Knopf to Publish Inheritance Books 3 and 4 by Paolini

By Diane Roback -- Publishers Weekly, 10/30/2007 6:37:00 AM

And then there were four. Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Trilogy, the first two volumes of which have sold 12.5 million copies worldwide, has officially become a “cycle,” with Knopf's announcement on Tuesday that there will be a fourth novel. The third book, which is still untitled, will pub on September 23, 2008 in a national laydown. A pub date and title for the fourth book have not been named.

The books will be edited by Knopf executive editor Michelle Frey, who also edited Eragon and Eldest. Book 3 will be published simultaneously by Random House Children’s Books U.K., and will also be a simultaneous audiobook release from Listening Library.

Paolini began writing Eragon, the story of a boy named Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, when he was 15; his parents self-published the book in 2002, when he was 18, and Knopf published it a year later.

In a statement, Paolini said that he had conceived of the series as a trilogy, but realized as he was writing Book 3 that he would not be able to fit the remainder of the story into one volume. “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.”

A video message from the author about Book 4 can be viewed on Paolini’s Web site.