Who inherited 'The Inheritance Cycle'?

 As usual, I was just browsing bargain deals online for books when I came across this on Flipkart on their pre-order page. For a second, I was surprised. I had almost given up hope like the millions of people worldwide who wanted to see the Inheritance series come to an end. The next couple of minutes, I excitedly read the blurb and went through the page completely. Then I sighed again after seeing the release date.

To date, the Inheritance cycle has sold more than 22 million copies worldwide and has garnered praise and criticism alike form many but the biggest slap on the series was issued  by fans themselves as they got tired waiting for Paolini to fulfill his promise of an early release of the fourth installment.

 Originally it was meant to be a trilogy when the author, Christopher Paolini came out with the first book, Eragon (in 2005) that talked about a small farm boy and his dragon, Saphira and their journey together in a fantasy land called Alagaësia. The series then saw Eragon, the dragon rider, fight his way out and emerge victorious in book two (Eldest, published in 2006) and the much hyped book three (Brisingr, published in late 2008) which I got on the very first day of the Indian release. They say the length of the third book grew and it had to be separated into two parts and many of those parts would  be integrated in the fourth.

With a first print run of 2.5 million copies, Paolini is finally making a come back to finish the story in the last installment of the inheritance cycle with 704 pages of promising fantasy on November 8, 2011. But at what cost?

A very young author, just after graduation penning down a worldwide best-seller. It's not what we see on a daily basis and yet to risk it and put your goodwill on the line is an act that is unpardonable.  Paolini takes almost four years to get the fourth one out, and that too when he is backed by a publishing contract. I doubt many would actually go back to the summary of the book to brush up the story until now in eager anticipation of the fourth book. And many perhaps won't even consider the fourth book, simply because they have had enough of the puerile author who could not shake his pen for his fans with the evident excuse of laziness, shrouding his creativity. Of course, it would take a great deal of marketing to convince people to give it a try but I guess the hype around the international release will take care of it. For the time being, Paolini has to put up his baby-like face and go on an apologizing spree and talk to his fans, answer their queries and convince them to finish reading the cycle. After all, that too is marketing!