Inheritance finds everything about to come to a head. The Varden are ready to make their move to battle Galbatroix and rid the Empire of him for good. There are many hurdles to pass before they can engage in the battle to end all battles. There is much planning, hardship, blood, and gore on that path.
Eragon is faced with a challenge given to him, in part, by Solembum the werecat. So, off Eragon and Saphira go on this challenge not knowing what, if anything, they will find. The rest of the Varden are left to prepare for their endgame.
"With the pad of his thumb, Galbatroix pushed open the box's sliding lid. Then he reached inside and pulled out what appeared to be a large, ivory-colored maggot. The creature was almost three inches long, and it had a tiny mouth at one end, with which it uttered the skree-skree she had heard before, announcing its displeasure to the world. It was plump and pleated, like a caterpillar, but if it had any legs, they were so small as to be invisible.
As the creature wiggled in a vain attempt to free itself from between Galbatorix's fingers, the king said, 'This is a burrow grub. It is not what it appears to be. Few things are, but in the case of burrow grubs, that is all the more true. They are found in only one place in Alagaësia and are far more difficult to capture than you might suppose. Take it, then, as a sign of my regard for you... that I deign to use one on you.' His voice dropped in tone, becoming even more intimate. 'I would not, however, wish to exchange places with you.'
The skree-skree of the burrow grub increased in volume as Galbatorix dropped it onto the bare skin of her right arm, just below the elbow. She flinched as the disgusting creature landed on her; it was heavier than it looked, and its underside gripped her with what felt like hundreds of little hooks.
The burrow grub squalled for a moment more; then it gathered up its body in a tight bundle and hopped several inches up her arm.
She wrenched at her bonds, hoping to dislodge the grub, but it continued to cling to her.
Again it hopped.
And again, now it was on her shoulder, the hooks pinching and digging into her skin like a strip of minute cockleburs. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the burrow grub lift up its eyeless head and point it toward her face, as if testing the air. Its tiny mouth opened, and she saw it had sharp cutting mandibles behind its upper and lower lips...
...Then its fat, limbless body contracted, and it hopped four, five inches straight up into the air and then dove headfirst toward the inner part of her elbow.
As it landed, the burrow grub divided into a dozen small, bright green centipedes, which swarmed over her arm before each chose a spot to sink its mandibles into her flesh and bore its way through her skin..."Um, gross. But you can totally imagine what that creature looked like, and the horror of it squirming around on your skin. Yuck!
So much happens that I can't really write about details for fear of giving too much away. But, if you like dragon-fantasy-fiction books, you'll like this series.
The covers of each book have a different colored dragon on them. At first, I wondered why, but then after the first 2 books, came to learn why. Also, each book has a 1-word title, and throughout reading each of the books, you'll learn why too. My favorite learning why was Brisingr - it was AWESOME!
Give these a read - each is quite long - but totally worth it.
