Literature / Eldest

The sequel to the lit sensation Eragon, released on August 23, 2005, four years after the first book's self-publishing and two years after its formal release by Alfred A. Knopf Publishing.

Eragon the rider is now Eragon Shadeslayer, hero of the Battle of Farthen-Dûr. But while his powers have grown considerably, the task of his formal training still lies ahead, and the only place he can receive it is in the forest of Du Weldenvarden, home of the elves. He embarks upon a long journey to reach it, and there, receive the training that will allow him to defeat the tyrant king Galbatorix.

At the same time, back in Eragon's hometown of Palancar Valley, his cousin Roran is about to face his own challenge. The Ra'zac, the hideous creatures that killed his father Garrow, have returned to menace the townspeople, and he soon finds himself fighting desperate odds to keep his village and his love Katrina safe.

All the while, the forces of the Empire grow stronger, and bad omens remain on the horizon...

Note - Since they're so central to the plot, at least two major characters whose existence is a spoiler will be unmarked below. Proceed at your own risk.

Eldest contains examples of:

• Achey Scars: Eragon's back scar from Durza. It ends up giving him painful, immobilizing, magically-induced seizures.
• Artistic License – Military: The world in general don't seem to have conventional military doctrine. Military units aren't taught teamwork or shieldwalls. Most everyone fights with a sword instead of using spears. While distinct units like archers and cavalry and swordsmen are mentioned, they don't seem to be being employed properly, e.g. cavalry being trotted out when the enemy flees or is being flanked. The idea of discipline or order amongst the soldiers allowing them to be more effective as a whole is discarded in favor of the idea of individually skilled soldiers and We Have Reserves being what create victories.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence: The final chunk of the book involves an extended, all-day battle between the forces of the Varden and the Empire's army.
• Can't Argue with Elves: Eragon ends up arguing with them frequently and losing. However, considering he's a student at a huge disadvantage from every angle and many more important things on his mind, it's not necessarily surprising. Later books take points to prove how the elves are wrong about certain things or simply impractical.
  • Amongst other things, he has sustained discussions with his teacher over veganism and atheism, and comes out behind both times.
• Cast from Calories: This is discussed in detail, building on the work of the last book. It takes as much energy to do something by magic as it does by manual ability. But there are a still a number of implications to this that are explored for the first time:
  • Eragon is taught to phrase spells as incremental - e.g. "reduce the magic" instead of "end the magic," so in case a spell is too energy-intensive it will take time and he can abort it, instead of losing all the energy at once instead and risking killing himself instantly.
  • Nasuada notes that since magic can be quicker than normal means, if they use magic to produce time-intensive but low-energy lace, the Varden can create a blockbuster business by creating lace faster than any mundane supplier.
  • Oromis truly gets into the weeds that pointing out that a killing spell only needs to pinch an artery in someone's brain or neck, and teaches Eragon "the twelve death-words" for killing someone with minimal energy needs.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Despite their camaraderie in the previous book, Arya is still rather formal and cool towards Eragon, and over the course of the story he manages to breach her defenses and loosen her up a little.
• Disabled Badass: Oromis turns out to have a condition that prevents him from using more than a small amount of energy in a spell, and gives him occasional seizures. This is one of the reasons he hasn't emerged to fight the Empire openly.
• Double Weapon: The wood-handled, double-bladed weapon that Angela used in the last book is revealed to be called a hûthvír, and a traditional weapon of dwarvish priests. Angela got hers by beating one in a game of chance, and has earned a certain amount of animosity because of it.
• Duel to the Death: Eragon ends up in one during the climax.
• Elves Versus Dwarves: Since Eragon travels from the dwarves' kingdom to the elves', this naturally comes up. While it's not as pronounced as say in Middle-Earth - they've never gone to formal war - there is a certain amount of friction between the races, and Orik doesn't relish having to spend months amongst them while Eragon trains.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The elves have a number of influences fictional and real:
  • On the surface, they're Tolkien's elves - immortal unless killed, pointy-eared, uniformly healthy and beautiful except on very rare occasions, faster and stronger than any human, typically long-haired, and living in forests where they craft beautiful works of art.
