At the conclusion of Eldest, book two of his Inheritance Cycle, Christopher Paolini had seemingly laid the ground work for the series' climax in book three. Concluding as it did with a second major battle being fought and a meaty surprise being revealed, it would have been easy for him to throw all his characters into the final confrontation and bring the story to an end. After all, many a trilogy before this one has rushed headlong to its conclusion with an eye for its destination without worrying overly much how it arrived there.
Paolini has risked his reader's impatience by not giving into that temptation with Brisingr (book three of four, published by Random House Canada in the fall of 2008). Instead he takes the time to build a more complete picture of the world and the people who inhabit it, as well as continuing the story.
With each step down the road there is less and less time, and the pressure on Eragon and Saphira to discover a means of defeating Galbatorix (the king who would destroy all the free people) increases. Unless they can solve that riddle, it doesn't matter how many battles they win; they will ultimately lose the war.
Brisingr sees Eragon spending an extended period of time among the dwarfs. While he'd much rather be staying with the army of the Varden (the resistance), their leader, Nasuada, insists that he go to the dwarfs as her representative. The King of the dwarfs had been killed in the last battle of book two, and they are now going to select from among the 13 clan chiefs a new monarch. It’s vital that whoever it is continue to support the war against Galbatorix. Nasuada hopes Eragon's presence there will serve to remind the dwarfs, who might be wavering in their commitment, of the need to fight for their freedom.
Paolini's decision to enmesh Eragon in dwarf politics and spend a sizeable chunk of the book in the dwarf kingdom observing the process of selecting a monarch instead of hastening the conclusion of the series might seem odd at first glance. However, by doing so Paolini is making the point that just because you're under threat doesn't mean you surrender those things that define you, even if there is a risk that it will cause a result not to your liking.
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