Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

I finally got around to reading the last book in the Inheritance Cycle.  It turned out good and I am glad to have finally been able to finish this series.  It seems like it took a very long time for Paolini to get this book out.  I am glad for the most part how things played out and where everyone ends up.  Thank you Paolini for not making everyone's ending a 'happily ever after' story.

Spoiler:

So if you have not read the book yet, then DO NOT READ FURTHER.  I usually try to steer clear of giving out too much information about a book, but in order to really state my feelings on this book I will have to say some things that may ruin the surprises and twists in this book.  So to start off with.  Why or why did Paolini have to make Arya a dragon rider.  Seriously.  She already becomes queen, why not make someone else the dragon rider.  I was happy to see Murtagh and Thorn live, it puts a little twist on things having Murtagh and Nasuada have feelings for one another, but it does seem fitting.  I love the twist of finding hidden dragan hearts and eggs.  It seems like a very logical thing for the riders to have done and especially to have everyone erase their memories of it in order to keep everything safe.  It was a very well thought out part of the story.  Lastly, I am glad to see that every race now has the ability to have a dragon rider.  This also seems fitting and a good way to unite all the races.  I am glad to see that Paolini was also smart enough to put in that not everyone would be happy to have Nasuada as queen and therefore even after the main battle, they are still fighting with one another and bands of rebels.  Mainly, my main complaint is making Arya a dragon rider.  Even the final battle was slightly anti-climatic and I think he could have spent a bit more time with the final fight between Galbatorix, Murtagh, and Eragon.  It would have even been interesting to actually hear from Thorn and Galbatorix's dragon a bit to see relationships between other dragon riders.  It sort of seemed like Paolini was done with the book and just skimmed over it.  He spends more time on other non-important details, but the actual climax of the book was lacking just a bit.  I am a little more critical of this book than others just because it is a great story (even though it has many similarities to Lord of the Rings).  I just expect perfection from a good story.

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

 This is the second book in "The Heroes of Olympus" series which continues to follow Percy Jackson and introduce new demigods to save the world from Gaea.  I must admit I was slightly disappointed with the feel of this book.  Yes, we are introduced to two new demigods, Frank and Hazel.  Frank's life is dependent on a piece of wood and Hazel is brought back to life by Nico for a second chance at life as a daughter of Pluto (Hades).  So Percy shares the light with these two and I felt like his character just did not fit him like in "The Olympians" series.  He seems a little too grown up now and less of a main character.  I still enjoyed the book and can see that this book sets up for all seven characters to meet again in the third book.  I am hoping the third book will bring some good humor and interesting stories since we have Greeks and Romans being forced to work together and even better, we have the two heros of each camp finally meeting, Percy and Jason.

One thing I would like to mention is that I like having the Greek and Roman terms and way of life being compared side by side.  If you are like me, you tend to mix up the Roman and Greek gods, not realizing they are the same person, just a different time period.  You see the good of each time period as well as their weaknesses.  The Greeks tend to embrace technology while the Romans keep the old ways of life, but they also have a safe civilization for older demigods to live, while the Greeks do not have this or at least we have not been introduced to it yet.

GoodReads

I didn't have much time to read over the Christmas Season, however, I was introduced to a wonderful book site.  goodreads.  It took me a bit of time to set of my account since there were so many books that I wan't to add to my list, but it was worth the time.  This site allows you to add books you have read and rate them on a 5-star rating.  You can also put together lists of books you want to read as well as post reviews on books you have read for others to see.  It shows what the average rating is for each book and also refers books to you that you might be interested in reading based on your lists.  If you like free giveaways, there are tons of books you can enter to win.  Check it out by clicking on the goodreads link.