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:kaukau:I finished reading Inheritance a few days after it came out. Overall, I would call it a fairly good book, although there are certain things that I would definitely have done different had I been writing. However, I don't question the author's judgment. He wanted the series to go a certain way, and it didn't turn out bad.I can see how this book might not be for certain people, especially with the 120-page-long ending.

I respect that Paolini made sure that he put an end to every single subplot within the series. It definitely helped make this book the final chapter. It reminded me a bit of Return of the King, and stayed true to the type for genre that it's dedicated to. However, in my own literature I would have attempted to conclude as many of the subplots as possible during the rising action so that they could contribute to the many plot points before the final confrontation of Galbatorix.Just so people know, thought, here's what I would have done differently, even though I know that it may have been difficult:- Firnen would have hatched before confronting Galbatorix and would have somehow contributed to his downfall (although it should not have distracted thematically from Eragon's beautifully woven spell that defeated the King).- The final confrontation would have taken longer. Galbatorix would have made more ground. Perhaps he would have even successfully forced the oaths out of most of Eragon's party. In fact, would have probably hatched to either Arya or Nasuada, both of which would have been enslaved to Galbatorix. Somehow Roran would have lead the Varden so that they could continue on for another couple of months as Eragon and Saphira were trapped and resisting Galbatorix. Then after the two half-brothers spent some quality-time together, Murtagh would have realized his identity had changed, a second struggle with Galbatorix would ensue, and Eragon would have thought of the same spell under the same circumstances as in the actual book.- Sloan would have been fit into the rising action.- Roran would have become king because I liked that idea better. However, within the context of the story, there were very good reasons for him not to be king. Yet, I had speculated that he was a distant descendant of King Palancar.- Nasuada was my preference for the third Dragon Rider as well, but ah well. The only reason for that was because it would have made a relationship between Arya and Eragon easier, since if she was a Dragon Rider she would have been unquestionably his superior.- Quilby's wife would have had her revenge on Roran during the rising action.- Elva's acceptance of who she is would have bee placed in the rising action.- The Vault of Souls might have been something more mystifying than the Eldunari. My speculation was that it had something to do with gods, but I guess not. Still, looking back I can see how he foreshadowed it.Now, what I did appreciate being in the "ending" section of the book was Eragon visiting Brom's grave, Eragon rewriting the sacrament between dragons and riders, and Eragon's departure. I actually agreed with his reasoning and it made him a very unique character, especially since I have in the past thought that such a character would be very interesting. May he live long and prosper, and may Saphira grow to be a mile long.Now here's my two cents on the "epic romance", as many people have called it. Personally, I was never very much interested in it and I guessed that Eragon would never be with Arya. My primary reason was because Arya was so much older than Eragon and her thoughts were so different and mystifying. He was just a boy, ad it felt so odd. I couldn't quite place it as a good match, not yet. I felt that Eragon still had a lot of development to go through, perhaps after a thousand years or so, after which time his thoughts would be superhuman as well and he could better understand and appreciate her, even if he already knew her true name. So while many people were dissappointed that Eragon and Arya never got together in the end, I didn't mind. What matters was that even though it was sad, it ultimately strengthened him. I suppose it was a love that never had to manifest in a romance-type relationship.I suppose that the ending spoke particularly to me, of course, because I'm in a similar situation. There's someone who I appreciate very much, although it's a distant relationship, and I know that my feelings could never manifest in an actual relationship. Besides, I know that after I'm done with high school, we'll go our separate ways and likely never see each other again. The moral of this life story: sometimes you have to be strong and move on. So the ending to the book spoke particularly to me.Let's just all be thankful that Eragon wasn't turned into a vampire and he didn't creepily obsess over her. Can you imagine if Solembum got involved and Arya had to choose between them? (Twilight reference)Let's see, what else is there...Oh, I was hoping to see more of spirits, but I guess not. I was hoping to see the floating crystal mentioned elsewhere, but I guess not. I was hoping to see a nonhuman turned into a shade, but I guess that would have been overkill. It would have been awesome if Durza would have been reincarnated, though...Some of the references to actual science were pretty awesome, by the way. The Earth being round...I hope that Eragon makes use of that knowledge in future books. Or maybe he'll tell a young rider and that young rider will make use of it. I was also highly amused to see that the author thought like me and incluided simple spells that converted mass to energy and, since teleportation had already been established, found intricate ways to "twist" space so that a warmhole was created to fit the Eldunari in. Angela's references to intriguing concepts interested me too, such the "ultimate inclined plane" and "time and space really being the same thing". It's cool to have a character who, once you think about it, is a complete and utter nerd. He found nice subtle ways to include science fiction in there without turning it into something other than fantasy.On another note, I also admire Paolini's willingness to describe the deep inner workings of the mind and just what it would be like for two minds to touch. I've delved deep into the technicalities and implications and am pleased to see that he comes to conclusions similar to my own, and it full detail to boot. He's also the only reader I know of who can describe alien minds unlike the human mode of existence that we take for granted. It made the reading a very fun experience for me, and it also made the characters much more interesting to read about.Overall, even though for most fans there was something to be desired, I'm sure that we can all agree that the book was certainly better than the 2006 Eragon film.

