Further Details about Writing Murtagh

For Murtagh I did all the maps after writing the book, but that's because I already knew all the locations and was familiar with them from writing the series. So I didn't need to do the maps before writing the book. [12]
What is your system for drawing maps? I usually start by thinking of what I want a location to look like. And that has nothing to do with a map. That's usually just thinking about how it will serve the story. And then the map will be based off of that. The biggest decision is usually what the style of the map should be, whether I want to do like a top-down city map for a place, or if I want it to be a more of a realistic image. So more of, let's say, a landscape painting, one could say, or if I want to do something that's more allegorical and evocative or symbolic, which there's actually one of those in Murtagh that really isn't a map, but it's a symbolic map, let's put it that way. And all of that is governed by what is the effect I hope to achieve with the reader. Because if it doesn't achieve the effect I want, then what's the point of doing it. I do try to avoid maps where I have to draw every single building if it's a city map because that's just annoying. I'd rather draw mountains than cities. [12]
I love the sort of top-down look, which is why I drew the the original map for Eragon in this style. [12]
Maps are an awesome thing, and they add so much to a world. And that's why I love drawing them, and I love finding them in books I'm reading. And it's also why I make such an effort to draw and paint maps for my own books. [12]

What kind of scenes do you enjoy writing most? I really empathize with the characters, so I find it difficult to write scenes where they experience difficulties. I like to write scenes where people wonder about the world, or where the story reaches a climax. With Murtagh, for example, this is the confrontation at the end of the book. Or the fight with the big fish, Muckmaw. There are also quiet moments that I enjoy writing. Again in Murtagh, when Silna – the werecat child – kisses Murtagh's head, that was a very special moment. I like to write things that have meaning and that requires context, so you have to build up to moments that are meaningful, both for myself as a writer and for the reader. [23]
Do you have a favorite moment in the book between Thorn and Murtagh? I have a couple of them. There's a moment after the encounter with Muckmaw when they exchange true names that I quite liked. The end of the Gil'ead sequence. Thorn has an appearance at the end of that sequence, which was rather dramatic. And then right near the end of the book, Thorn gets a crowning moment of awesome, one might say, to use internet speak. But Thorn really, he comes through in a pinch, and I just loved writing that. [32]
What was your favorite scene or moment that you wrote for Murtagh? I'd say the last chapter, and I'm not gonna say why, but I think it's obvious. There's a scene with a creature named Muckmaw, which I quite enjoy. Not just the confrontation with Muckmaw, the aftermath in the water. I was reading Blood Meridian at the time, and I think that influenced my descriptions. And there is a point in the story where something is renamed. And that was a very meaningful scene for me. Also, there's a werecat in the book and I love werecats. They're so much fun to write. [34]
What is your favorite line you've written? The first line I wrote for Murtagh before I had anything really for the book, I thought it was going to be the first line of the book and it ended up being partway through the first chapter, and it was "A man with a dragon is never truly alone." Which since he's an outcast the whole theme of being alone or not alone is kind of relevant. [33]
My favorite good/bad line from Murtagh is: “The water was like liquid ice.”.. . . Yeah, yeah. I know. But you understand what I meant! And that’s the point of writing. Ahahaha!* I didn't notice! just imagined really cold water Can’t tell you how many times I stepped into the Yellowstone River and thought: “This feels like ice! But liquid.” [T]

In the acknowledgments section you said you owe your agent some sushi? Yes! I bet him a sushi dinner, an expensive new York sushi dinner, that I could keep Murtagh under the length of Eragon. And I got close. The first draft was one hundred and sixty eight thousand words long. Eragon is one hundred and fifty six thousand words long. And I figured well I usually drop about ten percent of length in editing, so I thought I'd do that. The problem is I hate over explaining things. I know that sounds incredibly hypocritical based off what I've actually written, but because of my experiences of over explaining things, I've really tried to not do that as much, and so I wrote the book assuming that someone had read the Inheritance Cycle and remembered it. So I didn't explain what a lot of things were because I assumed the reader knew. And my editor came back and said "Christopher, I know what you're doing, but you can't do that. Because someone might pick this up without having read the Inheritance Cycle. And even if someone read the Inheritance Cycle, it's been twelve years. So provide a little context." Well, that ended up being thirty-three thousand words, give or take. So now we're at one hundred and ninety eight thousand words, so I owe my agent a sushi dinner. [17]
It's always interesting to me to see how people do their first chapters in a series. Because I always feel like chapter one is like "previously on..." It's funny. I wrote my latest book with basically no callbacks or explanations of established information. After four books and a million published words, you kind of think people have it under their belt. And my editor came back and she was like, "It's been eleven years since the last book, even if people are fans of the series, you got to give them a little more." So usually when I write a first draft, it drops by about 10% in editing. And with that book, it went up by 33,000 words, which all of it was basically context, which was interesting. So that was a first for me. I'm a kitchen sink author, so I throw everything in and then I usually cut back during editing. [33]
I would love to write books that are more around the length of 100,000 to 150,000 words. Like that's a good, solid length. That's where I was shooting for with Murtagh, but for some reason my editor kept asking me to add more and more stuff so we ended up close to 200,000 words. [1]
Final word count of Murtagh is 198,983 words. So my editor had me ADD about 34,000 words to the book over the course of editing/revising. Ha! That's a first. [T]

