This book, more-so than either Eragon or Eldest, sees the character grow into (or at least more towards) a competent and capable leader. The main narrative is, perhaps obviously, given over to Eragon. That isn’t a bad thing and, as I said, it wasn’t identical but I did find it oddly comforting to think that Paolini’s work is informed by other fantasy authors. Saphira (and other dragons) view objects in the world in lists of associated words and it took me until the bonus interview after the book was over to understand why that was familiar it’s similar (though not identical) to method Robert Jordan uses to express the wolf language in his Wheel of Time series. There was an air of familiarity to her narrative voice however.

Saphira’s chapters offered another interesting shift in perspective showing a view directly opposite that of Rorin’s. Why I find magic and dragons easier to swallow than a battle being fought atop an increasingly growing mound of corpses is something I don’t quite understand but there it is none-the-less. Rorin’s chapters were perhaps my favorite and, save for one rather silly bit involving a mound of corpses (yes, you read that right), offered a more ground level view of the workings of the Varden Army. Things get better later in the novel as well as Paolini features chapters from a couple of different character’s viewpoints including Nasuada, Rorin, and Saphira.

Things take a turn for the better in the chapter titled “A Dragon Rider’s Mercy” (I think I got that right) and the chapters that follow reveal some of Paolini’s deftest characterization to date and mark perhaps the first instance where I really bought into Eragon as being the story’s big time hero. It is obvious the Paolini crafted these chapters as an attempt to allow Eragon a chance to develop a bit but I found the early chapters lacking. It proceeds to deal with a cascade of events resultant from actions taken by Eragon on that action that to my ear felt a bit forced and stalled much of the books momentum in driving the main story arc forward. The first part of the book focus on Eragon and his cousin’s Rorin’s attempt to free Katrina (Rorin’s wife-to-be) from the clutches of the Razak. Thankfully, however, the majority of that is relegated to the first portion of the novel and the stronger second half seems to me a stronger more cohesive whole than the first. My frustration wasn’t helped by Doyle’s frequently whiny vocalization of Ergaon either and both those elements continue here. In the first two volumes I found myself equally entralled and frustrated by Paolini’s characterization of the main hero Eragon. Paolini’s first novel Eragon was the book that brought me back to world of audiobooks and while I skipped the audio version of Eldest I decided to give Brisingr a try.

Brisingr audible