"To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" by Christopher Paolini, experienced as an audiobook, is a sprawling space opera that blends ambitious world-building with a gripping narrative. The audiobook benefits from a skilled narrator who brings life to the diverse characters and captures the intensity of the sci-fi action. Paolini's descriptive prose shines through, creating vivid imagery and a sense of wonder in the listener's mind. However, the story's pacing may be challenging to follow at times, and the expansive universe introduces numerous concepts that may overwhelm casual listeners. While the audio production enhances the immersive experience, the novel's complexity and occasional uneven pacing might make it better suited for dedicated sci-fi enthusiasts.

3 stars

Oh. Oh my.

This book is everything. <3

Thanks for the audiobook, Netgalley. The narrator was perfect for this role and I was so happy to be able to read this work. Paolini put YEARS into this and it shows. I loved every minute of it.

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2023: I have added this update in preparation for Fractal Noise review I want to write soon! Here it is:

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is an epic and ambitious science fiction novel that takes readers on a thrilling journey through space and time. The story follows Kira Navarez, a xenobiologist who discovers an alien artifact that sets off a chain of events that threaten the survival of humanity.

Christopher Paolini’s world-building is impressive, creating a vast and intricate universe filled with diverse alien species, complex political tensions, and thought-provoking themes about the nature of humanity and the universe. The action sequences are intense and well-written, and readers will find themselves on the edge of their seats as Kira battles against insurmountable odds.

One of the most memorable quotes from the book is:

“Sometimes, the universe feels like a machine, grinding inexorably forward, without care or concern for the lives it destroys or the hopes it shatters. But other times, it seems like a living thing, pulsing and breathing, rearranging itself in response to the smallest of actions.”

This quote captures the book’s exploration of the mysteries of the universe and the human experience.

Overall, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a solid addition to the science fiction genre, and fans of Paolini’s previous work, as well as readers looking for an epic adventure through space, will likely enjoy this book.

I give To Sleep in a Sea of Stars 5 whole stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy of this audiobook to listen to and review.

Paolini writes the longest books! No, but seriously, I have to admit that 33 hours of audiobook was totally daunting though I realize that actually reading the book would have taken me way longer.
TO SLEEP IN A SEA OF STARS is sci Fi fantasy book set in the future and follows an epic adventure featuring aliens. Jennifer Hale does an amazing job at the narration and her choices for voices of alternate characters, most specifically when she talks in the voice meant to be memories given by the alien suit (for lack of a better term without spoilers) is excellent.
A personal complaint that really has nothing to do with the book itself was the author's choice of names for some of the battleships featured in the book, most specifically Extenuating Circumstances. Honestly, naming it something shorter or more concise would have taken an hour out of the listening time (or in print version probably would have saved them at least 10 pages) for the number of times the words "extenuating circumstances" are repeated. While I realize that's just a personal pet peeve I still needed to express it because it bothered me that much as I listened.

This was an interesting listen. A little bit long for my taste, but I really liked the narrator. I thought the story was unique, and engaging. The development to start was a little slow, but all in all an enjoyable read.

'To Sleep in a Sea of Stars' by Christopher Paolini is a wonderful debut into the adult readership world. The world building is staggering and the story is fantastic.

I have to say the narrator did an excellent job in what she had to work with. Unfortunately, this story was too drawn out and had a very boring protagonist. There is not much action until the last hour of listening.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher Macmillan Audio for allowing me to receive this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

I am entirely neutral on this book. It was not bad, and it was not great. It was fine. It felt like an incredibly long read that could have been paired down. I wanted to feel the excitement of picking up a great SciFi and felt a little underwhelmed.

I'm going to be very honest here, I didn't really think I was going to like this book as much as I did. This was perfect in every way... GAHHH... im in love with this one...
Looking forward to reading more from this author

I swear I reviewed this in the past. Here is the small blurb I put on Goodreads

This books takes a huge commitment to read as it is over 900 pages and the audio is 32 hours. Very detailed and vivid descriptions kept me interested to the end.

