Inheritance (Paolini novel)

Inheritance

The English cover of Inheritance, featuring the green dragon Fírnen
Author	Christopher Paolini
Cover artist	John Jude Palencar
Language	English
Series	Inheritance Cycle
Genre	Fantasy
Publisher	Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date	November 8, 2011
Publication place	United States
Media type	Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook and E-book
Pages	860
Preceded by	Brisingr

Inheritance: The Vault of Souls is the fourth and final book in the Inheritance Cycle written by American author Christopher Paolini.

The Inheritance Cycle was originally intended to be a trilogy, but Paolini has stated that during writing, the length of the third book grew, and the book was split into two parts to be published separately. Because of this, many plot elements originally intended for the third book are in the fourth book.

Synopsis

The book opens with the Varden's siege on Belatona, a city of the Empire. In the midst of the battle, Saphira is nearly killed by a Dauthdaert (death spear) named Niernen - a spear from the Dragon Wars created to withstand magic and kill dragons. Belatona soon falls, and in the aftermath, the Varden forms an alliance with the werecats.

That night, Elain's baby, Hope, is born with a cleft lip. Eragon sings through the night to heal her. Meanwhile, Roran is sent on a mission to capture Aroughs; the city has proven to be well-defended. He forms a clever and daring plan to take the city, using weighted barges tied together as a battering ram against the sluice gates of the city, which is surrounded by lakes and canals. Aroughs is soon taken, although Roran is grievously injured and one of his magicians, Carn, dies during the battle.

Roran rejoins the Varden at Dras-Leona where they make plans to attack the city. However, Murtagh and his dragon Thorn are guarding the gates of the city, thus eliminating the chance of a direct siege. Jeod then finds references to the start of a sewer system that was never completed under the city, before the city was built. Assuming the existence of a secret tunnel to the city, Eragon leads a group (consisting of himself, Arya, Angela, the werecat Solembum and the elf Wyrden) into the city to open the gates for the Varden. After being discovered by soldiers, one of Blodhgarm's spell-casters, Wyrden, is killed in a trap, and Angela and Solembum are parted from Eragon and Arya. Eventually, Eragon and Arya are captured by the priests of Helgrind and are going to be fed to the Ra'zac eggs the priests held. Angela and Solembum save them and they escape, killing most of the priests in the process and destroying most of the city's walls and the city's cathedral. Emerging from Helgrind, Eragon defeats Murtagh and Thorn using the rubble blocking the gates, and thus helps open the gates from inside, allowing the Varden to take control of the city. Later, in the night, Murtagh and Thorn attack the Varden camp and take Nasuada prisoner. In her absence, Eragon is appointed as the leader of the Varden as they march towards Uru'baen.

Eragon then remembers Solembum's advice concerning the Vault of Souls and the Rock of Kuthian. He summons Solembum to the tent and begins to question Solembum's knowledge of the Vault, of which the werecat has none. During the conversation, Solembum loses his consciousness as a new voice talks to Eragon before abruptly ending, bringing Solembum back from a trance he cannot remember. Following the voice's advice, Eragon reads a section of the book Domia abr Wyrda, and discovers that the Vault is on Vroengard Island, the Riders' city before Galbatorix destroyed them. Eragon then consults Glaedr via the dragon's Eldunarí about the Vault of Souls but Glaedr cannot remember the conversation. Eragon realizes that powerful magic has forced everybody - besides Eragon and Saphira - to forget about the Vault of Souls. Eragon and Saphira decide to make haste to Doru Araeba, the capital of Vroengard; they take Glaedr's Eldunarí as a guide.

Upon reaching the island, Glaedr informs Eragon of what is supposed to be radiation in the area caused by the energy released during the battle between Galbatorix and the Riders. The place itself has turned evil, with strange creatures and plants. Eragon finds the Rock of Kuthian, which houses the Vault, and they speak their names, but the Vault refuses to open. Glaedr realizes that they must speak their true names to open the Vault, and so, Eragon and Saphira set about trying to understand themselves, in order to discover their true names. Saphira succeeds first, upsetting Eragon as he frantically tries to understand himself. He finally discovers his true name and they open the Vault, which, much to their surprise, contains over 100 Eldunarí as well over 200 Dragon eggs, guarded by the mighty Cuaroc who is an Eldunarí encased within a metal-body and the head of a dragon. Umaroth, the dragon of the last leader of the Riders, Vrael, speaks for the Eldunarí and explains that the Eldunarí and the eggs were stored in the Vault of Souls to protect them from Galbatorix. Umaroth also reveals that the Eldunarí - using their combined strength - had been secretly interfering with events in Alagaesia, in a bid to defeat Galbatorix. Umaroth details that the time has come for them to reveal themselves and aid Eragon and the Varden in overthrowing Galbatorix.

Eragon departs from Vroengard with most of the Eldunarí, leaving five behind to protect the eggs. Upon leaving the Vault, all knowledge of the eggs' existence is wiped from the minds of Eragon, Saphira, and all of the Eldunarí accompanying them, so that Galbatorix cannot make use of that information if they happen to fail to defeat Galbatorix. However, if they succeed in killing Galbatorix, the knowledge will be restored. Eragon, Saphira and the Eldunarí make their way to Uru'baen, where the combined forces of the Varden, the Elves led by Queen Islanzadi and the Dwarves under Orik are marching.

Meanwhile, Nasuada is held in captivity at Uru'baen, and is tortured by Galbatorix, who is trying to get her to swear fealty to him. Murtagh assists her to the best of his ability in resisting Galbatorix, slowly falling in love with her. His love eventually causes an identity switch (and corresponding change in true name) in Murtagh.

