Holiday Gift Guide: Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

“In the beginning, there were dragons: proud, fierce, and independent. Their scales were like gems, and all who gazed upon them despaired, for their beauty was great and terrible.”

Inheritance (Knopf) is the fourth and final book in wunderkind Christopher Paolini’s heart-stoppingly good series. It finishes this deeply imaginative story in a satisfying and completely creative way.

Looking back it seems that Eragon, the first book in the series, was a genuine hit practically from the moment it was published by Knopf in 2003. The reality is quite different.

Convinced that their son had created a masterwork, Paolini’s parents self-published Eragon. In 2002, Carl Hiassen’s stepson bought the book and loved it and brought it to his stepfather’s attention. Hiassen concurred and brought the book to Knopf. And the rest, as they say, is history with Eragon spending 121 weeks on the New York Times Children’s Books Best Seller list and the first three books in the series have sold over 25 million copies worldwide.

Fans of this popular series will be glad to find a copy of Inheritance under their tree. ◊

Lincoln Cho is a freelance writer and editor. He lives in the Chicago area, where he works in the high-tech industry. He is currently working on a his first novel, a science-fiction thriller set in the world of telecommunications.