  • On the next most-obvious level, they resemble idealized New-Age hippies. Cooperation with the environment is a spiritual obligation. They're all vegetarians, and even refuse to use an animal's products unless the animal has already died of other causes or was unharmed by the practice. They don't seem to have an economy or need to work, and lack any desire to dominate or economically innovate. They'll mine metals and diamonds, but other than that craft homes exclusively from living trees. They frequently compose songs and poems about the beauty of nature. And they heavily encourage meditating and attempting to be in tune with it, although their magical ability makes this more literal. And all this results in a seemingly perfect society, where everyone has what they need and unlimited ability to pursue what they want.
  • But on a more martial level, they resemble romantic visions of Eastern martial artists. In addition to a sequestered lifestyle, they heavily encourage meditation, asceticism (except what one needs for honing one's skills), and martial arts for the art's sake. They believe that single-minded pursuit of one's craft is one of the ultimate satisfactions, frequently overlapping their martial art with things like calligraphy or poetry. They have an equivalent of yoga called the Rimgar. And they're very light on romantic relationships and physical intimacy, with only two children born in their society in the last decade. (Although this last point is partially due to their Immortal Procreation Clause.)
• Fantastic Honorifics: We see a number amongst the elves:
  • We most often "elda," which denotes great respect and is most frequently used for a superior.
  • Eragon is told to address Oromis as "ebrithil," meaning "master."
  • "Vodhr" is for comparatively warm but still unknown relations, and Eragon addresses and addressed by his elf escorts as such.
  • When apologizing to Arya for some tactlessness, Eragon calls her "svit-kona," which is an address for a woman of great wisdom.
• Foreshadowing:
  • When Oromis lectures Eragon about his attitude towards and ignorance about Urgals, he says "that at a certain point, your enemies may have to become your allies." Guess what deal Nasuada makes before the Battle of the Burning Plains.
  • Later that day, they figure out that the Twins, two magicians working for the Varden, were actually The Mole for Galbatorix and trying to capture Eragon in Eragon. Sure enough, the Twins are revealed to still be alive during the Battle of the Burning Plains.
  • Blagden gives Eragon a couple riddles, one mentioning "bloody brooks" (the violence that will unfold on the Burning Blains) and the other teasing revelations about Eragon's family.
• Hollywood Tactics: The final battle consists of the Varden's vastly outnumbered army - something like 10,000 to 100,000 - deciding to clash with the Empire's in an open field instead of hiding behind their existing camp defenses. Notably, this makes even less sense than the previous book's final battle, as in that case the heroes were defending a fortified position that they took advantage of, the enemy's numbers were much smaller, and they were fighting someone explicitly fearsome and powerful enough that he could compel his forces to attack despite the risk. For further examples, see the YMMV page.
• Immortal Procreation Clause: Arya lays this out explicitly. The elves don't have a high birthrate AT ALL. This made Galbatorix's slaughter of them especially meaningful. And it is also probably the single biggest thing separating them from humans and dwarves, not their magic or immortality. If they aren't careful, they could reach the verge of extinction quickly.
• Japanese Politeness: The elves turn out to have a version of this, as a consequence of their immortality and low birthrate. When you know you're going to live forever, and your peers are going to live forever, and no one's going to replace them, you become willing to learn a few extra words so a grudge is less likely to form and then be held up for centuries.
• Jerkass: Sloan serves as this for the majority of Roran's plot, as he both doesn't like Roran, doesn't really respect Katrina's wishes, and isn't generally liked by anyone.
• Master Swordsman: Eragon ends up training in the morning with elite elf swordsmen in sparring areas, and while he's very good, he finds himself frequently outmatched by creatures stronger and more experienced than he is.
• Mercy Kill: A sobering example. Eragon comes across a bird trapped in some thorns and considers freeing it. Arya comes along and shoots it to death, saying its wing was too badly injured for her to heal, so killing it was the most merciful thing to do. Eragon's troubled by this but sees her point.
• Our Dwarves Are All the Same: We see the dwarven city of Tarnac along with the previously-visited Farthen-Dûr, and Eragon even gets a tour of a great dwarven temple and an explanation of their gods and religious mythology. While they match the typical aspects of this trope - bearded, mining, axe-wielding, argumentative - their behavior also shows a great and sincere magnanimousness, and their love of mining is related to their religion, as they believe they were made from stone, and thus carving stone is a sacred act of shaping life.