Eragon and Saphira reach Uru'baen as the Varden begins its siege. He reveals the existence of the Eldunarí to Arya, Islanzadi and Orik and they form a plan to attack the city. Eragon, Saphira, Arya, the witch-child Elva and eleven elven spell-casters led by Blödhgarm break into Galbatorix's citadel after a deceptive scheme. Once there, they try to locate Galbatorix and after progressing through a series of traps that take all elves save Arya prisoner, they locate Galbatorix in a huge chamber. He subdues them in no time, and informs them that he has learned the true name of the ancient language itself (the Word) and thus has power over magic itself. Galbatorix then orders Murtagh and Eragon to fight using only their swords; Eragon eventually defeats Murtagh. Murtagh then uses the Word to attack Galbatorix and is able to strip him of his wards. Enraged, Galbatorix renders Murtagh unconscious and attacks Eragon with his mind, while Saphira and Thorn attack Shruikan (Galbatorix's black dragon). Using the energy of the Eldunarí, Eragon casts a spell to make Galbatorix understand his crimes and the pain and suffering they have caused. Since the spell has no words and is not an attacking spell, Galbatorix is unable to defend himself and is left crippled by it. Galbatorix clumsily attacks Eragon with his sword, who defends himself and then stabs Galbatorix in the gut. In retaliation, Galbatorix tries to kill Eragon and the rest along with him by unmaking himself in a huge explosion that destroys most of Uru'baen. However, Eragon, using the energy from the Eldunarí, is able to protect all of them. Meanwhile, Arya kills Shruikan using the Dauthdaert, Niernen.

At long last the vile King Galbatorix, the Oath-breaker, one who obliterated all the riders but one, is defeated and killed by a Rider who was helped by the whole of Alagaësia in this daunting mission; and thus Eragon garners the title Kingkiller.

Murtagh explains to Eragon and Saphira that his falling in love with Nasauda caused a switch in his true name, thus allowing him and Thorn to break free of their oaths of fealty to Galbatorix; which was vital in defeating the King. Murtagh then reveals that he and Thorn are going "somewhere to the north", to search for peace and quiet after a life full of hardship. Finally Murtagh teaches the Word to Eragon and then bids him farewell as a brother following which he and Thorn fly away to the unknown.

After Galbatorix's death, Nasuada becomes the High Queen of the Empire, while Arya, after the death of her mother in the battle at the hands of Galbatorix's general Lord Barst, becomes the Queen of the Elves. She also resumes her role as the ferry for the now rescued green Dragon egg, which soon hatches for her. She thus becomes a Rider and names her dragon Fírnen. Firnen and Saphira soon begin a courtship, delighting both Eragon and Arya.

With Galbatorix dead, Eragon and Saphira are both now able to remember the eggs hidden in the Vault of Souls, and they work together to find a suitable place to house the numerous Eldunarí, and a place to hatch and raise the eggs. Eragon also reworks the magic of the land to include both the Dwarves and the Urgals in the bond between Riders and the Dragons, meaning that the Dragons can now hatch for an Urgal or a dwarf, thus ensuring peace between all the races of the land.

In the end, Eragon reaches the conclusion that there is no safe place to raise the dragons and train the new Riders in Alagaesia. With the approval of all the leaders of the various races, he elects to transport all the Eldunarí and dragon eggs to a new location outside Alagaesia, save two eggs; one of which is sent to the dwarves, and the other to the Urgals. The future Riders, formed as a result of these two particular eggs, would travel to Eragon's new home for training, following which new eggs would be sent back to Alagaesia to create more Riders, and so forth. Eragon and Arya recognize their feelings for each other and he offers Arya the chance to accompany him so that she can help him train the new Riders. However, she declines because of her duty as Queen of the Elves. After bidding farewell, Eragon and Saphira, with heavy hearts, prepare to depart Alagaesia. The book ends with the vision that Eragon had had previously of two people getting onto a boat (Eragon and Arya) and sailing away while two dragons (Firnen and Saphira) are flying overhead, while a man on the beach (Roran) mourns for his loss. Eragon invites Arya to stay with him till the first bend in the river; when they are on the boat, Eragon whispers Arya's true name to her, and she whispers his. They part, and Eragon and Saphira weep for their losses. In time, Eragon comes to peace and with Saphira looks forward to new lands with the promise of new adventures and a new life with the Dragons and the Riders.

Pre-release history

Decision for a fourth book

In a video that was released on October 30, 2007, Christopher Paolini stated that during the work on the third book, he realized it would become too long and so he decided to split it in two separate books.

"It really struck home for me a few chapters into Brisingr when Eragon and Roran have attacked Helgrind where the Ra'zac are, and during that sequence of events Eragon encounters a moral quandary and in order to resolve it in a way that felt consistent to Eragon's character, ended up adding about a hundred pages to the third book. Now I do not know about you but I do not mind big books. I like big books, but there is a point when it gets too big, and it gets unwieldy or the words are too small to easily read. And at that point I began to realize that maybe instead of having just a third book to end the Inheritance Trilogy, maybe the Inheritance Trilogy should become the Inheritance Cycle, and instead of three books it should be four books.

He added that it was "a big shift in my thinking to make that decision".

Publication announcement

On March 23, 2011, Random House announced the cover, title and release date of Inheritance. It was released on November 8th, 2011 in the US, Canada, India, South Africa and the UK and on the 9th in Australia and New Zealand.

Post-Release

Released with a 2.5 million copy first printing, Inheritance sold nearly half a million copies on the first day in the United States. It reached #1 on the USA Today's Best-Selling Books list and is now ranked #4 on the list. The book also reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, and was ranked #3 on the list.

External links

• Alagaesia.com, Official Inheritance Cycle website