TO SLEEP IN A SEA OF STARS begins with Kira Navárez on a routine assignment to investigate a drone that has crashed. Kira discover an ancient reliquary and inadvertently awakens the entity within known as the Soft Blade. The Soft Blade joins itself to Kira but has little experience dealing with humans.
After returning to the research base the Soft Blade believes that is in danger and attacks all those nearby including Kira’s own fiancé. Kira is quarantined and Dr. Carr begins to conducts experiments on the Soft Blade using laser. An attack from the Wranaui occurs in an effort to protect the soft blade. As a result of the battle an entity is created comprised of Dr. Carr, one of the Wranui and part of the Soft Blade. The Maw is a growing evil force consumed by madness looking to rule the universe.
Kira manages to escape and eventually encounters a smuggler ship called the Wallfish. She is able to gain the confidence of the captain to join her battle to destroy the Maw.
There are many battles and stages to follow before Kira once again comes face to face with the Maw.
I liked TO SLEEP IN A SEA OF STARS. It is a detailed story of a future world that includes many beings other than the human race. It took me a long time to read the book but once I was invested in Kira’s story I decided not to give up on the book.
I think THE SEA OF STARS will translate to the screen quite well. There is a lot of action and even a wee bit of romance.
Thank you to MacMillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for providing an advanced e-edition of TO SLEEP IN A SEA OF STARS.
Rating 3..5 ⭐️

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini is a great sci-fi novel and with strong world-building. It felt a bit slow to start but once you start getting into it the paces moves swiftly even though it 800+ pages.

Set in the 23rd century Kira is a xenobiologist who makes a discovery of an alien race. The excitement of the discovery becomes terrifying and turns Kira' s life upside down. This is an interesting foray into science fiction and adult fiction writing by a beloved author. Fans of Paolini will enjoy growing with him.

Although a large leap from his previous work, Paolini reaches into new territory successfully here with a story for adults that shows his skills at writing are not limited to the YA crowd. Character driven, this novel will be sure to interest readers of fantasy novels.

Paolini's first attempt at adult Fiction is a very good one! I thoroughly enjoyed this and he built a creative and beautiful world. I look forward to the next titles in this new series!

I've tried valiantly to read Paolini in the past and decided I would give it another go with this title.

Kira is living on a ship with a community of people she's come to know well, acting as the xenobiologist for the crew. Add in that she has found someone to spend her life with and they have plans to start their own colony together, she can see a light at the end of the tunnel. One mission later, she finds an ancient alien relic that bonds with her and turns her upside down. This sends Kira on a hunt to understand the relic and what place it has in the universe.

I found that I really enjoyed Paolini's character creation. Everyone in the plot has a very distinct voice and motivation. This lent to you as a reader becoming invested into what happened to characters as the story went along.

I was also truly impressed with the world building. We jump in as readers right away. We're on the ship, figuring out the day to day-going through the conflict. Then there are the different planets, species, monsters, etc. It was just inordinately impressive for an one-off book to create so much for this world.

I think my biggest conflict came with Kira. She felt like she merely a vehicle for the plot. For some reason, to me, her character just didn't have a lot of depth. She was going to where people told her to. Be a good crewman, etc. I know the suit defied that for her, which I don't think Paolini utilized enough. I suppose in a way, that is a perfect foil for her lack of character. She needed an alien host to give her appeal. What does that say about character?

I think for me that's the biggest downfall of this book, beyond, the introduction of too many subspecies of jellies. Without a strong main character, a book falls flat. This book was okay? I was just hoping for Kira at some point to really be more. I may try this in physical book form and see if that helps to be able flip back and forth. Thank you!

It’s not the book, it’s me… I think.

I never expected to leave the new Christopher Paolini book unfinished but here we are. After loving Eragon, enjoying Eldest, having a series of very violent emotions toward Brisingr (and then not even bothering with Inheritance), I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this new book. Different age category, different genre, not to mention all the time that’s passed since his last book. I’ll admit I had somewhat high hopes that might have contributed to expectations not met.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, in short, bored me. The world-building was cool. The story would have probably been fine to watch as a show or movie. But I just struggled to feel that hook. You know, the moment when you’re in it for the long haul, ready to devote hours to immersing yourself in a new story.

I never got that with this book.

In fact, I struggled to muster any sort of investment in Kira, the protagonist. I just didn’t care what happened to her, and I think I was supposed to because the parts that I read… there were some emotional scenes. But they fell flat for me. Everything about the book did beyond the initial concept. Which makes me think it was just something about the writing I wasn’t clicking with.

On the upside, at least the concept wasn’t so heavy-handed on the science that it was just technical jargon for 800 pages. It read well on that front, just… bland.

I may go back and try this one again on audiobook. Sometimes that ends better, especially for books where I’m just not feeling the writing style. But we shall see. For now, this one’s being shelved as a DNF at 46%.


