Dragon trilogy? Make it four, and maybe more

When he was 15, Christopher Paolini, author of the dragon fantasies "Eragon" and "Eldest" (which have sold about 12.5 million copies worldwide), launched his writing career by dressing in costume and shlepping his first novel, self-published, around to bookstores. While other kids his age spent their after-school hours playing football or video games, he developed a fantasy realm called Alagaësia. Now in his early 20s, a bestselling author with one movie to his credit (and presumably more to follow), Paolini has been signed by Alfred A. Knopf for the next two volumes of his saga, Publishers Weekly reports.

Originally, Paolini called his epic "The Inheritance Trilogy," but with this announcement, an obvious change is in order. Forget trilogy; now it’s "a cycle." No doubt, he has plenty of imagination to fill many more books, and from a publisher’s point of view, a cycle offers something that a trilogy doesn’t: a longer revenue stream.

Earlier today Paolini presented a video message about the announcement on his website. In it, he describes the struggles of the writing process and how his concept of the third novel expanded beyond his original outline.

"Maybe instead of having just a third book...maybe the 'Inheritance Trilogy' should become the 'Inheritance Cycle.' It was a big shift in my thinking to make that decision," he explains. "But the more I thought about it, the more I realized...the story needed this much space to properly tell it."

Nick Owchar