In 2003 everyone had their noses buried in a blue book with a sarcastic young dragon smiling up from the front cover.
Christopher Paolini’s debut novel “Eragon” had hit shelves. Its fan base exploded across the nation, selling 2.5 million copies and topping the New York Times Children’s Books Bestseller list for 121 weeks. Still, critics and reviews were quick to point out the similarities between the book and movies such as “Star Wars” and “The Lord of the Rings.”
Despite the less than savory reviews, Paolini’s fans were calling for more, more, MORE!
Unfortunately they would have to wait a full two years before Paolini released “Eldest” in 2005. The second installment in the Inheritance trilogy topped charts once again and together with “Eragon” sold over 15 million copies.
“I was glad his writing had improved so much,” says English major Will Christiansen, “I had to respect that he had changed in such a good way, but then I realized that maybe not all the changes were for the best.”
Critics once again were eager to point out the similarities between Eldest and other  works such as “The Lord of the Rings” and the “Dragonriders of Pern.” Still, that didn’t stop fans from grabbing the ruby red books off the shelves and gobbling up the words hungrily. After two years of waiting, they were eager to know more. Eldest was the first of the Inheritance books to tell the story through the eyes of Roran, Eragon’s cousin.
In 2006 the Inheritance series took a big fall. The “Eragon” movie was made, and fans groaned through an hour and a half of cheap graphics, a plot that didn’t follow the book, and characters that seemed more like caricatures rather than the Eragon, Arya, and Saphira the fans had come to know and love.
“The only character that remained the same was Brom,” says European History major, Al Grant, “The other characters were so far gone it didn’t seem like I was really watching Eragon.”
Despite displeased fans, the “Eragon” film played on over 3,000 screens and made over $23 million in its first weekend.
Fans were nonplused after the movie, and rants on the internet became common. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the third and final book in the Inheritance trilogy. Rumors on the forums gave way to ideas of a green colored book with a dragon looking to the right entitled “Empire.”
However, the pattern of six lettered titles beginning with the letter “E” was broken in 2008 when Paolini released “Brisinger.” Fans were surprised and anxious to learn that the Inheritance trilogy was now to be the Inheritance cycle. “Brisinger” sold over 550,000 copies on its first day on the shelves, and fans ate it up. “Brisinger” offered even more character point of views, expanding on the story even more.
Now, eight years after “Eragon” first hit shelves, “Inheritance”, the fourth and final book in the Inheritance cycle is at hand. The release date is set for Nov. 8 of this year, and many fans are excited to finally see what Paolini has made us wait for.