Eldest: The Inheritance Cycle, Book 2

I found myself enjoying this title the more the title progressed. It was one of those books that tends to build so smoothly up to those points of sheer action. Also of specific note is the growth that one is able to witness in the general writing style of the author. The way Christopher Paolini seems to tackle certain issues in this book as opposed to book one (Eragon) also lent to the book being even more enjoyable than the previous.

Book 2 of the Inheritance Cycle is your typical mythical fantasy novel. I couldn't help but notice slight similarities with Star Wars regarding some of the twists that the story takes. That being said, I found the entire title put together very well. In this book you get a glimpse in the lives of the elves and see as Eragon himself grows into an impressive Dragon Rider. Another great addition to this story was Roran, Eragon's cousin, whose own struggles and quest becomes even more challenging and exciting than Eragon's it would seem. A number of new characters were introduced in this title and it would seem that no one from the previous novel was forgotten either, all reappearing in some form or another through the scope of the title.

The narration grew on me throughout this book. You sometimes forget that it is one person doing the narration even though there are so many distinct voices, tones and intonations in the title. The narration in this case only adds to the title here.

Truly an impressive listen all over. I look forward to listening to the third book in this series.

I thought book one was good but book two is even better with more twists and unexpected surprises. I loved the action and suspense. I could not stop listening to the book and cannot wait until book 3 comes out to finish the story.

Great story. A standard hero quest but very enjoyable to listen to and I found myself caring about the characters. It built well upon Eragon and I'm looking forward to the next book. I found myself admiring the narrator more and more as the book went on he did an excellent job. I think this is one story best heard, I agree with another reviewer this may have been a bit heavy reading, but being able to relax and enjoy the ride was perfect. Good job and definitely will finish out the series when it is done.

Absolutely enjoyed the book. Gerald's reading is the best of any Audible reader I've heard. Story detail is outstanding and has you looking for more. Not everyone will appreciate the author's effort in so fully developing a story; for these the abridged version is recommended. For those of you who are enthralled by dragons, dreams of 'what if', and the notion of Riders, this is the book for you.

I really enjoyed the Eragon audio book and was looking forward to Eldest.

The Eragon plot was good and the voices suited the characters including a female voice for the female dragon. In Eldest the same female dragon now has a rough male voice which ruined the audio book for me.

Eldest has an extremely complex plot and seemed to go on and on and on and on. My daughter enjoyed it but I could not finish it.

In summary Eragon was like the Hobbit, readable, concise with great character development. Eldest is more like the second book of the Lord of the Rings and I just lost patience with it.

As another reviewer noted, the middle of the book seems to be bloated with excessive details about Eragon's training with the elves. That part -- about eight hours that could have been reduced to two without losing anything necessary to the story -- reveals signs that the author has discovered his own importance and lost sight of the goal of storytelling. Fortunately the beginning and the end were good enough to bring this up to four start combined with the excellent narration. Hopefully the third book will show that the author has moved beyond using a thesaurus to impress the reader and that he says just what is needed to move the story forward.

The story is without a doubt, one of the best I've ever been exposed to. It is simple to follow, yet full of enough adventure to thrill any reader.
If the book doesn't keep your attention, the reader, Mr Doyle will keep you interested. His voice inflections, various voices, etc are the very best I've heard since becoming an Audible member.
Everyone with the remotest interest needs to download/ buy this book!

Richard Allen, RN

The narration on this amazing book is excellent! I listened to this book while on an exercise bike, and increased to 1 hour a day because I wanted to hear what would happen next! It's a great listen for a long drive, as well.

I would recommend this to any fantasy/sci-fi fan for a great adventure.

The author doesn't talk down to the audience, and he has taken a character through a difficult changes with help from wise mentors and good friends. A good reminder for those of us on either side of that equation.

I would.

None to compare as of yet.

Gerand Doyle was amazing all the way through.

The Rasaak

For some reason they didn't save my first review of this book. I am sorry I didn't feel like typing it all over again. It was a good book and worth the money..

As a mother of young children, I am always looking for books to listen to that are children friendly (no vulgarity, cussing, etc) yet interesting enough to hold my attention. The book does drag a little bit, but I don't mind really long books. I thoroughly enjoy the narrator and think that Paolini is doing a great job considering his age.