Random other thoughts:- My favorite cover was definitely Brisingr. Personally, I was hoping that Paolini would expand the series again so that there would be a book with Shruikan on the cover, but ah well. Like I said within the spoiler, it would have been awesome if Eragon was trapped in the castle for a longer time and there was a whole book dedicated to him living under Galbatorix. It would have been so personal.- I can truly say that the main character was my favorite, because the extent of his curiosity interests me.- Hey, they're a very interesting read and, even though the language is a bit convoluted, it fits the story very well. Besides, there's the guilty pleasure of knowing that, when I'm not kept in check, I write just like that when I don't keep myself in check.Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh

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I really enjoyed the Inheritance cycle. I have read all four books, and the first three several times. Is it just me, or has Paolini's writing style changed over the years? Not that that's a problem, his style changed, it seemed, to fit the mood of the book, leading to a more fulfilling tale.Additionally, I speculated that the third egg would hatch for Arya after the second book.

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I can't say I was pleased with the ending, then again, I never am. :P There's always that bittersweet feel once you finish that last page. Just a few things:I really wanted to learn more about Angela. I've had this suspicion that she's a god that's just watching over everybody. Hopefully, he'll expand on her character and background, since he said he wasn't going to drop Alagaesia. Vroengard was such a cool place. I wished more was explained about it. The fact that it's deserted because of nuclear fallout was interesting. I also wished he actually put the true names, just to purge my curiosity.And just a few questions:1. What exactly happened to Galbatorix? Did he blow up in a similar fashion to whomever blew up at Vroengard?2. And what direction did Eragon go? I've always thought that he would go west. But how I read it, it sounds like he went east?

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Yeah i have read all three books and am just waiting to buy the fourth book. I must say that i have enjoyed reading them especially since i finished the first three books in about a year and it really annoyed me how long it took him to come out with the last one. So yeah can't wait to read it. i must also say that the movie was horrible.

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I must also say that the movie was horrible.

I would agree with you except...It was actually okay if you didn't read any of the books.I need to get Inheritance!!
That's true with any movie based on a book. It's sort of like saying homework is the most fun thing you can do, despite never trying anything else.@ckmc, I refuse to skip books because I hate not knowing what's going on. :P
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Currently reading Inheritance. I'm almost done, I'm about to start reading the chapter "The Name of All Names."

It took me a while to realize that the explosion triggered by Thuviel's death was a nuclear reaction. It certainly explains a lot, but I can't believe I didn't figure that out sooner.

