Rating: 4/5

This was a long journey, but in the end it was a wonderful one. The story was a dash of Aliens, Interstellar, alien warfare, space adventure, and survival. Our protagonist is Kira, who becomes attached to an alien that takes over her body, making her a weapon... and something more. Things go extremely downhill for Kira after she awakens with this alien life form attached to her. The story is her journey of survival and helping humankind fight for its survival amongst the alien creatures. Along the way we meet the crew of the Wallfish, a ship that picks her up after a terrible incident, and we get to meet the amazing shipmind, Greg ( my favorite character in this book). There is a lot of action in this book and the first 30% is pure alien horror. The book is lengthy at about 802 pages, but the journey we take with Kira as she grows along with the alien xeno attached to her is quite a unique one. I really did have a fun time reading this and was enticed throughout all the plot twist and turns. The language is a bit flowery at some points and there are a lot of alien terminology and such, but there is an area in the back of the book that helps clarify for you. Most of the journey takes place on the Wallfish and how Kira interacts with each member of the crew and how the development of the war continues throughout the story. Though some parts seem to go on for a bit I really did like the parts where we got to see Kira grow her relationships with each crew member, and how she starts to accept what she has to do and becomes more confident in the process. The ending left me wanting a bit more but that’s just a personal preference, otherwise this was a fun read and great for anyone who enjoys space adventure and aliens!

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Where do you start when you attempt to put into words your thoughts on a book that is 880 pages long? You simply dive in and try not to loose your way. So my thoughts on this story and that what is a story. This novel is very much a character driven story. You start out with a crew who is working in space, our main character Kira ends up joining up with an alien spacesuit that takes over her whole world. I was hooked from the start mostly cause i really felt for Kira and i wanted to see how she was getting this alien life form off of her. Then you add in some really cool aspects like not one alien enemy but two, then you add in that her whole crew is killed, and then their a cat and pig for pets. How much more interesting can it get oh i forgot the ship minds, the quest to find a blue staff and that alien space suit and all the amazing things it wants to achieve and how Kira has to navigate her life in it.

This novel took the author almost a decade to deliver and it shows in all the intricate details. I really loved how he poured a lot of research and time into showing that he has so much more to offer beyond the inheritance cycle. Their been a trend for young adult authors to move out that genre and write adult novels and i sad to say i not sure it the best move for them. In this case i think it totally was, mostly cause he took the opinions of those first earlier readers and made it better, he saw where they were coming from and instead of turning in some half baked idea he went back to the drawing board and delivered an epic story. Don’t let the amount of pages put you off, if anything let them draw you in to an adventure that spans if i remember right ten months of space adventure. I promise you come out on the other side missing it and looking for your next great adventure.

This was a good start to what’s obviously going to be a pretty epic space opera. Humans have begun spreading across the galaxy and have multiple colonies. While there have been a couple of artifacts discovered humans appear to be alone at first but sadly for humanity this is not the case. It’s a very long book but the pace keeps moving with the action dividing the book nicely into several shorter sections.
The author has also improved greatly in quality since his fantasy trilogy. Don’t get me me wrong. I liked his first efforts and had fun reading them but there was a bit too much in them that was derivative in the fantasy trilogy because of his youth and inexperience. And those were still much better reads than most adults could hope to manage writing! That’s gone in this book. I look forward to seeing where he takes it next!

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini | Sep 15, 2020| Tor Books

Kira is an exobiologist on a team finishing up a pre-colonization survey, enjoying a final party with the team she's bonded with, and the guy she'd be happy to give up the exploring life for, maybe even join the colonists coming to ?????.

You know better than to get attached to any of them, even if  Christopher Paolini isn't George R. R. Martin, right? When a story starts out with everything going right for the main character, you know something terrible can't wait to make its appearance.

So when Kira draws the short straw to check out the crash of one of the survey drones before they all go home, it's no surprise that what she finds is an ancient alien artifact, a cloud of black alien goo that swarms her, and after she's rescued that most of her team will wind up suddenly dead. But that's not all.

A military ship has been sent to check out the artifact, and since Kira now qualifies as the artifact, or at least its host, that means she gets to be prodded by increasingly aggressive probes whether she likes it or not, because the black cloud is now a skin fitting exoskeleton and it's very, very, tough. Also, naturally, at least a little sentient and connected to Kira's nervous system.  Then really hostile aliens show up and take the Extenuating Circumstances apart, with Kira escaping in one of the ship's shuttles.

