It received mostly negative reviews from critics,[11] and made a combined domestic and international gross of $249,488,115 USD against a production budget of $100,000,000.

On December 31, 2018, The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm, the first book in a series called Tales of Alagaësia, was published and released to the public.

[14] On July 25, 2022, Variety reported that Paolini was co-writing a live action television series adaptation of Eragon for Disney+, with Bert Salke executive producing.

[15] On October 3, 2022, Paolini announced Fractal Noise, the second installment in the Fractalverse and a prequel to To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.

[19] Other literary influences include David Eddings,[19] Andre Norton,[19] Brian Jacques,[19] Anne McCaffrey,[19] Raymond E. Feist,[19] Mervyn Peake,[19] Ursula K. Le Guin and Frank Herbert.

In an interview with Sir Philip Pullman and Tamora Pierce, Paolini said that Paradise Valley, Montana, is "one of the main sources" of his inspiration.

[20] Additionally, Paolini has admitted that he is a Doctor Who fan, which inspired his reference to the "lonely god" (the epithet given to the Doctor by the Face of Boe in the episode "New Earth"),[21][22] to "rooms that are bigger on the inside than the outside" (from "Questions Unanswered" in Inheritance), as well as to Raxacoricofallapatorius, the home of the Slitheen ("Blood Price" in Inheritance).

[23] Paolini's books have topped the charts of The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestsellers lists.

[24][25][26] The Guinness World Records recognized Christopher Paolini as the "youngest author of a bestselling book series" on January 5, 2011.