Interesting choice to break it up into the sections of each city. Just the section in Gil'ead is basically a novel on its own. There's a full arc in Gil'ead that would be a normal size novel for any other writer. I nearly split it into two volumes, actually, there. But my editor said, "no, don't do that". The funny thing about Gil'ead is that actually was not in my original outline. The whole sequence. And the reason is that, for me, I was envisioning a much shorter book. And the whole thing was going to be them going to the village and dealing with Bachel. So let's get to the village as quickly as possible. So we'll just have a chapter or two at the beginning of getting the information. Well, storytelling 101, you can't make it easy for the character. So having Murtagh just be able to go get that information somewhere, find it out, just felt too easy. Also, I kind of locked myself into a little path because the first chunk of the book is reworking the short story from The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm. And at the end of that, Murtagh does not have the information he needs. So he can't get it from the people he interacts with in that chapter, which if I were writing Murtagh as a complete standalone, I could have considered that. So then I thought, "well, he'll go to Gil'ead and we'll have a really quick thing there. And he'll get his information." I started writing it the way I originally envisioned. But again it was too easy. So it was like, "OK. There needs to be a challenge here. What else is going on? How does it tie into my larger world and story?" And it does. There's some unresolved storylines there, but it does tie into the larger stuff I'm going to later. And then it was half the book. Seriously. At the end of the following chapter, right after Gil'ead, is almost perfectly 50% through the book. I'm sure everyone's heard of the three act play, but there's a competing theory of storytelling, which I'm actually very fond of, which is the five act play. So you have two acts at the beginning, two acts at the end, and then your middle act, and then you have an act in the middle. And in that middle act, you have a tipping point where your character sort of sees what they need, or sees what they can become. They ultimately see their own solution to their problems, but then the rest of the back half of the story is them grappling with that solution, coming to terms with it. And that actually worked, it was not intentional, but it worked out perfectly with the structure of this book. The structure of this book is also directly inspired by some of the structuring that I did in my sci-fi novels and I carried some of it back into Alagaësia. [11]
In regard of Murtagh or any other part of your work, what's the most intense moment for you during the creative process when you are in the midst of writing a novel? A lot of it is intense. I'm gonna divide it into two sections. The creative process itself, in the sense that where I'm creating the story and the characters and the world. In this case, of course, the world was pretty much in place, but in the outlining phase, I should say, that's a lot of fun. There's some pressure in the sense that I know if I don't get it right in that stage, that no matter how well I write the book, it won't hang together particularly well for the reader. So there's strain in that sense that I really want to get it right. But I wouldn't say there's any real pressure, because there's no deadlines at that point. I'm not actually writing the book. During the writing itself, there's definitely strain and intensity in wanting to get it right and do a good job of writing each individual scene and chapter and storyline. And sometimes that can get difficult, especially if I feel like I'm not really getting where I need to get in terms of the effect on the reader. I had that in a couple places in the first draft with Murtagh. One was with the character Bachel herself, who was quite different in the first draft. And then another one actually was the whole Gil'ead sequence, where my original idea for that sequence is actually what happens now in terms of the werecat kittens and all of that. And then I second guessed myself and thought, "well, maybe that's a little cheesy. Maybe I won't have a ticking clock element to that sequence. So I'm just gonna not have that, but he'll still have these various adventures in order to earn this information from the werecat Carabel." And the problem is it removed any sense of tension from that sequence. So I ended up having to rework a lot of the Gil'ead sequence to reintroduce that element, bring in the tension and make it all work. But both of those things happened in the second chunk, which I was gonna say is revision. And revision and editing tends to be the most intense part of the process, because at that point we're usually under deadline. We've committed to a release date and things are happening on the business side of things, that are sort of like unstoppable forces. The ticking clock in the real world. And that tends to be the most intense part because it's not that I can't do the work, I always can and I always am able to get where I wanna go. I'm not stressed about that, it's just instead of having two months to do something, now you got to do it in two weeks, and oh hey, you got a new baby you got to take care of at the same time. And that's what makes it really intense. [19]
One of the things that I loved about the very first half of this novel is that it is a quintessential RPG action adventure. Because poor Murtagh gets pushed and pulled willingly and unwillingly in the strangest directions. Yeah, he's on the series of fetch quests. It's funny. I've had a bunch of people react differently to that. I've seen people who kind of hate it and really love it, and a lot of people who say, "Well, Christopher's just writing out his D&D session". I literally have never played D&D except for my recent trip down to the Authors in the Dungeon down in Utah. So I don't play D&D. I have no one here to play it with. The only RPGs I've ever played are Skyrim and the Mass Effect series. My logic with that sequence was there was a whole lot we needed to see about Murtagh's back history without rehashing the Inheritance Cycle, without actually going back and rewriting scenes from his point of view. And just doing it all in flashbacks and dreams gets a bit tedious. On top of that, originally that sequence wasn't in the book I was going to write. I was going to start with essentially the opening. And then we were going to go to Nal Gorgoth fairly quickly in the book. But it just made it too easy. No one's going to give them the information for free. There's always a price attached to information. There had to be difficulty in getting it. And then once I was digging into that, I was like, okay, how can I use this to show some aspects of Murtagh's character, and then how will that then get reflected in the second half of the book? And how will that let me inform what happens in the second half of the book? And I really enjoyed that stuff. Muckmaw was a particular favorite of mine. [32]

One of the things that we get a lot of in this book that was really wonderful after reading Inheritance, was Thorn's-- we don't really get his POV, but we get some POV through Murtagh of him. I think he only has one line in the entire Inheritance Cycle. In the last book. And we get a lot of him here. And we get a very different Rider-Dragon relationship between him and Murtagh versus Saphira and Eragon. What was the process of crafting that relationship to be similar in its like magical quality, but also different in the fact that they had a very trying kind of hatching? Well that was the key right there. I wanted it to feel different while still maintaining the sense that they'll back each other up no matter what, which they have in the past. That's an important part of that. But Murtagh is kind of a difficult personality himself. Thorn, as we see in the book, of course, had a very, very difficult upbringing under Galbatorix and then later on. And that leaves scars. That leaves marks. So trying to find a way to reflect that in the relationship without having them also just be at each other's throats, because they're not. They are being supportive. But at the same time, it's perhaps an overused word these days, but they have trauma that they are having to battle. [11]
One of my favorite things is the relationship between Murtagh and Thorn--they’re such a lonely duo, but it allows the book to kind of delve into that dragon/rider bond in a new way. What sets their relationship apart do you think? Murtagh and Thorn were joined under the most difficult of circumstances, and that shapes their interactions in a thousand different ways. Their relationship is more, ah, thorny than Eragon and Saphira’s, but they also still love each other and would lay down their lives for one another, should the occasion demand it. I found their interactions really interesting to write. Also, it felt important that I didn’t directly replicate Eragon and Saphira’s relationship. Murtagh and Thorn are very different beings, and readers should see that. [15]
What is the relationship between Murtagh and his dragon Thorn? Thorn's egg hatched when they were imprisoned by King Galbatorix. The two friends have been tortured and manipulated. They retain many traumas. They care deeply for each other and are closely bonded. But their relationship is more difficult than that of Eragon and his dragon Saphira. [4]

I definitely got choked up with just Thorn and his claustrophobia and how it was written, how it was handled, everything surrounding it. Out of pure curiosity, do you or do someone you know have that kind of claustrophobia that you were able to speak to about? No. A large part of the act of writing is the act of imagination, just like with acting. But even though there's no one in my life who suffers from that, when I'm writing Thorn or anyone who might feel that, I do my best to feel what they're feeling, which is why when writing scenes or a large chunk of a book where perhaps things are difficult for the characters, I have a bad time. Yeah, I hope you take breaks. Yeah, that's where it's good to go play with the kids and take a load off one's mind. But some of the battle scenes in Inheritance really got to me at times, because I'm thinking actually especially in Inheritance, but also in Brisingr, there were some large set pieces, battles. And it just takes a couple of weeks to write sometimes. And that's a long time to have your head in blood and guts. [11]

