Murtagh the Book

What was your biggest inspiration to return to this universe and write Murtagh? Was it always in the works? Yeah, so, boy, it's a little convoluted. Ultimately, you can blame the existence of Murtagh on a couple of things. So, starting in 2017 or so, I was feeling a little frustrated in my life for various reasons. And so I decided that I was going to say yes to every appearance opportunity that came my way, just as a way of getting myself out of the house, living life, traveling, seeing stuff, meeting people, etc. So I said yes to going to a bunch of conventions and then sort of out of nowhere, Barnes and Noble asked if I would be their Author in Residence for 2019. They asked in 2018. And so I said yes. And what that meant was I was going to be traveling to a different B&N bookstore every month for the entire year of 2019. Now shortly after I said yes, my mom actually came to me and she said, "Christopher, you're going to be doing that, that's going to be a lot of work. Sure would be nice if you had something new published for 2019." And at this time, I was deep into revisions on To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, which was a massive, massive book. But I thought that hey, that's a great idea. So I took like a month or two and I wrote and revised what became The Fork, The Witch, and The Worm: Tales from Alagaësia, short stories set in the World of Eragon. The first story in there, The Fork story, was based off a tweet that a fan sent me. And again, I think it was 2016 or 2017. And they said, "Hey, Christopher, can you tell us anything about what Murtagh and Thorn are doing after the end of the Inheritance Cycle?" And it was way too late for me past my bedtime. And I said something like, "Murtagh just enchanted a fork to be more deadly than any sword and won a fight with it, and Thorn isn't very happy with him." And I couldn't stop thinking about that, so that became the basis for the Fork story. And then once I wrote it, I couldn't stop thinking about sort of where that story would lead for Murtagh and the world of Alagaësia. I finished To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and I finished revising Fractal Noise. I actually delivered Fractal Noise to Tor all the way back end of 2021, or fairly in 2021. And then I was like, "Okay, it's time for dragons." And I was looking at writing the long awaited Book Five. Though the more I looked at it, because there's a time jump between Inheritance and Book Five, I realized that I was having to do too much explaining of all the things that had happened leading up to Book Five. It was just gonna be deadly dull. So then I went back to those thoughts I'd had of Murtagh and the Fork story and I was like, "well, wait a minute, what if I wrote a book about Murtagh? I've always wanted to. This might be a good reason and good time and a good opportunity." And so I took it. And that's ultimately how Murtagh came about. Books come about through many different ways. Also, on a very practical side of things, last year was the 20th anniversary of the release of Eragon. And so that was also an extra motivation. I was going to write Murtagh anyway, but it was like, okay, not just going to write it. Let's make sure that it's done in time so it could come out on the 20th anniversary, which of course it did. [34]
I was looking at Book Five and I was doing the groundwork for it. Then I realized because it's further down the timeline than Murtagh that I was having to do a huge amount of explaining and setting the groundwork for people to understand how we got to the point of where we were in that book. Then I thought well maybe it'd be a good idea to take a step back and tell one of these earlier stories so people understand what's going on. [28]
I was starting to do some plotting for the next book in the World of Eragon, and I realized that there was too much setup needed. There was too much explaining, too much exposition. So I thought, well, what if what if I took a step back and actually told the story that I'm trying to summarize. And I'd already dipped my toes in, and was already thinking along those lines of, "What are the implications of that short story? Does it lead to something larger?" And of course it does. [1]
How long did it take to write Murtagh? Three and a half months. And then another six months of editing. That's mainly because it takes a few weeks every time my editor looks at it, and then it comes back to me, and then it takes another few weeks. It takes time. But the reason I was able to write it so quickly was because I had a very clear outline, which I learned to create over time. If I don't have an outline, writing doesn't go so well. And if I do have it, it's easy and fast. I wrote that outline quickly, which took no more than two weeks. That's because I already had the beginning in my head – because that was the story of The Fork . And I already knew what the ending would be. So if you have that then you have 80%. And then you still have about 20% left to figure out the middle, and that was the hardest part. I refuse to write a book where I don't know the ending. [23]
