From the Great Southwest Back to Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle

Inheritance, the last book of the Cycle, arrived before Christmas. But I was involved with Tony Hillerman’s Navajo tales and was loathe to leave it mid-series.

I’ve been engrossed in the American Southwest, ancient and modern, for some months now. There was a trilogy of Anasazi Mysteries  by anthropologists Mike and Kathy Gear; Kirk Mitchell’s series featuring Emmett Parker, a Comanche agent with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, often  teamed with a Modoc FBI agent, Anna Turnipseed; and lastly all 18 volumes from Tony Hillerman. Actually, Hillerman penned more than that. I only followed the adventures of Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Sgt. Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police. Great stuff.

But now I’m back to my home genre – fantasy. And no one writes it with more meticulous detail than Christopher Paolini. And, as I did with Harry Potter, I won’t read the new book without first re-reading all the preceding ones. One can’t just dive in without getting reacquainted with the characters, places and situations can one? It’s been way too long since Book Three, Brisingr. And it’s complicated.

So that’s where I am now - halfway through Eragon.

I have no idea how I got so caught up in Native American mysteries and culture. It was quite a profound experience, actually. Maybe it harks back to my travels through Shiprock, NM and Casa Grande, AZ back in 1973. But now (clicking my ruby slippers together three times) it’s good to be home.

Win a copy of INHERITANCE Book 4 by Christopher Paolini

Actually I’ll just send it to you. No contest. I have an extra copy on my hands because someone already got it for my daughter. So, as they say in the pet section of the want-ads: “Free to good home.”

It’s still in the box - a brand new deluxe hardcover edition with dust jacket. Just be the first to tell me you want it, give me a shipping address, and it’s on its way. Hurry if you want it by Christmas.

Now, of course, I’m stuck again for a Christmas gift idea for my daughter. Sigh.

Finally! Book 4 of Inheritance is Here!

Seems like I’ve been waiting for eons! I’ve been trying to reach Christopher Paolini, the wunderkind who penned Eragon at the age of 15, to find out how he was doing on it. I wanted to tell him I’d bake him cookies –any kind he wanted – if he would please get that last book finished.

It was my daughter who got me hooked on the series. She’d asked for Eragon for Christmas one year, and later got the next one, Eldest, on her own. I read them both when I was there for the birth of her third baby. When Brisingr was released, I bought copies for both of us and sent her the movie version of Eragon that Christmas.

Then the long dry spell.

I Googled everything to do with Christopher Paolini and his titles. I tried to find him on Facebook. I haunted Amazon.com for the slightest hint that Book 4 was ready for pre-order. Amazon, BTW, is strangely silent on the subject. A best-selling author like that should rate a fat headline on their opening page. How did I find out? From a brief article in the book section of the Houston Chronicle! Where is this kid’s publicist??  C’mon, people!

Cyber Monday found me hard at the keyboard scoring Inheritance for me and Daughter. And, Chris, wherever you are, the offer of cookies is still open.