Limited Edition Features Exclusive Excerpt of Book Three And All-New Material Selected by Fans In Online Poll

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALFRED A. KNOPF BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS PUBLISHES
LIMITED EDITION OF CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI’S #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ELDEST, BOOK TWO IN THE INHERITANCE TRILOGY

September 25, 2006 (New York, NY)—Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers is publishing a limited edition hardcover of Christopher Paolini’s #1 New York Times bestseller ELDEST, Book Two in his Inheritance trilogy. The new edition includes an exclusive look at Book Three in Inheritance, marking the first time that an excerpt of the highly anticipated novel has been made available to the public. Paolini is currently writing Book Three, the title of which has not yet been announced. The ELDEST Limited Edition goes on sale September 26th with a first printing of 350,000 copies.

Random House Children’s Books hosted a 3-week online poll on the official Inheritance website, www.alagaesia.com, in which fans could vote for the material they most wanted to see in a limited edition hardcover of ELDEST. More than 7,000 fans voted in the first 24 hours alone, with 50,000 fans voting in total. This marks the largest online poll Random House Children’s Books has ever conducted. In addition to the exclusive excerpt, the new edition is packed with added-value for fans. There is a full-color, foldout poster of the dragon Glaedr, illustrated by John Jude Palencar; an excerpt from the history of Alagaësia; a complete list of people, places, and things; and never-before-seen art created by Paolini himself.

ELDEST hit the marketplace last August as one of the most anticipated books of the fall 2005 season, and its first week on sale achieved the biggest single-week sale in Random House Children’s Books history. Currently in its 15th printing, ELDEST has been on the New York Times Bestseller list for 52 weeks, and has been published in 41 countries.

Eragon, the first book in the Inheritance trilogy (also published in 41 countries), has been a #1 bestseller in both its Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers hardcover and paperback editions and has spent 156 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Fox 2000 is currently in production for the film adaptation of Eragon scheduled for release in December 2006. Together, Eragon and ELDEST have sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.

Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers is an imprint of the Knopf Delacorte Dell Young Readers Group Division of Random House Children’s Books, the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books to novels and narrative nonfiction, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books offer publishing programs that bring together world-famous franchise characters, multimillion-copy series, and top-flight award-winning authors and illustrators.

Random House Children’s Books is a division of Random House, Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG, a leading international media company.

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