How much of it was brand new ideas that came to you now, and how much did you pull from old notes, unused ideas, and pulling it all together? Well, it evolved. I've always had ideas for more full-size books set in the world of Eragon, and a book about Murtagh was one of those. I had a couple of general ideas that I wanted to play with, such as Murtagh and Thorn grappling with their past, grappling with other threats and developments in the world. But the specifics of that only really came about starting in, I want to say, 2018, and even a little bit earlier when I originally got the idea of the short story, The Fork in The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm, which was from Murtagh’s point of view– Well, it was about Murtagh, not his point of view. But that served as the inciting incident and the key for the actual events of this book, and then everything in it drew from old notes, and then, also, I had new stuff as well. [6]
You'll see a lot in Murtagh that I'm drawing from what I've already established and then building off the feel of it. [12]
You talked about how act three was something that came to you early on in the process, and you wanted to reach that point. How do you work with your writing process? Do you start with that scene that comes to you first and then work backward? How do you play around with that? Every book is different, but I refuse to write a book unless I have the beginning and the end clearly in mind. And in this case, I already had the beginning because it was retelling the short story, “The Fork,” from Murtagh’s point of view now. That was the inciting incident in some ways. Technically, the inciting incident actually occurred at the end of Inheritance, but for this book, this is the beginning. Then, I knew where I wanted to end, like, last scene, last chapter. I had that right from the very beginning because I knew that would be emotional and affecting and all of that. Then, it was a question of what type of story I was trying to tell and how that would relate to Murtagh’s personal issues. So, my original conception was like an Edgar Rice Burroughs-style adventure into the unknown, and then the more I did on it, I was like, “Well, there's more to it than just simple adventure. A lot more. So, how do I serve that?” So, I work up a pretty detailed outline before I write the first draft, write the first draft, and then I sit back and say, “Okay, how well did I do in accomplishing what I was trying to accomplish and what do I need to change or focus on?” [6]
Why did you choose to write a story about Murtagh? Do you ask your readers which characters resonate with them, or do you make your own plans? I certainly like to know who is popular with my readers. This is how I know that Murtagh has been a real favorite for years. But that doesn't affect what I write. The fact that Murtagh is a favorite did not lead to the book of the same name. That was mainly because Murtagh's journey wasn't complete after Inheritance. [23]
We see the growth of Murtagh and Thorn's relationship in this book. How did you prepare yourself to explore the relationship between them? Before I start a book, I essentially do what I consider my homework. I take a notebook and I start writing by hand and I have a conversation with myself about who the characters are and what their stories are and what their journey is going to be. And I did that with Murtagh and Thorn specifically because it was very important to me that their relationship felt different than Eragon and Saphira's relationship. And I didn't get it perfectly the first draft. I'd say I got about 80% there. And then worked on it some more once I had a better understanding of what their dynamic was, and then I could go back to the beginning and it's like, okay, this is how they interact. Let's really focus on that. And that was just the core. It is Murtagh's story in a lot of ways, but it's also Thorn's. And that just was very, very important. But thinking about their different experiences, of course, was the key to figuring out how they were interacting. [32]
I’m not sure that if asked, I would have ever guessed your next Inheritance Cycle book would be about Murtagh. What inspired you to dig into this particular character as an author? In many ways, the Inheritance Cycle is the story of three (somewhat) brothers. Eragon, his cousin Roran, and Eragon’s half-brother, Murtagh. They’re each equally important to the story. However, since the series is primarily from Eragon’s point-of-view, readers never really got to experience Murtagh’s journey, which I think is a shame. [15]
Murtagh is one of the main characters of the Inheritance Cycle. There's Eragon, there's Arya, there's Roran, there's Nasuada, and there's Murtagh. But we really don't see a whole lot of Murtagh after the first book. He's taken away, he's imprisoned and we only see him appearing essentially as a villain. And I felt that there was a real missed opportunity there, or there was an opportunity to rectify that and show what actually was going on during that time. [34]

It's been so many years. What keeps you in the world of Eragon? I grew up with it. Yeah, but I grew up in Steinhagen. I'm okay with visiting every 10 years. Well, to be fair, it's been 12 years since the last big one came out. Oh, that's a good point. Yeah, that's a good point. But the main thing is I have stories that I want to tell and I'm passionate about those stories. And that's what drew me back to the world. I decided I had a story that I cared about and was passionate about and I wanted to devote the time and energy to make sure that readers got to experience it as well. [2]
