Inheritance

I just finished Inheritance. Here are some thoughts. There are spoilers. Don't read this if you are going to read the book. Seriously. The book will be ruined. Alright.

 Writing wise, it is CP's best. You can certainly sense the maturity he has gained with age. The dialogue is better than any of the other books, and his descriptions are amazing.

Despite these positives, I believe there are two major flaws -

A cruel, thoughtless, and unnecessarily sad ending, both to Eragon and Arya's relationship, and to the series in general. Eragon's reasons for leaving were weak, but Arya's reasons for staying were...weaker, to put it lightly. Even so, I thought the ending was touching, in a weird sort of way.

Secondly, too many interesting and crucial plot points were left unexplained. The Menoa Tree, Tenga...the list goes on and on.

However, if CP writes a future installment (book 5) wrapping up all the plot lines and allowing a more satisfactory conclusion to Eragon and Arya's relationship, my opinion would drastically change. If we find out that  Eragon is somehow able to eventually return to Alagaesia, I think Inheritance would shine as the best book out of the Cycle.