UPDATE! I did try the audiobook version and didn’t make it much farther than I did with the print version. I think this is just not going to be the book for me unfortunately. Definitely a combination of the writing style and lack of connection forming with the protagonist. Hopefully y’all have better luck with it!

DNF at page 110.
The book was well-written and interesting - just not for me. A book of this size is not a good starter for someone new to the outer space science fiction genre. I hope to return to it someday, but after putting it down for 3 weeks and barely thinking of it except to feel guilty about ignoring it, I knew I couldn't keep going.
Anyone interested in this genre will probably love the expansive world, vivid imagery, and the care that C. Paolini takes with every fiber of his characters.

It is always admirable when authors take chances and try to do something new instead of writing the same book over and over again. Christopher Paolini published Eragon, a Young Adult (YA) fantasy novel when he was only 19. It became a bestseller that was turned into a movie. He then wrote the other three novels in that series and it seemed like he would have a comfortable career writing Eragon sequels and similar YA fantasy novels. Instead, he spent nine years working on a massive (825 page) science fiction space adventure novel aimed at adults.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is about Kira, who when the book starts is a xenobiologist on a team surveying an Earth-sized moon before the colonists arrive. She and her new fiance Alan fear that the end of the mission will mean separating for over a year. But right before the team is scheduled to leave, the expedition boss sends her out to investigate a dead drone. She discovers signs of intelligent alien life and mysterious dust that covers her entire body. When she wakes up four weeks later she learns that her discovery put the whole system in quarantine.

Despite receiving a clean bill of health, Kira was infected with an artificial alien nanotech symbiont that functions as life support and a weapons system. She initially is unable to control it as it forms spikes that then killed most of her teammates. Doctor Carr of Fleet Intelligence investigates the xeno, which calls itself the Soft Blade, even after Kira demands they stop their torture. Kira barely escapes with her life on a shuttle and is rescued by the Wallfish, a salvage ship not part of the League, and its Captain Falconi. She learns that aliens, now nicknamed the Jellies, have been attacking human ships and colonies. The Wallfish is transporting refugees, at an exorbitant markup, including two Entropists, a society of secretive mystic scholars. Kira realizes, thanks to her xeno suit, she is probably the only one who can communicate with the Jellies. She convinces the captain to take her to Malpert Station where she can get onto a Jelly ship and try to find out what the aliens want. In the course of the journey, she befriends some of the crew, including Falconi.

When they encounter a damaged alien ship, Kira joins a salvage team from the Wallfish to explore it. Kira saves a member of the crew and gains access to a Jelly computer, learning about their society and organization. The Jellies believe that humans started the war to exterminate them, and they are searching for an ancient weapon called the Staff of Blue. Realizing that humanity is doomed unless she finds the Staff of Blue first, Kira convinces a military ship to join the Wallfish in a journey to where the Soft Blade thinks is the location of the Staff of Blue.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is an exciting space opera adventure. The first half has many mystery elements as Kira has to figure out what is going on with her xeno suit, the aliens, and the nightmares attacking both sides (the Maw is not explained until much later). The second half is a long series of battles that probably could have benefited from losing a hundred or so pages (the book is over 800 plus an appendix). I also think the author could have developed a better name for the sought-after weapon than the fantasy-sounding Staff of Blue.

The afterword is far more illuminating than the usual set of thank yous. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is the product of nine years' hard work. The author spent 2013 learning the science and creating the universe and wrote the first draft by January 2016 only to realize that this version of the novel did not work even after extensive edits. Paolini admits that his plotting and problem-solving skills had "gotten rusty from disuse" and he had to reteach himself how to tell a story. He had to rewrite almost the entire book from scratch in 2018-2019. Most writers go through this stage at the beginning of their careers, producing trunk novels and learning the craft of writing. For someone who wrote a bestseller while still a teenager, this must have been very discouraging.

Now in his mid-30s, Paolini is no longer the teen wunderkind and is writing for an adult audience. Considering that this is Paolini's first science fiction novel, he does a very good job with this material. This is a plot-driven book; there is some character development of Kira, but most other characters are there to support the story. The action scenes are well done, but I do think the second half of the book could have used some trimming as the various battles blurred together. Also, the situation with the Maw should have shown more details for the reader to understand what was happening.

The publisher has labeled To Sleep in a Sea of Stars "A Fractalverse novel" and the ending absolutely sets up a sequel. Paolini has stated that this is the "first of what will be many books" in the Fractalverse. Still, the novel does resolve the initial situation enough to provide a satisfactory conclusion. Readers who do not normally read science fiction but like Paolini's Inheritance Cycle should give this one a try. So should readers of space opera, space adventure, and even military sf.