Even though it's been many years since it ended, what was it like for you getting back into that headspace and going back to that world? The world itself was very familiar. I had no difficulty diving right back into it. The biggest difference is that this isn't from Eragon’s point of view, so writing from Murtagh’s point of view introduces some differences to the experience. Which was nice for me and I think it will hopefully be nice for readers, as well. But it's an interesting mixture of intense nostalgia, intense familiarity, and yet a sense of newness, as well. Like if you've ever returned home after a long trip, college or wherever, and everything is super familiar, but maybe seems just a little different. [6]
Do you feel ownership of these characters still? The Inheritance Cycle has been with people for so many years. Do you think they belong to the people now? No they're mine because I can do what I want with them. But they have their own existence in the minds of the readers. I have a personal relationship with the books I read and the characters in those books. I'll just pick a book at random, Dune for example. My emotions and interactions with that book are probably very different than someone else's and different from Frank Herbert's when he wrote it. I know people have very deep emotional connections and experiences with Eragon and Saphira and the other characters, and that's out of my control. It is a wonderful thing at the end of the day that someone loves something that you've created so much. Absolutely. That's the goal, that's the dream, that's what you hope as a creator. But it makes me feel a sense of responsibility writing a new story. I definitely felt this with Murtagh, of wanting to do justice to those feelings that people have toward those characters. [28]
Did you always plan to tell more stories within the world of Eragon? Of course. In fact, I deliberately left a couple of dangling threads in Brisingr and Inheritance specifically to form the basis for future books. I love this world, and I hope to write many more stories in it over the years. Murtagh is the first of these. [8]
Did you always know you were gonna go back? Yes, and in fact, I started laying the groundwork in my third book for future stories, specifically so that later on, it didn't feel like I was pulling stuff out of a hat to extend work in the world. [33]

One of the fun things has been watching your writing go from Eragon: Very clean and it's a quick book about these characters end up on this journey and there's a fight at the end, and there's a really cool dragon. It's very clear what you're trying to do. And I think it was incredibly successful, or we wouldn't be here today. And then by Brisingr, it's a mess, and everybody's everywhere, and the world is this huge, complicated, lovable place with all these people that you adore. But watching the way you've grown from that, and then to take the steps into this very mature handling of Alagaësia in this book, it feels like I've read a career of writing enhancement. And it's been really exceptional. I actually wish I could read the books without being so familiar with them, for that very reason. I kind of want to see how they change over time. And it's interesting you mentioned Brisingr versus this one and even Inheritance, which is I kind of wanted to dial it back with this one. It's much more of a character study. It's much more focused on Murtagh and Thorn. We spend a lot of time alone with them, actually, over the course of the book. And there isn't any one character that's with them through the whole story. Which I think is reflective of Eragon, again, in his first book. And it's still a large book. It's still a 700-page book. And yet, for all of that, it is much more focused. I actually think, now some readers may disagree with me on this, but personally I think a lot more happens in this book than Eragon, and it's not actually that much longer in terms of word count, but it still feels to me like a lot more happens in this book than Eragon. [11]
[Terry Brooks:] I started out writing big books like you, I was writing 700-800 page books in the beginning. But I quickly shifted over when I realized that I could write the same book at half the size, and it would sell for the same amount. That's one thing I couldn't do with Murtagh, because I really needed to match the style of the series. [1]
How has your writing style evolved? I'm a much better writer than I was when I started and I also have more of an understanding of the difficulties of life, which was helpful when writing a character like Murtagh who has encountered a lot of difficulties. Also, I'm much more methodical in how I approach a book. I do a lot of planning and that allows me to write the book quickly and efficiently. [20]
