I have enjoyed this novel. Originally I had read the excerpt ARC and felt ambivalent about the story. The first part stands alone to engage you but definitely needs resolution to fully appreciate the story and integration between the two.

I read To Slerp In A Sea Of Stars for free through net galley. Unlike, the first books of Christopher Paolini that were fantasy, this one is science fiction. A female scientist finds an alien nanotech relic on a planet. This relic spawns a interstellar war and begis a transfirmation of the scientist. She must learn to harness its powers to help herself and humanity to survive. Very interesting world building. Well thought out tech, but I felt the ending was inconclusive I would add this to my adult collrction as it had sex and violence in it.

Thank you netgalley for this advanced excerpt of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini.
I NEED MORE.
The story had me hooked and i totally forgot i wasnt going to be able to finish the book! Oh man the sci-fi aspect of it such a cool concept! It had me transported to the places they were at. I cannot WAIT to read the rest of this book!

I was so intrigued about this book when I first heard about it since o was a huge Eragon fan. Paolini impressed me with his entry into the world of sci-fi and I cannot wait to read more about these characters and learn more about this world in the future!

As much as I wanted to enjoy this book, I just didn't care for it. The entire premise of this book sounded exactly like something I would love, but there was something about it that I just didn't like. Overall 3 stars, it's not bad of a read but definitely not my favorite Paolini book.

The first part remains my favorite, I was really into it at first and had high hopes. Kira, the main character just felt boring. She didn't seem to have much of a personality, but I did start to like her when she interacted with her team and lover. But that seemed to go away when they were all killed.. which just felt pointless to me. Not to mention the number of info dumps we had to suffer through. BUT I think this book would be wonderful as a tv show.

Reading the audiobook was a fantastic experience, the narrator really did a great job. The characters and accents were spot on. 10/10 would listen to this narrator again.

Amazing!! This is my first Christopher Paolini book and it did not disappoint me. I will for sure pick up his other series now because the writing was amazing! If you need a great fantasy this is the one for you!

Paolini forays into science fiction with a lengthy space opera that starts out as a really good yarn but kind of sputters out towards the end. It is a first contact novel with an unusual bridge through a skinsuit that attaches itself to the main character in an accident on an exploratory mission. Things get very complicated very quickly. The initial set-up is well-done and interesting and the plot buzzes along just fine, but there is just such a lot of plot, and it does go on, and on, and by the time it does get to where it is going, the author seems to have lost interest or forgotten where he was going, because that part seemed rushed and underdeveloped, rather spoiling the grand finale for me. But if you just want some good adventure storytelling, this will do the trick.

I was so incredibly excited for the publication of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (TSISAS) - Paolini's first book in over a decade, and one of my favorite authors as a child. I knew this would be nothing like his previous books, but still, the nostalgia hyped up my interest in reading this book significantly, and I wasn't disappointed.

An epic space adventure (with almost all the elements of a classic space opera), TSIASOS is set far into the future, where you've got Kira Navárez, a space scientist who does standard science-y stuff with her crew, hopping around from planet to planet collecting samples and data. Her days are pretty routine, until one day, they aren't - and things go sideways fast. Next thing you know, you've got aliens and galactic war galore! The story follows Kira through her adventures in space, and her journey toward saving humanity.

Without spoilers, I'll say I really enjoyed the story. Some parts were long and unnecessary, and at times I felt Kira was a bit under-developed even though she was the main character, but overall it was solid. It made me laugh, it made me tense up with suspense and anticipation of what was coming next, and it had me rooting for the main characters almost the whole time. The thrill of space and first-contact with aliens was done well, if not predictably, and Paolini seems to have intentionally left some questions unanswered (hopefully in anticipation of a sequel!) so I'm trying not to take that personally.

My favorite part about this several-hundred page behemoth was the writing. It was gorgeously written, with so much description and detail that as a reader, I was fully immersed in not just the story, but the world. It felt real, from the physics of the spacecrafts to the interactions with the aliens. It was exceedingly well-planned and thought out, and I commend Paolini for his attention to detail.

So, rambling over, to sum up: I enjoyed this story, a lot. I think a bit more editing could have been done, but it turned out great. I think the audiobook would be even better, because Jennifer Hale narrates it and there were some bits that I would have preferred to been read, instead of reading myself. Overall, great epic science fiction novel!

