The Inheritance Cycle: One Step from Perfection

I am an avid reader of fantasy and adventure books. One of my favorite series is the Inheritance Cycle. Of course when i started reading this book back in seventh grade. It was an intriguing story, a common farmer becomes the first free dragon rider in a few centuries and must fight for the freedom of humanity. This series was supposed to be a trilogy but the writer decided at book three to add a fourth. I see this as a necessary step. The content he wanted to add and the story he wanted to finish could not be done in just three so he added a fourth. This is not the issue i have with the series. Sure i did not enjoy the idea of having to wait another few years for the final book, but it wasn’t a deal breaker for me. What broke the deal for me was what occurred in the fourth book. Eragon needs more power in order to fight Galbatorix. He was told to find the Chamber of souls if he needed more power. He travels to the ancient home of the dragon riders and finds the chamber. The contents of the chamber are what drove me over the edge. Inside the chamber are two different kinds of items. The first are essentially dragon souls, items that keep a dragon soul inside once the dragon died. This makes sense. Eragon already has one from his mentors dragon so why not have more? 

The second set of items in the chamber that make this the deal breaker for me. There were dragon eggs in the cave…this to me made the entire premise of the books ruined for me, The idea that there were three free dragons left made the books even more powerful. Eragon was one, his half brother was one, but for some reason that is not explained to me, his dragon cannot breed(?) and the last dragon is male. This gives the reader the idea that whoever has the last dragon will have to help Eragon rebuild the Dragon Riders by breeding more dragons. The idea of having hidden dragons made me so mad when i first read this. It eliminated that premise entirely and ruined the relationship between Eragon and the elven princess. Sure she shares with him her true name, but instead of going with him to the new land to rebuild the dragon riders, she stays with her people. WORST DECISION EVER! WHY?! I spent four books believing these two would get togther and the author set up their relationship very well, but then throws it out the window. Yeah i know, sharing true names is powerful i all, but im not an elf and its not relatable to the reader. It just ruined the books for me. Let me know your thoughts if you are an Inheritance reader.

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