Eldest, the second part in the Inheritance Cycle, is similar to Eragon in many ways: its world, plot and characters are generic and its prose isn’t particularly good. Sadly, I felt like the bad parts stand out more in Eldest, and the good bits are fewer and further between. Where Eragon still feels somewhat fresh – like any fantasy book, it offers a new world to explore, new magic to learn – Eldest feels a bit stale right from the start. Paolini tries and fails to set up a politics-plot with the dwarves, and when Eragon arrives in Ellesmera, Paolini’s age at the time of writing starts to shine through again. Both the life lessons taught by his mentor and Eragon’s love for Arya feel very much like they’re written by a teenager – which, admittedly, they probably are. Roran, Eragon’s adoptive brother, has a plotline of his own that is better written, but feels a bit tacked on, maybe because it was suggested by an editor? The final battle where it all comes together has a decent stand off between Eragon and his nemesis, but I don’t think it’s worth the trouble of reading through the book to get there. 

Overall, Eldest merits a two-star rating because it is a functional, comfortable fantasy book and I know that there are people out there that enjoy this simpler take on the fantasy genre – but it is not for me and I wouldn’t generally recommend it either.