Master storyteller and internationally bestselling author Christopher Paolini returns to the World of Eragon in this stunning epic fantasy set a year after the events of the Inheritance Cycle. Join Dragon Rider—and fan favorite—Murtagh and his dragon as they confront a perilous new enemy!
The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society.
Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air—and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems.
In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini’s blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time . . . or to joyfully return.
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High fantasy storytelling built on expansive dragonlore and intricate worldbuilding defined young adult speculative fiction in the early 2000s with the release of Eragon. Christopher Paolini began writing his signature epic fantasy narrative as a teenager in Montana, creating the sprawling universe of Alaga#sia and The Inheritance Cycle. His work spans multi-volume epic fantasy sagas and expansive science fiction universes.
Christopher James Paolini was born on November 17, 1983, in Los Angeles, California, and raised in Paradise Valley, Montana. Homeschooled by his parents alongside his younger sister Angela, he completed his high school education by age 15. Surrounded by the landscape of the Beartooth Mountains and the Yellowstone River, he drew direct inspiration from his natural environment while reading widely in classic literature and fantasy authors such as Frank Herbert, Anne McCaffrey, and Raymond E. Feist. He published his debut novel Eragon during his youth, launching The Inheritance Cycle containing Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. Expanding beyond his flagship fantasy series, he ventured into science fiction with his September 2020 novel To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, followed by the May 2023 prequel Fractal Noise, establishing his science fiction setting known as the Fractalverse.
Paolini's writing is characterized by detailed worldbuilding, crafted ancient languages, and classic epic arcs centering on heroic growth, bond-forging between humans and fantastical creatures, and the burden of power. His fantasy prose incorporates expansive geography inspired by the Montanan wilderness, alongside detailed magic systems governed by strict natural logic and linguistic rules. In his science fiction works, he shifts toward space exploration, first-contact scenarios, and survival thrillers, exploring humanity's place in a vast cosmos while maintaining character-driven narrative arcs.
