I wasn't at all sure what to expect from this book, because it is obviously very different from the Inheritance books! No dragons, but not we have space squids. I do love space squids. This was an original idea, and I was quite impressed with the plot and characters. I do think it started off a bit slowly, but by the time you get half way through or so, it starts getting more action oriented and exciting.

This novel was a wild ride from the start to the end. If you're a fan of plot-driven books with lots of action, this is definitely it. So, in To Sleep In A Sea of Stars, we follow Kira, a xenobiologist who works on foreign planets analysing and collecting their biological flora and fauna. To her immense surprise, she ends up finding a massive discovery on the planet she's currently on that changes her life. This crazy alien dust ends up being an alien lifeform that completely changes the universe as humans know it as more is uncovered as a result.

I know I'm being super vague but that's because there are so many spoilers and so much to learn that you simply have to read it to find out! In general though, this book and Kira's story is about her experience as she makes first contact with aliens. Throughout the book, this story really solidified the difference between science fiction and science fiction fantasy for me. I had never given it that much thought but what really makes this science fiction is that it is set in our world; a world where we lived hundreds of years before and the characters we meet are living in a future that spans from now. Everything within this story is based on how humans expand their technology and reach to live on other planets and continue exploring; to find these other intelligent signs of life and aliens themselves.

First off, Paolini set up this world so well. I was entranced and needed to find out more about how Earth had changed and evolved as I kept reading. Technological advances are heavily involved in this book like travelling on ships by the speed of light and science-y goodness I can't even begin to fully comprehend, that any science nerd will relish. The back of this book is also filled with scientific research papers and such, so it's clear Paolini put a lot of work and research and effort into this book and it really shows.

When it comes to the story itself, I really enjoyed it! Kira was a great protagonist that had an interesting character development. While I never really connected to her well, I admired her actions and her perseverance and she gets put through some very tough situations (many life or death instances) and manages to pull through believably. I never felt I was disliking or even seeing any particular trope, Kira could have definitely been put into a position where she was the Chosen One but the book also made it very clear that anyone could have found what she did and who knows how they would've reacted and where things could have gone from there. The highlight of this book was definitely the side characters, I loved learning more about them and having a great spaceship crew with banter and team chemistry. It increased the stakes as things got more dangerous and filled with action, and it added so much more depth to the story. These characters didn't necessarily have a lot of character development per se, but I also felt like they didn't need it either.

The best and worst part of this book is the pacing. First off, the plot was written so well in that I had no idea what was going to happen next. I was always on the edge of my figurative seat, not knowing what else Paolini would throw at me in these pages. However, this book was like a science fiction novel incorporating the pacing of a K-Drama. At least for the first half of this book, it was a bit crazy how things would go from 0 to 100 then back down to 0. There were many peaks and high action moments with insane plot twists then suddenly sections that slowed down dramatically. It made it a little hard to get into the book because the pacing wasn't consistent nor had a specific end goal to the plot until 50-60% in when things really got going. That being said, it did manage to keep my attention and keep me reading because I wanted to get to the next part and find out what happens.

The pacing of this novel also made it apparent that this book is almost definitely 2 books in one. At 880 pages, Paolini could have easily cut it in half and sold it separately. The book was SO long, and with the decision to keep these two intertwined parts together, this novel could definitely have been cut down more. There were certainly parts of the book that bored me a little, but what I appreciated was that after the first perhaps 20-30%, Paolini's writing style became a lot easier to read.

The first chunk of the book was naturally more content-heavy as we were thrown deep into this futuristic setting. His writing style was similar to Eragon (from what I can remember), and I didn't spot any particular flaws except perhaps some action scenes that could've been written a little smoother at the beginning. What did strike me was the jarring writing style he sometimes switched to during visions/flashbacks. The style was so different and came off like he was trying to write in prose; with beautiful sentences and descriptions. Sure those excerpts added some flare but overall I wasn't a fan of the change, it was too jarring for me but I understand its purpose as a whole for the story too.

