Informationen zum Autor CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI. Author of the Inheritance Cycle ( Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance ). Creator of the World of Eragon and the Fractalverse. Holder of the Guinness World Record for youngest author of a bestselling series. Qualified for marksman in the Australian army. Scottish laird. Dodged gunfire . . . more than once. As a child was chased by a moose in Alaska. Has his name inscribed on Mars. Firstborn of Kenneth and Talita. Husband. Father. Asker of questions and teller of stories. Klappentext INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Master storyteller and internationally bestselling author Christopher Paolini returns to the World of Eragon in this stunning epic fantasy set a year after the events of the Inheritance Cycle. Join Dragon Riderand fan favoriteMurtagh and his dragon as they confront a perilous new enemy! Christopher Paolini is a true rarity. The Washington Post The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror . Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society. Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the airand Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems. In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini's blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time . . . or to joyfully return. Praise for Christopher Paolini: A spellbinding fantasy writer. The Boston Globe A breathtaking and unheard-of success. USA Today Make[s] literary magic. People Leseprobe Chapter I ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Maddentide W ill you go alone? Murtagh gave Thorn a quizzical look. The red dragon sat crouched next to him atop the rocky hill where they had landed. In the fading dusk, the sparkle of the ­dragon's scales was subdued, tamped down like coals in a banked fire, waiting for a breath of wind to flare back to brilliance. What? You'd go with me? A wolfish grin split Thorn's jaws, showing rows of sharp white teeth, each as long as a dagger. Why not? They already fear us. Let them scream and scurry at our arrival. The dragon's thoughts resonated like a bell in Murtagh's mind. He shook his head as he unbuckled his sword, Zar'roc, from his waist. You'd like that, wouldn't you? Thorn's jaws hung open wider, and his burred tongue ran across his chops. Maybe. Murtagh could just picture Thorn stalking down a narrow street, scraping the sides of buildings with his armored shoulders, breaking beams and shutters and cornices while folks fled before him. Murtagh knew how that would end, with fire and blood and a flattened circle of destruction. I think you'd best wait here. Thorn shuffled his velvet wings and coughed deep in his throat. His way of laughing. Then perhaps you should use magic to change the color of my scales, and we could pretend to be Eragon and Saphira. Wouldn't that be fine sport? Murtagh snorted as he laid Zar'roc across a patch of dry grass. He'd been surprised to discover that Thorn had a trenchant sense of humor. It hadn't been readily apparent when they'd been bonded, partly because of Thorn's you...

Autorentext

CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI. Author of the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance). Creator of the World of Eragon and the Fractalverse. Holder of the Guinness World Record for youngest author of a bestselling series. Qualified for marksman in the Australian army. Scottish laird. Dodged gunfire . . . more than once. As a child was chased by a moose in Alaska. Has his name inscribed on Mars. Firstborn of Kenneth and Talita. Husband. Father. Asker of questions and teller of stories.

Klappentext

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Master storyteller and internationally bestselling author Christopher Paolini returns to the World of Eragon in this stunning epic fantasy set a year after the events of the Inheritance Cycle. Join Dragon Rider—and fan favorite—Murtagh and his dragon as they confront a perilous new enemy!
 
“Christopher Paolini is a true rarity.” —The Washington Post
 
The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror**.** Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society. 
 
Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air—and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems. 
 
In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini’s blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time . . . or to joyfully return. 
 
Praise for Christopher Paolini:
“A spellbinding fantasy writer.” —The Boston Globe
“A breathtaking and unheard-of success.” —USA Today
“Make[s] literary magic.” —People

Leseprobe
Chapter I

Maddentide

W*ill you go alone?
*
Murtagh gave Thorn a quizzical look. The red dragon sat crouched next to him atop the rocky hill where they had landed. In the fading dusk, the sparkle of the ­dragon s scales was subdued, tamped down like coals in a banked fire, waiting for a breath of wind to flare back to brilliance.

What? You d go with me?

A wolfish grin split Thorn s jaws, showing rows of sharp white teeth, each as long as a dagger. Why not? They already fear us. Let them scream and scurry at our arrival.

The dragon s thoughts resonated like a bell in Murtagh s mind. He shook his head as he unbuckled his sword, Zar roc, from his waist. You d like that, wouldn t you?

Thorn s jaws hung open wider, and his burred tongue ran across his chops. *Maybe.
*
Murtagh could just picture Thorn stalking down a narrow street, scraping the sides of buildings with his armored shoulders, breaking beams and shutters and cornices while folks fled before him. Murtagh knew how that would end, with fire and blood and a flattened circle of destruction.

I think you d best wait here.

Thorn shuffled his velvet wings and coughed deep in his throat. His way of laughing. *Then perhaps you should use magic to change the color of my scales, and we could pretend to be Eragon and Saphira. Wouldn t that be fine sport?
*
Murtagh snorted as he laid Zar roc across a patch of dry grass. He d been surprised to discover that Thorn had a trenchant sense of humor. It hadn t been readily apparent when they d been bonded, partly because of Thorn s youth and partly because of . . . attending circumstances.

For a moment, Murtagh s mood darkened.

*No? Well then, if you change your mind ­
*
You ll be the first to know.

Mmm. With the tip of his snout, Thorn nudged the sword. **I wish you would take your fang. Your claw. Your sharpened afflicti…