Eldest
Christopher Paolini
 Eldest begins as Ajihad, the leader of the rebel Varden force, is ambushed and killed, with Murtagh gone while The Twins and Murtagh are assumed dead. At his funeral, Ajihad's daughter Nasuada is elected to command the Varden. The protagonists Eragon and Saphira then decide to travel to the forest Du Weldenvarden to become trained as a Dragon Rider by the elves. The dwarf king, Hrothgar, decides to adopt Eragon to his clan, Durgmist Ingeitum, and have his now foster brother, Orik, accompany him to the forest. Once there, Eragon meets Oromis, The Cripple Who Is Whole, and his Dragon Glaedr, the only Dragon and Rider secretly alive besides Eragon, Saphira and Galbatorix and his forcibly bonded dragon Shruikan. Oromis and Glaedr, however, are both crippled, and so cannot fight Galbatorix and must hide to avoid Galbatorix hunting them down. Eragon and Saphira are taught the use of logic, magic theory, scholarship, and combat, among other things. Meanwhile, Eragon's cousin Roran, is planning to marry Katrina, daughter of Sloan the butcher. While the village is at peace, they are all of a sudden attacked by Galabatorix's soldiers and the Ra'zac, the strangers who had killed Roran's father, Garrow. The village smithy, Horst, equips his sons along with Roran with equipment. Roran takes a hammer and the soldiers. The Ra'zac and most of the soldiers escape, saying that they want information for 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 snuck into the house. Roran then takes off the cloth around the Ra'zac's face and sees that they are monsters, not humans. A Ra'zac bites Roran and they leave with Katrina captured. While Roran is chasing them, Sloan, Katrina's father, betrays the village and joins the Ra'zac. The Ra'zac escape with their steeds, the Lethrdblaka, who are originally their parents. Meanwhile, Nasuada chooses to move the Varden from Tronjheim to Surda to mount an attack on the Empire. The Varden suffer financial troubles, however, until Nasuada learns that she can create an expensive lace with magic, and sell it at extremely low rates. One night when Nasuada is in her room, a character named Elva saves her from an assassination attempt. Elva is enchanted, and locates the assailant, who is killed after unwillingly surrendering information to Varden magicians about a subversive group based in Surda called the Black Hand, who is plotting to kill Nasuada. Nasuada later attends a meeting with key figures in Surda's government to discuss a potential upcoming battle against the Empire. They learn that the conflict is coming sooner than they initially suspected, and mobilize forces to attack, as well as sending for help from the dwarves. In the meantime, Eragon continues his training, but is discouraged when the scar on his back causes him to have seizures multiple times per day. He has been swooning over Arya for most of the book. Saphira also has a similar problem with Glaedr, as she believes him to be a good choice for a mate and tries to win his affections. The effort fails miserably, but brings Eragon and Saphira closer together. Later, at the ancient elven ceremony, the Agaetí Blödhren (Blood-Oath Celebration), Eragon is altered by a spectral dragon. The changes alter his senses, and enhance his abilities, effectively turning him into an elf-human hybrid, as well as healing all of his wounds. Reinvigorated, Eragon continues training until he learns that the Empire will soon attack the Varden in Surda. Afterward he confesses his feelings for Arya who rejects him brutally. Dismayed, he leaves without completing his training, to aid the Varden in battle. Upon leaving he is given a bow with magical arrows, a belt with 12 priceless gems, an enchanted flask of elvish concoction, a copy of his poem, and the blessing of Oromis and Glaedr. Meanwhile, Roran is planning to rescue Katrina. He decides that the only solution is to join the Varden in Surda, and so convinces almost the entire village to travel there. The village reaches Narda, where they pay for barges to sail to Tierm. In Tierm, Roran meets Jeod, Brom's friend, who tells him about Eragon and that he is a Dragon Rider now. Roran is stunned that his cousin is a Dragon Rider, and he asks Jeod for help to reach the Varden. Jeod decided to go with them and he gathers a group of his friends to steal a ship called the Dragon Wing. The village is chased by a group of Galbatorix's boats, but they force themselves into the gigantic whirpool, the Boar's eye, so that they can trap the enemey boats. Meanwhile, Eragon arrived at the Varden's camp, who is under attack of an army of 100,000 of Galbatorix's men. A group of Urgals join the Varden, and Eragon is able to repel the opposing army with help from the dwarves' reinforcements. Eventually, a Dragon Rider appears in favor of the Empire. The hostile Dragon Rider kills the dwarf king Hrothgar, and soon begins to fight with Eragon. The Dragon Rider is soon unmasked by Eragon and is revealed to be Murtagh. Murtagh tells Eragon that he was kidnapped and forced into loyalty by Galbatorix after a Dragon hatched for him, whom he named Thorn. Murtagh outmatches Eragon, but shows mercy due to their old friendship. Before leaving, Murtagh reveals that Eragon is his brother, and takes Eragon's sword as well. Ultimately, Galbatorix's army is forced to retreat due to heavy losses, after the arrival of the dwarves and the village of Carvahall and the departure of Murtagh and Thorn. Roran manages to defeat the Twins by bashing them in the heads with his hammer, thus earning him the title of Roran Stronghammer. In the end, Eragon reunites with Roran and Eragon decides to help Roran rescue Katrina from the Ra'zac in Dras-Leona.