By Christopher Paolini

Knopf Books for Young Readers

$27.50 » 748 pp

Throughout "Brisingr," the third book in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance cycle, characters are bone-tired from meandering through Alagaesia, frustrated at inaction and resigned to a fate not within their control.

As a reader, unfortunately, it's easy to feel the same way.

Brisingr was originally slated to be the final book in Paolini's trilogy; instead the story was chopped into two novels because Paolini thought he needed to wrap up too many plot lines to do justice to the story in one book.

If Paolini's editors had been paying attention, they would have ripped out two-thirds of the story and used this volume to finish the series.

The story begins with a quick battle and then spends hundreds of pages recounting dozens of small, inconsequential raids by the Varden to a never-ending political fight with the dwarves that makes one long for the kind of blockbuster action the Utah Legislature provides. Paolini simply doesn't know when to stop.

It's not until the 700th page of the 748-page novel that readers are treated to a battle worth reading about. While the preceding chapters have a couple of revelations in them, they're nothing an astute reader wouldn't have guessed from the beginning of the book series.

The chapters alternate among narrators: Eragon, his dragon Saphira, his cousin Roran, and the Varden's leader Nasuada all take turns telling their stories, but rarely is there anything interesting enough to tell. Often the narrators describe a quick scene without advancing the story or developing characters.

In the decade since the young author first penned a draft of "Eragon," he hasn't learned how to create characters that readers can relate to, or improved his awkward diction. He creates compelling moments when Eragon's wayward brother Murtagh addresses his inner turmoil of his own free will versus that of the evil ruler Galbatorix, but those insightful moments are too few and too short-lived.

Creating strong female characters is one of Paolini's strengths. The Varden's leader, Nasuada, shows her physical prowess and political cunning. And Arya, the elf Eragon is in love with, is a strong warrior but rarely offers insight into herself. There is a single scene where we learn more about Arya's past, but it takes up only a couple of quick pages too few in such a large book.

For all its wandering through seemingly pointless scenes, the book does end strongly. The last 50 or so pages is riveting, but it plays like a paltry reward for trudging through the 700 preceding pages. Hopefully, Paolini's concluding book will better reward those readers who stick with him.

smcfarland@sltrib.com