Parents' Guide to

Brisingr: The Inheritance Cycle, Book 3

By Matt Berman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Overlong but exciting; gorier than the first two.

Book Christopher Paolini Fantasy 2008
Brisingr: The Inheritance Cycle, Book 3 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 7 parent reviews

Choose Movement
Choose Movement Parent
February 20, 2013
age 9+

Brisingr book 3 in the Inheritance Cycle

A very great book probably best in the Inheritance Cycle

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
Trustworthy Reviews
Trustworthy Reviews Adult
February 19, 2011
age 16+

A little less violence would be nice...

Alright, I admidt I liked the book, I think it could have been a little bit shorter in some areas, and a little less violent. I mean Roran goes a little overboard with the violence, and there were a few little gross details that I thought could have been left out, for example the arrow that was stabbed into a foot, I thought the description of that was pretty disgusting, but hey that's just my opinion, maybe its just the thought of foot stabbing... Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this book for young children, but when kids are older, say around sixteen that is a much better age to be reading this book.

This title has:

Too much violence
See all 7 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Eragon and Saphira struggle to fulfill the promises they have made: to help Roran rescue Katrina from the Ra'zac, to keep the Varden united and obey Nasuada, to complete their training with the elves, to repair the Dwarves' star sapphire, to undo their spell on Elva, to support Orik, and to avenge Hrothgar, Garrow, and Kvistor.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7 ):
Kids say (45 ):

Young author Christopher Paolini continues to grow as a writer, and his story has an ability to capture and hold his readers' attentions even over the far-too-long expanse of his longest novel yet. His characters, settings, and action set-pieces are vivid and continue to thrill, and there is no doubt that this third book in what is now planned to be a four-book series will sell well and please many of his fans.

But his decision, presumably approved by his editors, to extend the trilogy to four books has given his propensity for self-indulgence free rein. The actual plot here warrants perhaps 250-300 pages. The rest is spent in what can only be described as showing off. He loves flaunting his vocabulary in lengthy, unnecessary descriptions: in one scene, for instance, where a bunch of men are ringing bells, he divides them in two just so that he can describe half of them "producing a dolorous cacophony of notes" while the other half "cause iron tongues to crash against iron throats and emit a mournful clamor." He continues to include sophomoric bull-sessions that run to dozens of pages, and he seems incapable of doing a bit of research without foisting it all on the reader: for example, his description of the forging of a sword takes up an entire 16-page chapter. Paolini is a very good writer, and has the talent to be a great one -- all he needs is the discipline.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the concept of promises. Why do we make promises? What purpose do they serve? When is it acceptable to break a promise? What should we do when promises conflict? Why does Eragon make so many promises?

Book Details

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