Homeschooled by his parents, Christopher Paolini graduated from high school at the age of fifteen, but felt he was not yet mature enough for college, so he wrote Eragon in his spare time. After writing the first draft for a year, he spent a second year rewriting it and fleshing out the story and characters, and then presented it to his parents. They had it self-published by the family publishing company, Paolini International, and Paolini then travelled to various schools advertising his novel. In 2002, author Carl Hiaasen discovered the book while his stepson was reading it, and brought it to the attention of his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf. It was republished by Knopf in 2003.

Brisingr—a word that means "fire" in Alagaësia's ancient language, taken from Old Norse—was published on September 20, 2008. Paolini's announcement of the book's publishing date included the revelation that the Inheritance Trilogy would now contain four books instead of three, thus resulting in the renaming of the series to the Inheritance Cycle.

Inheritance was announced by Random House on March 23, 2011, with the cover artwork. It was released on November 8, 2011, in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
199 Eragon (2003)
299 Eldest (2005)
399 Brisingr (2008)
499 Inheritance (2011)
199 The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm (2018)
199 Eragon's Guide to Alagaësia (2009)
299 Murtagh (2023)

• Ajihad: The third ruler of the Varden, an alliance that opposes Galbatorix. He is killed in the opening chapter of the second book.
• Angela the herbalist: An eccentric and extremely mysterious witch who is allied with the Varden. She seems to go by many different names, and she reads Eragon's future.
• Arya-dröttning, dröttningu, Shadeslayer: An elven princess rescued by Eragon in Eragon, with whom he falls in love. She was ambushed while carrying a dragon egg between the elves and the Varden. At the end of the series, she becomes queen of the elves, and the dragon Fírnen hatches for her.
• Brom: A storyteller in Carvahall whom Eragon travels with, later revealed to be a Dragon Rider. He dies midway through the first book, but is revealed to be Eragon's father in the third.
• Durza: A Shade (meaning he is possessed by spirits), serving Galbatorix. In the first book, he captures and tortures Arya in attempt to locate Saphira's egg, and hunts Eragon.
• Elva Farseer: An orphaned baby whom Eragon unwittingly curses when attempting to bless in the first book. She is compelled to protect others from harm - which she can see through foresight - and shares in their pain. She grows at a rapid pace for some time after the "blessing" Eragon gave her, eventually attaining the physical maturity of a six-year-old at less than two years of age. She mentally ages even quicker, becoming strange and callous.
• Eragon Shadeslayer, Bromson, Argetlam, Hrothgar's foster son -finiarel: A Dragon Rider, his quest begins when he finds a mysterious stone, which turns out to be a dragon egg, during a hunting trip. He flees Carvahall with Brom. Eventually, his true training begins. He gradually learns how to fight, use magic, and read. He is bonded to the dragon, Saphira Bjartskular. He also kills the shade Durza becoming the few who have survived a shade attack.
• Glaedr: Paired with the Rider Oromis, who, although physically killed along with Oromis near the end of the third book, survives through his Eldunarí. He is one of Eragon's teachers.
• Jeod Longshanks: Brom's old friend, who succeeded in finding a tunnel into Galbatorix's stronghold, therefore helping to steal the egg. He helps Eragon's cousin Roran get to the Varden, where he succeeds again in finding a tunnel, this time leading into Dras-Leona.
• Jörmundur: The leader of the Council of Elders and the only one to accept Nasuada as her own leader.
• King Galbatorix: The initiator of the rebellion responsible for the Fall of the Riders, he forced many Eldunarí and the dragon Shruikan to serve him.
• King Grimrr Halfpaw: King of the werecats and one-shapes (cats). He allies the werecats with the Varden.
• King Hrothgar: King of the dwarves, it was he who adopted Eragon into Dûrgrimst Ingeitum, his clan. He is killed at the end of the second book.
• King Orik: Hrothgar's foster son, he succeeds him as king of the dwarves.

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The series is set on the continent of Alagaësia on the mythical world of Elëa. Their names were invented by the author, although other place names in the series are drawn from real-world examples.
The Beor Mountains are a vast and incredibly tall mountain range in the southeast of Alagaësia. Within this area is the Az Ragni (The River) and Beartooth River, as well as multiple dwarf cities. The city of Tronjheim is located inside the hollow mountain Farthen Dûr. Northwest of Farthen Dûr is Tarnag, the home of Celbedeil, a great dwarven temple, and Dûrgrimstnz Quan and Ragni Hefthyn.

Du Weldenvarden (The Guarding Forest) is a dense forest which covers the north of Alagaësia. The elves live in Du Weldenvarden, and their cities of Ceris and Ellesméra (named after Ellesmere Island ) are located within the forest, as well as other cities, the Gaena River, and Lake Ardwen.

The Empire covers the west of Alagaësia and is the area under the control of King Galbatorix. The area is populated by humans living in cities and towns including Aroughs, Belatona, Bullridge, Carvahall, Ceunon, Daret, Dras-Leona, Eastcroft, Feinster, Furnost, Gil'ead, Kuasta, Melian, Narda, Therinsford, Teirm, Urû'baen, and Yazuac. The Empire is split by an untamed mountain range known as The Spine. One peak, named Utgard (from the Norse language ), contains the Rider's sanctuary where Vrael died. The Palancar Valley, a major valley of The Spine, is the location of Eragon's hometown Carvahall and Therinsford and is thus where the Inheritance Cycle begins. It was named for the artist John Jude Palencar before he was chosen as the series' cover artist. Helgrind is a large black bare rock mountain known as the Gates of Death, near Dras-Leona. It is where the Ra'zac live.

South of The Empire is the country of Surda which seceded from The Empire while Galbatorix was learning to use the dragons' Eldunari. Surda is home to the cities of Aberon, Cithrí, Dauth, Lithgow, Petrøvya, and Reavstone.

The Hadarac Desert is a giant desert which covers the middle of Alagaësia.

Northwest of the mainland lies the island of Vroengard, containing the city of Doru Araeba. This used to be the home of the Riders before they fell. Now, it is inhabited by strange creatures—later named by Eragon—and is almost completely abandoned except for a few strange people that Eragon saw.
Alagaësia is populated by various sentient races, including humans, elves (the Fair Folk), dwarves, Urgals (Urgals who grow over 8 feet tall are referred to as Kull), dragons, werecats, spirits (beings of pure energy), Shades (a human that is possessed by a spirit or spirits that are stronger than the human vessel), and Ra'zac. Alagaësia was once host to a now extinct race of people known as the Grey Folk.
There are multiple languages in the world of Alagaësia; many races have their own, and the ancient language—which is used to control magic—is spoken mainly by the elves. No one knows the true name of the ancient language, except for Eragon, Arya, Murtagh, and Galbatorix. It is impossible to lie while speaking the ancient language, but one can still write lies through the Liduen Kvaedhí. The Common language is spoken by all, but mainly humans. Many r…

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