I did not always succeed with the Inheritance Cycle because I learned as I went along, but there's a lot of words that I did not and would not use in the books because they were out of place. In fact, it's funny, I have a friend of mine who's Italian. A fellow author, and she read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars in English, which was the first book of mine she'd read in English. She's also been reading Murtagh in English, and she's having more difficulty with Murtagh than with To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. I was curious because there's a lot of technical terminology in To Sleep in the Sea of Stars and so I asked her about this, and we kind of burrowed down and figured out what the issue was, which is that technical words in English a lot of times tend to be of Latin origin, Latin or Greek. For an Italian reader and speaker, that's easy to understand. Whereas in Murtagh, the vocabulary is much more Germanic and Anglo-Saxon, and as a result, much more difficult for a native speaker of a Romance language. [28]
I really love the spruced up language throughout the book; Murtagh was brought up and educated in the capital, I think the book from his perspective having an excellent use of vocabulary is only fitting. That was the idea. Glad you liked it. [T]
A third of the way through Murtagh and I can’t stand th’ word short’n’ng in dialogue. Don't read Dolores Claiborne, then, lol. [R]

Murtagh the Character

This series deals a lot with fathers and absent fathers and difficult fathers. And since you wrote the series, you've become a father yourself. And so looking back on that series, how has your fatherhood that you have now obtained changed the way that you look back on the way that you created the father figures of Alagaësia? That's a really interesting question. It didn't really change too much, but it did change one thing in particular. In Murtagh, without getting too spoilery, there's a moment that Murtagh is having a flashback recollection of his own father and his mother. I think you know the scene I'm talking about. And writing that I was really sort of drawing off of what I have seen with my children and how they behave and play and how they sort of view and interact with the adults around them. That helped me. But as far as like Murtagh's feelings toward his father or Eragon's feelings toward his father, those were already established. Those characters are already established. So I wouldn't say that being a father has necessarily changed at a huge amount. Because fortunately, I have a good relationship with my father. And so far, my kids have a good relationship with me, except when they're trying to stay up too late. So it's not reflecting what I have in my life. I'm just trying to follow the logic of who those characters are and what their relationships are. [11]
This time you also deep dive into Murtagh's relationship with his biological father Morzan, and his true father and mentor Tornac. Being a father yourself now has changed the way you feel about their stories? Strangely enough, no. The only thing that changed is there is a scene I don't want to spoil but I'm sure you will remember. Those who've read the book will know. It's a flashback scene. To a moment when Murtagh was very young himself. And there were some things I've seen in my children and the way they behave that sort of guided how I wrote that scene and how I imagined young Murtagh would have perceived what was happening. But in general, no, the father-son relationship, if anything probably draws more from my experience with my father and myself versus myself with my children. So would you say that Tornac has a little bit of your father? Ehhh... I don't know about that. But I did like writing that relationship. Yeah, Tornac and Murtagh's relationship is very beautiful. And sad as well! Well that is the theme of Murtagh's life. [17]
I think also there's probably something to be said for the fact that you are older now, you're a father now, so how you experience Murtagh as a character is maybe different for you as well. Is that a fair characterization? I think so. I don't think I could have written this book 10 years ago. Not the way I did. [34]
One of the relationships that I feel like you didn't explore as much in the Eragon series but did become a little bit more important here in Murtagh is mothers. What was the process of exploring Selena and getting to bring a scene with her into the series for the first time? It was a lot of fun. It was great having Selena appear. Obviously it's a hazy memory on Murtagh's point point of view, but she sort of looms large over the story as a whole in the book. And rightly so, because he perhaps unfairly blames her for some of his circumstances, and he has to come to terms with that. And there's another character in the book who perhaps is forcing herself into a mothering position during the story and Murtagh has grapple with that as well. [11]

