No better than Eragon.
I hoped to get a point of view of things from Saphira, as she had been dreadfully ignored in the first book. Instead, we get stuck with Roran and Nasuada, whose sidetracking stories don't REALLY matter.Only Paolini thought they would make good angst …more opprotunities. Like we don't already have enough of that with Eragon's scar.
Our hero does not seen to have a single flaw, apart from the scar, which doesn't count because it ended up making him cooler in the end.
And for the fans who will go, "he worte it when he wuz 15, dont h8." : He actually finished Eragon at 19. And he was about 22 when Eldest was released. In any case, age shouldn't matter in a really god book. I would've been much more impressed if Paolini had published Eragon at 29 then 19, if it meant that the writing was better. Age counts for nothing, because I have read horrible book written by adults. (less)