• Our Elves Are Different: We spend half the book in Ellesméra, the elven capital, and get to see their governments and customs in great detail. They're very similar to Tolkien's elves, but their much greater magical ability has given them a society that prizes equanimity and communing with nature, which makes them more peaceful, but also more lethargic.
• Protective Charm: Wards - specially cast spells cast on people to protect them from specific types of attack - are mentioned in detail for the first time, and are absolutely ubiquitous in battle to save men from low-energy death spells (as mentioned above). Important people like Nasuada and Hrothgar also get multiple wards placed by their magicians to avoid being killed by means both magical and mundane. However, since a ward risks killing the magician who places it if overworked, they still need to defend themselves with regular fighting.
• Psychic Radar: Discussed. Eragon is trained to start reaching out with his mind on a shallow level to everyone around him, as a means of defending himself from fellow magicians. He's a little uncomfortable with it, since it means intruding on random people's privacy, but Oromis insists that it's necessary to protect himself, and it ends up being vital to operation in the final battle.
• Puppy Love:
  • Saphira has a brief crush on Glaedr, which she tries to act on. It's noted that it's very natural, considering she's never even met another dragon before.
  • Eragon also fully clocks that he has a crush on Arya and makes a move on her during the book.
• The Reveal: There are many:
  • The hardest to avoid talking about comes about halfway through the book - another dragon rider is still alive! The elf Oromis and his mount Glaedr. They've been hidden away in Du Weldenvarden for one hundred years so they could be used to train the next rider, and now the time has come. They are prominent characters for the remainder of the book, so this section will remain unspoilered.
  • There is another dragon - his name is Thorn. And his rider is Murtagh, who is actually still alive.
  • One more soon after - Eragon is another son of Morzan, the traitor rider.
• Road Trip Plot:
  • Eragon spends the first third of the plot traveling to the elves' capital, which takes him through the dwarf kingdoms, down a river on canoes, and finally trekking through their magical forest. He meets many people along the way and makes many friends.
  • Roran spends most of the plot leading the villagers of Carvahall across the Spine and south along the Empire's west coast. Being fugitives, they try not to meet new people, but they do run into Jeod.
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome; Ajihad, the leader of the Varden introduced in the last book, is killed less than ten pages into this one. However, this allows for his daughter Nasuada to take the job, and she ends up being much more interesting than he might have.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: Roran ends up using a hammer in battle, remembering a tale of a folk hero who did the same. It reflects that he's not as privileged or clean as Eragon with his swordsmanship and magic powers, but still very strong and very determined to stay alive.
• Wham Episode:
  • Eragon's arrival in Ellesméra - Arya is the queen's daughter, and another dragon rider is still alive!
  • The Agaeti Blodhren - Eragon gets a magical dragon power-up, which gives him the speed and strength of the elves, their awareness of the natural world, and most importantly, removes his back scar so he's no longer effectively disabled by the seizures it gives him.
  • Katrina leaving for the Spine - Her relationship with Roran is exposed to and condemned by Sloan, Roran (implicitly) has sex with her for the first time, the Ra'zac break in and kidnap her, it's revealed Sloan betrayed the whole village to let them in, and they end up kidnapping both him and Katrina and flying away on their mounts.
  • The final battle - Another dragon appears, its rider kills the dwarf king Hrothgar with one spell, he's strong enough to heal a grievous injury to his dragon with yet another single spell, and he's actually Murtagh, who everyone thought was dead. He's currently enslaved to Galbatorix, and also, Eragon is his half-brother - Eragon's father is Morzan, greatest of the Forsworn.
• Wham Line:
  Murtagh: Besides, Zar'roc should have gone to Morzan's eldest son, not his youngest.
• Wolverine Claws: The dwarves have their own approximation called ascûdgamln, which involves drilling holes into one's knuckles so one can screw in fitted spikes for battle conditions They're primarily used for punching instead of slashing, though they'll still draw plenty of blood. Eragon notes that their bones are thicker than a human's so it's unlikely he would be able to do it to himself.
• Veganopia: The elves uniformly refuse to eat meat of any kind, and only consent to dragons eating meat because they know as carnivores they would die otherwise. Like many things about the elves, it's shown to be a result of their magical sensitivity - when every member of your society can reach out with their minds and sense the thoughts of any living thing, veganism becomes a very easy sell.