Despite all of that, this book was really enjoyable but as an adult science fiction novel, it was also quite exhausting. As someone that usually reads YA, it took more effort to immerse myself in this story at the beginning but I found myself seriously hooked by midway and itching to finish it by 60%. Even YA readers would enjoy this spectacular tale, and the idea that this is just the first book in this world is exciting because there is so much more to learn and discover about it. Unfortunately, the ending wasn't really totally my cup of tea. It was heartbreaking when one of my favourite characters didn't do so well, and how the story itself concluded and alluded to more in this world, but it will be interesting to see what others think of the ending and theories for what is to come next. Highly recommended for science fiction lovers and even science fiction fantasy fans alike. I'll definitely be on the lookout for the next book in this Fractalverse.

I grew up with the Eragon books and I appreciate that this author has the opportunity to try to work in a new genre. I am always more critical on sci fi and I went into this novel expecting to be disappointed. I do think most sci fi and eragon fans will be pleased with it.

I’ve got to be honest here and admit that I was never a big fan of Eragon or any of the rest of the books in the Inheritance Cycle when I was growing up. So I was a little bit surprised at just how excited I was when I found out earlier this year that Paolini was going to be releasing a science fiction book. I’ve been trying to read more of the genre these days so I knew I was going to have to give this book a try and boy am I glad that I did. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini was a fantastic read that I was unable to put down once I had started listening to it.

So once of the things I’ve discovered over the last couple years is that it’s not science fiction that I’m not really a fan of but more specifically “hard” science fiction. So I was glad to find that To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was fairly light on the science aspect of the genre and instead focused more on telling a fun and interesting story. While I don’t have many preferences for the genre one of the things I really do enjoy reading about is first contact and how humanity might respond to discovering they weren’t alone in the universe. Add to that great characters like Kira Navarez and some really great worldbuilding and it’s like this book was written just to rope me in.

I do think that one of the reasons I was so excited to receive this book is because it’s one of the first audiobooks I’ve been sent to review. I don’t think I’ve listened to anything narrated by Jennifer Hale before and I’m going to have to remedy that quickly because I thought she was fantastic. She really managed to bring this book alive for me by somehow giving every character their own unique voice and breathing a lot of life and emotion into them with her narration. I can easily see her becoming one of my favorite narrators.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this book to anyone looking for something new to read or listen to and I’m really hoping that we get more books like this from Christopher Paolini in the near future.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I gave this a few hundred pages and just cannot seem to stick with it at this time. I think it has to do with my current mindset in tackling a book with A LOT going on within it. I generally really enjoy Fantasy novels that are out there with their concepts, so I know I will probably enjoy this at another juncture in my life. Especially with all of the raving reviews surrounding it. It's just not for me right now, but that does not take away from the amazing amount of time that was put into every single detail surrounding the worlds/planets, alien lifeforms, magic, and crazy insane battles and invasions. You can tell Paolini poured everything he has into this novel, and I look forward to the experience eventually. Thank you very much for the advanced copy and opportunity to read it, Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley. I will save my review for my sites when I do finish it.

This is Space Opera in all its Space Opera trope glory!
This is my first Paolini book, I say that to inform other readers of my ignorance of Mr. Paolini's style previous to this book.
But I was engaged and the action keeps coming fast and furious.
Like a certain classic Space Opera, the story is loaded with religious / mystical overtones and certain characters sole purpose seems to be to spout mysterious phrases and encourage our protagonist with popular philosophy.
Our protagonist along with a motley band of smugglers set forth on an epic quest to save the galaxy, by means of finding an object of great power. Our reluctant heroes are pulled along via alien visions and pushed into fulfilling an enormous destiny. Humankind face a possible extinction-level threat, and only one person can save them! This is not fully a "chosen one" story, as our protagonist becomes chosen by accident and has to learn how to be not-quite human, but something else, maybe something more, to pull off what she must do.
This setup reminds of me strongly of many epic fantasies that I've read.
Paolini did seem to struggle with writing a woman's point of view at times, as Kira's feelings didn't strike me as realistic or genuine at certain parts, and I am not a woman either. Also, I didn't fully buy into the choices many of the characters make at different times, but I can forgive it as it was a lot of fun to read.