This one was a bit of a hard one to review for me. I found it quite long and slow in places, and for the most part was a fair bit confused at the worldbuilding, but overall, enjoyed? So, just kind of a middle of the road book for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect) does the narration and she is absolutely phenomenal!!!! The audio is over 30 hours, but it doesn't feel that long with all the great voices Hale provides. The story that Paolini was able to craft for this Sci-Fi novel was brilliant. Kira is a great leading character and the story kept me interested all the way through.

I initially read the first part of this book as an excerpt on BookishFirst, and really liked it. It's unfortunate that the story takes such a sharp turn from there. The world-building was uniformly impressive, and I enjoyed many scenes featuring ship-mind Gregorovich, but besides that the characters and plot were kind of boring. This book was too long by half. It's a huge time commitment, and not really worth it in my opinion. I'm not interested in continuing this series at all.

The narration of the audio version, by Jennifer Hale, was fine. She did a good job with the source material, with some voices appropriately alien. The human characters were well-differentiated. It's not Hale's fault that the book was tedious. I appreciated the recorded author's note and the interview between Paolini and Hale that were included at the end. Both gave me more appreciation for the work that went into the writing and the audio production!

I ended up running out of time to listen to this, although I do hope to eventually read or listen to it outside of a review.

Kira here: How did you enjoy the audiobook of To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars by Christopher Paolini?
Shay here: I Loved It!

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio and to the author for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of the audiobook for To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars. I loved how original and imaginative the whole storyline was, but Gregorovich might be one of the best characters I have ever read and Jennifer Hale did an amazing job with the narration for this entire novel!! I was amazed that it was her first foray into audiobook narration. She was the perfect choice to voice all these characters. Kira's story was a bit of a great space coaster in some places, but i loved how Hale handled all the myriad of emotion in a way that retained Kira's empowerment without making her either a helpless, whiny damsel in space distress or a lone ranger, master of the universe brat. I've read some books written by men with female protagonists who fall exclusively in one of those two camps, but Paolini wrote Kira with the perfect balance of both with nuance that proves he can handle the transition from Young Adult high fantasy to General Adult Sci-Fi, and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what direction his writing heads in next.

I was excited to read Paolini’s first book post-the Eragon series. When I was a kid who liked to write, seeing a teenager create a wildly successful fantasy series was a great inspiration to me. And his premise of telling an epic sci-fi space opera all in one massive tome really intrigued me.

Unfortunately this was just OK. From a dull start that didn’t pull me in and erratic changes in pacing to plot conveniences that sent my boyfriend and I to pausing the audio just to rant, this 30 hour/800+ page journey is not one that I’ll be looking back on with much fondness.

That being said, the universe he set up in this book, which he plans on returning to eventually for other standalones, is decently interesting with a future setup near the end of this book that had me thinking that TSIASOS felt like a prequel book no one knew they needed yet. The aliens represent a society deeply unlike our own, which gives our characters here a lot to discuss and to tend with. I won’t write off giving more books in this world another shot for that reason. ⭐️⭐️💫

I really liked this book. The setting was imaginative and the characters were memorable. Thank you for the ARC, I will definitely recommend this book and this author to my peers.

I’m not usually a science fiction fan, but this one blended human compassion, the infiniteness of space and adventure the perfect amount to make it a delightful listen. The aerators voice was compelling and helped me envision the scenes and story.

Listeners familiar with Paolini's Eragon series will recognize the voice of this book's narrator, Jennifer Hale. I'm embarrassed to admit that

I picked this one up because I confused the author with a different author whose name isn't even similar to Paolini. <sigh>This is just to say that I was expecting something different when I picked up this tale of first contact that lead to alien warfare. However, I enjoyed most of it. It is a long listen and there are parts that lag; there is also the fact that I couldn't suspend disbelief at the main character's... Ugh! I don't even know how to write this without a spoiler.

I did not finish this book. And not for the lack of trying. But it was just so long, even the audio was taking forever to get through. I did like the premise of the story and definitely intrigued by the chaos that was happening in the first few chapters with the characters getting infected by the being found in the cave. I might try to this one again in the future but right now it's sitting on a DNF shelf.