Inheritance (novel)

Inheritance

The English cover of Inheritance, featuring the green dragon Fírnen
Author	Christopher Paolini
Cover artist	John Jude Palencar
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Inheritance Cycle
Genre	Fantasy
Publisher	Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date	November 8, 2011
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, and e-book
Pages	860
ISBN
Preceded by	Brisingr

Inheritance is a 2011 novel written by American author Christopher Paolini. It is the fourth novel in the Inheritance Cycle.

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

Since the release of Inheritance, Paolini has expressed his future interest in expanding upon Alagaësia and the Inheritance Cycle. In an interview, he talked about a potential "book five," a prequel centering on Brom, and said that he has planned "around seven more stories set in Alagaësia — and one of those is in fact a series."

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 into two separate books. His explanation is as follows:

On March 23, 2011, Random House announced the title, cover artwork, and release date of Inheritance. It was released on November 8, 2011 in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Australia, and New Zealand. It was released with a first print of 2.5 million copies,

Inheritance starts when the Varden attack Belatona, a city of the Empire. In the battle, Saphira, Eragon's dragon, is nearly killed by a Dauthdaert (death spear) called Niernen —a spear from the Dragon Wars intended to destroy magical wards and kill dragons. Belatona is soon captured by the Varden, and an alliance is later formed between the Varden and the werecats.

Afterwards, Eragon's cousin Roran is sent on a mission to capture Aroughs, which proves to be a difficult task. He comes up with a risky plan and Aroughs is taken, although Roran's men suffer many injuries. Roran rejoins the Varden at Dras-Leona when they are in the process of making plans to attack the city. Murtagh and his dragon Thorn are occupying the city, therefore not allowing a chance to attack the city directly. Jeod finds information on the entrance to a sewer system that was never completed under the city. Assuming the existence of a secret tunnel into the city, Eragon leads a small group (himself, Arya, Angela, the werecat Solembum, and an elf named Wyrden) into the city to open the gates for the Varden. It turns out that the tunnels are used by the priests of Helgrind, and Eragon and Arya are captured after being separated from Angela and Solembum and witnessing the death of Wyrden. Because the priests are angry at Eragon for killing their gods (which are revealed to be the Ra'zac themselves), they intend to feed Eragon and Arya to Ra'zac hatchlings. Eragon and Arya struggle and injure themselves while being held captive until Angela and Solembum save them. Eragon is then able to open the city gates and defeat Murtagh and Thorn, allowing the Varden to take control of the city. In the middle of the night, Murtagh and Thorn attack the Varden’s camp and capture Nasuada. In her absence, Eragon is appointed as the leader of the Varden as they march on to Urû'baen in hope of overtaking the city.