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2005 book by Christopher Paolini

Eldest is the second novel in The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini and the sequel to Eragon. It was first published in hardcover on August 23, 2005, and was released in paperback in September 2006. Eldest has been released in an audiobook format, and as an ebook. Like Eragon, Eldest became a New York Times bestseller. Other editions of Eldest are translated into different languages.

Eldest begins three days after the events of the preceding novel, Eragon, in the dwarf city of Tronjheim, inside of a hollowed mountain named Farthen Dûr. Farthen Dûr is in the southeastern part of Alagaësia, the fictional continent where The Inheritance Cycle takes place. Throughout the novel, the protagonists travel to many different places: Ellesméra, the elven capital city in the forest Du Weldenvarden, on the northern portion of Alagaësia; Carvahall, a small town located on the northwestern part of Alagaësia in Palancar Valley; and Aberon, the capital of Surda, in the southern portion of Alagaësia.

The story is told in third person through protagonists Eragon, Roran, and Nasuada. Eragon is nearly always accompanied by his dragon Saphira. Due to the multiple points of view, multiple stories take place concurrently, and the protagonist characters do not meet often. Several other characters return from Eragon, including Arya (the elf warrior, daughter of the elven queen), Orik, Roran (Eragon's cousin and a major character), Ajihad (the leader of the Varden, who dies and is replaced by his daughter Nasuada), and Angela (the herbalist). Some new characters are introduced in Eldest, such as Oromis and his dragon Glaedr. Murtagh appears briefly as a minor protagonist but then reappears later as a primary antagonist with his dragon, Thorn.

Eldest begins as Ajihad, the king of the rebel Varden force, is ambushed and killed, while The Twins and Murtagh are assumed dead. Ajihad's daughter Nasuada is elected to command the Varden, and decides to move them to Surda and oppose the Empire openly. Eragon and Saphira decide to travel to the forest Du Weldenvarden to be trained as a Dragon Rider by the elves. The dwarf king, Hrothgar, adopts Eragon to his clan and has his now foster brother, Orik, accompany him to the forest. There, Eragon meets the stranger who had contacted him, revealed to be a Rider, Oromis, with his Dragon Glaedr, the only Dragon and Rider secretly alive. However, both are crippled, and so cannot fight Galbatorix directly, choosing to pass on their knowledge. Eragon and Saphira are taught the use of logic, magic theory, scholarship, and combat, among other things. However, having received a back injury in the previous book, Eragon is beset by agonizing seizures, which debilitate him. He also struggles with his romantic feelings for Arya, while Saphira has similar struggles toward Glaedr. Arya becomes aware of his feelings, and distances herself from him, not to interfere in his education, while Saphira is violently rejected by Glaedr. Eventually, in an ancient elven ceremony, the Agaetí Blödhren, Eragon is affected by powerful magic, turning him into an elf human hybrid, and healing his back injury. He makes another romantic attempt on Arya, but she gently rejects him, and leaves to rejoin the Varden. Meanwhile, unknowing of all of this, Eragon's cousin Roran plans to marry Katrina, daughter of Sloan, the village butcher. While the village is at peace, they are unexpectedly attacked by Galbatorix's soldiers and the Ra'zac, who had killed Roran's father, Garrow. Roran fights the soldiers with a hammer, which becomes his signature weapon. The Ra'zac and most of the soldiers escape, saying that they want information from Roran. The entire village then sets up defenses, and during a second invasion, the Ra'zac escape again. One night, Roran wakes up to find Katrina being attacked by the Ra'zac, who sneaked into the house. They seriously injure him and capture Katrina. Sloan, revealed to be in league with the Ra'zac, is then flown away by them, along with Katrina. Torn between chasing after Katrina and staying behind to defend his home, Roran rallies almost the entirety of the village to travel to Surda and join the Varden. On the way, they journey to Teirm, where Roran meets Jeod, Brom's friend, who informs him about Eragon, and decides to go with them. With Jeod's help, they steal a ship, and journey toward Surda by sea. Meanwhile, Nasuada struggles under the burdens of leadership. She hatches a plan to fund them by selling magically crafted lace, to alleviate their financial troubles. She also meets Elva, a child supposedly blessed by Eragon in the previous book. Eragon is revealed to have botched the blessing with poor phrasing, accidentally forcing Elva to feel the pain of others. Elva uses her abilities to save Nasuada from an assassination attempt. Nasuada eventually learns that Galbatorix is fielding a massive army against them, and sends for help from the dwarves and Eragon. Eragon has a prophetic dream of the coming battle, and decides to interrupt his training to aid the Varden in battle. Oromis consents and provides him with numerous gifts to help him, but insists he return to finish his training after the battle. He journeys with Saphira and Orik to the Varden's camp, reuniting with Nasuada and Arya, and meeting Elva, promising to rid her of his failed blessing. The Varden are then joined by an army of Urgals, who seek an alliance with them after being freed of Durza's control. As the battle begins, it goes poorly for the massively outnumbered Varden. Roran and the dwarves arrive mid battle, and begin to turn the tide in favor of the Varden, but an unknown Dragon Rider unexpectedly arrives and kills Hrothgar. Eragon engages this Rider, who proves an even match, and unmasks him, revealing him to be Murtagh. Murtagh reveals he was kidnapped by the Twins, who had betrayed the Varden. After the dragon, named Thorn, had hatched for him, they were both forced into loyalty by Galbatorix. Meanwhile, the battle proceeds, with the Twins revealing themselves and causing massive losses among the Varden, until Roran kills them. Murtagh and Eragon resume their fight, with Murtagh easily defeating Eragon through magic. He shows mercy to him, on account of their old friendship, but takes Eragon's sword Zar'roc, which he claims to be his inheritance, revealing that he and Eragon are brothers. Ultimately, the Varden win the battle. The book ends as Roran asks Eragon for help in rescuing Katrina, to which he agrees.