I got an ARC of this from NetGalley. I was really excited for this book when I first heard about it Spring 2020. I loved Eragorn and the Inheritance series (the third book was slow and a bit predictable, but the happens with a lot of series). So, I was very excited to get this and jump in.
Immediately it was a struggle. The main character is a xenobiologist on a survey expedition, so I was excited to get some good science-based SciFi. They immediately start disregarding years of training and experience in order to have things happen to move the plot along. Strike one. They are somehow able to talk people they have just met who would have no discernable interest in doing anything other than just shuttling them to where they were told to take them into risking their ships, crews, and lives to help a stranger who has lied about the very dangerous alien symbiotic suit they are wearing. Strike two. Then I hit a patch of dialogue that was lifted straight out of Star Wars. Strike three. It just completely pulled me out of the story. I tried to struggle on, but it was just too much. If the main character hadn't supposedly been a scientist with years of field experience, I could go with some of the choices they made but it was just too much to believe they would do many of the things they did.
The style of the writing kept pulling me out of the story as well. I don't know if it was just written with the idea that most people reading it wouldn't be able to read into what the characters were doing, but it was almost overly descriptive and written for a much less aware reader than I apparently am. It may get better and be more interesting in the last two thirds, but it shouldn't take that long to grab my interest. Maybe I'll try to pick it up again in the future, but with so much other choices out there, I probably won't. I found this almost as big a letdown as the movie adaptation of Eragorn.

I am immensely biased. Let's establish that from the get go. I can usually get over my bias when reviewing books. Yet, apparently that's not the case with anything connected to Paolini and/or the Inheritance Cycle. While this book is entirely separate from the Inheritance Cycle, and stands completely on its own, Paolini makes use of some of his most fantastic writing traits in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.

To start off, the character development is pretty solid. Kira and the crew members of the Wallfish are easy for me to associate with. While the dialogue seems forced and/or awkward at times, the overall complexities of relationships and individual growth are legit present in this reading. Additionally, I've always been a fan of Paolini's storytelling. It's captivating. I was unsure as to if his storytelling would be as accessible in a work of sci-fi compared to his fantasy writing, which is always easy for me to jump right into. Yet, even with the more technical sci-fi terms utilized, due to his leaning on traditional genre tropes, it's super easy to follow. Typically, identifying his use of tropes wouldn't be high praise. However, Paolini puts his own spin on some of the more oft-used sci-fi elements. So, let it be a compliment, alright?!

Another piece of Paolini's style that I tend to appreciate is his use of verse and/or poetry to propel the story forward. The odd thing is, I am not a big fan of poetry. Still, for some strange reason, I'm a huge advocate of how he incorporates it into the overarching mission of his stories. Well, it's probably not all that strange of a reason. Paolini's verse is ultimately grounded in objective experience or reasoning--something I tend to appreciate, due to my tendency to "want to know what is going on" versus merely "theorize what is going on."

Now, this won't be everyone's "cup of tea." It's not a super fast read. It traverses a lot of ground--err, space?! It is also falls into a corpus of a specific genre,--a genre that definitely has its critics. However, if you're into solid storytelling, rich character development, and a well versed hint here and there, this book might be exactly what you're looking for.

DM

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to read the new Paolini series, but I just could not get into it and did not finish it. I'm sure with the right audience of sci-fi fans, it will be highly acclaimed, but it was just not the book for me. I wish it great success in the literary world!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing me with an advanced copy of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars in exchange for an honest review.

Waiting over ten years for Christoper Paolini's next book was not a great experience. However, I am thrilled to be able to say it was worth the wait. The years he spent honing this story are evident in the character development, world-building, technical information, and just attention to detail. This book is a tomb at nearly 900 pages, but I enjoyed most of every moment.

The beginning of the book introduces the reader to the main character, Kira, a xenobiologist who studies lifeforms on planets to determine if they are a good fit for terraforming. Things are going well and we see Kira making plans for her future. Then, in a moment, everything changes, and life for Kira gets turned completely on its head. Humans are not as alone in the universe as they thought; and the discovery of alien relics and lifeforms turns out a very different result from the one Kira envisioned.

I enjoyed this book. It is outside of my normal genres, and it definitely took a few more brain cells to digest and comprehend all the technical and scientific jargon. But, I am grateful for the technical and scientific aspects as they were necessary for me to buy into this sci-fi world. The book is not perfect; and I'm not sure a book should ever be perfect. I have an inkling that the moments I could have done without are the moments another reader craved. I am excited to see what Paolini tackles next, although I have my fingers crossed for another foray into fantasy.

