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.