:t::b::3:

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I refuse to skip books because I hate not knowing what's going on. :P

Actually, Christopher has said on his twitter that the summary included in Inheritance is enough for somebody to read it without having any idea what is going on.And I already know everything that is going on (I've read each of these more times than I can count; I'm terrible at math), but even with that I can't skip anything. :lol: Edited by ckmc

Lacertus

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I refuse to skip books because I hate not knowing what's going on. :P

Actually, Chritopher has said on his twitter that the summary included in Inheritance is enough for somebody to read it without having any idea what is going on.And I already know everything that is going on (I've read each of these more times than I can count; I'm terrible at math), but even with that I can't skip anything. :lol:
It's not the same. D:
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I must also say that the movie was horrible.

I would agree with you except...It was actually okay if you didn't read any of the books.I need to get Inheritance!!
That's true with any movie based on a book. It's sort of like saying homework is the most fun thing you can do, despite never trying anything else.@ckmc, I refuse to skip books because I hate not knowing what's going on. :P
I agree that the movie is ok if you have not read the book. and i also hate skipping books.

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Yeah, I saw the movie before the books, and while it wasn't horrible, it basically made me bypass the books for about a year. I am so glad my cousins convinced me to read the series, because it is nothing like the movie.

-I'd say Angela and Solembum were my favorite characters -I too was satisfied with the conclusion of Eragon and Arya's romance-Does anyone else see a Monty Python reference in Angela's blabbering about deadly rabbits?-It was cool to see the characters of Paolini's next series in Brisingr and Inheritance (at least I presume they will be characters of his next book)-I thought the Galbatorix battle was too short-Galbatorix is easily the cheesiest name in the series-I was hoping to have Shruikan on the cover, and to have Shruikan somehow rebel against Galbatorix, since they made it clear that he wasn't a bad dragon. It was strange to have Firnen on the cover since he didn't do anything important or actually even appear until the falling action.-I liked Murtagh in this book much better than in the other books.

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Yeah, I saw the movie before the books, and while it wasn't horrible, it basically made me bypass the books for about a year. I am so glad my cousins convinced me to read the series, because it is nothing like the movie.

-I'd say Angela and Solembum were my favorite characters -I too was satisfied with the conclusion of Eragon and Arya's romance-Does anyone else see a Monty Python reference in Angela's blabbering about deadly rabbits?-It was cool to see the characters of Paolini's next series in Brisingr and Inheritance (at least I presume they will be characters of his next book)-I thought the Galbatorix battle was too short-Galbatorix is easily the cheesiest name in the series-I was hoping to have Shruikan on the cover, and to have Shruikan somehow rebel against Galbatorix, since they made it clear that he wasn't a bad dragon. It was strange to have Firnen on the cover since he didn't do anything important or actually even appear until the falling action.-I liked Murtagh in this book much better than in the other books.

 

The Monty Python reference was one of the funniest things to occur in the entire series.
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I'm reading Inheritance right now. It bothers me how much Paolini stuffs this book with absolutely pointless and annoying descriptions of things that have nothing to do with what's happening in the book. Did you really need to use a paragraph to explain that Roran just scratched his thumb on something? And I agree that some of his language is just down right excessive and gaudy. Was he trying to mimic Dickens? I also feel as if Paolini writes books much in the way a movie happens. The parts where Eregon and Arya are sparring and Eregon greatly improves his swordsmanship almost instantaneously is a bit too Hollywood-blockbuster-y for me. I read the first book when I was in high school and I've read every book since then so I felt it was only fitting I finish the series. That, and I love dragons. I'm going to start Game of Thrones after I finish Inheritance.

What is dead may never die.

