Knowing that I can't start a book and not finish it unless severely provoked, I thought this would be a good reading project for a week or so; self-contained, pick-up-and-put-down etc. Even if it wasn't that good, I thought it would be a nice break.
So I read Eragon. And I checked out Eldest and Brisingr from the library. And read them. For those of you who haven't read the books, they're long. Upwards of 500 pages each. They're okay. Not great literature, but not bad.
Just over a week later, as I neared the end of Brisingr today, I started realizing that the plot was winding up, not down. There's no way he can finish this in 75 pages, I thought. Just as the books are getting more original and interesting, he's going to do a presto-changeo, slap-bang ending that will be horrible. Great.
And then I hit the last page and saw the words--To Be Continued. I know, I know, all the Eragon fans out there knew that already, but I never got caught up in that craze, so I was still riding on the word "trilogy" from book 1. He decided to make it a "cycle" not a "trilogy" and do four books.
Dang it.
Now I have to wait for book 4, which I'm guessing will have a black dragon on the cover. Whenever it comes out. And I obviously can't not read it. So I have to a] buy it new (not likely), b] borrow it from a friend (I don't know many fanatics of this one), c] wait for it to hit the libraries and stay on a mile-long reserve waiting list, or d] wait for it to hit used paperbacks on Amazon.
But most of all, I have to keep thinking about how it will end and which of the more-or-less predictable ending patterns Paolini has chosen.
"Self-contained"
"Pick up and put down"
Patience?
Ha.
Grumble.
Oh...well, thanks for the warning. I have a library copy of Brisingr sitting on my desk waiting to be read. :)
ReplyDeleteI've found the waiting list at the library goes pretty fast for these books.
But still, changing a trilogy into a cycle; darned homeschool grads messing around with things...oh wait... ;)