True Name

***As with all books in the series-ously category, this will contain spoilers***

Brinsingr is the third book in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle (fun fact this was originally intended to be a trilogy but Paolini just couldn't fit everything in to this third book so the trilogy became a cycle of 4 books).  In the simplest summary possibly this book continues the journey of Eragon and his dragon Saphira as they try to defeat the Empire controlled by the evil Galbatorix.   Of course the actual events are much richer and more exciting than that simple summary but that's not what I want to focus on.

When I blogged about Eragon, the first book in these series, I claimed that this was an excellent introduction to readers new to fantasy.  I stand by that offer this supporting evidence (sorry, we're doing arguments in claims in class so I had to throw in my teacher language).  Each book in the series offers a brief synopsis of the books that came before.  Even as an accomplished reader, if I do say so myself, I find these incredible helpful and I would think they are vitally important for someone who has just begun a foray into fantasy.

Structure aside, my favorite part of this series is the concept of a true name.  Each living thing and object has its regular everyday name, but beyond that it has a true name in the ancient language.  You can never lie in the ancient language so the true name encompasses the very core of what makes that person, object, plant, unique.  Eragon is able to chance upon someones true name by sifting through everything he knows about that person and boiling it down to the most essential attributes.

Now if someone knows your true name, then they can control you so true names are a very closely guarded secret and many people, like Eragon, don't even know what their true name is.  The most fascinating part is that as you grow and develop your true  name can change, but only if you have fundamentally altered your character.  What an encouraging thought.  We are not trapped in who we are, but are free to become whatever we desire.

Finding your true name...that's kids stuff.