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Haha, I'm pretty sure I just read the same parts as you, WaWa. I felt like getting it since I read the others as well, but it's stlil rather annoying to read. I'm enjoying it, sure, but it's just... different.I think the worst so far was the prelude where he summed things up. I did need a refresher, but wow was that difficult to get through. It gave you enough of an idea to start reading the series at the end (as mentioned above), but the style it was written would've probably created some confusion for those new to the series.I also like Angela a lot. But that might just be because her eccentric nature makes her so darn funny, even though half of what she says is just nonsense and we'll never know what was really meant (in-universe anyways; literally it still probably means nothing).~|ET|~

Edited by Electric Turahk

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Haha, I'm pretty sure I just read the same parts as you, WaWa. I felt like getting it since I read the others as well, but it's stlil rather annoying to read. I'm enjoying it, sure, but it's just... different.I think the worst so far was the prelude where he summed things up. I did need a refresher, but wow was that difficult to get through. It gave you enough of an idea to start reading the series at the end (as mentioned above), but the style it was written would've probably created some confusion for those new to the series.I also like Angela a lot. But that might just be because her eccentric nature makes her so darn funny, even though half of what she says is just nonsense and we'll never know what was really meant (in-universe anyways; literally it still probably means nothing).~|ET|~

Yeah, some parts of this book have been pretty hard to read. I just got to Dras-Leona part and it actually got me quite intrigued. That part was written in a much more streamlined and coherent manner than the rest of the overly fluffy chapters Paolini normally scribes. Maybe the fact that the last time I read Brisingr was in highschool and I've been reading college textbooks for three and a half years now has something to do with my intolerance for some of Paolini's writing...And yes, the prelude was horrible! I understand the purpose of a prelude, but did he really need to start every other sentence with "And then..." I gave up halfway through the review just to get to something less annoying. I must say Angela is quickly becoming my favorite character as well, especially since we're seeing her and Solembum in action now. And like I said earlier, the siege of Dras-Leona was actually entertaining to read, if only because of Saphira and Thorn. :P

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Aw man, way to spoil when Thorn showed up for me. :P Haha I don't get chances to read as often as I'd like to... So when I read your post he hadn't even briefly appeared. I just now got through the attack on Aroughs. Now that seemed like it was much more streamlined than the rest of the book had been, and actually had me quite interested. And the way Roran attacked the city... Now that was creative thinking. He's easily my favorite non-magical human character.~|ET|~

E-T... Phone home.

 

"He walks among us, but he is not one of us."

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Well, I finally finished Inheritance today.

I thought the ending was kind of lame. I mean, seriously, he can cast a spell that lets Urgals and dwarves become Riders (which is totally awesome by the way), but he can't cast a spell to heal the island of Vroengard? And what's the purpose of the Riders now? Obviously not keeping peace in Alagaesia. Kinda hard to do that when you're a thousand miles from nowhere. I'd have put several Rider outposts in Alagaesia in addition to their main city in the wilderness.Also, a minor detail, but I think Eragon should've added a new inscription to Brom's grave rather than erasing his old one.

I pretty much agree with most of what Emperor Kraggh said. And yes, the ending was very much like Return of the King. :t: :b: :3:

Edited by Toa Balta #3

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So I'm well beyond this point now, but I just can't stop remembering it. Did anyone else burst out laughing when they realized Saphira was freaking out over losing a scale on her snout? I have no idea why, but that part was just hilarious to me.~|ET|~

E-T... Phone home.

 

"He walks among us, but he is not one of us."

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So I'm well beyond this point now, but I just can't stop remembering it. Did anyone else burst out laughing when they realized Saphira was freaking out over losing a scale on her snout? I have no idea why, but that part was just hilarious to me. ~|ET|~

That was funny! The only thing I didn't like when-- Angela took the Belt of Beloth the Wise from Eragon.
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I can't say I was pleased with the ending, then again, I never am. :P There's always that bittersweet feel once you finish that last page.Just a few things:I really wanted to learn more about Angela. I've had this suspicion that she's a god that's just watching over everybody. Hopefully, he'll expand on her character and background, since he said he wasn't going to drop Alagaesia. Vroengard was such a cool place. I wished more was explained about it. The fact that it's deserted because of nuclear fallout was interesting. I also wished he actually put the true names, just to purge my curiosity.And just a few questions:1. What exactly happened to Galbatorix? Did he blow up in a similar fashion to whomever blew up at Vroengard?2. And what direction did Eragon go? I've always thought that he would go west. But how I read it, it sounds like he went east?