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is wholly out of the authors original series, tackling the science fiction genre. I never read the Inheritance cycle, so I was going into the book blind to the authors writing style or expectations. The book is a good science fiction read, thrilling, exciting. Full of danger, alien invasions etc.. I found the setting to be detailed and engaging and the writing and pace was easy to follow along. So if your intimidated by the Science fiction genre To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a great book to be introduced to.

I am so thrilled that I got to read this massive wonderfully epic space opera. This is not a light read, the sheer volume of the book makes it to where only committed readers can persevere to the end. Oh but what an end it is. I found the entirety of the book to be a gripping story that never quite released you from it's tether hooks.

I liked how all the alien species were so very different from humans. Yes they were sentient beings, yes they could travel through space, but beyond that the differences were staggering. I love that the author made it a point to create species that were vastly different than our own, it made it more realistic and interesting to read.

There was so much that happened in this book, the scale of it feels a bit unreal. All the adventures and journeys seemed to merge together by the end. However, they worked to culminate in the grand finale that can only be described as EPIC. This is the kind of book that reads like a big budget action movie. It is grandiose in its sweeping grandeur that builds until you reach the shocking, all encompassing ending.

I found Kira's struggle with the xeno to be poignant and at times heartfelt. I liked how her relationship with it was built up slowly piece by piece until the two were almost in harmony. I also appreciated Kira's recurring comments about her studying all the alien life and culture around her, it made her character stronger as she never really forgot her job as a xenobiologist throughout the book. The crew of the Wallfish were amazing and diverse. I found myself growing closer to them just as Kira was. They added a very human element to the story that kept it grounded. Also I found the idea of a pig an cat in space to be adorable. Plus, Gregovitch. The idea of a space mind is incredible. I think he was my favorite character in the book. The concept of a mix of human intelligence with AI capabilities worked beautifully in this story, and made it stand out even more amongst sci-fi novels.

Overall this was an amazing novel that took my breath away, made me laugh, and stirred my very human heart. Christopher Paolini has done it again and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us next!

He did a nice job of creating a new world. There was a nice cameo from an old friend.can’t wait to read the next installment.

Kira’s life is coming together in a way she had always dreamed. She is celebrating her engagement to her boyfriend, Alan, who is crazy about her. They are ready to finally live in the same colony and continue their scientific work, and are talking about their future. When Kira, a xenobiologist, investigates a new alien life form on an uncolonized planet, her entire world is turned upside down and the future she was so looking forward to is gone. Summarizing beyond this point is challenging, as it is an incredibly long novel and you really just need to read it to experience it.

Like many others who have reviewed this book, I read and loved Paolini’s work on the Inheritance Cycle. I was thrilled to see a new book coming out, but was less excited to see it was science fiction. I love watching science fiction. I love it. I have a really hard time reading it though, because for some reason my brain can’t wrap itself around anything more complicated than Ender’s Game. Either the world building doesn’t make sense to me, or the science doesn’t make sense to me, but reading it is challenging for me. So I did pick up this large book with some hesitation.

I need not have been worried, however. Paolini did an incredible job with this book, so well in fact, that I saw the whole thing play out like a Netflix miniseries in my head. I loved the characters, especially Kira, right away. I have always respected really well-written female characters in science fiction. I though Kira was relatable, and her journey was fascinating. I cried with her when she lost the idea of the life she had always wanted. I wondered what this suit/alien lifeform would do to her. I truly cared about what happened to this character. I really enjoyed getting to know Kira’s crewmates as well. Their banter was one of the things I loved most about this book. Paolini really put time into creating these characters and their dialogue/relationships, and I think he did it masterfully.

The world building was also really well done. Paolini’s longtime hard work really shone through in this aspect of the novel for me. I was drawn in right from the beginning and I felt like I experienced the world as Kira did. He did an amazing job.

It did take me some time to get through this book, but it was a worthwhile experience a
and I have been thinking about it ever since. I know this is a world I will revisit again and again.

