It's kind of astounding how much better this book is than Eragon and Eldest on a purely technical level. It really feels like Paolini finally learned how to put sentences together competently. He has an editor now. He's talked to a woman he's not related to, even if that woman was the aforementioned editor.

Where Eldest's use of multiple points of view felt awkward at times because we stayed with the same character for SO LONG before switching again, in Brisingr it feels much more natural. We spend three or four chapters with Eragon and then a chapter or two with Roran or Nasuada or even, in one of my favorite chapters of the whole book, with Saphira as she goes about her routine in Eragon's absence.

The pacing is definitely strange. The first 45% of this book happens over the course of about a week, and then an unknown amount of time passes in the middle, after which things speed up again and the last section also occurs over the course of a week or so. There’s more action than in book two, but the overall plot doesn’t progress much with the exception of two big battles and two major reveals. I didn’t mind that, but I think a lot of other readers likely would.

Paolini cuts down somewhat on the excessive descriptions here, and there are a lot more moments where his passion for describing absolutely everything are put to good use with more intentional and economical writing than in the first two books (though Brisingr is definitely still overly long and wordy in many ways): the descriptions of all of the dwarf clan leaders, the forging scene at the end, the description of Blödhgarm, etc.

Speaking of Blödhgarm, what an absolutely wild character. I remembered that he was an elf furry but I somehow forgot that he is 1) blue and 2) described as smelling EXTREMELY sexy.

I love Arya in this book, and her and Eragon's dynamic is actually really compelling. In a vacuum, I would absolutely root for them based on their interactions here. Unfortunately, there is still about an 85-year age gap and also he HARASSED HER for most of the previous book.

Roran and Katrina are annoying. The human gender roles continue to be absolutely horrendous, and nowhere are the worse than in the framing of this relationship. Paolini has said that they are based on his parents, and maybe his parents have a good dynamic, but I don't like this fictionalized version. It's odd, because normally I'd be all for a man who loves his wife as much as Roran loves Katrina, but it comes with such a strong paternalistic vibe that I simply cannot bring myself to care. The wedding vows? Ick. Like yes they fit the world Paolini has created, but that's his own damn fault for creating it like that.

Elsewhere, however, women do actually feel like people in this book. Nasuada is an excellent leader who makes hard choices and whose gender and culture feel like actually important aspects of how she is without defining her. The random women who get their fortunes told by Angela also feel like real people who have lives beyond what we see and beyond the viewpoints of Eragon and other main characters. Same with the dwarf women we meet in this book, especially the clan leader of the War Wolves. And we learn a bit more about Eragon's mother, though she is still very much defined by her relationships with two specific men.

And there is finally an actually cute romantic relationship: Orik and his wife Hvedra. They are adorable people who admire and support each other. I love them.

I know that a lot of people don't like the dwarf politics section, but I love it. There are so many good moments. It develops aspects of the world we're already familiar with without getting too bogged down in exposition and while still moving the plot along. And the religion stuff is fascinating and continues the philosophical discussions introduced in Eldest and that are also present in Eragon and Arya's scenes as well as the Sloan stuff.

The disability politics are still awful but are much less present. And the ending is heartbreaking.

The Urgals have some weird cultural coding going on, but Eragon's racism finally gets questioned and unpacked, and in general both the Urgals and the Wandering Tribes are portrayed much more normally and sensitively than in the first two books.

Parts of the plot are still Star Wars, but the family stuff gets more complicated, and the themes of inheritance come into play much more seriously.

There are also some interesting explorations of codependency in Eragon and Saphira's relationship that I really appreciated.

I discovered during the reread that a lot of people don't like Brisingr, or at least remember not really vibing with it at kids. I think that could partly be because it's so much more mature. Eragon and Eldest are all vibes and action and worldbuilding, and Brisingr gets much more philosophical and intentional. The author is in his twenties now, and he's grappling with different ideas than he was as a teenager, and so the conversations here are much more interesting to young adult readers (like I am now) than to the tweens and teens who were the target audience for the first two books.

I am genuinely excited to get to my reread of Inheritance. I remember it being incredibly divisive when it came out, and I am interested to see what my thoughts are on it now, more than ten years after I first read it. I remember the basic plot beats but very little else.

For the first time in my Inheritance Cycle reread, I would genuinely recommend this book with only a few caveats. Basically, if you slogged through the first two and are wondering if this one is worth it, or if you remember not liking this book as much as a kid, I think you should give it a try.

An interesting portrait of a very messy, complicated main character. The unnamed protagonist is dealing with family issues, immigrant trauma, addiction, and internalized homophobia/biphobia. She forms unhealthy relationships. She tries to be better. The cycle repeats over and over. If you want a very messy bisexual book by a Palestinian author, this definitely fits the bill. It did get too repetitive for me at times, and I wanted more from certain aspects, but I would still recommend it. 

Oooooooh I liked this one even more than Parable of the Sower. I loved the non-linear narrative and the multiple contrasting points of view. I loved how Lauren Olamina's daughter's experiences and viewpoints complicated the narrative from Olamina's journals. 

