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Shortly before noon, on October 21st, the small Maine town of Chester's Mill is abruptly separated from the outside world by an invisible, semipermeable barrier of unknown origin. The immediate appearance of the barrier causes a number of injuries and fatalities, and traps former Army Captain Dale "Barbie" Barbara--who is trying to leave Chester's Mill--inside the town.Police Chief Howard "Duke" Perkins is soon killed when his pacemaker explodes after getting too close to the barrier. This removes the last significant opposition to James "Big Jim" Rennie, the town's Second Selectman and used car salesman. Big Jim exerts significant influence within Chester's Mill, and seizes the opportunity to use the barrier as part of a power play to take over the town.Big Jim appoints one of his "puppets", Peter Randolph, as the new Police Chief. He also begins expanding the ranks of the Chester's Mill Police with questionable candidates, including his son, Junior Rennie, and his friends. Junior has frequent migraines caused by an as-yet undiscovered brain tumor, which has also begun affecting his mental state; unbeknownst to Big Jim, Junior was in the process of beating and strangling a girl to death when the barrier appeared, and has killed another girl by the time Rennie places him on the police force.Elsewhere in Chester's Mill, local reporter Julia Shumway is phoned by Colonel James O. Cox, who has her carry a message to Barbie to contact him. When he does, Cox requests that Barbie act as the government's "inside man" in an effort to bring down "the Dome". Because of Barbie's talents as a former bomb factory hunter, Cox gives him the task of locating the source, which is believed to be inside the Dome.

As Big Jim covertly encourages unease and panic among the town, Barbie, Julia and a number of other townspeople attempt to stop things from spiraling out of control. After crossing Rennie's path on several occasions Barbie, is framed and arrested for Junior's murders. He is also accused of killing Reverend Lester Coggins, who laundered money for Rennie's large-scale meth operation, and Duke's widow Brenda Perkins, who were both murdered by Big Jim. While Barbie is in jail, other residents track the source of the Dome to an abandoned farm, and the device is strongly indicated to be extraterrestrial in origin. The restrictions issued by Rennie become more severe and the police force grows more abusive, galvanizing the town and eventually leading some residents to break Barbie out of jail, killing Junior seconds before he can murder Barbie.

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The semi-organized "resistance" flees to the abandoned farm, where multiple people touch the strange object and experience "visions". They not only conclude that the device if from extraterrestrial "leatherheads" (so named for their appearance), but that they also set up the Dome as a cruel form of entertainment for a group of their children, as a sort of "ant farm" used to capture sentient beings and allow their captors to view everything that happens inside.On an organized "Visitors Day"--when people outside the Dome can meet at its edge with people within--Big Jim sends a detachment of police to take back control of his former meth operation from Phil "Chef" Bushey, who is stopping Rennie from covering up the operation as well as hoarding the more than four-hundred tanks of propane stored there. Chef is mortally wounded in the ensuing gunfight, but detonates an explosive device in the lab before he dies. The ensuing explosion turns the propane and meth-making chemicals into a toxic firestorm.More than a thousand of the town's residents are quickly incinerated on national television, leaving alive only the twenty-nine survivors at the abandoned barn, an orphaned farm boy hiding in a potato cellar, and Big Jim and his informal aide-de-camp, Carter Thibodeau, in the town's fallout shelter. Rennie and Thibodeau eventually turn on each other; Big Jim stabs and disembowels Carter, only to die several hours later when hallucinations of the dead send him fleeing into the now-toxic environment outside. The survivors at the barn begin to slowly asphyxiate, despite efforts by the Army to force clean air through the walls of the Dome.

Barbie and Julia go to the control device in an effort to beg their captors to release them. Julia is able to make contact with a single female leatherhead, no longer accompanied by her friends and thus not caught up in their mob mentality. After repeatedly expressing that they are real sentient beings with real "little lives", and by sharing a painful childhood incident with the adolescent alien, Julia convinces the leatherhead to have pity on them. The Dome raises up slowly and "pulls" away until it vanishes, allowing the toxic air to dissipate and finally freeing the town of Chester's Mill.

