Brisingr - The Review

At the end of "Eldest," the Varden, the alliance of those including humans, elves, dwarfs, and other fighters, are assembled to eventually engage in a climactic battle with the evil King Galbatorix, ruler of the Empire. Eragon, who with his dragon, Saphira, is an indispensable asset to the Varden, remains a prime target for King Galbatorix.

As "Brisingr" opens, Eragon is planning to help his cousin Roran, slip into Empire territory to rescue Roran's fiancé, Katrina, who is being held captive. Her captors are the Ra'zac, horrible giant man-eating insect-type creatures that serve King Galbatorix. The rescue mission serves a second purpose beyond rescuing Katrina. The Ra'zac had been responsible for killing Eragon's uncle, Garrow, who had raised him. The creatures had killed many from Carvahal, the homeland of Eragon and Roran. So for Eragon, it also was a mission of revenge against the Ra'zac.

The mission was difficult but successful. Katrina escaped with Roran and the two joined the Varden forces. Eragon had encouraged the two to journey on Saphira while he stayed behind to take care of some loose ends. So, at this point Eragon is separated from both Saphira, his dragon, and from his cousin, Roran. And that's pretty much the way it is for the rest of "Brisingr." One set of chapters tells of Roran's adventures and the other set tells of Eragon's missions and quests.

Roran, once back with the Varden army, tries to establish a role for himself. Nasuada, the queen of the elves, had been designated leader of the varied groups that made up the Varden army. She was unwilling to place Roran in a command position until he established that he was a capable fighter in battle situations and that he could be counted upon to follow orders, even those with which he might disagree. So we read accounts of several violently bloody missions against units of the Empire's forces in which Roran has a role. Because of poor command decisions on the part of officers under which he serves, Roran appears to be one who has trouble following orders. Ironically, Roran's decisions save lives and win battles, but still he is presented by his commanding officers as one who does not follow orders. Nasuada feels forced to punish Roran severely before she can offer him any position of power in the army. At least during all of these trying times, Roran and Katrina are happy in their time together.

On his return from the rescue mission, Eragon is dispatched by Nasuada to journey to the kingdom of the dwarfs and attempt to influence them in selecting a leader who will be sympathetic to the Varden cause. Eragon is under time pressure, because if King Galbatorix finds the Varden army is without the services of their dragon rider, he will be likely to attack. Eragon reluctantly leaves Saphira behind to leave the impression that the dragon rider and his dragon are still with the Varden army. Eragon runs into a variety of problems with the dwarfs, including one attempt to assassinate him.

After accomplishing his mission to the dwarf kingdom with reasonable success, Eragon hopes to spend some time with his old mentor, Oromis, the aged elf and master dragon rider of the past. In order to be successful against King Galbatorix, he needs to learn some of the advanced magic that he had not learned in his earlier training. While there among this small group of elves, Eragon has the opportunity to gain a replacement for the sword he had lost in an earlier fight. Rhunon, the elf woman who was a master sword maker, vowed to assist Eragon in making a sword that would surpass all swords. Eragon named the sword produced under her direction, "Brisingr," which was the word for "fire" in the ancient language. After some time, Saphira flew to be with him. When he finally left Oromis and the elves, Eragon flew on Saphira back to join the Varden. It appears the final great battle between the Varden and King Galbatorix's Empire forces is about to take place. On the last page we are told the story will continue and conclude in book four of the Inheritance Cycle.