And we're still only about a tenth of the way through an 880-page novel (Hardcover edition). Don't plan on getting anything done for a week or two, because Paolini just keeps ratcheting up the action, adventure, and mystery in his first Space Opera.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars deserves a full review, and I plan to do that elsewhere, but first and foremost it deserves a wide audience among fans of Space Opera. Paolini spent the better part of a decade getting not just the plot but the technology right, and it shows. Sometimes it shows a bit too much, but when you've invested so much time building a universe and paying attention to details it's hard not to obsess a tad. At the core, as it must be, is Kira's evolution from wounded scientist to whatever her will and destiny determine. Along the way, she's given the advice that she must "Eat the path,"  and though it takes her some work to claim her agency, she doesn't let us down.

I am DNFing this book and before I get into the bulk of my review I want to addressed a few things. I also think I'm going to stop using netgalley as I don't like the pressure of having to read something. I'm at the point with this book where having it hanging over me is making me not want to pick up my Kindle, and at that point I'm just not willing to continue with it.

1) I have read ~105-120 pages of this. I'm not exactly sure because I don't know how long my version of it is. I understand that some people may feel that I haven't read enough to review it, but I'm of the opinion that if a book doesn't work for people when they've already read this much most people would probably just give up on it.
2) Most of my DNFs are simply because a book isn't working for me, however in this case I think this book has some real issues and that's why I'm not enjoying it.
3) Based on other early reviews it seems like I'm perhaps in the minority so if you are interested in reading this for whatever reason, please read some other reviews before you decide you do or don't want to read it.

Okay, with all that being said, I have three core issues with this book:

The Characters Obviously one of the most important things about any book is its characters, even in the sci-fi genre where there is sometimes a prioritization of plot over character (which seems to be the case here) and the characters here are so uninteresting that it damages the plot too. The main character, Kira, does not feel like a real person. Very early on in the novel her fiancee is killed and she has almost zero emotional response to it. Now, I don't know about you, but even if there was a lot of other stuff going on around me, I'd be one hell of a wreck if the person I love died (especially under the circumstances here). She was already pretty uninteresting and after her lack of response to this I completely checked out from her. The other characters early on here range from being so uninteresting I couldn't tell you a single thing about them, to being incredibly irritating to read about (looking at you Fizal and Dr. Carr) and this becomes even more of an issue when we look at the plot.

The Plot Right off the bat I'll say that there's not a whole lot going on here that I haven't seen elsewhere. Now, that's not necessarily a problem in sci-fi since authors often 'borrow' ideas from each other but in this case the book lacks anything else to make it really stand out. On top of that, the plot early on is heavily reliant on you the reader caring about the characters, and in case it's not clear from my previous paragraph, Paolini has not done a good job to make you care about his characters. Kira goes through an experience that would send anyone into emotional turmoil and then she's essentially tortured but for either of these plot points to work you really need to care about the characters, so for me they didn't work at all.

The Writing I was very underwhelmed by the writing here. Paolini is fairly heavy on description but I never found his descriptions to be interesting. At one point he describes an alien laser weapon as "white pods with bulbous lenses" and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a less interesting description of a laser weapon across the genre.

"As she approached the bodies, she looked. She had to. One man, one woman. The woman had been shot with an energy weapon. The man had been torn apart; his right arm lay separate from the rest of his body. Bullets had dented and smeared the wall around them"

I don't fully know how to articulate my thoughts on his writing but I just feel like it leaves a lot to be desired. The dialog was also pretty wooden for the most part. Also, as I mentioned Kira has a fiancee at one point (rip Alan, also wow please use a more interesting name than Alan in a sci-fi novel (no offense to any Alans out there)) and it's perhaps the most poorly written 'romance' I've read in a book.

At the end of the day, this is an 880 page book and for a lot of people that's a huge time commitment. If a book that long has some issues but it really knocks it out of the park in other areas, then it can still be worth your time, but I think this combo of issues really kills this book and there really wasn't anything here that had me at all interested in continuing.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an early copy of this book.

As a fan of Paolini's previous works in the Eragon series, this title shows a promising author's improvement after years of development.

I remember enjoying Eragon when I read it for the first time as a teen. I even liked the movie *gasp*. I know, that's a pretty unpopular opinion, haha. Sure, it wasn't as good as the book but I still liked it.

Anyways, when I saw that the same author was going to be writing a new book, but in space, I definitely knew I needed to check it out.

The book starts out like any movie I've seen where everything is perfect and then something goes terribly wrong. The action does begin pretty quickly but for that reason I just didn't feel anything towards the characters that the things were happening too. This was all in the first 5% and so it's hard to be shocked/sad or whatever because you had no time to really form any bond.

I kept going with this book because you can't judge a book within that little amount. I will say that I never formed any connections to any of the characters.

There is definitely a lot of infodump and at times there were clunky parts that just left me bored. I feel like the book could have been shrunk a bit and it would still have the same effect.

