This is another home run for Christopher Paolini! To Sleep in a Sea of Stars feels like classic sci-fi thriller. Kira is a likable protagonist, who is forced into a fight for her life after a mission goes bad. I'm hooked this is the first book that I preordered months in advance if I preorder it just a few weeks at most.

I've only read the first several chapters since this was provided to me as a partial galley, but I look forward to picking up the finished book. This rang a few "The Expanse" bells for me - alien tech, crew cobbled together from several strangers, and a few other spoiler-y things. The pacing was good, the characters are nicely forming - all signs point to an enjoyable final copy! Can't wait for its release in September 2020!

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a solid sci-fi novel. It follows a a woman named Kira who finds an alien species on another planet that attaches itself to her. Within this, she tries to figure out what it wants, where it has come from, and how to save it from invading.
The novel is well written, easy to follow along with and it feels like it could be an episode of Star Trek. It doesn't necessarily add anything new to the genre or really have much of a surprise but it was a solid read. I'm excited to finish up the rest of the story to see where it is going.

I am unfortunately in the minority when I state that while I enjoyed reading the excerpt it did not pull me in. When I read I try to do so from a teacher perspective. While I have a group of students who will love the world-building, the science, and the intrigue. I have another group of students who hate to read and the story just didn't pull me in enough at the start. The technical language that is apart of the world had me feeling like I walked into a story where everyone knew what was going on except me. It took me two weeks to get through just the beginning. This will not survive the teenage reading span. That being said, if you are able to push past the beginning, there is a good story. I am just not sure that many will make it.

(Thank you to the publishers for giving me a copy of the first few chapters for free on NetGalley for an honest review)

Currently reading the full galley so I will review up to where I got in the partial!

The first 100 pages of this book are wild! They were super fast paced and exciting. Paolini was always such a readable author growing up even if his world building wasn’t the cleanest. I do think this is a huge improvement so far to Eragon in terms of writing but the world definitely didn’t get any cleaner, regardless I’m really enjoying this and will review the complete copy when I’m done!

Can´t wait until the release day. The epartial galley was really good and I wanted to contuine the story. "To sleep in a Sea of Stars" is something different from this author. I'm really excited to read the howl story.

With only a partial look at this title I can't say so far that I would absolutely love where the story ends up going. However, with the sneak peek it does gain my curiosity and wonder what will happen in the rest of the book. so I would say it's a solid start. I will be looking forward to finishing the book and seeing if this could go up to a five star when it is all said and done.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
by Christopher Paolini
Not sure if this was an excerpt or a short, said to be continued to my loud groan. Fast paced sci fi at it's best. Unexpected events & fleshed out characters, want to know more & recommend

Way to start a novel that sucks you in! Since this was only a preview, it was frustrating when it ended because I loved the characters and the future of humanity and wanted to know what happened next!

This partial galley definitely left me interested in seeing what happens. I know that Paolonis Inheritance series had a lot of fantasy tropes and this might have some similar elements. Still he spins a creative tale and I think that it will be worth it. I do hope there is some development of other characters. The lonely heroine may eventually lose my interest.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
Release Date: 9/15/2020

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for allowing me to read a partial galley in exchange for an honest review

SPACE THRILLER!

Kira Navarez’s dreams of love are coming true, but before she and her fiancé leave their current mission in space there’s one more thing she needs to check out…and yes, it’s an alien artifact.

This book immediately reminded me of Venom, but I could also throw in Prometheus and Alien. If you like any of these then this is for you. This has a lot of violence/action, horror moments, and mystery. We get to learn along with Kira about this alien entity that’s attached itself to her. I’m looking forward to be able to find out what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this partial galley ARC.
This was such a tease! I've been a fan of Paolini since I was about 12 and picked up Eragon for the first time. This book was a far leap from dragon riders. You can tell Paolini was treading in some monster Sci-Fi footsteps, but he was able to leave his mark in this genre. I've also heard that this is the first in a series of stories set in the same universe. Since this was just a partial of the story, I'm going to have a VERY hard time waiting until September for the rest of the story!

I'm so sad I have to wait to finish this! A few chapters was not enough. I fully anticipate this being a 5 star book and cannot wait to read the rest.

This partial manuscript was definitely worth the read, though it did take me a little bit to get into the story. The author sets up the scifi aspect well, and we get a good look at Kira and her relationships as well as where she fits in her world. I went back and forth with how easily Kira seemed to adapt to the The Soft Blade (alien that bonds to her). She vacillates between anger, despair, and a ready acceptance that was a bit surprising since it happens so fast. She mourns a little. Not as much as I would have thought considering what she's lost. Yet the writing is smooth and the protagonist more than likeable.

The story has the requisite tropes--There's the military establishment that views her as a weapon/threat, the alien that's glommed on to Kira, ruining her planned future in a horrible way and turning her into something much less than human, and then the evil alien that arrives trying to take back alien tech/creature she now possesses.

All in all, an engaging read that had me turning the pages to see what would happen next.

4 Hearts, SJ
Romance Junkies

I read a partial for review - DNFed after chapter three.

