Disclaimer: I received a sneak peek and an early audiobook from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Author: Christopher Paolini

Book Series: Standalone (so far?)

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: f/f romance and side characters, menstruation mentioned, aids like character

Recommended For...: science fiction, Paolini fans

Publication Date: September 15, 2020

Genre: Science Fiction

Recommended Age: 18+ (language, romance, sex and sexual content, gore, violence, death, grief, aliens)

Publisher: Tor Books

Pages: 878

Synopsis: Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds.

Now she's awakened a nightmare.

During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she's delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.

As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn't at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human.

While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity's greatest and final hope . . ."

Review: Well, I'll admit it, I didn't think Paolini would be able to write something as captivating as this was for me considering that I have issues getting through Eragon but I'm so glad I was wrong. Paolini does well with his writing (he's better than JK and less problematic, let's be honest) and he does well to make a world so well developed that I see it in my dreams. The characters are also very well developed and I feel so much for Kira's pain and triumphs.

My only issue with it is that there's definitely a rhythm to the book, a bit slow then fast then slow, but it works for this book. I also had issue with humans being called 2 form when we technically have at least 3 sexes, but I think the book did ok to address that, but I still would have liked to see more. Even though I felt the book didn't do so well in that area, I thought Paolini did well to show a well developed female character with very few tropes and an accurate and loving f/f relationship. Overall, I think it's one of my favorite sci-fi books now and I think Paolini did well for his first book out of a well loved fantasy series.

Verdict: A well done and amazing sci-fi! Highly recommend!

Maybe it's the genre, but I did not like this book at all. The characters were not particularly well-developed, the space context was not well-defined, and overall, this book left me feeling disappointed. There was too much that was unclear at different points in time and too many plot points that weren't clearly explained.

Draggy, unimaginative, and made for a real slog of a read. I turned each page in the hopes it would improve, would pick up pace, would introduce thrilling characters, but I was always disappointed.

Honestly, the blurb is the most exciting thing about Paolini's novel.

This was just a sample, but it brought me right into the story! All the action I remember from the Inheritance Cycle but in an interstellar setting with entirely new, diverse characters and a cool premise about colonization, exploration, and community. I will definitely be reading the rest of this book!

I have since purchased this book. This is my first by Paolini and I cannot wait to start it. His prose are beautiful and the cover image adds to the atmosphere. Thanks to this preview, I'm excited to jump in!

Mr. Paolini's stories always are so full of description and adventure. I enjoyed this book immensely. It's full of detail of life in a place of such wonderful imagination. It's truly a book that you get lost in and enjoy. I loved Kira, the main character. You learn the history of this universe and it's mesmerizing. If you want to experience science fiction, this book truly will hook you in.

This book was such a journey. I loved Kira and the crew of the Wallfish, especially Gregoravich (He was probably my favorite). It's well-written with amazing character development. The stakes are constantly changing thoughout this story and I loved it.

I almost have no words to put down for this review. After years Paolini has given us nothing he comes back with this. Straight up I love fantasy more than science fiction but this book may have changed my views on that. Paolini’s first novel was amazing but To Sleep in a Sea of Stars shows that he has grown a lot as a author. Frist off, the writing is far superior to his younger shelf’s creation and that alone changes everything. The character, the plot, the story all of it was….perfect. It is like the man has been writing and editing this book for ten plus years. After I read it than I saw the audiobook of this title was done by Jennifer Hale. I don’t care if I have already read this book I ordered that audio as soon as I could because anyone that play Mass Effect video game as a female SHOULD not pass this audiobook by.

The first ~100 pages of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was gripping, tragic, excellent.

I have no idea where this is going, but I'm hooked and along for the ride.

I read the Inheritance Cycle years ago and was a fan. When I saw Paolini was releasing a new book set in space, I was in. I requested the partial galley to get a taste fully intending to buy the book when released. And in a way, I'm glad I got the galley, because what I read, made me realize this book is not for me. It is almost cinematic in the scale of writing and world development, but it made for a long read that felt like all lead up. The characters felt awkward and unnecessarily mean to one another despite being "friends".