I did find some of the plot to be good. The aliens were interesting and I like how he executed their communication. The memories/dreams was another nice touch and gave us more information. The romance part of the plot was definitely a letdown. It really could have been taken out and made no difference.

Where the book shines is the technology and descriptions that comes with it. Learning about the ship minds was my favorite part. Gregorovich was very interesting. I can't remember reading anything like that before.

Overall, I think the negative outweighed the positive. It had its moments but it was still hard to connect with the story as a whole.

In 2257 during a routine survey of an uninhabited moon, Xenobiologist Kira Navárez is infected with an inescapable symbiotic alien species, completely upending her life and touching off a three way interstellar conflict that threatens the survival of humankind. Christopher Paolini’s To Sleep Among the Stars is a sci-fi thriller that will please fans of Star Trek and Star Wars. Some of the action sequences compare to the Marvel universe, while the complexities of interstellar travel allow for character development. Paolini includes nods to Eragon and well known space operas and acrostics in the table of contents just for fun. The addendum contains articles that technophiles will enjoy on the theory of faster than light travel employed in the book, the physics of space combat, and a nice glossary.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is every reviewer's worst nightmare: a book so intricately amazing no review could possibly do it justice. This is the kind of book where you sit down to read page one and look up at page 50 wondering what time it is. It's the book you pull an all-nighter for, call out of - or show up late for - work over, and the kind of book that launches fandoms and franchises. Schedule your days off, get your tea brewed, and paint your nails so you won't bite them off. The fun is about to begin.

I love dystopian future fiction, but rarely venture out into space-based science fiction. This book has changed my view: outer space future dystopian visions of the future can be amazing, and this book is wonderful. From a woman's perspective, it addresses issues ignored in male-centric science fiction without missing a beat. I could not put this book down, and I'm hoping for a sequel!

Wow this is a spectacular book!!! I couldn't put it down but didn't want it to end. Kira Navarez, a xenobiologist exploring a far distant planet falls into an ancient artifact (craft) and makes 1st contact with an alien lifeform that changes her entire being. She is taken over by a form fitting bodysuit-like life form and develops frightening and exciting capabilities that lead her on a journey to save the universe. The xeno takes over her body and she must learn to control it. It was created by an ancient race , now extinct whose technologies have been borrowed by a lifeform that come to be know as the Jellies, who are invading Human occupied space in search of the xeno. The characterizations and plot are incredible.The crew of the Wallfish who become Kira's friends and fellow warriors are inspiring .You will be cheering them on every step of the way.
There is no way to describe this book other than epic and must read!

While I found this book intriguing, it felt forced and slow in many areas. The relationships the main character forged felt superficial , yet ate up a large portion of the book. I did like the aliens, and wanted to know more about the Old Ones and the Jellies more. Their stories were more interesting than the main characters.

I absolutely LOVED this book! It is such a unique sci fi page turning book!
Thank you so much for this arc! It is now one of my top reads for 2020.

I have a love-hate relationship with Christopher Paolini. Eragon was the first 500+ page book I ever read (I was in the fifth grade) and the first book I ever stayed up all night reading. It was also the first book that I remember ever scaring me. But as I look back as an adult, I can't help but cringe at the clunky writing, depthless characterization, and paint-by-the-numbers plot. I read all of the books. I even read the recent collection of short fiction. But my enjoyment of them has tapered severely the older I got. With this title, the clunky writing is still clunky. The characters lack the depth of many in comparable stories, but they aren't nearly so abysmal as those of the Inheritance Cycle. For a lot of the book, especially the opening, the plotting follows a very typical first contact formula. There are scenes that feel like they come right out of Ridley Scott's Alien franchise or James S.A. Corey's The Expanse. But they're all well rendered and, as the narrative continues onward, events become harder and harder to predict. It's not the best sci-fi novel ever written. But it was never going to be. It's also very far from the worst and is, in my opinion, Paolini's best offering to date.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

READ THIS BOOK.

Okay, now to the actual review. I first read Paolini when I was a teen and fell in love with Eragon, so I was so excited to see he had a new book coming out. I was unsure of how I would like it because I’m far more of a fantasy reader than a sci-fi one, but I couldn’t put it down. I was engrossed in the story and could envision the story in my mind’s eye, and it was epic. The idea of humans spreading out into far-flung corners of space was juxtaposed with very real characters. There were so many great aspects of the character, and the Kira Navaréz was certainly strong enough to carry this entire story. Every character had a depth that ensured they were not simply good or bad, but complex living beings. I actually cared about the characters, and that to me is always important and perhaps even more so when you’re investing time in a large book. I was so engrossed in the story and constantly trying to find time to read that it actually took me less time to read than a far shorter book I read recently. So, even if you’re not a huge sci-fi fan, PLEASE give this book a try because it will suck you in and hold you the entire way through.