Bullet point review
- Kira, the main character, is a scientist, but she seems to have more to say about relationships than her work. I have nothing against character relationships in a sci-fi work (strong character relations can make or break a book), but I read sci-fi more for the world building and discoveries.

- The dialogue is cringe-y:
She buried her forehead into the front of his shirt and said, "You know, we don't have to go."
"I know," he said, "but we should put in an appearance." And he kissed her on the forehead.
She forced a smile. "Fine, you win."
"That's my girl." He smiled back and tucked a stray curl behind her left ear.

- Kira's character vacillates between rule breaker and rule follower. She's willing to break regulations by not doing her job because she wants to spend more time with her love interest, Alan. Then something happens and she says she won't break protocol. Then something else happens and she breaks protocol to disturb an alien ruin (while by herself).

- The science fiction elements don't feel fully realized or integrated in the characters' world. The sci-fi elements are present in the worlds to explore and colonize, in the rules and regulations, and in various equipment, but I don't feel convinced about their functions. As I mentioned earlier, Kira seems to have more to say about people than the science of the world.

- The characters are exploring an alien world, but they don't seem to have a proper rescue procedure. Something bad happens, and a character goes into an alien structure to help another character instead of radioing for help. As a result, something bad happens to the rescuer.

To Sleep in a Sea is Stars is his foray into Adult Science Fiction and it is magnificent. The first chapter is a little clunky. Too many characters introduced at once, half of whom didn’t matter to the story. Then a cringe worthy sex scene. If you’re gonna put it right smack dab in the beginning of the book at least make it good!

But once I got past that the following chapters drew me in and the narrative didn’t let me go.

I’m a sucker for good Space Opera and this doesn’t disappoint. I don’t want to give too much away, but we have a strong female lead, strange bizarre alien life and the stakes are higher than you expect. I connected with our MC Kira really well and I felt her joys and her pains. I’m rooting for her!

I rated 5 stars because of how much I enjoyed reading Part 1. There were some issues that I had with it, definitely the opening chapter and then an overly long “torture” scene that really could be edited down and still get the effect. But all in all a solid effort and I’m not sure how I’m going to handle having to wait until September to read the remainder of the book.

IF you must get up early, best not take this book to read in bed.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is absolutely a bonafide page-turner. Rarely do I feel compelled to read a novel. Yet with such intriguing plot development, there was really no choice. No matter the genre. In all my time reading Science Fiction, since the mid-1950s, I can say maybe only a dozen or two have affected me so. That said, if you must get up early, best not take this book to read in bed.
To read this title in exchange for an honest review is one of the best offers I've had this year. With story development so exciting, I now feel privileged to have been introduced to this author's work.

I have been a fan of Christopher Paolini through his Eragon series beginning several years ago. It has been such a pleasure watching his growth as an author through his books.
This new story was quite a departure from what I was expecting. The storyline was entertaining and kept my interest throughout. The ending of the story felt abrupt, however, and seemed to be rushed and incomplete. I realize that a sequel might be coming but felt this part of the story needed to be more finalized.

Holy space-thriller! I requested a partial galley of this book on netgalley not really knowing what I was going to get. I've never read an "Eragon" book and had no preconceived expectations for Paolini. Furthermore, the full publication page count of OVER 800 pages really dampened any desire to read the whole thing. All I can say is boy was I wrong. It is mid-June, the book isn't published until September, and I just finished this partial galley... OMG I NEED THE REST!

This book was so good. From a classic space questing scenario where scientists are studying a planet to ultimately rehab it for human colonization, I was sucked right into the lives of those aboard, immediately worried about anyone who loved another person, immediately concerned with any last minute fixes involving trekking back out of the habitat thing ... and then things get really good. I worried about how engaged I would be with alien stuff, because sometimes that very very sci fi genre can just be too strange, but Paolini masterfully intertwined the alien situation with the person with the science, etc. that I was all in. The chapter breaks of almost vignette style - a heading with sub-chapters - really worked to release pressure/build up then begin it again or take a look from another angle. I could go on, but so far I'm very impressed. Obviously I can't comment on how the whole thing comes together in the end, but I can't WAIT to find out.

I want to cry because this book is so good but...ughhhh.
The descriptions, emotions, and characters are everything. EVERYTHING.

I'm speechless at the amount of detail poured in this book.

Something that's hard for me with books set in another world, is the difficulty to understand completely the way ships function etc. This book describes everything so ''floraly'' it is spectacular.
I wanted to join this expedition so bad 😭 JVSLFBVWERIB

But...well.. it is not clean. At all.

I didn't realize it was an adult novel. Imagine a curse word and it is probably there. There are also sex, profanity, etc.

😭😭😭😭

At one point I was like, ok I can blur out the words if I get a physical copy, but nope, too many (and the other scenes 🥴)

I'm so sadddddd I wanted to love this book but I had to dnf at 35% because I just couldn't keep reading with a clear conscience.

*sighs* Oh well, hopefully, another author ventures to write a similar book without the bad stuff.

Cleanness: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

*I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All the above-mentioned thoughts are my own and weren't influenced by the publisher or author*