You write so many diverse women in your books that we really enjoy. Between Arya, Angela, Nasuada, Queen Islanzadi, you write fantasy with women in positions of power, with agency and with action. And then we get to this book and we meet this villain, Bachel, and she's basically like, "what if Angela was evil?" I hadn't thought of it that way. I was reading the book. I was like, "Did Christopher Paolini and his sister have a fight? What changed in that relationship?" Because she's awful. So I've watched a lot of movies in my life, and a lot of old movies too. I was thinking of some of the classic actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood who would come on the screen with a very imperious feel, like Sunset Boulevard or All About Eve or some of those films. And Bachel is sort of in that category of presence. And I think it's exactly what was needed to put Murtagh off balance. I was also thinking of Kai Winn from Deep Space Nine. I've always said that Kai Winn and from Harry Potter the headmistress Umbridge, and Hyacinth Bouquet from the British show Keeping Up Appearances. The three of them in a room together will be like a nuclear explosion. When you were approaching bringing this book from the short story about The Fork into a full novel, at what point did you create this character and where did she come from? I had a general idea before writing Murtagh, of course. I did a lot of plotting and preparatory work, but you never know how a character is going to come across until you write the first draft. And in the first draft, Bachel was not as successful as she is now, I think. I was writing the first draft quickly, and I was thinking of the stories a little bit more of like a Edgar Rice Burroughs style adventures. You go off into the jungle, and you find a hidden temple and lost civilization sort of thing. And as a result, in the first draft, Bachel was much more vampy. I really went hard on that angle. And then looking back over, it's like it didn't work. And it was so cliche and obvious. It was like, yeah, I needed to find another approach. So I kept reworking Bachel with each cycle of revision and it was getting better. The character was getting better and better, but I wasn't fully committing to the change. And it was right at the end of revisions. I mean, we were down to the wire and my editor said, we're still not quite there. And even though I hated to have to have any more work at that point, I knew she was right. So I went in. We're talking with a week to spare before we went to the printers. And I rewrote the first four chapters or so when he gets to the village. I rewrote pretty much every line of dialogue of hers and every description of her to bring it to where we are. And then I was like, "OK, now it works", and my editor agreed. She is terrifying and one of those characters that's not mustache twirly evil, but has so much evil within her. She thinks she can do no wrong, that she is always doing the right thing and that she knows what's best for all the people around her. And as a result is capable of anything. So all of which is to answer your question, her character was an iterative process to get where she needed to go. [11]
I try to imagine what it is to create characters and if some of them have the purpose to be a particular message or stand as a parable for a message or an idea and if yes, what does Bachel mean to you in a deeper way? I think the Bachel to me represents unquestioning belief and also the tyranny of unchecked power and control over people's lives. I think what differentiates Bachel from a real world cult leader, for example, and this actually kind of made it interesting to me, is that the Dreamers and Bachel are rational in the sense that they are believing in something that actually exists. The power that they are in awe of and that they are afraid of and that they worship actually exists. And the same is true of the priests of Helgrind. So in a sense they are not irrational to have that reaction. You might argue it's the wrong reaction. I would argue that they're overdoing it and the reaction is wrong and perhaps even evil, but they have more reason for their belief than a lot of people sometimes do because they have physical evidence on an ongoing basis of their object of worship. But again, Bachel would to me represent unchecked fanatical belief as well as personal exploitation of one's power over others. [19]
The cult experience in the pages of Murtagh eerily echoed in some ways certain experiences I've had with religion. Could you talk about where that part of your writing came from or how you went about writing it? I understand why that comment's anonymous, and I'm going to kind of adhere to that philosophy of anonymity here. Without going into details, I've had some family members who were in a cult at one point. And that occasioned quite a bit of discussion in my life growing up. Although the cult might seem, and probably is, completely over the top and cartoony in some ways, you would be astounded by how much of that was essentially true to life. Let's put it this way, playing Far Cry 5, if anyone's familiar with that, was a distinctly uncomfortable experience for me. So I did whatever I do when I encounter something uncomfortable. I played the game like four times in a row. [34]
No matter how outlandish a belief seems, it can be completely realistic in your world. Especially if you have people committed to it. I've had family members who've been in a cult at one point. That was interesting. So I've had firsthand experience seeing a lot of this stuff in person, and I used some of that in my latest book. [25]
How come Bachel is pronounced like that when it’s only one little line away from Rachel? The English language hurts my head. Because it’s not from English, and I wanted it to sound different from every other name in the series. [T]

In Murtagh I have a dragon who's not supposed to be a very nice dragon. I gave him the worst color I could. I have a puce dragon. And mind you, I don't necessarily mind the color itself. It's just for those who don't know, the original definition of the word puce is the color of dried flea blood. So it's a puce dragon. [33]

What was it like cranking up the anxieties of it, the horrors of it? It feels more mature this time around. Well, good. Murtagh is a more mature character, and he's always had a harder road to walk than Eragon. So, going easy on him was never an option, but it was hard to write. It's hard to put my mind in difficult situations for days on end, weeks on end, months on end when writing and editing. It takes a toll on you emotionally. At least, that's my experience because I empathize with the characters and the world. But at the same time, it's so interesting dramatically that I can't avoid it. Actually [the reason] why I wrote the book was that last chunk of the book. That's what everything leading up to was building and hopefully supporting so that when that hits, you're there going, “Oh my god.” [6]
There is a extended period of this book uh that is very traumatic. That is the darkest I think the series ever gets. Where did you find the line? Were there any drafts where you felt like you went too far with that section or where you had to pull it back? Yes. Not a huge amount though. First of all, I throw everything in in my first drafts, kitchen sink, because you can always dial it back, whatever it is. Even if it's a funny scene, it's like I push it as far as I can and then see how it hits the audience. So in the sequence you're talking about, there was one thing in particular I did that I actually don't want to talk about, that I cut out during editing at my editor's very wise advice, and I'm really glad I did. But that was a thing. Because I was like how far can I take this, and that was too far. [11]
Hopefully this is not scaring anyone off from reading Murtagh. No, it's fantastic. And I think just because it is darker doesn't mean it's bad. I think that it's honestly a perfect natural progression from the Inheritance Cycle to this character. I think it's what the character needed. I also don't think it's depressing, ultimately. [11]
Tell me a little about how you see Murtagh’s journey in this book. He’s certainly on a much darker road than his half-brother, how was it getting to write a story that has more mature themes? I found it enormously rewarding to write about a character who is both more mature and more complicated than Eragon was for the majority of the Cycle. Especially now that I’m older myself. Dramatically, Murtagh (and Thorn!) presented all sorts of interesting opportunities, and I did my best to take advantage of them in this book. Also, since a lot of my readers have grown up with the series, even as I did, I wanted to give them a book that would satisfy them as much as it will also hopefully satisfy younger readers. [15]
As a fifteen-year-old boy I would never have been able to imagine such a flawed character as a central figure, but I now view life very differently. And you notice that my readers who have grown along with me also see these extra shades of gray. [18]
Murtagh is indeed a more mature book than Eragon. Did you write it that way on purpose? Yes, Murtagh is an older character in the story than he or Eragon were in the first books. He is also a complicated person. And my readers have grown up with me in the meantime. So I felt it was important to write a book where my oldest readers would see my progression as writing, and read about characters they could once again identify with. At the same time, new readers should not be forgotten. That's why I wrote Murtagh in such a way that you can also read it without knowing the previous four books. I wanted to write a book that revolved around the difficult history of Murtagh and Thorn, but was still a fun adventure to read. [23]
If you love this fandom, why are you making us suffer so much with this book? I mean the ending redeems you a little bit but oh my god. I'm sure it's been an emotional rollercoaster for you too. There are parts of the story that are definitely very difficult for Murtagh and Thorn and part of that may be my own predilection for writing that sort of stuff but mostly it was that Murtagh has done some very unpleasant things in the Inheritance Cycle, especially to Nasuada. And he needed to come to terms with that, he needed to grapple that, he needed to face it. And there was no easy path forward for him. If I had done easy on Murtagh I feel like readers would have decided that I was cheating, going easy, and that Murtagh didn't actually have to face the consequences of his actions. Even if he wasn't a hundred per cent responsible for them at the time. I can assure you that, and I'll say this to other fans as well, after this story Murtagh is going to have an easier time of it. This book resolves his personal journey and Thorn's on a really fundamental level, and so life's going to be a little bit easier for Murtagh moving forward. [17]

