Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Random House has announced a sweepstakes giving fans the opportunity to meet Christopher Paolini, the author of the Inheritance cycle books.

Anyone who joins the Vroengard Academy online game will be automatically entered to win a two-night trip to Bozeman, Montana for lunch with Paolini as well as a framed art print featuring a scene from Brisingr (the third book in the Inheritance cycle). This prize is in addition to a variety of weekly prizes that include books, T-shirts and DVDs.
Image via CrunchBase
For more details check out the sweeptsakes page at Vroengard Academy. You can also check out the rules of the competition.

Of course all this is part of the ongoing promotion for the release of Brisingr which is the sequel to the bestselling Eragon and Eldest which will be released on September 20th, 2008.

Somehow I had always assumed that the third book would begin with an E like the previous two, but apparently there’s a very specific reason for the naming according to Paolini:

“Brisingr is one of the first words I thought of for this title, and it’s always felt right to me. [...] As the first ancient-language word that Eragon learns, it has held particular significance for his legacy as a Dragon Rider. In this new book, it will be revealed to be even more meaningful than even Eragon could have known.”