Paolini, C. (2008). Brisingr. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Brisingr begins with Eragon and Roran rescuing Roran’s love, Katrina. After they return from the rescue, Roran and Katrina get married. After the wedding Roran, now a soldier in the Varden, is deployed. Eragon must leave to go and see the election of the new dwarf king, the last one having died in the previous battle with the Empire, however Saphira stays with the Varden to keep up the appearance of having Eragon there with them. Saphira rejoins Eragon for the coronation, after which the briefly visit the land of the elves to get a new dragon rider sword, Murtagh having taken Eragon’s at their encounter in Eldest. Eragon and Saphira return to the Varden, however, their elven mentor is killed in another battle, and his dragon companion, Glaedr experiences physical death while his mind is transferred into a stone he gave to Eragon and Saphira. The book ends with Eragon and Saphira revealing the death of their mentor to Nasuada.

Paolini, C. (2011). Inheritance. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Inheritance is the final installment in the series and it starts with the Varden taking another city in the empire. The Varden march their invading force forward and Nasuada was captured by the empire. Eragon is left in charge of the Varden in her absence, during which time he performs magical surgery on a baby with a cleft palate, and Katrina and Roran have a baby girl. Eragon, Saphira, and Glaedr then travel to an island where Eragon must come to terms with who he is as a person and they find not only more dragon eggs, but more dragons like Glaedr whose minds are trapped in stones. They lend Eragon their strength and help him to defeat the King in the final battle. After the dust settles, Nasuada becomes queen, Roran, Katrina, and the rest of the villagers return to their home, and Eragon and Saphira travel to lands unknown to start a new order of dragon riders

Themes for other character arcs are present as well. The use of power comes readily to mind in the case of the dragon riders as a whole. While many of them used their powers to do good, twelve renegades were led astray by a power-hungry despot and toppled literally and entire country. That is a considerable amount of power to be held by so few people. Throughout the text are examples of what people do with their power, whether it be the King Galbatorix using his power to oppress, Nasuada using her power to liberate, or King Orrin not using his power at all, the question of power stays present in the text. This forces the reader to examine what they would do with such power, which is essential to the self-discovery that takes place in the early teen years. In short, this book makes teenagers, if subconsciously, ask themselves who they really are, making it a great read for young teens who don’t actually have an answer yet.

While it is true that Paolini has topped best seller lists, so have many other works. There have been many contenders for that title. Therefore, books like Eragon have a hard time staying relevant. Nowadays, there are plenty of people who have forgotten about the book, or are unfamiliar with it. This includes teachers. It is much easier for them to fall back on classics that they themselves had to read in high school like To Kill a Mockingbird or Macbeth.

The lack of familiarity also feeds into their uncertainty of its merits. Teachers know that Steinbeck will challenge their readers to evolve their prose. What they don’t know is that Paolini will challenge them just as much. Teachers that are familiar with the text without actually reading it are prone to see it as another Lord of the Rings rip-off and assume that it has nothing to offer them or their students. This leads them to overlook it when constructing a syllabus. I would say 20/80 split when it comes to required vs recreational odds, as teachers that are part of the Inheritance cycle’s cult following are likely to assign it given the opportunity.