So going to Uvek, you've introduced another Urgal. I think that for a lot of readers, the twist on the Urgals in Eldest. They are not just beastial orcs or Uruk-hai or whatever other franchise does with them, Trollocs for Wheel of Time. They are this sentient race that wants to join the fight on the side of good. I think that that shook me when I first read it. How was it bringing another lead character really from that race into the book? And one of the things I really loved about the book is the scene where they're flying to the village, and they see the village of Urgals. And they're just playing with bows. They're just having a normal day. And he has this moment internally where he's like, "oh, maybe I need to be more inquisitive?" Uvek is one of my favorite characters from the book. I like the Urgal culture. I find it interesting. I wouldn't want to live next to an Urgal village, necessarily, especially since I have kids. But dramatically, creatively, they're really interesting to write about. And trying to balance them in the sense that they're a warrior culture like, we could say, the Klingons. But the Klingons take it to such a degree that realistically, you start asking the question of, how have they survived? How do they build a space-frame civilization when it seems like they tear each other apart super quickly? So with the Urgals, I wanted to show more. And in fact, in The Fork of the Witch and the Worm, the largest of the stories in that is The Worm, which is an Urgal story. And since I was looking at ways of exploring the idea of Murtagh and Thorn's relationship with society, being an outcast, all of that. The Urgals are outcasts in the land also. The other races aren't particularly fond of them. That was a nice connection to bring in and reflect off of Murtagh, so to speak. [11]

I just got off a very fresh reread of Murtagh. I just sent in typo corrections and a couple little tweaks here and there for the reprints. [32]
You mention in Murtagh that Murtagh's Gedwëy ignasia is on his right hand, but I think the community assumed it was on his left from Eldest. We're we all wrong or is that a continuity error I found? Typo. Getting fixed in reprints. [T]

I've seen a couple of questions about this, so -- for the record, "divers" is not a typo of "diverse". (Probably got too clever for my own good, but there you go.) Archaic language in fantasy books?!?! Say it ain't so! The language is half the fun. :D [T]
Not a typo. :D Archaic word. [T]
If this hypothetical typo is “divers” … that’s actually the correct word and not a typo. If it’s something else, just send a pic and we’ll get it fixed in reprints. [T]
CHRIS WHAT IS THIS? An excellent and archaic word. [T]
*sigh* . . . “divers” is a real word. Not a typo (and it doesn’t mean those who dive in the water) [T]
I mean, "divers" isn't a typo, so . . . That said, if you do find typos in Murtagh, feel free to tweet them at me. We'll get 'em fixed in reprints. Happens with every book. [T]
Heh. Good thing “divers” is actually a word (and it doesn’t mean someone diving into water). [T]
The thing I want to talk to you about today is Twitter drama. You've been getting in tons of fights with readers lately on Twitter. You've been saying some really awful and hateful things to them just because they're pointing out typos in your book. What's the deal with this "divers" typo? Yes, on the first page of Murtagh there's a word "divers", which is an archaic word that means many or a multitude or different things. And too many people think that I'm referring to scuba divers. So it is a fight worth having. You make up fake words all the time. You're a fantasy author. I think the difference here is that you've made up a fake word which also has a real world definition, a person who dives as a sport, and you've put it on the front page of Murtagh without any context clues provided as to how we should interpret this. This is a book that's part of a world that no one has read in more than 10 years. So don't you think that maybe you should apologize to your readers who have waited all this time for a quality product only to be let down by an "archaic" word, aka a typo, on the first page? Absolutely. In fact, I had a conversation with my editor about this before heading out on book tour and we'll be reprinting the books but we're going to translate it all into Pig Latin which should make it more understandable for readers. [31]

I didn't read FWW,should I read it before read Murtagh? I Thought it was a spin-off book. You don't have to read it ... but I would. It acts as a direct lead-in to Murtagh Honestly I'm finding it shocking the number of people who haven't read FWW. There's a solution to that. . . . (Why does that sound mildly threatening?) [T]
Even if you haven't read the other books I think you can certainly enjoy Murtagh as much or even more. [12]
Is Murtagh Book 5 in the story about Eragon/Alagaësia? Yes [R]
Murtagh is a direct inline full-length sequel to the series, even though it has a different main character. [1]
I just finished Fractal Noise last night, and when you mentioned in the afterward about another book for a certain Eragon character, I was hoping it would be him. Yeah, I wanted to mention Murtagh on the "Also By" page in Fractal Noise, but we weren't sure if Murtagh was getting announced before Fractal Noise got released to early readers. [T]

Click here to continue to Part 6: The Writing and Publication of Eragon

In-Universe Lore

I always assumed when Arya tried to send Saphira’s egg to Brom she missed him geographically but was that a REALLY early clue that Eragon’s his son? So he was “close” to Brom because they’re related? Yup. You got it. [T]
Why Don't People Just Teleport Around? I know Oromis said that the teleporting spell is a taxing one, but Arya sent Saphira's egg halfway across the continent on her own. It seems like it would be easier to travel long distances in a few "hops" with breaks in between. Especially once Eragon gets the Eldunarí. Good question. Maybe you'll get some answers. :D [R]

Since Murtagh and Brom met briefly, I was wondering, had we had more time with Brom, would he have considered Murtagh for simply who he is or whose son he is? I think he would have needed to have gotten to know Murtagh. So I think he would have been immediately suspicious of him, especially given the circumstances under which they met. And of course meeting him would have been a very emotional experience for Brom, given his history with Morzan. So it would have been difficult. And of course, once Murtagh realized who Brom was and that he was responsible for killing Morzan, then that would have made it that much more difficult. Eragon will have been so clueless in that moment. Oh yeah, but that's kind of the definition of Eragon in the first couple of books, he has no idea what's going on. He's like, "who, me, what, what?" [19]

If I recall correctly, there are only 3 or four shades that were recorded to be killed in history. What happens to all other Shades that were created? Actually, what I said in (Eragon, I think) is that there were only a few people who had killed a Shade and lived. But yes, they're super dangerous and difficult to deal with. [R]

What happened to Tornac, Murtagh's horse? Is he still alive? How is he doing? No comment. [19]

I actually had a whole backstory planned with Nasuada's mother for The Inheritance Cycle and just the way the scenes worked out in the series, there was never an opportunity for that that to naturally come out in her conversations with anyone that we saw. [11]

