Brisingr (The Inheritance Cycle, #3)
Christopher Paolini
Oaths sworn... loyalties tested... forces collide. It's been only months since Eragon first uttered "brisingr", an ancient language term for fire. Since then, he's not only learned to create magic with words — he's been challenged to his very core. Following the colossal battle against the Empires warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still, there is more adventure at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep. First is Eragon's oath to his cousin, Roran: to help rescue Roran's beloved from King Galbatorix's clutches. But Eragon owes his loyalty to others, too. The Varden are in desperate need of his talents and strength — as are the elves and dwarves. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices — choices that will take him across the Empire and beyond, choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice. Eragon is the greatest hope to rid the land of tyranny. Can this once simple farm boy unite the rebel forces and defeat the king?
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There isn't a single character in this whole book with a cohesive internal arc, things just happen to people and they have reactions in the moment. The most cohesive arc in this book is the titular character of Eragon's sword: He starts with no sword, acquires and fights with multiple swords that don't work out, then at the 90% mark he creates the perfect sword. I swear that's the most cohesive it gets! One would think that in the book where Eragon, with his perpetual daddy issues literally starting in chapter one of the first book, finally learns the true identity of his father that he would have a larger arc tied into that. But no because why would Eragon have a cohesive inner life when he can have a sword! A very cool sword!! A sword with an entire chapter spent describing in exhaustive detail the process of forging it!
It becomes very obvious in this book now that Paolini's writing has matured from the almost fanfiction-esque stream of short chapters seemingly designed to fill time between larger plot points in Eragon and Eldest that he just isn't a character writer. There are very few characters in the series with more complicated desires than "I want the war to be over." He clearly enjoys mythology and languages and cool swords and battle scenes because those things have the most attention poured into them. So if those things are also what you like, maybe this is for you.
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