 

2. Yeah, he did go East1. I don't think that was ever made particularly clear, but its certainly a possibility. I tend to think the whole "be not" thing was a paradox. Why? Well, in the beginning of Brisingr, when Eragon and Roran are about to storm Helgrind and Roran tries to lift the pebble, Eragon tells him about the rules of magic. He says don't try any thing beyond your capabilities, don't try to raise the dead and don't try to unmake anything. By including that in the list, Eragon implies that unmaking stuff is in the same category as raising the dead, ie. impossible no matter how much energy you have. So when Galbatorix cast his spell, he was esentially trying to unmake himself. This is impossible, so he died in the attempt, triggering his own wards against fatal injuries. These wards caused the explosion. So essentially, He accomplished an impossible spell by directing the spell at its own source. That's my idea anyway, but I could be completely wrong.

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1. I don't think that was ever made particularly clear, but its certainly a possibility. I tend to think the whole "be not" thing was a paradox. Why? Well, in the beginning of Brisingr, when Eragon and Roran are about to storm Helgrind and Roran tries to lift the pebble, Eragon tells him about the rules of magic. He says don't try any thing beyond your capabilities, don't try to raise the dead and don't try to unmake anything. By including that in the list, Eragon implies that unmaking stuff is in the same category as raising the dead, ie. impossible no matter how much energy you have. So when Galbatorix cast his spell, he was esentially trying to unmake himself. This is impossible, so he died in the attempt, triggering his own wards against fatal injuries. These wards caused the explosion. So essentially, He accomplished an impossible spell by directing the spell at its own source. That's my idea anyway, but I could be completely wrong.

 

Yeah, so, basically, "unmaking" something would be impossible, as the law of conservation of matter states that matter can't be created or destroyed. It can, however, be converted into energy, releasing an enormous amount of energy in the process, which is known as a nuclear reaction - this is how Thuviel killed himself. Due to the nature of Galbatorix's spell - by commanding himself to "be not" he attempted to destroy the matter he was composed of - I'd say that he accomplished his death in the same way Thuviel accomplished his own - converting his matter to energy in a nuclear reaction.

 

The wild dragons aren't pets, so they will do what they want and not what a petty human wants. And their home is in Alagaesia, so so sooner or later they will return home.The new dragons Riders will need to go back to Alagaesia to fulfill their duties.The elder riders are the ones that must control the younger riders and if they don't closely Conrail the younger riders, that would increase the chances for the emergence of a new Galbatorix, if the elder riders go to Alagaesia to control the younger riders, then there will be less experienced riders to teach the younger riders and to secure the eggs and Eldunari.Having a stronghold outside of Alagaesia and other strongholds inside will disperse the Dragon riders and reduce their capability of response to new and/or greater threats, since it will take more time to assemble and deploy enough resources to fight it. Having some riders in Alagaesia, other riders in the new stronghold and some more between the two would make the job easy, for a future Galbatori, since the riders would be more isolated from each other and any renegade rider would had a greater are to hide from the rest of the riders.

Found this on an Inheritance forum. This is how I feel about the ending, pretty much word-for-word.

:t::b::3:

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I finished reading Inheritance last night. Now, on to spoilers. :lol:

I really didn't enjoy the conclusion to the Eragon and Arya bit. Just about every chapter with them in it showed how close they were beconing, and then, just when I was thinking it was a sealed deal...Islanzadi had to die.Even though I didn't like her much, I really didn't want to see her die, if only because it would spell problems (or at least that's what they are in my mind) later in the book. Sure enough, Arya becomes the next rider, and is pressured into becoming the new queen of the elves. Poor Eragon... He was so close.Oh well. Anyway, I really liked the name Fírnen. It works on a bunch of levels, and then just sounds cool. :biggrin:

Now, I would absolutely love it if the next story to take place in Alagaësia had an Urgal as a main character. Call me crazy, but those guys really grew on me.