I wonder if the elves in the Forsworn continued their vegetarianism? Sure they were evil, but I know lots of vegans/vegetarians who are still jerks to people but not animals. They may have been evil, but they weren't barbarians! (From their point of view.) [T]

Will we ever learn how Murtagh healed Thorn so quickly in Eldest? Eldunarí [T]

If spirits are self-sustaining, why are they drawn to sources of power, and why do they "drink from the emanations that give them life" despite the fact they are self-sustaining? A clarification: they're self-sustaining in the sense that they're stable patterns that can persist over time. However, like all living things, they still need sustenance, which they get in the form of energy (usually electromagnetic) that they absorb/consume from the environment. [R]

In Brisingr, Rhunön says while forging the sword Brisingr that children have something special. They are born, with "gifts of grace and gifts of power that no grown elf can hope to match" and their "blossom withers" over time. How do you feel about that quote, now that you are a father and that you have children? Oh, I stand by it. I think you could say the same is true for human children to a degree. They're born with a share of innocence and beauty even that we all lose as we age. We gain things in return. We gain wisdom. We gain knowledge. We gain strength. Hopefully we gain patience and kindness also. But there is something special about childhood. A timelessness which I suppose goes back to innocence. And of course with the elves, since they're tied into magic in ways that we aren't, there are other factors in play as well. They have powers or abilities that somehow outstretched that of any adult elf? Well, my thought was the inhibitions are lower. The barriers between them and the flow of magic is different. And so they are more naturally inclined toward wild magic. That is magic unbounded by the ancient language. And not that it always happens, but just in general, I think with the Elven children, you never quite know what might happen. And then as they get older, as they hit their equivalent of adolescence, it all becomes much more constrained and adult. When are you considered an adult for the elves, like 50 years old? I don't want to commit to an actual number at the moment. I'd have to look at it. I know I've always thought about a very rough guide would be like 20 to 30 is kind of their teenage years, roughly. And then you're not considered a young adult until well after that. And I try to think when Arya took up her role as ambassador and left, Du Weldenvarden. And it might've been when she was like 20 or 30, something like that. She would've been, really kind of too young to do that, but it'd be like a, 18-, 19-year-old going off to join the foreign legion or something, but people do that. [19]

In Inheritance, is what Angela is writing down a Doctor Who reference? Maybe. Is it raxacoricofallapatorius? Now that would be copyright infringement. Right, it is the legally distinct version of that. Yes, I am a Doctor Who fan. I have to ask, have you read To Sleep in a Sea of Stars? I actually haven't yet. That is next on the list. Well, the reason I asked is there is a certain short curly-haired woman with a cat who appears in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars that might answer a few of your questions or raise a couple more. [11]
Murtagh was an amazing ride. I just missed Angela. She does appear in the book. Just under a different name . . . [Uluthrek] [T]
Has Angela the Herbalist ever gotten drunk? Most likely. [T]

Would Eragon have been able to defeat Barst? Yes. [R]

Jeod says "The spell you sent me, however, did not work when I read it from the scroll." I don't recall him ever being mentioned as a spellcaster. He'd have to be though, for him to be able to cast this spell right? Nope. Non-magicians can cast spells if the spells are, in essence, pre-loaded with energy. So if a scroll/gem/object is imbued with the necessary energy to enact the spell, then all you need to do is trigger the release of the energy by performing the necessary action (in this case, reading the words of the spell off the scroll). [R]

Arya and Murtagh aren't getting ANY actual “rider” training. Eragon is the only rider alive who was taught rider-only knowledge. And neither Fírnen or Thorn has a dragon to teach them dragon-only knowledge. Don’t forget some of the Eldunarí stayed behind in Ellesméra with Arya and Fírnen. Was in deluxe edition of Inheritance and then added to later printings of main edition. [R]

What will happen if a dragon was to hatch in the Dûrgrimst Az Sweldn rak Anhûin? I'm not sure that the dwarves would allow any of those clan members to come before the dragon eggs. If that did happen and one dragon hatched for them, I think it'd be very difficult politically, and it's entirely possible that the dragon for whom it hatched would be exiled from their clan. I thought that maybe it will make them change, but no, it's unlikely after all since they showed so much antagonization. I mean, come on, how often do people change their beliefs? Not often. [19]

You aren't exactly the kind of guy that I would openly give like a bad review to. Good, you should do it anonymously. That's what the internet was made for. I wouldn't give you a bad review, like under my real name, because I can't think of any other author whose magic system is specifically able to give someone testicular torsion. Could we get a firm pronunciation of that spell? It would be bowler, that's actually how you would say it. Böllr, that's ball of course, thrysta. Böllr thrysta. And it's considered the worst spell in the World of Eragon. You're really discouraged from using it. And those who use it are usually exiled and/or killed on the spot. Wow. So it's sort of akin to like an unforgivable curse. It is an unforgivable curse. That's right. Well thank you so much. I'll have to remember that spell for the next time someone suggests a really bad idea. Like leaving a bad review on my books? No, I was thinking like if someone said, hey, do you guys want to go watch Eragon? [31]

Dragons

I think something you always run into if you're trying to depict dragons as real world animals is how do you actually get them to breathe fire if there's a biological process? My solution is just magic which was easy. With a lot of CGI dragons the wings are always too small. You need massive wingspan to get a body that size off the ground. Real world physics, if you're gonna have them fly, they need to have very big wings. I have the privilege of living in a part of the country where quite a few dinosaurs have been dug up. In fact, not too far from my house, they dug up a, I think it was a brontosaurus. And the big museum near me in Bozeman, Montana, the Museum of the Rockies has one of the best dinosaur exhibits in the world. And the paleontologist Jack Horner actually worked in conjunction with that museum for many years. And I got to have a sort of behind the scenes tour with him one time and he showed me these bones from the wings of a pterosaur. Huge, huge animal. And the wings were so fragile and he was talking about the ratio of the wings to the body size and the weight that could actually lift and everything. And you either need some massive genetic engineering or some magic to make dragons actually possible. [30]
Just finished Murtagh and holy flaming dragon balls was that an amazing, wild ride from start to finish! You're very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it! (For the record, dragon, ah, gonads are internal. Just to be clear.) [T]
Where do the dragons poop? Wherever they want. [R]

What discoveries about dragons do you continue to uncover and how do you continue to draw inspiration for describing the dragons in very different ways? If I were writing a story that wasn't in the World of Eragon, something completely new, then I think I'd draw a little bit more from some stuff I've read in mythology and just other fantasy books over the years. Specifically in this series though, what I'm discovering, if anything, is just further exploration of what I've already established. So taking it to the logical extremes of, okay, if the dragons exhibit these traits, what about this? What about that? How would that actually influence things? And also in my world, I have a couple of dragon-adjacent species. Because it seemed to me that if the dragons existed, as with most creatures, there'd be something similar as well, similar, that had evolved along similar lines, but wasn't actually a dragon. So I have a couple of those. And those are fun to play with as well. [34]