While I am a teen librarian, and this one might not be appropriate on my teen shelves (I would definitely recommend it to more older/more mature teens) I will be recommending that it be added immediately to our adult collection, where I know it will do extremely well.

I loved this book. There was such a level of care taken by the author in knowing the details behind things like FTL travel and so on that made the book that much more realistic, even though it dealt with very fantastic things like alien species. Pacing was great and just as you would get tired with something, EVERYTHING would change leaving you constantly on the edge of your seat with where the story was headed. I look forward to future novels in the Fractal-verse!

I was initially interested in this book because of the author. Eragon has always intrigued me in part because Paolini was so young when he started writing it and I was interested to see if he could produce a completely different story with the same success. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars certainly feels like the work of an older person. The journey of self-discovery that Kira embarks on feels very familiar even while feeling alien. All in all, I believe it to be a very successful foray into the world of science fiction. It feels familiar but also fresh.

This book was too long! I enjoyed the characters but I found the plot laborsome after the first half or so.

I read Eragon as an adult after hearing so many rave reviews but it personally didn't work for me so I wanted to give the author a second chance.

While I overall liked the story, the writing didn't work for me and I couldn't finish the book. I put it down at 56%.
First contact with aliens is one of my favorite premises but the book felt too long and the pace couldn't be sustained.

Such a fantastic book! I loved It. Big adventure space opera, with great characters and an eon's old galactic mystery, I am sold!!! Paolini has come a long way since Eragon. Will definitely recommend to my customers!!

A stellar adventure of astronomical proportions. Kira, a xenobiologist, discovers an unknown life form which forever changes her life. The discovery leads to a space war between humans and aliens, with Kira as the root cause. Paolini has written another grand adventure that keeps you guessing to the end. While the conclusion is satisfying, Paolini has left enough unanswered questions for a sequel. Recommended.

*3.75/5 (rating subject to change)

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a hard book to rate. An epic sci-fi tale of nearly 900 pages of action, I was under no illusion before going into this book that it would be perfect. In fantasy, authors can bend the world to their will, but in sci-fi (or at least good sci-fi) they are somewhat constricted by scientific principles. While Paolini takes some liberties, it was clear he wanted this to feel mostly plausible and within the realm of science ... and that makes perfection hard, especially for someone with no degree on these concepts. He spent 9 years writing this book and it shows, but there will always be pitfalls when trying to accomplish a novel of this size and scope while also trying to adhere (somewhat) to science. I think the way he tries to balance these things will trip up some readers, but I also think its admirable how much he did do.

This book is non-stop action. It's engaging and interesting, with humor thrown in to bring some levity to an otherwise ominous tone (aliens threatening to kill mankind and take over the galaxy isn't exactly fun). I found myself not compelled to pick it up necessarily, but I was still enthralled every time while reading it. It was a weird experience knowing I liked the book in the moment even though I felt no drive to read it ... though I think this boils down to me rarely reading sci-fi and usually preferring sci-fi movies to books (I have trouble visualizing it usually). As someone who usually struggles to read this kind of work, I found it pretty approachable in writing style and descriptions.

I think Paolini does a fantastic job with plot and pacing here. There are small lags sure, but the amount of plot in here is impressive. And the world he's built is fantastic. Yes, it has similarities to many sci-fi stories of the past, but he still manages to do his own thing with it.

That being said, the characterization takes a while to really develop which will leave some readers a bit underwhelmed. If you're someone who primarily reads for the characters, I wouldn't call these ones bad.... they just don't start to shine until, you know, hundreds of pages into the book. Which means the beginning of the book will be boring for you.

Is this the best book out there? No... but is it impressive despite all its flaws? Yes. I think that's probably the best way to summarize my feels will reading this: Flawed but still wholly entertaining throughout. I'd recommend this to all you plot oriented friends out there... character-focused readers may want to wait for the movie, or try out the first 100 pages before they commit to this tome.

I was thrilled to receive a review copy of the book, but I’ve struggled to get through it due to the writing style and the epic length. I like the overall concept of the book and the protagonist, but I had trouble really connecting to the story due to the author’s focus on describing minute details in most moments. I’ve tried to come back to it multiple times in the past two months but I can’t get past the style. It’s definitely a personal preference as a reader, and I greatly appreciate the chance to read it.