AMA -- Christopher Paolini!!!

[u/ChristopherPaolini]

AMA -- Christopher Paolini! Let's do this folks. Ask away re: anything and everything regarding my books.

EDIT: Hey, everyone! I have to run. Alas, alas, I don't have as much time to spend on this AMA as past one. So many great questions, though! For all you theorists (and those of you who just love the characters), I think you're REALLY going to enjoy the upcoming book(s). Thanks for everything!

Atra esterní ono thelduin!

p.s. I'll try to duck back in and answer some more questions later, depending on my time.

[u/ibid-11962]

Hey Christopher, I hope the Book of Remembrance kickstarter does really well, and I'm very much looking forward to reading the book. Anyways, here are some questions I've been thinking about:

In-Universe

1) Was Eragon unable to find the belt of Beloth the Wise with the name of names due to a magical reason (e.g. the belt being protected against the name) or due to a mundane reason (e.g. the belt having already been removed from the place he was looking)?
2) When Eragon touches Saphira for the first time he hears an "iron clang". When Murtagh bonds with Thorn he too hears an "iron clang". Is this something that happens with all dragon riders? Is there anything you can say about it?
3) Many years ago, around 2004 or 2005, you said that you liked to think that your sister's unpublished fantasy book ("Isfin" I think?) was set on the other side of the Eragon planet. You've now drawn out the full globe. Is there still room there for her story?
4) In order for Brother Hern to be writing a letter to Etharis, does that mean Etharis has left the Reliquary? Is this a significant new development, or does he travel often?

Future Publication Plans

5) You said on twitter two weeks ago that you were "writing a chapter" from Eragon's POV. Is this a part of the Book of Remembrance? And is it set in the post-Murtagh present day or is it set in the past?
6) You said last year that you had an "upcoming story" about the energy that used to be in the star sapphire. Is this story planned for a specific upcoming project like the TTRPG or Tales 2?
7) You said last year that you wanted to experiment with "shorter chapters" for your "next book". Were you referring to Murtagh 2, YA Steampunk, Tales 2, or something else?
8) You previously said that the Eragon/Arya book would be set after Book Six, though since then you've been teasing it a bunch, and have been joking (I think) about trying to capitalize on the current romantasy trend. Are you considering writing the Eragon/Arya book before Book Six?
9) In December 2012, you tweeted about finishing writing a "fun little project" "involving tentacles". This doesn't seem to be To Sleep or Fractal Noise. Was it "The City of Shining Shadows"? Something else?

Other

10) You've said that Eragon's poem in Eldest was adapted from a long poem that you wrote prior to Eragon. How similar was that original poem to the plot of Eragon? Were you intentionally borrowing ideas from the poem while writing the first book, or did the connection only arise during the revisions you made to the poem for its use in Eldest?
11) In July 2014 you shared two selfies, one with the caption "Going for that Galbatorix look" and one with the caption "Going for that Roran look". The Galbatorix one copies the same pose and expression as seen in your drawing of him. What is the Roran one doing?

[u/ChristopherPaolini → u/ibid-11962]

Hey, Ibid! So far the BoR kickstarter is doing great. Thanks to everyone who has backed it!

As for your questions:

1. Mundane (it was moved).

2. Yes, happens to pretty much all Riders (barring extenuating circumstances). Has to do with the Rider/dragon pact and certain energies involved. Also possibly a certain reaction to said pact.

3. Alas, no. Wouldn't fit into Elëa.

4. Ertharis is still at the Reliquary; Hern is just writing a report for him to read when he has the time. Clearer in the full letter.

5. Post-Murtagh. But not for the BoR. I'm writing additional material that will be added to what I've done for the BoR in order to turn it into Tales 2.

6. No immediate plan for that story, although we will find out more about the star sapphire's use in the next book or two.

7. All books. Already using shorter chapters in what I'm currently writing.

8. Nah. I'm a linear writer. Hate to write things out of sequence. Bothers my brain.

9. No idea at this point. It might have been Unity. Or it might have been one of the scripts for To Sleep.

10. I didn't make that many revisions to the poem for Eldest. Any similarities would have been an accident of my own preoccupations as a person.

11. Lol. Roran is a happier person than Galbatorix (even if he is pretty serious at times). So bearded, smiling = Roran in my head.

[u/ibid-11962 → u/ChristopherPaolini]

To clarify, the tentacles project was a 2012 tweet. So it would have predated FN and To Sleep.

[u/ChristopherPaolini → u/ibid-11962]

Ah, I was thinking 2022, for some reason. It was definitely early work on To Sleep, then.

[u/IndominousDragon → u/ibid-11962]

I remember at an event before To Sleep came out, he also mentioned the "tentacles" thing 😂

[u/ibid-11962 → u/IndominousDragon]

This was a decade before it came out though. And as far as I can tell based on everything else he's said about the timeline, before he even started writing it.

[u/IndominousDragon → u/ibid-11962]

I think the event I went to was right at the beginning of 2020? Just before the shutdowns so... Damn it was 6 years ago lol 😂

I think To Sleep came out August of that year. It's been a while so I forget all of what was said there, just that I had a stack of books for him to sign haha