How would you make a giant dragon ecologically feasible? But I don't know if there's a way to even do that. I always thought that the only way it would work would be if dragons were kind of like whales, which are predators. So you can have so many very large predators and it really depends on having enough biomass underneath them to support that. And I kind of look at various reptiles and snakes where especially as they get larger, they gorge and then they go into hibernation. They rest, they digest for sometimes months and months at times. And that could be semi-realistic and it fits with some of the mythology. But if you get into really large dragons, which is always fun to write about, even the physics of supporting their own weight aside, let's say it's magic or they've got adamantium bones or whatever and muscles, but then what are they actually eating? They'd have to go pick up blue whales and down a blue whale every once in a while. It's really the only conceivable thing. Or you'd be wiping out entire herds of everything. I think the complicating factor is that so many dragons in our books and other books are really intelligent. So you have the double whammy of a very large predator who might also have human level, if not more, intelligence. And then you really got to start wondering about the impact on the ecology. It's like, well, OK, maybe the dragon just takes a large valley and sees a couple herds there. And so it carries a couple boulders over and blocks off each end of the valley. And now its own private ranch. And you're going to live and grow there and get eaten occasionally, and the dragon's happy. See, now I'm picturing Yellow Scale Ranch, like a city of Yellowstone. And the dragon has a cowboy hat and maybe a walking stick. What do you think's under the caldera? Why do you think it erupts every so many tens of thousands of years? [30]
One thing that's never talked about enough with dragons and how they hunt and eat is just how bad it would smell if they went after a flock of sheep. Do you know how bad birds would smell? The stench would drive off every creature, every predator, every human in probably like a 20 mile radius. [30]

One of my favorite scenes was right after Muckmaw, when Murtagh wouldn't let him eat him. The funny thing is, when they're flying over some mountains, Thorn is talking about eating Urgals, and Murtagh makes him promise that he's not going to eat an Urgal, or a Human, or an Elf, and he conveniently leaves out the Dwarves. Which readers have immediately picked up on. And someone said, well, you know, the Dwarves do kind of have it out for Murtagh because he killed their king. So maybe Murtagh left that out on purpose. That he's just giving a little bit of a loophole for Thorn. That if Thorn needs to eat a dwarf, Murtagh's not going to be too concerned. To be fair, I do think that Saphira would really have no qualms about eating someone she didn't like either. No, but I think that she'd have justification, right? Well, yeah, I mean, Thorn's justification is he doesn't like you or he's hungry. Those are good justifications. [32]

We all know that Saphira is a great mead aficionado. Is it something that's only her fancy or do some other dragons also like that? Some other dragons definitely enjoy drinking, so it's not just Saphira. There was probably some wild parties in Vroengard then. Oh yeah, and it's actually a common thing in the wild and lots of animals will try to get fermented berries and essentially get themselves drunk. So I think dragons probably enjoy a good drink now and then. It seems to be the smarter the animal, the more they like alcohol. [19]

In Eragon, correct me if I'm wrong, if the Rider dies, the dragon dies, right? So that's actually something they invented for the film version. They will often die, just because the bond is so strong. But there's nothing like that compels the death. It's more like they're suicidal, they feel horrible, and they they end it. [33]

Why is Saphira blue? Because I'm color blind. I am red-green color blind. I see both red and green, but I see less of them than someone with normal color vision. And so if you've read the books, the way that I described dragon vision is how I see the world. Blue is the most vibrant color I tend to see. And thus, Saphira is blue. However, I've been told that the blue that I think Saphira is, is actually purple for someone with normal color vision. So I see purple as the most amazing blue. So she is a purple dragon, but I say she's blue. [35]
Back when I just finished Inheritance, I had some daydreams/fanfiction about the first new dragon that would hatch after Eragon left Alagaësia. Just wondering if you have guesses on the new dragon's color? Puce. [R]

Men, Dwarves, and Elves each have their own gods and religion. What about Dragons? Do they have their own gods and religion? Dragons ARE gods. At least, that’s what *they* think. [T]

Could dragons make good pets? I clearly prefer dogs and cats! Dogs love us for life. Cats are the perfect companions for writers. In fact, my dragons behave like cats! Like them, they have high self-esteem. They are very proud. [4]

I know we all hate the movie because it’s awful, but I’m rewatching now and damn is newborn Saphira adorable as all hell. She needed to be fiercer looking, like a baby hawk. But yes, very cute. [R]
Saphira's supposed to look beautiful, right? She's FABULOUS. [R]
I was just wondering what you thought about Saphira's Rule 34 page. I don't want to think about it. [31]

Which character do you think is the most tragic, with the most disappointments and loss? Shruikan [R]

Murtagh

How do you pronounce Murtagh, your new book? Because Italians have their pronunciations, English has its own pronunciations. We pronounciation the "gh" here in Italy. First of all, in The World of Eragon there are many different dialects and languages. So the way you say his name is how is name would be said in certain parts of the world. I say Murtagh (mur-tag) but I'm an American so my vowels are very flat, and in The Word of Eragon it probably would be said much more like Murtagh (murr-tug) or something like that. Like in Italian Ci. The first time I was in Italy, for Eldest, or for my second book. My parents came to visit while I was in Italy, and I was calling their room and I called to the front desk of the hotel and I asked for their room and I gave them the last name and I said "Paolini" (pow-li-ni) and they go "No. No. No." I said "Paolini (pow-li-ni)". "No. No. No. No one by that name." And finally I went "Paolini (pay-oh-liii-niiiiiiiii)". And they go "Ohhhhhhhh". [Note that when the translator tries saying this answer back in Italian all the Paolinis sound the same.] We also have a lot of different accents in the Italian language. That may have also helped out. No, I know. My family is originally from Bologna, and I watched a lot of Italian films and shows. The difference between what you hear in Inspector Commissario Montalbano versus some of the other films is very different. [7]
I reserve the right to butcher my character's names however I darn well please. And I have gotten into extended discussions with my fans about whether it is Murtuag, Murtag, or Murtah because Murtah is actually a real Irish name. And because I'm an uncouth American and I have flat vowels, I say Murtag, but it probably should be Murtuag and of course historically it's Murtah. [33]

Why isn’t the map in English? Because it’s Murtagh’s actual map. The translation key is in the back of the book. [T]
Did you draw this and then fold and crease the page, and this is a photograph of that, or are the creases drawn? Neither. I drew it and then placed a picture of creased paper under the drawing, on a separate layer. The map by itself, without the paper image, looks rather bare, as I designed it to work with the underlying texture. [T]
The reason it's only half of Alagaësia, is because if you translate this bit, and there is a translation key in the back of the book, it says this is an imperial map. So this is a map from the Empire that Murtagh was given before the end of Inheritance. [17]
I've gotten a few people who've been annoyed that in the map at the beginning of Murtagh, all the locations are labeled in runes, which I do provide a Rosetta Stone for at the back of the book. Of course, you have to go look in the back of the book and know that it's there in order to figure that out. So some people have been like, "How am I supposed to know where Murtagh is? Come on." But the idea was that it is a in-universe artifact. It's actually the map that Murtagh himself is carrying around, which is why it's all wrinkled and stained and actually is what he's carrying around. [34]
The map at the beginning and the other illustrations are very dark. Is this deliberate or just an error? Printing error. It shouldn’t be that dark. [T]