There are so many experiences that Eragon got through because either he was the first rider, and so people were treating him with a kindness that they wouldn't show a normal person, or we got that Eragon will persevere through anything and he just kind of shows up and gets it done. Murtagh experiences so many of the same situations and his approach is to replace like Eragon's perseverance with a kindness that was so unexpected from a character with his history. And so this book shows Murtagh's got like a really kind heart deep at the center of him. And he goes through some really awful stuff. But he keeps that kind heart. And I guess, how did you approach writing the soft interior of this man that you've really put through so much at the end of the day? But maintaining that really kind core that allows him to accomplish what he accomplished? That, again, was something that was a bit iterative. I wrote the book really thinking that the theme was him and Thorn grappling with their status in society? Are they going to remain outcasts, exiles? Are they going to reintegrate? What is their role in the world, and how do they feel about it? And after my editor read it, she said, "Yes, that's there. By the way, did you notice how he acts around children?" I said, "Well, yes?" She said, "Take another look at that." And it tied into so many important things for Murtagh that that really added a whole other layer. There's a certain innocence/naivete to Eragon that can sometimes lead him to be very successful at what he does, but also be a little bit, I don't want to say cruel, he's willing to kill and do things just like Murtagh is, but he's also innocent to a certain degree, at least to start with. And it leads to a different approach and a different outcome. Whereas Murtagh has had such dark experiences in his life, he approaches it very differently. [11]
Was the theme of inheritance in Murtagh intentional? Like with the relationships with the children and imparting either like a gift of a fork or wisdom on to or even a sense of caring on to a younger generation, was that intentional to bring over from the Inheritance Cycle or was that found kind of naturally? It was just what this particular story needed. Murtagh has already grown up. He's not an adolescent. He is a grown man. But this particular transformation that he needs to go through is not complete. And all the stuff with the children and the young people in the story. It's a nice tie-in, that theme of inheritance. But I wasn't aiming for that. [11]
I loved that each and every single one of those little side quests included younger people in a way that made Murtagh so protective of them. He has daddy energy. And the funny thing is, that's not because I'm now a dad. I do want to put that out there. In fact, the funny thing is I didn't intentionally make that a theme in the book. And I very much was focusing on the relationship that he and Thorn have with sort of a larger society. Do they belong, do they not belong? Do they rejoin society, do they not rejoin society? And after I sent the first draft to my editor, she came back to me and she said, "By the way, do you realize?" she pointed out the daddy energy, essentially. She didn't quite use those words, but it was the same thing. And she said, "you have this trend going through, think about it, think about how it relates to his character." And she was absolutely right. Just a few touches extra, really brought a lot to who he is. But I wouldn't say that was because I was a father. It was definitely an outgrowth of who Murtagh is as a character. [32]

[Murtagh's approach to life] actually gets him into deep trouble in this book, because he refuses to accept help when he should have looked for help and stays in a place he shouldn't stay in when he knows he shouldn't stay and thus ends up in deep trouble. [There's a] moment fairly late in the book when he finally thinks that he should have reached out to Eragon, and he knows Eragon would have helped him. And he hates it. He does, but even then, he would accept it. Like, he's in the most dire depths of despair. And at that point, he starts rebuilding and accepting help. Uvek, Alín, he starts actually accepting help. And that's why, by the very end of the book, he actually is willing to participate in society, so to speak, and Thorn as well. [11]
Why does everyone kick Murtagh's ass throughout the book? Okay, I've seen a couple of people say that online, I'm actually going to take issue with that: he wins all of his fights. Except for when he is sort of tricked at one part of the book. But if you look at it, he really does win all of his fights. But with help Well, with some help here and there. Part of it too is he no longer has the help of Eldunarí that Galbatorix gave him. And so I think even though he knows that, subconsciously he goes into some of these fights thinking that he still has that power behind him and he has to kind of discover that "Oh, crap, I'm still stronger than a normal person and I do have a dragon with me, but I'm not invincible." And it takes him a little while to sort of get that beaten into his head. And I have to say at the beginning he's like too proud to ask for help. But then he evolves. Not just proud, I think resentful also. And that is kind of a large part of what the story is about. Will he and Thorn bend the knee enough of their ego to rejoin society and will society even accept them? [17]

Murtagh’s line of choice is “By my will, I make my way.” and I can see that reflected in your own journey from an outsider’s point of view. Is that something you would relate to? Yeah, I think that’s fair to say that’s a statement I relate to. But Murtagh is also a much more solitary person than I am. He doesn’t have the support structure that I do and so I’ve been very aware throughout my whole life, my whole career, how fortunate I am to have the support that I have had from my friends and family. My editor, my agent, my parents. I wouldn’t be where I am now. Aside from that, yes, I made certain decisions that started the ball rolling. But the fact that I was able to make those decisions and have the support to make those decisions is due to the environment, I would say. [28]
