Be prepared to become engrossed in a vivid Sci-Fi world. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini was captivating from beginning to end.

While this book is incredibly long (over 30 hours) do not be intimidated. The story is never dull. Paolini does what he does so well with building a truly unique and immersive experience for the reader, helping them feel like they are a part of the story. While I enjoyed the characters, I think there could have been more development with them.

Jennifer Hale slayed her narration! With a book this long, it takes a truly gifted voice actor/actress to pull off such a feat. Hale kept the characters' voices distinct and clear throughout the entire story. I knew exactly who was talking without being told, which I love when listening to audiobooks.

I devoured this beast in a few days. If you love vivid and descriptive worlds and space operas, this is the perfect book for you. I think this is a book I would enjoy having a physical copy in front of me while listening to the audiobook. There is a lot to digest and I find that helps me absorb lots of information best.

I received an advanced audiobook copy from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan audio for the advance listen. All I can say is wow! If you like Sci-fi this is one not to miss and the audiobook is out of this world. One narrator and she is amazing! She gives each character their own voice and there are a lot of characters...The story was also amazing. Kept my attention and did not want to stop listening. The title, the cover artwork ❤️ Highly recommend. I even purchased a signed hardcover edition...

My thoughts

Rating: 5

Would I recommend it?yes

Would I read more of this author? Yes in fact he writes one of my all time favorite series The Inheritance Cycle Series

WOW just wow , I can't put into words how good this was I just couldn't stop reading it ,it just came out of nowhere and bam I was hooked. It had every thing i could want in a SCI fi book: a bit of romance , space trivial , aliens, space battlers and the fate and humankind in the hands of one person. This definitely a win for Christopher Paolini and it just might be right up there with his The Inheritance Cycle Series . Can't wait to get my hands on the book .

I am reluctantly DNFing this audio ARC because the netgalley listening app is super bugging and I'm not able to properly listen. Even though I downloaded the file, the audio file keeps resetting to the beginning every time I lose my wifi signals. Since the chapters are not numbers and the audiobook is over 3o hours long, I find it impossible to find my place. Also the app keeps crashing every few moments. I'm sorry to Tor.com but the app has made this title impossible to review.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
Author: Christopher Paolini
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis (from book):

Kira Navárez Dreamed of finding life a new worlds. Now she has awakened a nightmare.

While exploring a distant planet, she discovers an alien relic that thrust her into an epic journey of transformation and discovery.

Her odyssey will carry her to the far reaches of the galaxy. Earth and her colonies are on the brink of annihilation.

One woman.

The will to survive.

The hope of humanity.

Review:

I almost feel in adequate to give my opinion on this book. The world building, or in this case… other-world building, is by far the most complex and beautifully developed world that I’ve ever had the pleasure of discovering. Paolini’s world comes alive so vividly that I felt drawn in completely throughout the entire read. This story is such a roller coaster of emotions leaving me laughing one moment and stopping the next. I want to reread several times to catch things I may have missed the first time, and to fully understand the events that took place. The beginning of the story in no way prepared you for what is ahead.

The characters were an instant connection for me. I felt their pain in the sorrowful moments and their elation in the joyful moments. Keira’s journey from start to finish left me breathless, my heart wrenching for what she had to go through. There were several characters I fell absolutely in love with, but I won’t spoil their identities for you.

I would recommend this book for anyone, not just sci-fi lovers. I myself am not a big sci-fi fantasy lover. I loved this book and feel that it opened up my horizon to other genres that I would not have explored before.

"To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" by Christopher Paolini follows the story of Kira the Xenobiologist who studies biology on alien planets in the deep reaches of space. Kira has been on multiple missions and is ready to settle down with her new fiancée Alan when things go terribly wrong. Kira and her team are finishing up a job on Adrasteia when she stumbles across an oddly shaped rock formation that she decides to explore. During the small side expedition, she makes first contact with an alien life form that now threatens everyone she knows and loves. Will she escape? Will she be able to save the others?

This new novel by Christopher Paolini has the same descriptive and elaborate diction that has become his signature. He does an excellent job setting the scene and world building so that the reader is transported into deep space. The beginning of the book was a little choppy though as there were a lot of names of people, places and ships provided up front. It was difficult to keep all of the names straight without something to reference before hand. It would have been helpful to have either a longer world building section to become more familiar with the names and terms or perhaps an infographic at the beginning of the book with cast of characters or map of the planets/locations etc.

Kira is in for the fight of her life, and I am HERE FOR IT! My heart broke for her in the beginning of the story with the events that unfolded. Kira is just the right mix of loving, dedicated and driven to make me want to cheer for her to succeed and really stand behind the character. She's tough as nails when she needs to be and worried or preoccupied at times when she can be softer.

In terms of the audiobook specifically, the narrator does a wonderful job of presenting the story. Jennifer Hale (the voice actor) does a great job switching between narrating and then voice acting with the dialogue. She speaks in a softer tone for Kira's inner thoughts which helps to create that character in the reader's mind. Hale also uses some accents for different characters throughout which adds interest. Although the narration is clear and crisp, I would recommend listening at the normal pacing and not speeding up the playback. The reason for this is not the actual narration, but rather the content of the book. There are so many details that could be overlooked. It would be better to listen at the intended pace and enjoy it accordingly.

One of the things to consider is that this audiobook is a huge time commitment. Clocking in at 32 hours, this is a long book chock full with plenty of details, action and world building. I found that I preferred the audiobook format due to convenience since readers can listen while on the go. However, it is important to note that the listener needs to be keyed in and paying attention or the book specifics will be lost and the reader will not get as much out of the book. I almost felt like laying down with my eyes closed and listening would be the best way to utilize this audiobook as this would truly allow for me to imagine the world being described!

As always, Paolini has delivered a marvelous book that is sure to be a hit with fans, both old and new!

Book 178 towards my goal of 280! 4/5 stars for this adult scifi! So I'm normally not a fan of space books, but had to read this one after seeing the author chat with @words.and.whimsy ! This book is packed full of action and adventure! And a ship pig ;) I don't want to give too much away, but the story is fantastic! The characters are well developed. The writing has funny bits, with plenty orlf serious, and a bit of sad. The narrator for this book was PERFECT! Great voice for the story! Highly recommend!
*I received this book in exchange for honest review from Netgalley*

Kira Navarez has clearly never seen the movie Alien. On a survey of an unknown planet, Kira find an obviously ancient relic. It’s all fun and games until the dirt and dust around Kira starts to move, Humans have always dreamed of reaching beyond the stars, of finding life elsewhere in the vast, empty universe. Be careful what you wish for. Paolini became a household name with the publication of Eragon and its sequel, written when he was just a teenager. His newest will enchant a new generation of readers and a female heroine is just what the world needs right now. The narrator does an excellent job of capturing the urgency and danger in Kira's world