There was also an instance where it says that the dwarves and humans use different runes, but in Eragon, it is mentioned that they use the same runes. Same runes arranged differently. [T]
While reading Murtagh, I came across a line where he is unable to read the dwarvern runes, however in Eldest, Gannel tells Eragon that humans adopted the dwarvern runes as their own. There's a discussion about the differences between the human and dwarven runes included at the back of Murtagh. [R]

If there will be a duel between Mr. Stabby, which technically cannot be broken, and Tinkledeath that can cut through almost everything, how will the duel ensue? I would guess that Mr. Stabby could hold off Tinkledeath, at least for a time. But trying to block a sword with a fork is very, very difficult, so I wouldn't want to try. [19]

You have magic, dragons, ugly bird men and their ugly Wal-Mart bird dragons, bears the size of houses, elves that dress up as furries, and rocks that grow from farm soil! What a fantastical universe Don't forget the giant boars, the horned goat/sheep people, the ten-mile-high mountains, the giant whirlpool, and the spirit-possessed magicians. Oh yeah, and what are Svartlings? [R]

In this book there are indeed many plot twists, epic new enemies, but you know what I wasn't expecting? Murtagh becoming a poet. Was it because you've become keen on poetry as well? It's because if you've ever spent a fair bit of time without the Internet and without television and without radio and without books, you get really bored quite honestly. Especially if you have the sort of mind that like you need to do something with your mind and I think Murtagh is that sort of a person. Like he has too many unpleasant things to think about in his life and so he needs to distract himself. And after the end of Inheritance he knows he's changed and I think he's trying to think of himself in a new light as a new person. So for me it was like fifty percent him trying to entertain himself, fifty percent him trying to avoid thinking about things he didn't want to think about. And then of course outside of the actual universe of the story it's me the author enjoying doing poetry. But I wouldn't put it in if I didn't think it made sense for the character. [17]

The werecat Carabel tells Murtagh that he must use a dragon scale to lure Muckmaw. She insists that “only the scale of a dragon will suffice for Muckmaw.” But why Glaedr’s scale? Couldn’t they have removed one of Thorn’s to use as bait? I was surprised that neither Murtagh or Thorn thought of it — even if just to dismiss it as a bad idea. You're right: I should have addressed this in the book, if even only to have Murtagh have the knee-reaction of "I'm not pulling a scale off Thorn!" to which Carabel would have said, "I'm not asking you to." etc. [R]
Why not any other scale, why only Glaedr's scale? Why didn't Murtagh ask the same question? Murtagh would NEVER volunteer to pull a scale off Thorn. Especially not if there was a possible alternative. [T]
Who was the elf that was protecting Glaedr's scale? Murtagh literally has to stab himself to free himself from the mental grip of someone, and he's not the least bit curious as to who it is? I think it's one of the two elves standing outside the stone house in Gilead. The ones that Murtagh purposefully avoided. This. [R]

"He blinked and took a closer look at the back wall. Was there something on the ... Yes. A faint line of white chalk. He traced it with his eyes and found that the line drew an arch from floor to head height. An arch or a doorway. The idea of a doorway. A yearning for freedom." Sounds like the kind of door Angela drew in FWW... Sure does. [T]

How did Murtagh not get scurvy when he was living off the land? My boy didn't have a single fruit. Organ meats and pine-needle tea. [T]

I think [Murtagh and Thorn] are very very ignorant of magic. Like when they were talking about going south and were like "welp there's no faster way to contact anyone other than courier". I was practically screaming "YES THERE IS IT'S CALLED SCRYING YOU IDIOTS" Nasuada would be warded against random scrying, and Murtagh knows this. Pretty sure he thinks about this exact point when considering how to get info to Nasuada near the end of the Gil'ead sequence. [R]

I was describing this book [Murtagh] to my partner while I was reading it. And he goes "these two characters sound like they have ADHD". And I was like, "I see it." I don't know. They focus pretty well on the things they do. [32]

Is the "unnamed shadow" in Eragon's Guide to Alagaësia the DraumaAzlagûr? It is not referring to Azlagûr. [R]
Could Azlagûr be a Chinese Dragon? The old Chinese explanation for solar eclipses WAS a dragon eating the sun. Scary [R]

You tie Galbatorix to Bachel in this book in a way. Was there was that like nerve-wracking, because there's that element of like 'oh am I going to take something away from the previous story by tying it in here'? Yeah and it's possible some people are going to view it as too much of a retcon, but to that I would say two things. One, a lot of this has been planned for a very long time by me. Two I wouldn't believe 100% everything Bachel says. I have my own theories for what Galbatorix thought and felt and was actually up to. I don't think actually that the Dreamers had as much control. In fact the whole reason I'm sure he was looking for the name of names, the name of the ancient language, was to wipe the Dreamers out in many ways. I wouldn't trust everything Bachel says. [11]
Galbatorix downfall was his unawareness of non-worded magic, but in Murtagh he and the forsworn meet Bachel who only uses unworded magic. Remember: Bachel lies. And even if she didn't, and Galbatorix was aware of wordless magic, he never would have thought to protect himself against a spell meant to help him, not hurt him. [T]
The whole "Galby lost part of his army in the spine" thing was a result (in part) of his attempt to deal with the Dreamers, and we have Bachel boasting that even Galbatorix couldn't stop them. And yet, we've been told that Eragon and the Eldunarí could have dealt with the Dreamers without too much difficulty. Galbatorix was significantly more powerful than they were, even without the Name of Names. So, if we take-as-given that Galbatorix wanted the Dreamers gone, why are they still there? He knew where they were, he knew he had the means to obliterate them, and (by his own estimation) the Varden was no real threat to him. 1. Bachel lies. 2. The Urgals wiped out Galbatorix's army. No contradiction there. Were they controlled/influenced by the Dreamers? Good question. 3. The Dreamers themselves aren't the real threat. 4. Galbatorix knew more than Murtagh/readers know. [R]
The thing that bothered me about the Ra'zac saying he's getting close to finding the Name is that I can't figure out any way they would have any indication of whether he's "close." There are many different names for the language, some more descriptive than others, but only one true name. It would be like saying, “I know Latin!” vs. “I know this exact dialect from this exact time period, and it is called X.” There are layers of specificity. [R]

Do you have a favorite scene or character or moment that you want to share? I really liked when Bachel shook the valley. Did she shake the valley though or is there a giant dragon under the Earth that moved in its slumber? Because I have theories. Well that's a good question. [11]

The scenes where Thorn was being put in an arena when he was young, is it a vision or is it a real recollection of Murtagh? That was a real recollection. [19]

