The Inheritance Cycle Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Eragon | 2003 | Buy |
| Eldest | 2005 | Buy |
| Brisingr | 2008 | Buy |
| Inheritance | 2011 | Buy |
| The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm | 2018 | Buy |
| Murtagh | 2023 | Buy |
Christopher Paolini was homeschooled in Montana, graduated high school at fifteen, and immediately started writing Eragon. He was sixteen when he began and nineteen when Knopf published the revised version. The story of a teenage author writing about a teenage dragon rider captured media attention and helped launch the book’s success.
Paolini’s parents ran a small publishing company, and they released Eragon themselves in 2002. The family promoted it aggressively, with Paolini visiting schools and bookstores in a medieval costume he made himself. Author Carl Hiaasen’s stepson bought a copy, Hiaasen read it, and recommended it to his editor at Knopf. The rest is publishing history.
The Inheritance Cycle wears its influences openly. There’s Tolkien in the languages and elves, Star Wars in the hero’s journey structure, and Anne McCaffrey in the dragon-rider bond. Critics noted the derivativeness, but young readers responded to the adventure, the dragons, and the detailed world Paolini built.
The series grew more sophisticated as Paolini aged. Eldest and Brisingr expand the politics and moral complexity of Alagaësia. By Inheritance, the final book, Paolini was grappling with the aftermath of revolution and the difficulty of building a new society.
After a decade away from Alagaësia, Paolini wrote Murtagh (2023), shifting focus to Eragon’s former friend and enemy. He also ventured into science fiction with To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (2020), a space opera that demonstrated his range beyond fantasy.