3.5, really, but better than 3, so I'll go up to a 4-star rating. 
 I have been looking forward to it for AGES. 
 Intelligent fantasy, check. Strong female lead, check. Well-realized land, mostly check. I am a theologian by profession and the strange theology Hartman uses in this book is a little too clumsy for me. 
 (Just to be 100% clear: not OFFENSIVE. I'm never offended when someone creates a religion - it's fascinating, I love it. But I can spot the weak places in world-building pretty easily when it comes to religion. That's all.) 
 Postscript: This is ENTIRELY my own opinion but when I saw that Paolini had given it a (somewhat ambivalent) blurb, I almost didn't want to read it.