This book is just as dark as the first one. Many horrifying things happen. It is a true dystopian exploration of a possible future from an author who keenly understood the many horrors at play in the United States. Some of it is so on the nose that it was hard to read. Some, especially the technology stuff, felt unlikely at times, but much more grounded than in almost any other near-future dystopian or sci-fi books I've read. Octavia E. Butler was just that good.

Also, this book has multiple central queer characters, which I never see mentioned when people are discussing it. Don't expect happy queer stories--Butler is as realistic about violent homophobia as she is about all other aspects of this world--but it is very present in ways that felt good and right as well as being harrowing. 

Finally things are getting gay!

Ramona definitely said seven evil ex-boyfriends in volume one. Was she lying to Scott (which seems like a sensible approach honestly), or was this a retcon on the part of the creator? Or was Ramona just in denial? That also seems likely.

Ugh.

Eldest is better than Eragon in a lot of ways. It’s also still my least favorite book in the series.

Things I like:

Things I dislike:

Brisingr was my favorite book in the series as a kid, so I’m excited to see how it holds up to a reread as an adult.

I am finally continuing my Discworld read-through!

I've definitely read this one before, but I did not remember the second half at all. Did I not actually finish it? Did I read it in a haze because I was going through traumatic life events at the time? Unclear.

Anyway, this book is so much better than The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic that's it's kind of wild. There are still some bumpy bits. Pratchett is still working on fleshing out the world and figuring out exactly what it's for, and the big conflict that shows up in act three is kind of whatever, but this is the book in which Discworld stops being a silly fantasy parody series and starts becoming a rich tapestry of stories and characters and explorations of real-world themes through that signature Terry Pratchett wit.

I kind of wish we got more of Eskarina. She's interesting and then she's barely in any of the other books. Possibly just I Shall Wear Midnight but I could be wrong.

I love the introduction of Granny Weatherwax. She truly is one of the best parts of this world. Everything from her poor spelling to her headology to her moments of unbelievable power. I'm so excited to spend more time with her in other books. I'm glad she's in so many, some of which I haven't read before.

Favorite quotes/moments/misc reactions while reading:

Overall I think this book holds up and is a possible introduction to this world for anyone who likes witches and wants to get into the series.

 

This is a beautifully researched piece of historical fiction with a compelling protagonist and an interesting setting and supporting cast. The romance was very iffy for me. Logan did not have a big regard for consent, and the entire romance happened far too quickly and far too messily for my taste. But overall the book satisfied and I will be reading more Beverly Jenkins FOR SURE.

This is the second book I’ve read in a row that was all tell no show with a much stronger concept than execution.

All of the elements are excellent here. This book is exploring some really compelling ideas: what does it mean to be a former chosen one or the sibling of a chosen one? What is good, what is evil, and what is the relationship between religion and morality? How do you rebuild your nation after a revolution? How do you find new relationships with your former colonial oppressors? Should you? 

The characters are set up in really compelling ways. The dragons are fun. The world is queernormative and both main characters are queer (one is demisexual, one is a lesbian). The plot is good overall. It was just way too fast and completely lacking in any subtlety whatsoever. I felt extremely spoon-fed the entire time. I also felt like the book was rushing through instead of taking its time with the characters and concepts. I wonder if it was the author’s choice to make this one extremely rushed book instead of two slower, more thoughtful ones.

If there’s a sequel I will read it because I’m invested, but I was definitely slightly disappointed.

This was fun. I didn't love it, but I did enjoy it.

What I liked:

What I didn't like, random changes to Pride and Prejudice edition:

What I didn't like, other:

Overall, I think that the concept was strong and the book was fun, but the short length and a lot of unnecessary changes meant that it didn't quite do the job of being a compelling remix/reimagining of Pride and Prejudice. I've read better queer P&P fanfic on AO3, and it's a shame because I think this concept had SO MUCH potential. Truly if Novoa had just made the main characters and Charlotte explicitly queer, changed nothing else about the setting and characters, and then followed the plot through its logical changes throughout, and then tweaked accordingly, this book would have been absolutely stunning. Maybe I'll go write that on AO3 now. That seems like the thing to do.

This book was so much fun. I loved Amina and the supporting cast. I loved the themes of motherhood and faith and finding direction in life. The narrative voice was fun and engaging. I was delighted by the surprise trans character. I felt fully immersed in the world.

The pacing was very silly. The main plot/the thing that’s going to be the driving force of the planned series did not come into play until over halfway through.

There were also definitely some times when I was unsure how the characters had gotten from one scene to another. This is a problem I often have, so it may just be connected to my brain’s way of processing things, or it may be to do with the audiobook narration (which was very engaging and creative and which I recommend for sure). Regardless, I found aspects of the book slightly hard to follow at times, but never for very long.

There is some extremely intense content in this book, but the tone is much lighter than other fantasy books with similar content (The Poppy War comes to mind).