What is your vision of fate? I go back and forth on that. I think as many of my characters do that it's important to believe that we have some agency in the world. Even if things are predestined, if you feel as if things are predestined, you'll give up. Whether that's predestined or not, I don't know. But I like to believe that I have a sense of control over my life and even if there is a destiny that can't be escaped, we at least have a choice of how to face it. But I don't think that our lives are written in stone or that things can't be improved or changed. If that were the case, humanity would never have bettered its lot over the centuries. And I think that there's a unfortunate thread in modern thinking that kind of says that the situation you're born in and the life circumstances you find yourself is completely out of your control and as a result you cannot rise above that and you should blame those who are supposedly to blame for that situation. And whether or not that's true, I just think it's a very unhelpful way to think about life, because then you feel helpless. You feel like someone else is responsible for your situation and therefore, they're the ones with the power in life. And I always feel that we are the ones in charge of our own thoughts and feelings. The only thing you can control is yourself, ideally at least. And we are the agents of change in our own lives, even in the smallest ways. So that sort of learned helplessness is just a deadly, deadly way of thinking. And it leads people to becoming very angry I think. And that's not good for them or society. Murtagh, of course chose to disregard Umaroth's advice and go where the land is brittle. But even if he puts himself, or even if you put him through so much, he still chose and decides what's the outcome of his ventures. That is the consequence of freedom. You have to let people make stupid decisions. Democracy, freedom, whatever, you have to trust that it's better in the long run for people to have the chance to make stupid decisions. That just because you know better, you shouldn't be the ones telling them ultimately what they can or can't do, as long as it's not harming other people. What do you think will be the most important of lessons Murtagh learned during his sojourn in Nal Gorgoth? I would rather not say. I think that that would be me preaching to the readers. I'll let readers decide what they think the most valuable lesson is from that experience. [19]
Each time Murtagh is confronted with reminders and challenges, his responses to them feel very true to his character. How did you stay true to the decisions that Murtagh would make when confronted with these things? And in what ways, if any, did that inform the arc you wanted him to follow throughout the book? Well, I appreciate that you felt that those choices were true to who Murtagh is. I think when writing a character, at least for me, I create a mental framework for who the person is and how they would react. And then the story, especially if they're the main character, is tailored around that. I tailored the encounters and the choices and what happened specifically to who Murtagh and Thorn are and what their issues are. And that is the story. At least the way I built the story. There is no other story. If I weren't addressing their issues, this story wouldn't even happen. [34]
Could tell us a little bit of what it was like to write Murtagh's point of view, and how that was different from your approach to writing Eragon, especially having stepped outside of the world for so long. He's a lot less open and much more damaged, of course, and a lot angrier and a lot more resentful. And his relationship with Thorn is a lot rockier, a lot pricklier, one might say. But being older myself and having gone through some ups and downs in life, as we all do, writing Murtagh was more interesting as a result. But Murtagh also has a hard time in the book, necessarily so, I would argue, since I wrote it. But that took quite a bit of emotional energy as well, writing that. So really enjoyed it. I would love to write Murtagh again, especially since I think that he is in a much better place by the end of the book, even though he still has a lot to work through, he's taken the first big step in a lot of ways. And that's what this book was about, was him and Thorn taking that step, or deciding to take the step. Or being forced into taking the step really at certain points. Yeah, but it is his choice ultimately, and as it always is. [32]

People have strong opinions on Murtagh across the Internets. We want to know whether or not you would describe Murtagh as an anti-hero or an antagonist Well, he's heading in that direction. I think he was definitely an anti-hero for most of the inheritance cycle, and he's now tipped over into, troubled, but a genuine protagonist by the end of Murtagh. [32]
Yes, you can call him an anti-hero. Murtagh is an outcast with a complex life history. He has been both friend and enemy to Eragon through circumstances largely beyond his control. And for the first time in this book we see the world through his eyes. [18]
