Part of the first chapter from Book III was published in both the Eldest Limited Edition (currently discontinued) as well as the Eldest trade paperback version (in stores).

Release date for Book III? Random House has noted that the planned release date is sometime in 2008. Shurtugal.com's official guess is Summer of 2008.

How about the title? We're willing to bet the book title will look something like this: E _ _ _ _ _. Safe to assume that the third book will fall into the 'six-letter-long starts-with-E theme'? We think so! The book has been rumored to be titled "Empire," though Christopher Paolini assures us that at this point, there is no official title to the book - meaning, "Bubbles For Buckfish" is just as likely as any other name for the book!

Are we looking at an even bigger book than Eldest? Probably. If you look at the way the book's size shot up from Eragon to Eldest, and then take into consideration all of the loose ends Christopher needs to tie up, as well as a huge, complicated plot, hundreds of characters, and a long to-do list for our favorite characters, then you'll probably realize that a small book really isn't going to cut it. How long, though? Your guess is, again, as good as ours.

What's the cover of the book going to look like? Christopher Paolini has told us himself that the book cover will be emerald green with a portrait of a green dragon facing the right. As with the first two books, John Jude Palencar will do the cover art for the book. (Learn more about John Jude Palencar.) We still don't know who the dragon or the Rider is, and we won't until the book releases!

Theories
A page full of fan-submitted theories on what will happen in Book 3. Please note that these are theories only, and are not facts.