Eldest (Inheritance, #2) by Christopher Paolini

Eldest, the second book in the Inheritance series, is a 3-star beginning that escalates up to a 4.5-5 star rating. Eldest is used to set the stage for everything that follows. Eragon and Saphira spend the majority of the novel in training while the other characters take their places. It's a necessary part of the story but it does serve to slow the momentum somewhat in the beginning. The reduced pace is temporary! Like a boulder rolling downhill, events continue to escalate until the last 200 pages. By that time I held this book in a white-knuckle grip and had to remind myself to breathe until I had turned the last page. Once finished, it took a Herculean effort to refrain from snatching up the third installment right there and just keep on going.  I loved this series the first time I read it and I'm enjoying it even more the second time around. The extent of Paolini's imagination is awe inspiring and I think it's a true testament to his talent as a story-teller and writer that I am just as enthralled with the tale the second time as I was the first.


You will find an official plot line description at: 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45978.Eldest