An excellent Sci Fi, space opera reminiscent work of fiction. The main character is strong without losing the voice of a damaged woman, intelligent while still able to listen to others, and brave. There is a wide diversity of representation without feeling pandering to any agenda. The side characters are well developed while maintaining a single viewpoint.

The prose is excellent, and the illustrations and maps helpful. Overall an excellent story, with good twists and a deep plot.

So let me start off by saying that if you are a sci-fi fan this is a MUST READ. Sooooo good.

We start off with Kira, a xenobiologist studying a planet for colonization in a futuristic society where many worlds have been colonized by humans. No aliens yet, though a single alien relic has been found from a Vanished society.

Kira discovers another alien relic which infects her, and all of a sudden multiple species pop out of nowhere, all more advanced than humans and all trying to exterminate humans. It’s the worst case first contact scenario.

Kira adventures forth trying to find out, well, anything that will help humans survive.

This book is looooooong. Usually I don’t mind that but sometimes it takes so long to get to the point that I actually miss it and have to go back. The devil is in the details. And in this case, it’s in too many details. Sometimes, the author takes for granted that all the readers know sci-fi terminology - for example there was talk of a Dyson sphere without any explanation as to what that is. I mean yes, I know what a Dyson sphere is, but it would have been nice to have not only a reminder, but confirmation that the author meant what I thought he meant.

The story, however, is worth it. It’s an epic sci-fi adventure with a motley crew of supporting miscreant characters I adored. Really, the characters carried the story sometimes when Kira’s constant repetition of guilt got old. Really, sometimes the vulnerable heroine needs to grow a pair.

So all in all, this was definitely a 5 star read that I would recommend if you love sci-fi and want a nice long standalone book.

This review is going to be spoiler-free because of two reasons. One- going into To Sleep in a Sea of Stars without knowing more than the summary is definitely the way to go. And two - there’s so much that happens in this book that I couldn’t even begin to cover it. But I will say that the pacing (and the book in general) was amazing. I was glued to the page for every single one of the 880 pages and I would have been willing to read even more in this world.

And that’s because this universe is absolutely fascinating and I adored the characters. Pasolini spent over seven years writing To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and it really shows. The world building in this book is incredible and truly breathtaking in its scope. I’m so glad that this book is the start of a series because I can’t wait to find out more about this universe.

I also loved the characters in this book. Kira‘s character development was very well done. The crew of the Wallfish were my favorites though. Plus I always love a good found family. And if you loved AIDAN from the Illuminae Files, wait until you meet Gregorovich.

Overall, I loved this book and can’t wait for my preorder to arrive. If you’re a science fiction fan (or willing to give the genre a chance) definitely consider picking this one up!

I wanted to love this book. I wanted to lose myself in this book but sadly, that was not the case. The first two chapters or sections (I was reading an ebook so it was hard to tell) should have been shortened or eliminated and instead, the story should have begun where she falls in the small room and is over taken by the alien form. Too much detail was spent on every single thing that happened to her. Too many things went wrong and too much writing was spent on each event. I could not help but wonder where the editors were. Where was their guidance? The good points about this book? The author has a premise that had the potential to be unique and fascinating. The author's characters had the potential to be great but were lost in the myriad details that peppered the reader. The only thing that kept me reading was the past writing history of this author.
I waited a week after finishing the book to write this review but even time has not dulled my disappointment.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
by Christopher Paolini
Pub Date: 15 Sep 2020
Read courtesy of http://www.Netgalley.com

Although I usually don't enjoy fantasy, Paolini makes it accessible to me. He doesn't confuse me with featureless, flat characters with too many weird, similar names - that alone is a win for me. I really enjoyed To Sleep in a Sea of Stars since it falls in that nebulous alley between fantasy and scifi; it was able to pull off both genres in one story.

Every character has a personality; the characters are ones for whom I want to cheer and root, and I don't really have to spend too much time understanding or hating the 'bad guys.' Kira and the Soft Blade do that for me. Engaging, fun, (long), and quite epic.

The characters in this sci-fi novel were interesting as was the science behind the story. I do wish the editing had cut some of the technical stuff from the narrative though. A little of that goes a long way for many of us! I did love the Ship Mind, a creative and fun addition to the novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for the ARC to read and review.

