So here’s the thing. I was, and am, working on my review/chapter summary of Eldest. But then I realized that the sequel, Brisingr, was released this weekend. And being able to form my impressions before any reviews or spoilers was very tempting. So I put Eldest on hold, got a copy of Brisinger, and started reading, typing up chapter notes after each chapter I read.

Three days later, here I am. If you’re interested in my thoughts on the book for some reason but you haven’t read the first two in the series, you may want to read the Wikipedia summaries for them first.

Let’s start with some general notes on the book.

( General but spoiler-y comments on the book. You’ve been warned. )


That’s everything I can think of at the moment. LJ won’t let me post this all at once (too long), so the first section of my summary/commentary by chapter is below. Links to later chapters follow.

( Chapters 1-10: Let’s Go Save Katrina! )

The rest of the chapter summaries are here:

Chapters 11-20
Chapters 21-30
Chapters 31-40
Chapters 41-50
Chapters 51-58

New icon! I'm not really happy with the coloring, but such is life.

And now, to rant.

So first of all, reading Eragon immediately after finishing a trilogy of power and grace like His Dark Materials was not the best idea. And certainly at least somewhat unfair to Eragon. But I wanted to see if the book was 1) as bad as some of what I've heard and 2) as bad as the movie, which I watched with Eric and Erica a week or so back. So I spent most of the day reading it (and fighting off the urge to throw the book into the snow).

Wow. Where to begin?

First, to put things in context, I advise those who haven't read the book/seen the movie to read this review of the movie. Actually, I suggest you read it even if you've read the book AND seen the movie; the review is hilarious and also brings up most of my major problems with the movie.

( Lengthy and annoyed rant ahead )

Ridiculously long rant over.....I think I'll go to bed now that it's all out of my system. Night, all!