Paolini cites the beautiful surroundings of his home in Paradise Valley, Montana, as a great inspiration for his writing. The second novel in the series, Eldest, appeared in 2005, and the third, Brisingr, is scheduled for publication in 2008.

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series and other fantasy and science fiction novels, Paolini has been credited with the depth and range of his imagination, leading to a successful film adaptation released in 2006. Because of his traditional plot devices and character development, his writing has been criticized for being rather conventional.

Paolini also invents several languages in the book, including an ancient language and a dwarf language. The story follows Eragon's extensive travels over the land, which is mapped at the beginning of the novel, and includes adventures such as bloody battles, high-flying chases, and intricate sword fights. Eragon finds a dragon egg while hunting one day, little aware that his life will never be the same again. Paolini's story follows a young boy who is unaware of his fate to become the savior of Alagaësia. Originally planned as a trilogy, the series was then expanded to include four books, dubbed The Inheritance Cycle. Knopf, and his fantasy epic about a young boy and a dragon was a bestseller by the time Paolini was nineteen years old. Soon enough his work got the attention of publisher Alfred A. He began with a self-directed book tour, sometimes performing readings dressed in medieval costume. Paolini, who began the first draft of the book at fifteen, did not have to wait long for Eragon to become his first literary success. Christopher Paolini's family self-published the first edition of Eragon in 2002, when the writer was only a teenager.

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