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.