Okay, technically I didn’t finish the appendices, but I just don’t care enough to. And if I needed to read them to enjoy the book, they should have somehow been incorporated and not shoved in the end. I don’t want to read more details about a universe I don’t care about.

This book was a serious struggle. It gets two stars because Jennifer Hale nails the narration and because there was nothing actually offensive about this book. It was just unbelievable boring.

There’s a muddled plot with flat characters who just kind of happen into things, which is interrupted way too often by vague and flowery dream sequences. And then once I got to the end it went 100% off the rails and not in a good way. (view spoiler) No thanks. And aren’t we worried about the seeker or whatever the heck it was that got unleashed when they were looking for the staff? Like oops we released this ancient horror on the universe, but let’s just forget that?

Could an editor have saved this? Maybe. There are so many elements in here that I theoretically like, but it’s like Paolini put them all into a blender and turned them into one bland mushy tasteless result. I see so many people praising this book, and I just feel like we did not read the same book at all. I see people raving about all the research he put into this, but where? It just seems like a vague fantasy world with sci-fi terms thrown in. The universe and its culture and technology never felt fully developed to me, just vague glimpses.

In short, I will not be reading the inevitable sequel.

A epic world (or worlds really) saving adventure this book had a bit of a slow pace. Its an epic on a grand scale, but still manages to keep the focus of the story on the main players. You'll get to know and love (or maybe not?) the characters of the Wallfish as they set out to help Kira, our protagonist on her journey to keep the universe safe. This book was a bit of a mood read and took a while to finish, but in the end was worth the time it took. 3.5 stars, rounded to 4.

#ToSleepinaSeaofStars #NetGalley

6.29 on CAWPILE

There is a lot to love about this book. Epic sci-fi meets alien. A sassy ship mind. Lots of cool tech. Some really good friendships. Awesome narrator. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Unfortunately, there was some stuff that I thought could use some polishing. Firstly, the book definitely needed a better content editor. There was so many scenes that were just repeat of earlier conversations/fight scenes just between a different character or a different location. Many of these added nothing new to the plot, or if they did, it was something that could have been easily added to another scene. Considering we're talking a nearly 1000 page book, I think that would have made it a lot more accessible. There was also a lot of confusion on the delivery of the alien politics and creation/structure.

I think this book had a ton of promise, just needed more polishing. I cant wait to see what he comes up with next.

This is sooooo good! I already bought it for the library and it had been here long before it was checked out and I have not seen it for a while. Plus that cover is just stunning. Can't wait for more from this author. His skills have developed well over the years.

Exploring the new planet Adrasteia, Kira Navárez, a xenobiologist, finds a unique rock formation. As Kira begins to examine the structure, she falls into a hollow area, finding a substance which engulfs her body. With it, Kira is bonded to a symbiotic alien substance, and from Adrasteia to the far reaches of the galaxy, Kira’s discovery has long lasting implications that take her on various adventures, including making first contact with an alien species.

To Sleep In a Sea of Stars is a monster of a book. Christopher Paolini details in his author’s note how this book was a labor of love that took him over ten years. And it shows. If you’re a fan of epic science fiction, To Sleep In a Sea of Stars is definitely an homage to some of the best characteristics of odyssey adventure quests in the genre.

So since this book is lengthy, let’s dive right into what works well. First, the world building. Though the Earth is still inhabited, humans have moved beyond the solar system and out into the stars. In the novel, various characters exhibit different physical characteristics based on planet of origin. These include racial and ethnic characteristics, depending on who originally settled these worlds, and environmental factors, including higher gravity’s impact on physical appearance. Overall, the world building was excellent and kept the reader engaged.

Second, the characters. There’s a lot that I could write about the various characters in this book, particularly those aboard the Wallfish, a vessel that Kira eventually finds herself aboard. Each character is finely drawn and differentiated, including some of the secondary characters that are only featured for a short time. As a reader, I really liked each character, flaws and all, and rooted for positive outcomes. Several of the characters also add humor and humanity, needed elements in a novel that is about alien technology and first contact.

Third, the science. Science fiction doesn’t work without science and it’s clear that Paolini did his research. In his author’s note, Paolini notes that nothing takes him out of a story quite like poorly drawn details or unsound scientific concepts. As such, he spent a great deal of time determining how it might be possible for humans to travel over large sections of space, reading scientific tomes and talking to experts in the field. The result of this research is believable space travel and battles, both detailed in two addendums attached to the end of the novel.

Finally, first encounters with aliens. The aliens in the novel, the Wranaui, or the more colloquial “Jellies,” don’t come in peace; however, as the novel unfolds, it’s clear that there are complicated reasons for them to hold a grudge. The groundwork for the Wranaui to enter the picture is laid with a mention of other alien technology, including the Great Beacon on Talos VII. With other alien technology noted, it’s not surprising when first contact is made.

