Christopher Paolini’s third book is a little bit of a let down.  While it was still good, especially for a fantasy novel geared towards the younger audience, it was less entrancing and pulling than the first two books.  The other part of the problem is that Paolini tries too hard to make up an alternate universe and languages, which makes following book three more difficult, especially after having read the other two books so long ago.  While I’ve enjoyed other series that make up languages and vocabulary for their universe, I’ve never had as much difficulty keeping it all on track as I did with Brisingr.  Instead of pulling you in to the universe, all the language and terms pull you back out of it while you attempt to remember what it all means.

The third part of the saga of Eragon’s struggle against the evil empire is entertaining and still worth picking up, but it is not as good as the first two books.  Readers will feel the drag as they force their selves through stories about the dwarf elections and forging of swords.