Inheritance, the long awaited finale of Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle, finally brings Eragon face to face with the evil king, Galbatorix, to decide the fate of Alagaesia.

            The novel begins with the Varden’s attack on Belatona, and, through a series of coincidences and luck, the rebel army overtakes several of the Empire’s major cities on their march toward Uru’baen, their future looking brighter than ever before. The only things standing in Eragon and Saphira’s way are Eragon’s half brother, Murtagh, and his crimson dragon, Thorn. Despite their victories against the Empire, the Varden’s leaders still don’t have much faith in their ability to overtake the capital, even with the help of their newest allies, the werecats. Eragon remembers the words the werecat Solembum told him in Eragon that when all seems lost, to speak his name to open up the Vault of Souls.

            While Paolini’s works have always been painted with beautiful imagery, at times his descriptions become tedious, especially after he has placed the reader in a suspenseful scene. However, he does keep readers entertained and sometimes irritated, by switching between following Eragon, Roran, and Nasuada, often leaving a character in an exciting scene to switch back to Eragon, who spends a good majority of the book meditating and attempting to find his happy place.

            Unlike the first two novels, Roran stands center stage for a good chunk of Inheritance and readers can see him standing on his own without Eragon to help him. Roran becomes a well fleshed out character that could possibly become the head of a fifth Inheritance Cycle book that Paolini has hinted at.

            Angela, as Paolini teased prior to the novel’s release, has “several crowning moments of awesomeness” despite her character only being sprinkled throughout the book. Often she is seen being awesome by kicking bad guy’s butts, sharing knowledge, and wiggling out of situations that are never fully explained. Angela the herbalist does, but doesn’t explain.

            The novel ends unexpectedly soon with a fairly creative climax and Paolini utilizes the extra pages to close up a few loose ends. Those who want everything tied up with a bow on top will find themselves disappointed with the lack of closure in the end. Whether he planned the ending to make way for another book or whether he wanted to leave it up to the imagination of the readers has yet to be announced, but all evidence points to a fifth Inheritance Cycle novel.