They continue to get better as the series progresses. I am still astounded that an author so young executed these. Having said that, and as I have been typing this review, I feel that the author does justify these characters' reputations by the end of the third book and they really are amazingly engaging characters. Again, I just needed it to take a little more time to allow the shift to be a more subtle and, in my opinion, a more natural shift. Perhaps that would have shifted after Katrina is taken, but that only seems to heighten it. Especially seeing as the whole village was involved in the fighting, one would think that they would all be seeing one another in a new light, but not particularly focusing that attention on Roran. They look at him as something apart just a little too soon. Roran's own rise in the estimation of his fellow villagers also feels forced. While the author does attempt to impress upon readership the awesomeness of this feat, it just doesn't work for me for some reason. The switch from Eragon being viewed as a boy to be manipulated to a man of renown takes place during a single battle when he defeats a shade. We spend so much time debating proper course of action etc., but not a whole lot happens in the first couple of books, and yet it is in these books that the reputations of Eragon and his cousin (in particular) are made. Perhaps I took more time the first time around, or perhaps I have just been reading too much Robert Jordan in the mean time, but I feel like the books move way too fast in terms of character making. When I read that Inheritance was coming out I decided to reread the series and found, on this second read through, that, while I still like them, I was not nearly so impressed as I had been the first time.

Eldest eragon series