Murtagh

A beautifully designed deluxe edition of this stunning epic fantasy featuring new art and extra material. Master storyteller and internationally bestselling author Christopher Paolini returns to the World of Eragon in this new story set a year after the events of the Inheritance Cycle. A stunning deluxe edition with exclusive features and new content: A long-anticipated scene featuring Eragon and Murtagh Stunning red decorative stained and stenciled edges A gorgeous, embellished foil-stamped cover Never before seen full-colour maps of Alagaësia and, for the first time, the world beyond A full colour painting of Mt. Arngor A letter from Jeod Two pieces of original black-and-white artwork by Christopher Paolini The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society. Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air - and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untravelled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems. In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini's blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time . . . or to joyfully return.

I reread all 4 books of Inheritance + 1 with short stories before I started Murtagh. It's well written, but rather lengthy (comparing the actual plot). I didn't enjoy it as much as the Eragon story. When I think about it, it's probably because there aren't that many characters and therefore diversity. There's Murtagh and sometimes Thorn (but Saphira had more space in the books as an independent being), the werecat and then there's Bachel and for a long time nothing... And maybe it's also the mystery. With Eragon, we know about the evil king from the beginning. Here it was a little more complicated and maybe the waiting made me feel a bit groped and awaiting, especially in the first half of the book, to see what would happen and what it will be about. The middle is slow and last 200 pages were great.. But I read it reasonably within about 2-3 weeks, because it didn't absorb me so much that I had to read it in 3-4 days. I sincerely hope there will be a sequel. Even though I didn't enjoy it as much as Eragon (my favorite books), I'll still read it again as part of the series. Oh, and I first read Eragon when I was about 30, so it's not like it's a story from my childhood ;)