"Murtagh" - Part II: GIL'EAD (VIII-XI) - My Thoughts

Likely SPOILERS!!!

Chapters Read:

Part II: GIL'EAD

• VIII. Masks
• IX. Uniforms
• X. Softly Creeping...
• XI. The Door of Stone

I think these have been my favorite chapters so far!

The new characters discovered have been extremely interesting! Gert was an intriguing dude but two characters in Captain Wren and Esvar were quite memorable.

Captain Wren seemed to demand attention and respect but not in a very overbearing way. I'm suspicious of him for sure and if he ends up being a bad guy, he seems like he'll be a tricky opponent.

Esvar on the other hand is a breath of optimistic fresh air, he was a nice change of pace to this story.

Another reason this was one of my favorite sections is because I feel like I'm learning more about Murtagh and a bit about Thorn as well.

Murtagh seems to enjoy the taste of camaraderie he felt as he was performing drills with the other soldiers. A part of him wishes he could stay longer and not have to betray them for his personal mission. This tells me a lot about Murtagh in a good way, he respects the common man a lot it seems and even feels for the Empire's soldiers, many of whom were forced to fight the Varden. He didn't want to necessarily defeat the Varden, but he wishes he could have protected the men more during the war which I really respect.

All in all Murtagh has a lot of semi-conflicting and complex emotions about everything he's gone through. I get so upset when people think it was just Eragon and Saphira who defeated Galbatorix I swear. It's such an injustice that nobody really understands what Murtagh and Thorn went through.

One of my favorite lines in this chunk of book was said by Thorn in the chapter 'Uniforms' when he said to Murtagh:

'You are as close to a dragon in human form as I have ever met.

Murtagh jokes about if only he could breathe fire and Thorn says that's what magic is for. This passing comment makes me wonder if Murtagh will breathe fire at some point through some wild magic LOL.

That scene was just super nice and confirms my idea that Murtagh and Thorn have a very similar personality which is cool, they really care for and need each other.

Finally, these final two chapters in this recent chunk I read really made me like this section a lot in 'Softly Creeping...' and 'The Door of Stone'.

These chapters were pure fun fantasy! Murtagh has to sneak through various highly mysterious chambers filled with deep mystery and I was loving it! Maps, potions, bones, odd plants and other strange items. I was so happy when Murtagh discovered a dictionary of the ancient language! He seriously needs that and I imagine it will help him progress well in his magic abilities.

The last chapter I read ended on a real cliffhanger.... Can't wait to keep going!

I am becoming very suspicious that things are going a bit too smoothly for Murtagh but it's hard to say. Him randomly showing up having defeated Muckmaw when many people claimed only a Rider or elf could have done so is quite interesting. Murtagh's story as to how he killed it seemed strangely simple if I were hearing Murtagh tell it.

But yeah, these chapters offered new characters, and serious mysteries. This is unlike any 'The World of Eragon' book I've read previously!