“As Roran watched, the man's arms, neck, and chest shriveled, and his bones appeared in sharp relief-from the bowlike curve of his collarbones to the hollow saddle of his hips, where his stomach hung like an empty waterskin. His lips puckered and drew back farther than they were intended to over his yellow teeth, baring them in a grisly snarl, while his eyeballs deflated as if they were engorged ticks being squished empty of blood, and the surrounding flesh sank inward.”

American and Italian author

Christopher James Paolini is an American and Italian author. He is best known for The Inheritance Cycle, the fantasy series that began with Eragon and continued with Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. His later work includes The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm, a short story collection set in the same world, and Murtagh, the first book in a follow-up duology. He also wrote his first science fiction novel, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, published in 2020. He lives in Paradise Valley, Montana, where he wrote his first book.