Today marks nine years since the release of BRISINGR, the third book in the Inheritance Cycle! In 2008, the year Brisingr released, the series was finally known as the Inheritance Cycle! This announcement was first made on October 30th, 2007, with the book’s title, release date, and cover was being announced on January 16th, 2008.
Upon its release and in the years since, Brisingr has gone on to sell millions of copies and mark a permanent spot on the book shelves of many fantasy and young adult fans. It was an exciting but agonizing three years leading up to the book’s release as announcements were made containing the book’s title, cover, page count and more, as well as hints at spoilers, lots of interviews, and even more rumors! The biggest shock came when a fourth book in the series was announced, leading to excitement that the series would have even more adventures, but shock at the realization that we’d have to wait for another book to find out what happens to our favorite characters!
Interestingly, Brisingr released with two John Jude Palencar-illustrated covers: the first is the most familiar profile portrait of Glaedr, released in North America. The second cover, used overseas (Spain, Asia), is a front-facing portrait of Glaedr:
We’ve compiled some of the best news and articles from before and after the release of Brisingr. These articles will take you back in time to witness the excitement fans experienced as all of these announcements were made and as Brisingr reached previously-impossible milestones.
Pre-release announcements and excitement
- April 27, 2007: The excerpt from Brisingr (then still known as Book 3) from the Deluxe Edition of Eldest was released online!
- October 29th, 2007: Random House teases fans that a BIG announcement will arrive the next day!
- October 30th, 2007: The largest announcement in the history of the Inheritance Cycle fandom was made… the Inheritance Trilogy became the Inheritance Cycle with the addition of a fourth and final book!
- December 23rd, 2007: Christopher releases a newsletter clarifying that with the decision to add a fourth book, changes had to be made to the third book’s intended name.
- January 16th, 2008: Random House announces the title of Brisingr, the release date, and reveals the book’s cover!
- March 17th, 2008: Random House reveals the synopsis for Brisingr, teasing the book’s major events…
- March 18th, 2008: Random House quickly releases a “spoiler” from Brisingr, revealing that Eragon will “meet a god”.
- July 1st, 2008: Christopher announces that Brisingr‘s “subtitle” is “The Seven Promises of Eragon Shadeslayer and Saphira Bjartskular”
- August 26th, 2008: Random House reveals that over two thousand book release events would be held across the United States!
- September 9th, 2008: The final Brisingr excerpt was released!
- September 14th, 2008: Shur’tugal reminds fans that the book release is less than a week away!
Post-release milestones
- September 19th, 2008: The big day! Shur’tugal reminds fans that Brisingr will release at midnight.
- September 19th, 2008: The Shur’tugal team live blogs from the midnight launch party in NYC, where Christopher made a speech and signed books for over 1,500 fans in attendance!
- September 24th, 2008: Random House announces that Brisingr sold a massive 550,000 copies in its first 24 hours on sale in North America!
- September 24th, 2008: Brisingr easily took the #1 spot on both best sellers lists (New York Times and USA Today) despite only one day of book sales counting toward that week (due to the book’s Friday release)!
- March 19th, 2008: Christopher releases a new newsletter announcing that Book 4 is well underway after his whirlwind international book tour!
- March 23rd, 2009: The Deluxe Edition of Brisingr is announced.
- April 7th, 2009: Shur’tugal exclusively reveals the contents of the Deluxe Edition of Brisingr, including deleted scenes from the book, Lethrblaka artwork, Galbatorix artwork, a guide to dwarf runes, and more!
- April 28th, 2009: Gerard Doyle, the narrator of the Inheritance Cycle audiobooks, was nominated for Audiobook of the Year for Brisingr at the 2009 Audie Awards!
Fun facts
- The Inheritance Cycle, including Brisingr, has sold over 38 million copies
- Brisingr has been released in over 49 languages in 125 different countries
- Brisingr contained 763 pages, a massive change compared to Eragon‘s 509 pages and a step up from Eldest‘s 704 pages
- Fans waited three years and 28 days from Eldest‘s release to the release of Brisingr
We invite you to join us in celebrating the six years since the release of Brisingr on this special day!
