is a dragon rider, any action that he takes can affect his family others around him.

Another theme that is shown in the book is the supernatural and how it makes the world the way it is. Dragons, magic, sword play, they are all effective towards controlling the world. Depending on how the people uses their powers it could change the world for the better or for the worse. Eragon and Saphira use their powers to try and help people in need, most especially the ones who are trying to fight back against the empire. However, the empire tries to use their power to control the weak that are unable to protect themselves.


Another theme that is largely shown in the book is the idea of fate and free will. Saphira's character in the story will show that she highly believes in the idea of fate. She says that it is because of fate that Eragon found her in the woods. Once Eragon had found her, they were destined to be partners together. Eragon however, believes in the idea of free will. In the book he told Saphira how they might have not stayed together if it were not for a merchant refusing to buy a "strange stone." He also said that he could have left the stone back in the woods because he knew that the stone was not his to begin with, and therefore was not his responsibility to ensure that it was safe.

The last theme that I would like to talk about is the theme of good and evil. Throughout the story there are a lot of archetypes on color that can be used to distinguish the good and evil. The color of Saphira which is blue can be used to represent something that is clear and pure hearted. The colors black and red is used on the king and other characters to represent the blood and disorder that the king is spreading towards the land.