ELDEST Book Two of Inheritance By Christopher Paolini

Eldest is the second book in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini and the sequel to Eragon. Eldest was first published in hardcover on August 23, 2005, and was released in paperback in September 2006. Eldest has been released in an audiobook format, and as an ebook. Like Eragon,Eldest became a New York Times bestseller. A deluxe edition of Eldest was released on September 26, 2006, including new information and art by both the illustrator and the author. Other editions of Eldest are translated into different languages.

Eldest begins following several important events in Eragon. The story is the continued adventures of Eragon and his dragon Saphira, centering around their journey to the realm of the Elves in order to further Eragon's training as a Dragon Rider. Other plots in the story focus on Roran, Eragon's cousin, who leads the inhabitants of Carvahall to Surda to join the Varden, and Nasuada as she takes on her father's role as leader of the Varden. Eldest ends at the Battle of the Burning Plains, where Eragon faces a new Dragon Rider, Murtagh, and a new dragon, Thorn.

From the book
Eragon—a fifteen-year-old farmboy—is shocked when a polished blue
stone appears before him in the range of mountains known as the Spine.
Eragon takes the stone to the farm where he lives with his uncle, Garrow,
and his cousin, Roran. Garrow and his late wife, Marian, have raised
Eragon. Nothing is known of his father; his mother, Selena, was Garrow’s
sister and has not been seen since Eragon’s birth.
Later, the stone cracks open and a baby dragon emerges. When Eragon
touches her, a silvery mark appears on his palm, and an irrevocable bond
is forged between their minds, making Eragon one of the legendary
Dragon Riders.
The Dragon Riders were created thousands of years earlier in the aftermath
of the elves’ great war with the dragons, in order to ensure that
hostilities would never again afflict their two races. The Riders became
peacekeepers, educators, healers, natural philosophers, and the greatest of
spellweavers—since being joined with a dragon makes one a magician.
Under their guidance and protection, the land enjoyed a golden age.
When humans arrived in Alagaësia, they too were added to this elite
order. After many years of peace, the monstrous and warlike Urgals killed
the dragon of a young human Rider named Galbatorix. Driven mad by
the loss and by his elders’ refusal to provide him with another dragon,
Galbatorix set out to topple the Riders.
He stole another dragon—whom he named Shruikan and forced to
serve him through certain black spells—and gathered around himself a
group of thirteen traitors: the Forsworn. With the help of those cruel disciples,
Galbatorix threw down the Riders; killed their leader, Vrael; and
declared himself king over Alagaësia. In this, Galbatorix was only partly
successful, for the elves and dwarves remain autonomous in their secret
haunts, and some humans have established an independent country,
Surda, in the south of Alagaësia. A stalemate has existed between these
factions for twenty years, preceded by eighty years of open conflict
brought about by the destruction of the Riders.
It is into this fragile political situation, then, that Eragon is thrust. He
fears he is in mortal danger—it is common knowledge that Galbatorix
killed every Rider who would not swear loyalty to him—and so Eragon
hides the dragon from his family as he raises her. During this time, Eragon
names the creature Saphira, after a dragon mentioned by the village storyteller,
Brom. Soon Roran leaves the farm for a job that will allow him to
earn enough money to marry Katrina, the butcher’s daughter.


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