Murtagh's character evolves from antagonist to a kind of complex anti-hero in the new book. What were your motivations behind this evolution? He's not a villain, in the sense that he didn't choose evil for the most part, although he's made some questionable choices at times. So that was interesting to evolve. And I didn't want to push him further down the road of villainy, so to speak, because that just feels obvious and lazy to me. So I wanted to give him and Thorn a chance to find a path to redemption. There's also something to be said about the person who has to do everything because they're being brainwashed. That's the other thing. A lot of it he was forced to do. He still did it, and he had some choices along the way, but for the most part he was coerced, and that has to be taken to taken into account. [34]

One of my favorite things about the book is that Murtagh, kind of like how Angela and Bachel are almost like evil twins, Murtagh goes through some of the same beats that Eragon gets in his book. I'm so glad you noticed, and I didn't even do it on purpose. When I was going through editing I started working up a whole list of things I was like these are mirrored experiences to some of the things that happened with Eragon. I didn't fight it, I actually embraced it. [11]
The problems that Murtagh and Thorn face seem to be mirrored of the problems that Eragon and Saphira had to face. Did you write it that way on purpose, and if so, why? Well, yes and no. Murtagh and Thorn could actually have been in the shoes of Eragon and Saphira. In another time, or if someone had made a different decision, it would have been Murtagh and Thorn who became famous Dragon Riders and Eragon and Saphira would have been cast out. They are very much the same and yet so different. It only makes sense that some of the problems they are now experiencing are the same ones Eragon and Saphira had to overcome. [23]
Murtagh is what Eragon would have been if he hadn't grown up in a loving environment. He has a much more difficult character than Eragon, much more prickly. Although he gets angry easily, he is a good person who hates injustice. Perhaps because he is a victim of it himself. He is much more aware than Eragon about how the world works. [4]
Murtagh and Thorn were once, albeit reluctantly, on the evil side of the force. Are these two characters negative incarnations of Eragon and Saphira? To a degree, but they're also very much their own people, given how different their life experiences have been compared to Eragon and Saphira. And they're aware of that difference. It's something Murtagh reflects on several times throughout the book. However, even if Murtagh and Thorn had been raised in the same circumstances as Eragon and Saphira, I think they would still be very different. Thorn has a much more trenchant sense of humor than Saphira, and even at the best of times, Murtagh would always have a greater tendency toward brooding than Eragon. [22]
I saw a parallel in Murtagh's life, a symmetry with his and that of Eragon. So we know that Eragon was raised as a humble farmer, whereas Murtagh was raised in court. But now Eragon plays a major role in the world, he has all the comfort he needs, he no longer lives in a thrifty environment. Whereas Murtagh is said to travel the world without a roof over his head, at the beginning of the book at least. And I was wondering regarding these circumstances, what does this exchange of places mean to you? I was thinking very carefully about the parallels between Murtagh's experience and Eragon's. And sometimes while I was writing the book, I found parallels emerging that I didn't originally expect. For example, when they leave Gil'ead, Thorn kind of grabs Murtagh and they have an involuntary flight where Murtagh is trying to get Thorn to land and Thorn won't listen to him. That's very similar to when the first time Eragon and Saphira flew together after leaving Palancar Valley right when the Ra'zac showed up. So there are lots of things over the course of the story that have sort of echoes with Eragon's experience. Some of that was intentional, some of that was purely coincidental, but I thought it made for an interesting contrast. [19]
Murtagh definitely has a harder lot in life than Eragon. His father didn't love him and even tried to kill him, leaving a scar. A painful life. And Eragon’s father took a blade to save his own son…. Eragon and Murtagh/Brom and Morzan are opposites in more ways than one. [T]
What was the hardest challenge in writing from the perspective of Murtagh after writing from the perspective of Eragon for so long? Figuring out how his voice differed from Eragon's, and how Thorn differed from Saphira, and their relationship differed from Eragon and Saphira's. And then also I went back and looked at Murtagh's dialogue from Eragon, and boy was I pretentious back then. And I didn't want to write him exactly the way I'd written him in the first book, and balancing that and also figuring out his relationship with Thorn, that was the challenge. [34]
Murtagh is not as easy to get along with as Eragon. He is angry with his situation and resentful. Both he and Thorn have all these different feelings going through them, which makes it interesting for a writer to write about them. [23]