On March 23, 2011, Random House announced the title, cover artwork, and release date of Inheritance. Christopher Paolini Publication announcement Having spent so long thinking about the series as a trilogy, it was difficult for me to realize that, in order to be true to my characters and to address all of the plot points and unanswered questions Eragon and Eldest raised, I needed to split the end of the series into two books. When I finally delved into Book Three, it soon became obvious that the remainder of the story was far too big to fit in one volume. At that time, I never imagined I’d write all three books, much less that they would be published. I plotted out the Inheritance series as a trilogy nine years ago, when I was fifteen. In a video that was released on October 30, 2007, Christopher Paolini stated that during the work on the third book, he realized it would become too long and so he decided to split it into two separate books. In an interview, he talked about a potential 'book five,' a prequel centering on Brom, and said that he has planned 'around seven more stories set in Alagaësia - and one of those is in fact a series.' Development Decision for a fourth book Since the release of Inheritance, Paolini has expressed his future interest in expanding upon Alagaësia and the Inheritance Cycle.

Because of this, many plot elements originally intended for Brisingr are in Inheritance. The Inheritance Cycle was originally intended to be a trilogy, but Paolini has stated that during writing, the length of Brisingr grew, and the book was split into two parts to be published separately. It is the fourth and final novel in The Inheritance Cycle tetralogy. Inheritance (or The Vault of Souls) is a 2011 novel written by American author Christopher Paolini. Print ( hardcover and paperback), audiobook, and e-book

The inheritance cycle books