This was honestly everything I hoped for in a book about Murtagh. If you're here for a really plot driven, action-packed book like the first four, this isn't the book for you. But if you're down with a character driven book about healing and redemption, I highly recommend it.

The journey in the book is, at times, very dark and difficult to get through. But the way I see it, it's like having a broken bone that set wrong. Murtagh and Thorn tried to heal the wrong way, and now the bone needs to be re-broken so that it can be set properly and they can heal right. This book is that. It's re-breaking the bone, breaking them down to their very essence... but they come back so much stronger, and it was absolutely worth every minute of it, in my opinion.

Christopher Paolini's writing has improved massively, and his world building is just as incredible as ever, which makes for a vivid and engrossing return to Alagaesia. If his writing wasn't your cup of tea to begin with, be warned that it may be even more strongly so this time. His prose is flowery and often very old school, but I personally really love that in a fantasy novel. I often discovered new or seldom seen words, and I have a very large vocabulary. But in my opinion, it really puts me in the mood of a different time and place and sets Alagaesia apart.

I can't wait to see where Paolini takes these characters in the future. Murtagh's healing journey had me in tears several times, and I virtually never cry reading books. So many seemingly small details, thoughts, and actions all culminate into one of my favorite moments in all of fiction. One that took me by surprise, but also seemed inevitable in a way.

At the end of the day, though, this book is about Murtagh, not Alagaesia. It isn't about Eragon, or Arya, or Nasuada, and if that's what you're here for, you'll be disappointed. It sets up the coming conflicts and is definitely important to the overall plot, but if it was about just the larger story, it would have been told in half as many pages, if not less. This book delves into the inner workings of a character in a way none of the other Inheritance books did, and so is much more appropriate to think of as a connected stand-alone rather than a sequel. But damn, if Murtagh was your favorite... if you want to see him heal and unlock his full potential... this book knocks it out of the damn park.