Christopher Paolini's Murtagh is a powerful return to the world of Alagaësia. As I began to read it, I was shocked my how much I had missed spending time in this universe. While I am a much more experienced fantasy reader than when I read The Inheritance Cycle, I still found the many homages to Jordan, LeGuin, and others to be charming, not reductive.

The characters of Murtagh and Thorn are surprisingly compelling in this story. These characters feel really distinct from Eragon and Saphira, in no small part due to the unique challenges they faced in The Inheritance Cycle.  The trauma Murtagh and Thorn are coping with

most predominantly Murtagh's of being bound to someone and Thorn's of small spaces

are well addressed and actually form central components of the plot of Murtagh. Paolini does an excellent job exploring Murtagh and Thorn's real need for community with their understandable desire to stay independent from those who might control them.

As an aside, Murtagh's choice to rename Zar'oc is powerful and reflects his inner turmoil.

While the characters and world are strong suits here, I found the plot of Murtagh to be slightly lacking. Paolini begins the story in a sort of episodic DND style, with Murtagh and Thorn running around and causing chaos wherever they go. Although Paolini successfully writing a new compelling villain that doesn't undercut the power of Gallbatorix, I felt the big bad was less engaging by far than those in his previous works. Particularly frustrating is the fact that the end of the story really leaves more questions than it closes, making a lot of the journey of Murtagh in this volume feel incomplete, at least from a story perspective.