Eldest

The Inheritance Cycle, Book 2

By: Christopher Paolini

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Don’t miss the eagerly anticipated epic new fantasy from Christopher Paolini—Murtagh!

New magic and new threats take flight in Book Two of the Inheritance Cycle, perfect for fans of Lord of the Rings! This New York Times bestselling series has sold over 40 million copies and is an international fantasy sensation.

"Christopher Paolini is a true rarity." —The Washington Post

Darkness falls… despair abounds… evil reigns… Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix. Now Eragon must travel to Ellésmera, land of the elves, for further training in the skills of the Dragon Rider: magic and swordsmanship. But chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and nothing is what it seems. Before long, Eragon doesn’t know whom he can trust.

Will the king’s dark hand strangle all resistance? Eragon may not escape with even his life. . . .

Critic reviews

Praise for The Inheritance Cycle:

A #1 New York Times Bestseller
A #1 Publishers Weekly Bestseller
A #1 USA Today Bestseller
A Wall Street Journal Bestseller

"An authentic work of great talent." —New York Times Book Review

“The new ‘It’ book of children’s lit.” –U.S. News & World Report

"Paolini is a spellbinding fantasy writer." —The Boston Globe

"A breathtaking and unheard of success." —USA Today

“Christopher Paolini make[s] literary magic.” –People

“Unusual, powerful, fresh, and fluid.”—Booklist, Starred

“Will appeal to legions of readers who have been captivated by the Lord of the Rings trilogy.”—School Library Journal

Praise for Eldest:

"Fans of the first volume will find...a wealth of descriptive detail, mythic archetypes and prolonged battle sequences" —Publisher's Weekly

Awesome!!!

This is a wonderful story. I loved listening to it and I was very disappointed when it was over. I can't wait till the next book in the series comes out!

Even better than Eldest

Christopher Paoli continues to grow in skill as an author. This book is filled with very profound thinking and ideas. It proceeds at a measured pace, and keeps the reader enthralled. I am eagerly awaiting the final book of The Inheritance Trilogy, though will be sad to see the end. These stories keep me coming back to listen over and over again. The author's writing transcends the ages of readers. Early teens through adults will enjoy reading Eldest and Eragon. It's a shame the movie industry gave the first installment such a poor treatment. I hope another studio gives The Inheritance Trilogy another chance with a a director such as Peter Jackson. The story has the potential for success to rival Lord of the Rings.

Elves were SO BORING. Loved side story and ending!

The "training" with the elves nearly ruined the book! It would have been a complete disaster if not for the side story told throughout and a very up tempo ending. I have not been so bored by any character(s) in my life. Instead of the elves being fun and majestic they are a bunch of boring, snooty, vegetarian, tree hugging, faithless, yoga masters! Elves are generally supposed to be connected to nature, wise, fair etc, but the elves in this book are so unbelievably dull. I almost stopped listening because it was so slow.

Luckily the side story from the valley kept me intrigued. So, I continued on. In the end I'm glad I did because the ending was excellent!
I look forward to completing the series with my fingers crossed that we don't have to revisit the home of the elves.

Very Entertaining

This book is very entertaining and inventive. Everything in this imaginary world fits together neatly and there are multilayered plots that are cleverly woven together by the author. It really approaches “Lord of the Rings” in places, although it is impossible for anyone to be as original as Tolkein again. I think. I was not crazy about the voice of the dragon as it sounded like a gravely male dragon instead of a female dragon, but I got used to it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to those who like fantasy novels.

Wow

This is a more than worthy sequel to the excellent Eragon. It builds more on the world of the elves and has some great turns of the plot. If you've read Eragon and liked it then this is simply more and better of the same quality writing and has the usual excellent narration as well.