Lacertus

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I, too, finished the book today. So, spoilers!

I was extremely disappointed that Firnen only appeared in the last hundred pages or so. The only purpose that served was to finally give Saphira a mate and to make Arya a rider. I knew Arya would be the next Rider, if only to accompany Eragon, but I'm not fond of her being made Queen of the Elves. I felt that being both a Rider and a Queen was a little too much for one character.Much of the story that happened after the climax should have been tied into the rising action. As I was reading everything after Nasuada's crowning as High Queen, it felt like I was reading a Paolini's personal bullet list of "Minor Plots to Write Off in a Few Paragraphs."I appreciated the reworking of the Oath between Dragons and Riders to include Dwarves and Urgals, even if it was expected.I think my favorite part of the book was the spell Eragon used to finally bring Galbatorix down. A bigger battle would have been more interesting to read, with Eragon slowly building upon the spell through his battle with Galbatorix. I guess that would have been impossible, considering Galbatorix was a generic, super over-powered, 'no-one-can-stop-me' villain that could -control magic itself-.I enjoyed the bits with Nasuada and Murtagh.

I'm glad I didn't have high expectations for this book. I mostly wanted it to exceed my expectations. It wasn't necessarily a -bad- book; however, I think I'll be hard pressed to read anything else Paolini writes.

Edited by Watashi Wa

What is dead may never die.

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Oh dang it! The fourth book came out? Man, it's been too long since I checked up on the series. Darn you high school!Ah well. It'll probably have a synopsis to refresh me before reading the actual novel. Is the fourth book as long as the third?

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:kaukau:My thoughts on Galbatorix:

Although first, I would like to concur with what Watashi Wa said about the rising action. I already said it, but WW was far more succinct.Anyway, I was still hoping for a fifth book, if only to see Sruikan on one of the covers. I thought that Galbatorix had a lot of potential. It's a shame that he wasn't used to the full amount. Part of him seems to be modeled after the Dracula archetype (the cape, the black beard, the eloquent voice, the dark chambers), and it can be a brilliant model to work with. Still, what made Dracula quite appealing (along with Count Dooku, Hans Gruber, and various other villains based off of him) was that they were in the forefront of all the villainy, whereas Galbatorix was overpowered by the focus on his minions.However, I was still pleased with what I saw. At least there were the scenes where he tortured Nasuada, which were interesting enough to read about and they contributed something to the book. Yet, what I really liked was that he could control the Ancient Language itself. I had a hunch he would get ahold of the Word from the first book when Eragon inquired for the Name and Brom told him of the implications. It seemed to me that there had to be a real catch to Galbatorix, more so than just his power alone, and things had to be elevated to the big picture.So I'm pleased that he learned it. Still, like Watashi Wa, I had wished that the final confrontation had lasted longer. Like, what I really wanted was for Eragon, Arya, and Nasuada to be forced into fealty, for the Varden to be defeated, and for Firnen to hatch before Galbatorix's defeat for either Nasuada or Saphira. After al that, it would seem that all hope was lost, and the final book would deal with Eragon's service under Galbatorix as he slowly changed his own name and we slowly get to see more and more of Galbatorix, finally at the forefront of all te villains. Then, at the same time, both Eragon and Murtagh would realize that their names had been changed and they could rebel against Galbatorix.Because you see, there has to be a catch. It can't just all be Eragon fighting with the Varden while steadily winning the tog-o-war. That almost one-dimensional. Not that his story is one-dimensional: it's pretty good. Still, I definitely would have written it different because I'm just wired that way.

Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh

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