Facts Concerning Book 4 in the Inheritance Cycle Released

Christopher Paolini recently attended Book Expo America and revealed these facts about Inheritance, which will be released November 8, 2011.

• “I never wanted to be a writer – I wanted to be doing what my characters were doing. I wanted to be fighting stuff!”
• Christopher originally wanted to make a movie out of the story of Eragon. It was only after he realized that creating a movie at 15 was nearly impossible that he decided to take to pen and paper to tell his tale.
• The personalities for each of the Cycle’s dragons are largely pulled from the family pets Christopher grew up with.
• Christopher counts Wizard of Earth Sea, Ender’s Game, Dune, Tad Williams, Lord of the Rings, and Mossflower as being among the authors and books to have influenced him the most at an early age.
• We’re going to see a LOT more of Murtagh in Book 4, and fans “will be happy”!
• Christopher loves writing villains! “What I’m writing always affects my own mood, and vice versa. With villains – sometimes that can have a negative impact on me.”
• Eragon was originally named “Kevin” in the first draft of the book. “I like Kevin! Kevin’s a good name! A horrible name for the book, but a good name!”
• The name “Eragon” was a play on words with “dragon” and “era-gone-by”
• Angela the herbalist has “taken over” several scenes in Book 4 and will be featured in one “very awesome” scene.
• Angela was originally included as a joke character during a second pass on the Eragon manuscript. Her success with fans came as a surprise because of that.
• “So much changes for the characters in this book. There’s a lot of fun stuff, a lot of intense stuff!”
• Michelle, Christopher’s editor: “It’s the best one yet, you brought me to tears!” CP: “I killed a couple of characters – sorry!”
• The first chapter of book four is called “Into the Breach”
• The two mysterious women blessed by Eragon in Brisingr will re-appear in Book 4, however they are also intended to be a part of a much larger story in the future… a possible Book 5. Christopher hopes to tell this story in the future.
• “I have carefully laid the groundwork in this series for at least two other [Inheritance] books.” – Start searching for clues, fans!
• Christopher confirmed that Tenga will be addressed or make an appearance in Book 4.
• “My next book is probably going to be science fiction and I’ll go right back to fantasy after that.”
• “Nasuada plays a very important and prominent role in the fourth book. Her choices, both personal and political, carry a lot of weight.”
• “The Kull definitely play a role in the fourth book. They have an axe to grind with Galbatorix and they’re out for blood.”
• Glaedr’s Eldunari will play a role in the fourth book. “He’s not a happy dragon at the moment. Unhappy dragons – be careful of them!”
• Nasuada’s decision regarding what to do with magic users will be addressed in the book.