While I still think Paolini is a great author and acknowledge that this is only roughly 150 pages of a novel that spans almost 900, I think it will fall down my list of ones to read. I may eventually. But I don't think it's as hot of an item now and I did when I first heard about it.

I am definitely drawn into this story! I cannot wait to finish my full galley of this book!

Thank you for the partial to pique my interest!

I received a partial advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books.

Me, liking a science fiction book? A miracle!
I'm so glad I read this excerpt after the book was fully published, because I'm going to buy the complete book right. now.

The first part of this book is already very intriguing and screams for the book to be read further.

I was quite scared I wouldn't fully understand the story as it is science fiction and difficult (and maybe non-existing) words are mentioned into it. I was surprised to see that I could adapt to this world rather quickly and that I could so enjoy the book further.

I'm very excited to read the full book!

This preview was everything I wanted and more. I can not WAIT to start reading the book in full. I preordered it from amazon and it came the other day. Now I just need time to read it.

Despite being a sci-fi and fantasy lover for much of my life, I'm embarrassed to say that this is my first foray into anything written by Christopher Paolini. His books seem to hit the right notes for me, though: first dragons, and now deep space exploration (I'm on a Star Trek streak right now).

Stories about life in the far reaches of space are not new, but from what I've read so far in this partial galley, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars promises a deeper exploration of the intertwined relationship between humans and alien beings, giving the opportunity for a more nuanced approach rather than pure acceptance or pure hatred between species. It has tinges of Star Trek Discovery meets Ender's Game (the Speaker of the Dead and beyond) meets The Martian. The first chapters were a bit too obvious to me (cheery near-utopic set ups are bound to be crushed!), but eventually the meticulous details of the planet and its mysteries, the hints of political and inter-species intrigue, and the start of Kira's development as a character started to pull me in.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this preview. It's not on the top of my list, but I'll likely pick up the book to read the rest of the adventure.

I cannot wait for the rest of this book! I am captivated by Kira's journey and where this all will end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an excerpt ARC in exchange for an honest review. Honestly? I’m in love with this book and have already procured a full length version so that I can provide a full review soon. But I wanted to get my initial thoughts down regarding the excerpt. Kira is a wonderful character. I love that she is so smart and brave and driven and independent. The author has made me care about her already. I love the premise and the world-building. It’s got a little of everything. Action, adventure, romance, you name it. I can’t wait to finish the full story!

A perfect sampler. Im so excited to get my hands on the actual book now!

I feel like i just barely dipped my toes into the water of what this world is going to be. Im eager to see new work from Paolini and see if his style has evolved or changed. A greta start, looking forward to more.

WOW! An unique story line is rare for me to find since I have read so many books in every genre, but this one is like nothing I have ever read before. In most books where humans meet an alien life form, the aliens take an offensive approach to interactions. This one attaches itself to our human scientist and builds a defensive "skin" to keep any and everything from harming her.
Although this was just a partial galley, the story is engrossing enough that I'm going to need to buy the book upon publication and spend my weekend figuring out if the story plays out the way I anticipate.

This was a partial galley but I loved it! I don't usually like science fiction and especially adult science fiction, but I was dragged in to the story regardless. I liked how the book was broken up into manageable chunks and good stopping points so I didn't have to stop in the middle of an action scene. I am so excited to keep reading about what happens to Kira!

As a thank, you to Netgalley and the publisher ( Macmillan-Tor/Forge) for an advanced readers copy of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (Partial Galley) by Christopher Paolini. Also, a thank you to Goodreads for being the recipient of a physical copy of this partial arc. This brief look into Christopher Paolini’s recent novel is my first foray into science fiction. I mainly read various types of fantasy so this was a treat. The novel follows Kira Navarez and a team of scientists exploring distant planets in the hope they are suitable for human life. For Kira who has had lifelong aspirations in finding life on distant planets, a comes across a discovery that will change life as she knows it. This brief look into Paolini’s massive novel is a great introduction to science fiction as it showed elements of space as a not a bleak place but one of possibly. The mixture of suspense and drama will suit any reader no matter if they are a reader of science fiction or not. I have been lucky to receive the audiobook for the novel and will post a review of the entire book soon. For this partial galley, I give the novel 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.