The Quick Cut: A woman finds her life turned upside down when a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet goes awry.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Tor books for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's safe to say that anyone who reads science fiction books has imagined what it would be like to live in space and colonize other worlds. However, what would you do if that idyllic imagining of living in space went awry? This is the situation for xenobiologist Kira Navárez.

Kira is a xenobiologist who is doing a typical survey mission for a soon to be colonized planet when she runs across some strange readings and she checks out the situe. What she finds is an alien artifact that eventually knocks her out and leaves her body covered by an alien entity. The life that she imagined post mission is decimated and now she is trying to adjust to the new reality. Will she ever find a way to remove the entity from her body? Or will it continue to take her over piece by piece?

Like Christopher Paolini's other books, this one is heavy and clocks in at over 800 pages long, with multiple parts and multiple sections within each chapter. The story is immaculately broken up in order to better tell the story as it shifts from one location to another. It's a smart method of writing for such a detailed and epic tale he's looking to tell here. Unfortunately, while the setup is intricate and well planned, the material within its setup isn't as well done.

The first part of the book is a brilliant beginning that sets up the storyline. While the characters and the relationships are setup, the worldbuilding in this latest novel of Paolini's is done primarily by dumping large amounts of information at you, at multiple points. Massive amounts of technical information is provided, but that isn't the best method to create a universe. If you want the reader to be able to imagine the planets, various ships, and companies that are involved - your words need to create a picture and this story doesn't accomplish that. Plus, the action is what keeps the story moving forward so much that by part two I started to feel burnout and I wasn't even a quarter of the way through the novel.

Kira as a narrator is good and she does attempt to put you in her shoes with each misstep that occurs, but even for me she came off as a little fake in the emotions department. Without going into the details, she has her entire life ripped away. Anyone's reaction would be to completely lose it and she holds it together far too well considering the circumstances (and with no explanation). It made it difficult for me to relate to her on any deeper level. This can be hard for a male author to accomplish though.

An epic story that fails to create a picture of the universe created.

My rating: 2 out of 5

I also have not read anything by this author. I went into this book not expecting to major things that became facts - first the size (OMG) and that it was a YA or kids book and while I might enjoy it - I wouldn't be "sold on it".
Wrong on both!!!

While it was a bit long - it was so worth it. Also - not being a fan of Sci-fi - I didn't expect to get so involved with Kira and the crew!

Great book - not one complaint from this reader and new fan of this author!

I came to this story cold, having not read the series that made Paolini famous. But the story was intriguing. The setup could be any science fiction story, and when Kira contacts the alien intelligence at first the plot is so similar to the Alien films that it almost lost me. But the plot quickly expands into something else, a complex war between the human race, an alien race the humans call the Jellies, and a strange mutation that appears to want to dominate them all.

After her scientific mission implodes Kira escapes the spaceship where she was quarantined and joins the crew of a private spaceship called the Wallfish, and that crew becomes her new family. Paolini writes sagas, so it is not surprising that the story takes many twists and turns after that. It's a tale of one disaster after another, each one on a larger scale than the previous one. As well as one cliffhanger after another. A successful climax seems almost impossible until it happens.

The result is ultimately a happy ending for all of the survivors. But Kira is left with a final task to undo a threat she caused unintentionally. She accepts responsibility and flies off on her quest. It certainly could be a setup for a sequel, although Paolini does not mention one in his Afterward. Appendices devoted to "Spacetime & FTL" and "Ship-based Combat in Space" attest to the extensive research he undertook to keep the science reasonable. Personally I wound up skimming them, not having the technical expertise to judge their accuracy.

If the story is well told those sort of details are just stipulated by the reader anyway. And this is an engrossing story, even if many aspects of it are not especially original to regular readers of science fiction. I do think it could have been shorter--by as much as a quarter to a third--to better keep up the pace.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy.

This book is extremely long, and it occasionally took a bit of effort to slog through. I did, however, enjoy it immensely by the time I finished it. It is definitely a book that you have to be in the mood for since it is so long. The writing was descriptive and well done. The characters weren’t overly interesting outside of what was happening to them. I did enjoy the plot and descriptions, so I am giving it four out of five stars.