Was there a reference in murtagh to the pommel throwing technique? A certain character [Tornac] asked "Did you end him rightly?" And that made me remember the German fencing manual? Or was this just coincidence? There are no coincidences. @Skallagrim Ok, but like are we supposed to interpret this as a valid technique in-universe which Murtagh did? Or perhaps as a joke that the above mentioned character decided was appropriate to reference at that particular moment? It's both. It's a valid historical technique and also a joke within the HEMA community. Though not meant to be a joke between characters. [T]

I just finished Murtagh and one thing that sticks to my mind is how pointless / tame the torture scenes were. The torture was worse than you think. I just didn’t want to write it out in detail. [R]
My personal theory is that Bachel forced Murtagh to inflict the pain on his own body through the breath or invading his mind. I could see Bachel forcing Thorn to maul Murtagh, Or Murtagh to torment Thorn under the breath. It was even worse than either of those two options, sorry to say. [R]

I just noticed; the Fractalverse logo & the center of [the Ithring] symbol, are similar. Shhh. [T]

Does the explosion from “compress air and gather light” come from Murtagh [focusing] a bunch of light into a spot, which would heat up the air and cause it to rapidly expand? Bingo. And if there was watemoisture at the target location (which there was), you'll get a steam explosion. [R]
One of the spells Murtagh cast in the book, I think the translation was "Compress the air and gather light." And then a big explosion happened. Was that lightning or was that a form of plasma that had become unstable? Superheated watemoisture expanding. Basically, a steam explosion. [T]

You really put Murtagh through a lot. And it made me both smile and ache for him. I did put him through it. And one of the reasons is because although it was not his choice, he did some pretty unpleasant things and coming to terms with that was never going to be easy. And I think he will have an easier time of it moving forward now. He'll never have the life that Eragon has, but I think he has a chance at a more normal life now. As normal as he'll ever have a life. I wouldn't be surprised if he wakes up in a cold sweat, having some bad dreams for a couple of years, but I think he's on the path to healing. [19]

Given the new paradigm of Nasuada being a queen, how will she manage to have at the same time potent enough magicians and keeping control of magic in her realm as decades will go on in the future, especially since she's not a magician herself? That is the problem she's grappling with and it's a difficult one. I think the solution she's settled on at the moment is insufficient, with drugging people who don't want to join Du Vrangr Gata or don't want to swear this or that. So my thought is that now that Murtagh is spending time with her and Murtagh has had this experience of being controlled by Bachel's breath, he has a unique perspective on all of this, and perhaps that will help guide Nasuada's thoughts and approaches moving forward. But it's a problem. I've seen people criticize Nasuada's choices with how to deal with the magicians. And I'll happily agree it's not ideal, but it's also not ideal to have random people wandering around who can kill you with a word or who can slip into your mind and control you and you have no defense against that. It's a major major problem and no one would put up with it in the real world. If you knew that was a possibility and you suspected someone of being a magician, that's the sort of thing where witch hunts and magician hunts start actually making a lot of sense. Maybe not on an individual moral level, but from a societal standpoint, it starts making a lot of sense why you might kill those people.* [19]

What are Murtagh & Nasuada up to at this moment in time? Standing outside the small, barred room hidden behind her council chamber. [T]

Fractalverse

Sometimes I overthink things and end up confusing readers. Example: in Fractal Noise, I have my civilian characters use twelve-hour time. But they refer to the times using 24-hour terminology. So they'd say "Oh-nine-hundred" for 9am OR 9pm and rely on context for the listener to understand. Problem is, I never really explained what I was doing to readers. Lol. Ah well. Live and learn. [T]
Re-read To Sleep after reading Fractal Noise and somewhere in To Sleep it says the Great Beacon pulses ever 5.2 seconds but in Fractal Noise it says it's around 10 seconds. Is this a misprint? Yes. Was corrected in reprints. [T]
I have so many unanswered questions about Talos & the hole! Can we pleease get some lore on it. Lore upcoming in the next #Fractalverse books. So. Much. Lore. There's an entire dimension to the story that isn't yet apparent. [T]
If you think about it, the #Fractalverse has seven dimensions: three-subluminal, one luminal, and three superluminal. . . . I'm sure it's just coincidence. Why 3 subluminal and 3 superluminal? I thought the Tri-Space model was 3 realms? Yes, three realms, but superluminal and sub-luminal space are each 3D, while the luminal realm is just a membrane separating them. (Technically the membrane has an infinitesimal thickness to it, but that's splitting TEQs. For all practical purposes, it's 1D.) [T]

Fan Theories

I understood that some seeds had been planted in Murtagh, which made me wonder. Those seeds were even already in Brisingr. [23]
How far does the history of Alagaësia go, with all the associated myths and legends? You are now looking at the figurative tip of the iceberg. There is much more. There are fans who can now finally connect some of the clues I left in Eragon and my science fiction books. They suddenly get an inspiration and say: “Christopher doesn't play chess, he plays 4D chess.” But I have given away a lot of hints in my books, which I now have to do something with. In the coming books, both in Eragon and in my science fiction books, we will get more of the history, including things that I laid the foundation for years ago. So are both series connected? No comment. [23]
In the fan community there have been some very smart people who have been concocting some elaborate theories of what is actually going on in the World of Eragon and the Fractalverse. And they’re not right on everything but they’ve gotten pretty close in some very interesting ways. And all I'll say is that yes, I am doing a quite a lot of deep things and it isn't really apparent yet, and that's just my own fault, because I haven't written the next couple of books that will confirm what it is I'm actually doing on a deep level. So I'm looking forward to that. [32]
Have you seen any theories out there that have been correct? Yeah, a couple. There's a couple of really super smart fans in my fan base who've finally caught on to some of the very deep things I've been doing in the background of both my fantasy books and also my sci fi ones. And they've been like picking apart the world and going, wait a minute. Did Christopher mean this? Did he mean this? And nine times out of ten, the answer is yes. It's really hard to outsmart the crowd. There's so many smart people out there. And I love seeing that engagement. [33]
I have a bunch more theories on Giants but I'll save it for another post. You better write that post about the Giants. [R]
There are a lot of specific references to the moon in relation to the Ra'zac. Sheesh. All this talk of moons makes me wonder why/how Angela ended up being called Uluthrek. [R]
Fractal Noise has nearly no lore pertaining these theories. Ahem. All this talk about spirits and not a single mention of the 'angels' from FN? [R]
There gotta be something interesting at the top of Beors. Nobody has been to the top yet, not even the Riders. Pretty much little to zero breathing air at that point. Seems like the perfect place to have magical or immortal beings kinda just hanging out away from anything. Heh [R]
Right now no matter what way you swing it, we have issues in terms of time. Angela's presence makes things infinitely more complicated. Correct. I'm also guessing we're dealing with the very real issue of "Paolini is making up new shit as he goes", and is finding ways to retroactively make things fit together. Incorrect. (Or at least, mostly incorrect. :D) There's a major piece to the puzzle that I haven't shared yet. The next two Fractalverse books will clarify. [R]

Click here to continue to Part 4: Murtagh & Murtagh (the book and the character)