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A review by hoffmann_fanatic
Murtagh by Christopher Paolini
5.0
Far and away Paolini's best novel, and one of my favorite books of the year. And not just because of childhood nostalgia: this is a genuinely very good fantasy novel that emphasizes the best aspects of Paolini's storytelling and worldbuilding, and gives a wonderful story to the original series's most interesting character.
When I heard this book was coming out, I didn't have high expectations at all. Murtagh's arc at the end of the Inheritance Cycle is a dark one, and I'd expect his journey away from Ilirea to be filled with much more alcohol, sex, and depression than you could ever expect in a young adult book. I selfishly wanted a very adult, grimdark novel out of this one.
I'm thrilled to say that we got a very dark book in a fantastic way. Paolini handles Murtagh's arc with maturity, class, and deftness. Despite the young-adult marketing and clean narration, we have a protagonist in his twenties who at times approaches Fitz-like levels of intensity and emotional devastation. Murtagh is a far, far more interesting character viewpoint than Eragon, and Paolini lets his perspective burrow deeper into Murtagh's mind than we ever really saw with Eragon in the original series. The setup for what will be the next Alagaesia series is smaller than some people have been saying; you won't see many characters from the original series making appearances here.
I always felt that Paolini's world particularly separated itself from its derivative origins due to its large focus on wilderness and environment, and this one leans into those aspects even more. Readers familiar with the Western United States will recognize several natural, cultural, and social themes that pop up in the book. The writing was solid; a big improvement on the Fractalverse, but I suspect Paolini writes better in Alagaesia anyway.
My only substantial criticism of Murtagh is who it's for. I highly recommend this to all the other childhood Eragon fans out there who might have forgotten about the series and want a much-better-than expected jaunt down memory lane. It is absolutely not the best entry point into the world; adult readers who are interested will probably have to struggle through the original series for this to make much sense, and I find Murtagh's internal monologue far more relatable to people in their twenties than teens looking to get into the series. I've seen very little marketing around this series in my largely epic-fantasy-focused social media feeds, which is a shame because this book is good, and most of today's epic fantasy fans grew up on this series. Read this!
When I heard this book was coming out, I didn't have high expectations at all. Murtagh's arc at the end of the Inheritance Cycle is a dark one, and I'd expect his journey away from Ilirea to be filled with much more alcohol, sex, and depression than you could ever expect in a young adult book. I selfishly wanted a very adult, grimdark novel out of this one.
I'm thrilled to say that we got a very dark book in a fantastic way. Paolini handles Murtagh's arc with maturity, class, and deftness. Despite the young-adult marketing and clean narration, we have a protagonist in his twenties who at times approaches Fitz-like levels of intensity and emotional devastation. Murtagh is a far, far more interesting character viewpoint than Eragon, and Paolini lets his perspective burrow deeper into Murtagh's mind than we ever really saw with Eragon in the original series. The setup for what will be the next Alagaesia series is smaller than some people have been saying; you won't see many characters from the original series making appearances here.
I always felt that Paolini's world particularly separated itself from its derivative origins due to its large focus on wilderness and environment, and this one leans into those aspects even more. Readers familiar with the Western United States will recognize several natural, cultural, and social themes that pop up in the book. The writing was solid; a big improvement on the Fractalverse, but I suspect Paolini writes better in Alagaesia anyway.
My only substantial criticism of Murtagh is who it's for. I highly recommend this to all the other childhood Eragon fans out there who might have forgotten about the series and want a much-better-than expected jaunt down memory lane. It is absolutely not the best entry point into the world; adult readers who are interested will probably have to struggle through the original series for this to make much sense, and I find Murtagh's internal monologue far more relatable to people in their twenties than teens looking to get into the series. I've seen very little marketing around this series in my largely epic-fantasy-focused social media feeds, which is a shame because this book is good, and most of today's epic fantasy fans grew up on this series. Read this!