Eldest

The battle beneath Farthen Dûr is over. The Varden still hold Tronjheim, the dwarf city, yet Ajihad, their leader, has died. His daughter Nasuada takes over his command along with a war she cannot yet win.

Eragon and his dragon Saphira travel north to Ellesméra, the hidden elf capital in the forest of Du Weldenvarden, because nobody left alive could finish their training. There they meet Oromis and his dragon Glaedr, the last Rider and dragon free of Galbatorix.

They start a long apprenticeship in magic, swordsmanship and the ancient language. The wound Eragon took from the Shade Durza still weighs on him, and his feelings for the elf Arya go unanswered.

A second thread follows his cousin Roran in Carvahall. Galbatorix's soldiers and the Ra'zac burn the valley and carry off Katrina, so Roran leads the villagers over the Spine and south towards Surda. He seizes a ship at Teirm and grows from a farmer into a leader of men.

The two storylines meet on the Burning Plains, where the Varden face the Empire's army. Eragon comes up against an enemy Rider whose identity upends what he believed about his family. This is the second book of the Inheritance Cycle, a deliberately traditional high fantasy that widens Alagaësia and gives its elves, dwarves and dragons their own histories and losses.