868: Murtagh was an excellent return to the world of Alagaësia…
In this episode, I connected with a different character in a familiar world…
Friends, friends, friends.
Welcome back to Teatime Reading where there are books in progress.
After so many years and my most recent reread, I still do not like to refer to the Eragon series by its technical name: the Inheritance Cycle.
Not only that, but I also felt a deep level of sadness to the way that Eragon’s story ended. After my 2021 reread, I understood why I had never gone back to Eragon and Saphira’s stories for the last decade.
Even Paolini’s subsequent book of short stories left me a little flat when it came out in 2018. I wanted Eragon and Saphira and Arya, dammit.
However, before I returned to the original series a few years ago, it was that book of short stories The Fork, the Witch, and the worm that made me a little intrigued by a surprising character: Murtagh.
Now, I had thought Murtagh was a fine character in the original series, but until his part in the short story The Fork, I merely viewed him as a complex villain turned anti-hero.
I had no idea, however, that Paolini had designs on making Murtagh’s adventures into the fifth book in the series. After all, the series was over. What more was there to say about the world of Alagaësia when Eragon, Roran, Nasuada had already toppled a king?
As I got into the new book, simply titled Murtagh, my first thought was that the relationship between Murtagh and Thorn was incredibly special. I couldn’t describe the emotions I felt when seeing how strong their bond was as Dragon and Rider.
Since we’d only seen Murtagh from Eragon’s perspective, this was a fascinating shift. Seeing Murtagh’s differences from Eragon was entertaining, especially as Murtagh made mistakes Eragon never would while managing to avoid many of Eragon’s textbook heroic flaws.
One of the strengths of Paolini’s entire Inheritance cycle was the way that he was able to make his world memorable. From the locations to the various species to the dangers, so much of Alagaësia was familiar and easy for me to remember. It is particularly striking as I write this because a different sequel I’m reading right now feels significantly more difficult to remember plot points and details from previous books.
One of my frustrations was Murtagh himself. Thorn may be young and relatively immature compared to Saphira, but the truth was that Murtagh was always older than Eragon, and he was, at least in the first book, much more seasoned than Eragon himself. I expected him to be much sharper than Eragon and avoid mistakes, not create whole new problems for himself.
I had to constantly remind myself of the hardships and traumas that he and Thorn had been through because some of his decision-making was incredibly rusty and barely logical, as if he hadn’t had full control of his faculties for a while (which very well may have been true).
The villain in this book made it clear that Paolini was setting a larger conflict with the events of Murtagh. Bachel was a formidable witch, and her cult of true believers was an eerie bit of atmospheric world-building.
I won’t go into too much detail about the ending (obviously), but the third act made me so happy. This was a different sort of adventure compared to the first four books with Eragon and Saphira. Murtagh and Thorn had different challenges and more poignant struggles in this book than overwhelming odds and a tyrannical king.
By the end of Murtagh, I had reached an interesting place with the Inheritance Cycle. I still want Eragon’s perspective, but I also want Murtagh’s as well. It seemed clear to me that more books are coming in this world and it seems clear to me that the title of this book indicates that Eragon and Murtagh might be the two primary voices in this next saga.
I could be wrong, but I hope I’m not.
If you haven’t read Eragon’s books, I recommend them. If you were curious about the sequel, I recommend this as an unexpectedly sharp and brilliant adventure.
Until next time, keep your bookmarks close.
Peace, Love, Pages.
Note: As Always, Affiliate Links are here for your convenience at no cost to you. All reading was at my own expense.