Karen S. Wiesner {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Murtagh, Book 1: The World of Eragon by Christopher Paolini

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Murtagh, Book 1: The World of Eragon

by Christopher Paolini

by Karen S. Wiesner

Though I bought a hardcover copy of Murtagh, the first in Christopher Paolini's spinoff series The World of Eragon, I didn't actually read it. I also bought an audioCD edition at the same time as the purchase of the book, knowing from previous experiences with The Inheritance Cycle that I was likely to have trouble digesting another nearly 700-page tome.

Armed with my 2023 New Year's vow to incorporate audiobooks into my reading repertoire when it came to overwhelmingly large books that I know I'd like if they weren't "just too big to be believed" (read the article I wrote "Combating Big Book Overwhelm with Audiobooks" on the Alien Romances Blog in January 2023 here: https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2024/01/karen-s-wiesner-combating-big-book.html), I managed to get through the weighty Books 1-4 of The Inheritance Cycle (published between 2001 and 2011) within the first month and a half of the year. Shunning the scolding sense that I was cheating by listening to the book instead of reading it myself, I actually completed the series for the first time without such immense brain fog I couldn't have roused myself from my stupor and told you what any of them were about, beyond the basics. This time, I was clear on the plots of each installment of the series.

Murtagh was Eragon's half-brother; the two shared the same mother. Having acted under the thrall of the villain in The Inheritance Cycle Galbatorix most of his life, Murtagh nevertheless seemed to be helping Eragon for part of the series.                        

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Inevitably he returned to his master. Hating Murtagh wasn't possible. Murtagh's backstory and the upbringing you're given glimpses of in his dialogue made you sympathize with him, even if you couldn't really root for him in the previous series.

Murtagh is set about a year after the original series ended (and directly after the events of the story collection The Fork, The Witch, and the Worm). With Galbatorix and his evil plans foiled by Eragon and his allies and the death of the villain assured with Murtagh's own hand involved in the deed, Murtagh and his dragon Thorn are nevertheless forced into exile. Though the two weren't given a choice about serving their evil master, there's not really a place in this brave new world Eragon and the heroes of Alagaësia are forging for these two loveable rogues. Even as they're traveling the outskirts of society, trying to survive and lay low, they hear the rumblings of a new evil rising with a stench of brimstone on the wind. A mysterious witch who's far from what she seems to be has powers and plans that could plunge the land into yet another evil scheme.

Murtagh was definitely one of the most interesting characters in The Inheritance Cycle, so it seems fitting that he and his dragon become the focus of the first in Paolini's new outcropping from the original series. The story started very slowly and continued on that rather monotonous course for a long time with bouts of excitement cropping up here and there. One thing I do have to say is that I couldn't understand why Murtagh did half of the things he did. As a Dragon Rider, even an outcast one, maybe he just had an overinflated sense of himself and his abilities, along with those of his dragon. When he ventured into the witch's realm, I couldn't help thinking, Are you completely stupid? I knew what was going to happen and that is what happened. Again, maybe he was just too cocky and believed he and Thorn were stronger than the witch Bachel was.

Another reason occurred to me for his seeming foolishness that could be argued. Murtagh was never evil. He was a puppet, coerced into service by a monster--and he becomes the same in this particular story, though not permanently. Above all, it becomes clear that, if Murtagh had had a different upbringing--say, one similar to his half-brother Eragon--his life would have been vastly different. He wasn't given choices, opportunities, freedom, care or trust. Still, it's not a stretch to believe that what Murtagh wanted most of all was to be a hero and to gain redemption. How the author back-weaved all the years of Murtagh's life into this story make that a certainty. In that way, his questionable actions in this story are plausible and even justified. To gain universal acceptance after his collusion with Galbatorix, atonement in the form of self-sacrifice in order to thwart a growing threat to the land is required of him. Additionally, in Inheritance, Book 4: The Inheritance Cycle, there was obviously a spark of attraction between Murtagh and Nasuada, the leader of the Varden, that remained unrequited at the end of that series. Murtagh continues to think and pine for her in this story, giving the reader hope that his yearning might be fulfilled.

Murtagh ends at a point where you really don't know what will ultimately happen to the rogue Dragon Rider. As the author says in the afterward of the book, "…although Murtagh acts as a stand-alone entry into this world, you will have no doubt noticed that certain storylines are far from concluded." He also said that revisiting the characters in this world was like coming home after being away for a long time. I think it's assured we'll be seeing more books set in Alagaësia under the "World of Eragon" umbrella, though it's unclear whether it'll be from Murtagh's point of view and/or others.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

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