BrisingrBrisingr begins about four days after the events in Eldest conclude. It continues the story of the Inheritance Cycle and takes place on the fictional continent of Alagaësia during a struggle for power as the small country Surda attempts to overthrow the larger Empire. Surda is supported militarily by elves, dwarves, Urgals, and a rebel organization known as the Varden, but the Empire is populated with large numbers of humans, who far outnumber Surda and its allies. The Inheritance Cycle focuses on the story of a teenage boy named Eragon and his dragon Saphira. Eragon is one of the few remaining Dragon Riders, a group that governed Alagaësia in past times but were almost destroyed by a Rider named Galbatorix, who took control of the land. Galbatorix's greatest fear is that a new Rider will rise up and usurp his position as king of the Empire, so when he finds out about Eragon and his dragon, he sends his servants after them in an effort to capture them. Eragon and Saphira are forced to flee from their home, and decide to join the Varden.Brisingr is told in third-person from the perspectives of multiple primary protagonists. These characters include the humans Eragon, Roran, and Nasuada, and the dragon Saphira. The humans Galbatorix and Murtagh return as the primary antagonists, along with Murtagh's dragon, Thorn. The Ra'zac return for a minor antagonist role, and Varaug, a Shade, also appears for a minor antagonist role. Many minor protagonists reprise their roles in Brisingr from previous installments of the Inheritance Cycle, including the elves Arya, Islanzadí, Oromis; the dwarf Orik; the humans Katrina, Elva; and the dragon Glaedr.Brisingr begins as Eragon, Saphira, and Roran travel to Helgrind, the sanctuary of the Ra'zac. There they rescue Roran's betrothed, Katrina, who was being held prisoner, and kill one of the Ra'zac. Saphira, Roran, and Katrina return to the Varden, while Eragon stays behind to kill the remaining Ra'zac. Once he returns to the Varden, Eragon discovers that Katrina is pregnant with Roran's child and a wedding is arranged, which Eragon is to conduct. Just before it begins, a small force of enchanted troops attack alongside Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. Elven spell-casters aid Eragon and Saphira and cause Murtagh and Thorn to flee, winning the battle. After the fight, Roran marries Katrina. The leader of the Varden, Nasuada, then orders Eragon to attend the election of the new dwarf king in the Beor Mountains. Once among the dwarves, Eragon is the target of a failed assassination, found to be the work of the dwarf clan Az Sweldn rak Anhűin, whom the dwarf Orik then forces into exile. Having earned the sympathies of the dwarves, Orik is elected the new king.After Orik's coronation, Eragon and Saphira return to the elven capital Ellesméra to train. There, the elf Oromis and his dragon Glaedr reveal that Eragon's deceased mentor, Brom, is Eragon's father. Glaedr also reveals the source of Galbatorix's power: Eldunarya, or heart of hearts. While not a dragon's actual heart, an Eldunarí allows the holder to communicate with or draw energy from the dragon it belongs to, even if the dragon is deceased. Galbatorix spent years collecting Eldunarya, and forcing the deceased dragons to channel their energy to him through their Eldunarí. After training, Eragon visits an Elven blacksmith, Rhunön, who helps Eragon forge a Rider sword. Before Eragon and Saphira depart to the Varden, Oromis says that the time has come for him and Glaedr to openly oppose the Empire in combat alongside the queen of the elves, Islanzadí. Thus, Glaedr gives his Eldunarí to Eragon and Saphira before they part.

Meanwhile, Roran is sent on various missions as part of the military force of the Varden. One of the targets is a convoy of supply wagons guarded by enchanted soldiers. The unit suffers extreme casualties, and the commander is replaced after losing his hand. During a mission to take back a Surdan city, plans made by the new commander almost cause the operation to fail, but Roran gives new orders. Despite saving the mission, Roran is charged with insubordination and is flogged as a punishment. After the public whipping, Nasuada promotes Roran to commander and sends his unit on a mission. He leaves in command of a group of both men and Urgals to enforce the idea of men and Urgals working together. When his squad returns to the Varden, they join the siege of Feinster, a city in the Empire. As the siege begins, Eragon and the elf Arya depart to find the leader of the city, but discover that three magicians are attempting to create a Shade. While racing to kill the magicians, Eragon has a vision through Glaedr's Eldunarí showing Oromis and Murtagh fighting. In the midst of the fighting, Galbatorix possesses Murtagh and tries to lure Oromis to his side: when he fails, and after Oromis suffers a seizure, Galbatorix uses Murtagh to kill him and Glaedr is killed shortly after. After the vision, the magicians have managed to create the Shade Varaug, whom Arya kills with help from Eragon. After the successful siege, Nasuada tells Eragon the Varden's plans for invading the Empire.