Brisingr

If the title sounds weird, that is because it is. It is the title of a book written by Christopher Paolini, also the third book in the Inheritance Series of four (though it was originally intended to be three) made extremely famous by the movie - Eragon (also the title of the first book).

If you haven't yet guessed, this series belongs to the genre of fantasy. Where Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Dragons and made up creatures like Urgals and Durza live alongside each other in the same vein as its much more famous forefathers - The Lord of The Rings.

I find Paolini's series to be not completely like LOTR but rather based on such a realm and infused with C.S. Lewis' Narnia charms. Aptly, it is actually categorised as young adult fiction rather than adult fiction.

While I have not read the first two books of the series, I got hooked on this one while piggyback reading off my brother at the dinner table when he first bought it. (I had started somewhere in the last 100 pages or so and found it intriguing, and if you must know, the entire book is more than 700 pages long!)

Even though I have a self confessed dislike for adult fantasy (e.g. LOTR - I own the books but never got past the first chapter...), due to the extremely complicated way the writers tend to write about their creations (including the places, names and characters), I have enjoyed the versions written for younger readers like The Hobbit and of course Harry Potter (all 7 books!).

I found Paolini's narration a little long winded at times but perhaps that is necessary to bring new readers up to speed, so that is perfected alright. However, Brisingr is a book that I would recommend for readers who would like to sample the genre called fantasy and not be overwhelmed by details.