The Empire (Inheritance)

The Empire (Inheritance)

This article is about the series by Christopher Paolini. For the trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, go to The Inheritance Trilogy (N.K. Jemisin)

The Inheritance Cycle is a young adult tetralogy of epic fantasy novels written by American author Christopher Paolini. Set in the fictional world of Alagaësia ( /æləˈɡeɪziə/), the novels focus on the adventures of a teenage boy named Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, as they struggle to overthrow the evil king Galbatorix. The series was originally intended to be a trilogy (named the "Inheritance Trilogy") until Paolini announced on October 30, 2007, while working on the third novel, that he believed the story was too complex to conclude in just three books.

The first book in the series, Eragon, was published in 2002 and subsequently re-published in 2003; it was followed by Eldest in 2005. Both were New York Times bestsellers. The third book in the series, Brisingr, was published on September 20, 2008, and the fourth and final book, Inheritance, was released on November 8, 2011. The series has sold 33.5 million copies worldwide.

Eragon was originally self-published by Paolini's family in 2002, as Paolini LLC, and re-published in 2003 by Knopf. In 2006, a feature film was released based on the first book in the cycle, Eragon, starring Ed Speleers, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich and Djimon Hounsou. The film received generally negative reviews and closed as the 13th highest grossing fantasy-live action film within the United States.