In terms of what isn’t working, well, the novel is quite lengthy, so buckle up for a long journey. It’s possible that there are segments that could have cut without losing the thread of the story; however, as this is a space odyssey, the novel may have lost some of its impact without the length. As a reader, I found that this was not a book that could be picked up and put down easily. A minimum of an hour was needed with each reading to get into the characters and story.

Overall, I did enjoy To Sleep In a Sea of Stars. I particularly liked that the novel concluded with a message of hope. Additionally, Paolini has stated that this will be the first in the Fractalverse, a collection of novels that will utilize some of the same settings and characters. As I found this world to be deeply engaging, I would come back for future installments.

I really struggled with this one. I really felt like it was overwritten and the main female-identifying character was not portrayed in an accurate way (the periods, anyone?). I feel like men (and particularly straight men) either need to do their research or just stay away from writing women's thoughts/bodily functions. I won't be recommending this one.

If you're not a fan of lengthy, slow building reads, this may not be for you, but you should give it a shot. When reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars you are pulled into a fantastical world filled with creatures and characters that take up your mind. It read like a video game; different side quests, companions and ending with a big boss battle. You can tell by the attention to detail that Paolini did his research, the story is immersive and well written.

I know the question you’re all going to be asking: is it derivative? Is it like Eragon? Will I be drowning in tropes and predictable plots? The short answer is… sometimes. The longer answer, of course, has a bit more nuance to it. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars has much to recommend it, but suffers from occasional (and unintentional) cheesiness. Paolini may have bitten off a bit more than he could chew, particularly in his handling of a woman as a protagonist.

Fortunately, Sea of Stars has one particular feature I love: WEIRD SENTIENT ALIEN TECH. The novel opens on Kira, a xenobiologist, accidentally uncovering a strange piece of alien pseudo-life. It integrates itself into her body, and at first she struggles to control it. As the novel progresses, they develop a symbiotic relationship with potentially world-altering implications.

It was a ton of fun watching each new xeno-related discovery rise from the murk. Plus, Paolini also gave me cats in zero-g (love it), a space pig, and some really cool jellyfish-like aliens. While I originally thought the term “jellies” for the aliens felt a little bit much, we now live in the time of Rona and I can’t really judge any more. The jellies communicate via scent and are heavily based off of the ‘immortal’ Medusa jellyfish – I loved getting to learn about their society and life cycles!

Sadly, I did feel like plot ended up highly predictable and often brought to mind other books that had similar ideas and themes, but had done them better. As far as the way Kira and the xeno interfaced and her subsequent struggle with bodily autonomy and identity, I was repeatedly reminded of Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear. Bear also had better zero-g cats, I’m sad to say.

This book is also quite a bit longer than it ought to have been. It’s a solid 800 pages, and there is a distinct turning point in the middle that makes it feel like a duology combined into one volume. I think it would have been a stronger book if around 300 pages or so had been trimmed.

Kira often feels flat and one-dimensional. At the start of the novel, when she first ‘meets’ the xeno and can’t control it, she slaughters her husband and crewmates. This occurs within the first, oh, thirty pages or so; we barely see any of the relationship between her and her partner, which makes it difficult to understand her feelings on the event later on. Frequently, that trauma is conveniently forgotten only to resurface later when it is used solely as a plot device. I was also pretty uncomfortable with how the novel handled womens’ reproduction and periods. It felt inauthentic and just… strange, really. Kira had “turned off” her periods prior to encountering the xeno, but for some reasons the xeno “fixes” that for her, which she is weirdly nonchalant about given her overarching concerns with bodily autonomy. I would have expected this to be highly distressing. She also reacts to cramps in ways that seem very overblown given the manner in which they are described.

If you don’t find weird alien organisms fascinating, you will probably find this book to be a frustrating read. If you do happen to love that particular brand of space opera, however, and you have a well-developed ability to ignore things that are just a bit off, this will be a fun read.

Diving into this title without even reading the description of the book - as a way to vary my reading choices - and I was pleasantly surprised! This book had great pace and kept my interest, although occasionally felt a little juvenile for a debut adult novel. Great easy read for budding space horror enthusiasts!

To say this book was dense is an understatement. It's simply a beast. But, true to Paolini fashion, it's a surprisingly easy read, with breaks in the story line through dreams, or memories. Paolini takes this idea of space travel and turns it into just what would happen if the human race stumbled upon another alien life force. The size of the book is overwhelming. With thin pages, the reader really feels as if they're making no headway. But, the more the reader gets into the book, the more they find that they cannot stop. At the end, I put the book down and stared at the ceiling for the next hour, simply just trying to process everything I had read. Fabulous.

To Sleep In a Sea of Stars is a great novel. 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. Great story line. Great characters. I loved it.