#ToSleepinaSeaofStars #NetGalley

I'm sorry to say that the description of the story combined with the author's previous work really sucked me in. I looked forward to a different take on "aliens", some attention to the science and scientists, and refugees among the stars.

The writing was not clear, the storytelling seemed to get bogged down and the battle scenes were too extensive, murky, and I just did not connect with the characters. I felt that some stronger editing could have improved the story lines.

This book was received as an ARC from Macmillan-Tor/Forge - Tor Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I am a fan of Christopher Paolini and his Eragon series and his signature style of writing where the reader get transported away along for the ride. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was no different. When an ancient relic is found by Kira and then she is sent away among the stars when war breaks out. As the "peacemaker" all of her fears come to light and she is now terrified beyond any means and she gets smacked in the face and realizes what it means to be human. I could not stop reading this book and was saddened when it ended. I was panting non stop and my mind was blown at the style and technique Christopher Paolini expresses in his book.

We will consider adding this title to our Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I have always loved Paolini's books. War in the stars. what could be better. Kira must be a new character or I have missed her? Good book

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing an earlier copy of this book to review. Everything is my opinion and my opinion alone.

This was a crazy ride! I absolutely love Christopher Paolini's Inheritance series. I have reread them a thousand times and I just click well with how he writes. I knew going into this book that it was an adult science fiction novel, not a young adult / middle grade (depending on who you talk to) fantasy with dragons. I still think I expected more from this book tho.

The main voice in this book is a woman scientist who pokes around where she shouldn't and there are major repercussions. The story itself is super interesting and I think it would translate really well to screen. The pacing was off to me though. There are these long times that the MC is by herself and everyone else is in cyro (frozen over along period of time on the ship to save energy and food) and she isn't because, er, she can't anymore (no spoilers!) and we stay with her like that for like whole, long chapters. It's the same thoughts, same things each time. I think it happens.... four or five times? I feel like those could have been cut down by a lot. I actually think a lot of the book could have been cut down because there are some pieces of information we never touch on again that we spent pages reading on. It doesn't strength the story and doesn't add to anything. It just... dragged some.

I also just feel like people just believed and did whatever the MC said? Which was weird to me. If someone came over to me and told me to do the exact opposite of what my commanding officers told me to do, I would at least start questioning things and not just be like "okay yeah let's do it!" or if someone told me to fly straight into enemy territory for an object I had never heard of before, I would at least ask for proof and not just take their word for it? Idk, I feel like we could have spent more time on THAT than learning about how the ship goes boom...

On the plus side tho, we are talking pirates in space which is pretty cool. I didn't really feel emotionally attached to anyone but the captain and the kid on board the whole book, but I was interested in the multiple alien species that the characters were dealing with. You could tell that Paolini did his research (which is good and bad.. again with too much information).

I had a lot of negative thoughts on this book, but all in all I did enjoy it. I actually think I would have enjoyed it more if I listened to it on audio-book.and I hear the narrator is going to be amazing.

I began my foray into this book with the "Sneak Peak" - here's my review from that:

"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."
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Cut to today, when I have just last night finished the ENTIRE whomping book. So, how do I feel about the whole dang thing?

Mind. Blown.

This book was an epic, space odyssey, with aliens, space ships, wars between life-forms (namely humans, Jellies, and Nightmares). It was "Firefly" meets "2001: A Space Odyssey" but also altogether it's own beast. This tome comfortably sits right inside of the classically *science fiction* genre, and is well away from anything fantasy-born or akin to Paolini's previous success in the "Eragon" series. Definitely no dragons, FYI! But but but but but ... there are *Ship Minds* - consciousnesses uploaded onto space ships (omg) to become key personalities and operators of said ships. There are also nanotechnology-alien-lifeform creatures created by ANCIENT ALIENS (omg). The actual story is expansive, epic, HUGE, long, and immersive. Paolini really created a perfect push-and-pull of action-vs-lulls so that, reading it, you never quite get bored or complacent about what might be to come. This book is super long, but after I was pulled into the plot and the characters and all of the interesting world-building and science, I actually became accustomed to reading this book nightly before bed, to the point that I already know I'm going to miss comfortably slipping myself into space each evening. As I said in my previous review, I'm not a typical reader of classically space-quest type of sci fi books, but this story and world just filled every corner of my brain with wonder. I'm also definitely someone to be put off by length, but I am so glad I dove into this gem.

Paolini also has an interesting afterword about how he came to be writing this book, his setbacks, how he nearly gave up, how much he had to learn to understand anything technical about the place he was building in fiction, and how it took him something like 7 years to get this book out.