Christopher Paolini can only be described as a precocious find. He began his debut novel, Eragon, the first in The Inheritance trilogy, at 15 and now at only 21, Eldest, the second in the trilogy has been published and with it he has also won the prestigious Quiller Book Prize. Eldest is sweeping epic fantasy at its best, beautiful writing coupled with an extraordinary storyline with immensely memorable and powerful characters. Fantasy aficionados, both teenage and adult will devour this writing and be eager for more. With filmic quality I’m not surprised to hear that a film version was made starring Robert Carlyle, John Malkovich and Jeremy Irons among others.
The fourth title, Inheritance, is coming in time for Christmas 2011.
A 'piece of passion' from the publisher:
On 7th July we were delighted to reissue the first three books in Christopher Paolini's compelling fantasy Inheritance Sequence: Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr with special coloured edges. The novels have been international publishing sensations, featuring dragons, death defying battles and epic conquests, with 49 foreign language editions for Eragon alone, and sales of 25 million copies worldwide. The countdown has now begun to the publication of Inheritance, the fourth and final novel in Christopher's sequence, which will be released on 8th November.
Eragon and his dragon, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the forces of King Galbatorix. Now, Eragon must travel to Ellesmera for further training in magic. Meanwhile, his cousin Roran must fight a new battle back home in Carvahall - one that puts Eragon in even graver danger. Will the king's dark hand strangle all resistance?
Christopher Paolini was born in 1983 in California where he still lives. Home schooled for the duration of his education, Paolini graduated from high school at the age of 15 through a set of accredited correspondence courses from the American School in Chicago, Illinois. Following graduation, he started his work on what would become the novel Eragon and its sequel Eldest, both set in the kingdom of Alagaësia.
In 2002, Eragon was published in a small way by Paolini International LLC, Paolini's parents' company. However, his big break was to come in Summer 2002, when the stepson of author Carl Hiaasen found Eragon in a bookstore and loved it, and Hiaasen brought it to the attention of his publisher, who subsequently made an offer to publish Eragon and the rest of the Inheritance Cycle. The second edition of Eragon was published in August 2003. At the age of nineteen, Paolini became a New York Times bestselling author. Eragon has since been adapted into a film of the same name.
Eldest, the sequel to Eragon, was published in 2005. The third book in the cycle, Brisingr, was released in autumn 2008. The fourth and final title in the series will be released before Christmas 2011.
Paolini's literary inspirations include the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, E. R. Eddison and the epic poem Beowulf. Other literary influences include David Eddings, Brian Jacques, Anne McCaffrey, Raymond E. Feist, Ursula K. Le Guin. Other favourite authors include Philip Pullman and Garth Nix. Paolini notes that in his writing he ‘strives for a lyrical beauty somewhere between Tolkien at his best and Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf.’
In this video, Christopher delivers the manuscript for the very last book in the Inheritance sequence to his publisher. Press play to watch:
