This is a monster of a book that I got as an audio book to review. The book starts with a terraforming crew leaving ahead of colonists arriving when a drone goes offline. At the drone site Kira sees something unusual and checks it out. She finds alien tech that invades her and is rescued by her coworkers. They find nothing wrong with her but she is was in cryo for a month while they run tests on her and everyone that was exposed at the site. Almost as soon as she is woken up the tech awakens and bonds with her. The government ship that oversaw clearing her of infection is now testing her and the alien tech to find out about it. This doesn’t go on for too long before an unknown alien ship arrives and attacks the ship she is on. What looks like a possible rescue of the alien tech turns out to be an invasion force of still another alien. Now Kara has to convince humanity that she can help and not hurt them all while they are facing an unknown force that seems to have them outgunned with advanced technology.
There is a large cast of characters, but everything works well in the storyline and I would like to see more in this setting. The ending does leave room for more in this story universe with either Kara or someone else to read about.
With the audiobook being so long I didn’t lose track of any of the story. The downside doing this an audio I didn’t realize there are appendices at the end of the book but I could figure out what things were by the context of the story. There is also an interview at the end of the book between the author and the narrator. Between that and the afterward read by the writer you get some insight into the process of writing the book.

Hello Gemmies! I have an exciting book review to share with you today. Please note: I received an audiobook ARC of this book (via NetGalley) from its publisher in exchange for an honest and fair review.

To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars by Christopher Paolini is the new adult science fiction space fantasy adventure that I never knew I needed! Holy Hell this book is amazing! Xenobiology, alien tech, space travel, fierce battles, hive minds, ship minds, heartbreak, and pet pigs. I mean what doesn't this book have! It is brilliantly imagined and executed. The world building is truly impressive. There are so many planets, species, science, and vivid descriptions, that you find yourself immediately immersed in this world. I didn't want to put it down. Christopher Paolini has managed to successfully mix science fiction, action, adventure, and horror into one captivating story. To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars felt very fresh and new. It was so much more than I expected. The story is set about 250 years in the future. As such we have the ability for interstellar travel, and meet various forms of sentient life. One trigger warning/reminder, this is an ADULT book. There is swearing, violence, sexy moments, and impalement.........a lot of impalement.

To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars is also a well written character driven story. Kira is a fantastic protagonist. She's kind, intelligent, and completely relatable. This story is full of twists, turns, action, and impossible choices for each character, but especially for Kira. Her progression throughout the book never feels forced. I must mention the entire crew of the Wallfish. They give this book its heart and soul. Each character brings a different emotion that adds to the authenticity of the overall story. Out of everyone though, I have to say my favorite character is Gregorovich....who doesn't love a slightly deranged and snarky ship mind?!?!? Second favorite.....Runsible the pet pig! I wanted more Runsible action!!! To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars is very much a story about accepting yourself, and accepting the fact that some things are out of your control and looking for hope when there seemingly is none. I am very much looking forward to more stories set in the Fractalverse.

To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars is narrated by one person Jennifer Hale. Jennifer should be a national treasure. Her narration is what brought this book to life for me. I'm not sure I would have felt as strongly from just reading the paper version of the book. Jennifer Hale does a phenomenal job of voicing each character, and there are sooo many of them! She is able to provide each with a distinct voice and personality. This is especially true with Gregorovich who we watch slowly spiral deeper into insanity. I'm really amazed with Jennifer's performance. Every person felt real and authentic....even the jellies. The narration is done at a great pace, it never feels too slow or too fast. Jennifer Hale was the perfect person to narrate this story and hope to hear her narrate more tales set in this universe!

If you are a fan of alien invasions, space squids, flawed characters, betrayal, galactic war and glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel, then go read this book! This gem published by Macmillion Audio is available for purchase from all major booksellers. I give To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars 5 out of 5 gems. Happy Reading!

This book was phenomenal! One I will come back to again just to catch the parts I might have missed. The narration was excellent. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars drew me in in a way I just haven't had in a while. 5 stars from me.

To Sleep In A Sea of Stars is a rollicking science fiction adventure that reads in a very cinematic way. The action is continuous, the characters are lovable, and the story never gets too speculative. But at the same time, the story isn't original and feels derivative of so many sci fi movies/stories, the plot uses many elements wholesale from the Eragon series, and the plot holes can be frustratingly numerous. At 800 or so pages (32 hours audio book), it doesn't feel that long yet I still get the impression that someone should have let a good editor guide the author a bit more. I listened to the audio version and it was done superbly by Jennifer Hale - top notch work on her part as narrator.

Story: Kira is a xeno-biologist working with her corporate crew to determine if a remote planet is suitable/safe for terraforming. When a remote beacon suddenly goes offline, corporate policy requires someone to go out and make sure there isn't a hidden danger. What Kira finds there will change the course of humanity.

The above story description is purposely vague - likely you will get the idea from the blurb of the book that this is a first contact story. The author takes you from start to finish of a first contact scnario in one book: from first contact to war to resolution. It's a lot to ask in that short of a time and I can't say that the author fully achieves a credible story as a result. But Paolini has always written in an affable manner that makes the read very enjoyable as long as you don't think too closely about what's going on (e.g., why are alien species always so human like in intelligence level and development but just look differently?).

There are many references to sci fi movies that can be fun or annoying depending on if you perceive them as homages or annoying rip offs. E.g., right from the beginning, you can spot the James Cameron Alien and Aliens movie in key scenes. There are many other references/easter eggs that the sci fi fan can enjoy discovering; certainly, the book reads as a love letter to science fiction movies.

Those who have read the author's Eragon series will recognize many similarities in plot (perhaps minor spoilers are here for this book). E.g., a character learning to understand and then merge with a powerful foreign creature (e.g., into a half dragon in the second Eragon book); the fear and musings about losing self and humanity after a merger, the process of learning to control/master this new merger, then becoming something god-like. He's also the first of his kind to do so and therein lies a lot of the plot of both books - discovery. And in bonding he not only creates a powerful being but he coincidentally provides the means for a super-villain to be created. The villain will be heartless and cruel and boo-worthy. Let's not forget the addition of a strange human who seems to know much more of the big picture but only talks in riddles that sound sage but are mostly babble (and with a cat, too!). That last character likely was an Easter Egg for the Eragon books.

As noted above, I do wish a good editor had gone through the book. It feels very indulgent with a lot of passages that honestly just weren't need to further the plot/were there to introduce a small payoff later. E.g., do you want to go through one hundred pages of side-story action and events just so that one character can appear later for a few scenes? Granted, I do agree that there was no need to separate this into two books - this is a very accessible tale that is easy to read and goes by surprisingly quickly.

Finally, I was given the audio version and even at 32 hours, it went quickly. Much of that can be credited to a smart and imaginative narration by Jennifer Hale (best known as Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect game). You will fall in love with the characters as read by her - even the aliens sounded interesting (though still like generic humans, unfortunately). I had to really respect and appreciate the personalities she gave characters like the ship mind and alien jelly. I can't say I loved the New England accent on one character but you could really get a feel for the characters being very distinct.

In all, I did enjoy the book. But I also had to turn my brain off when characters acted in contradictory ways or when they had to be hit over the head with the obvious. Sometimes scenes or reactions just didn't make sense in a bigger picture sense and it is in those aspects that I wish an editor had been able to work more closely with the author. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

This story is a long, slow burn. I'm not sure if it was just me--cuz what's not to love about a science fiction with sentient body armor?--but in the middle the story really seemed to slow down and the rising action ... didn't. Not much anyway. It was intriguing watching Kira learn about the suit and herself. Hwa-jung was a fascinating character to me for some reason (funny note: on the audiobook I kept hearing "Watchung" when the narrator said Hwa-jung. LOL That's what I get for living in NJ.) I also appreciated that we weren't dealing with one single alien species but several. Nice twist there that created depth in the story.

So ... holy wow! The language! I was a bit disappointed at the heavy hand with which it was applied, and started wondering if there was a competition with Scalzi for who could add the most. But--admittedly--this is a pet peeve because there's more to anger/frustration that just spouting an expletive, and when authors rely on curse words rather than developing characters better, the character(s) comes across as weak. I'm not against well-placed expletives or books where they're added with a light hand like spices to a gourmet dish ...

Overall, it was an intriguing story, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to listen to the NetGalley audiobook (though it sounded tinny and the NG platform wouldn't show me chapter titles/numbers) as part of my review.

2.5 stars : This book was way too long.

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...since I started the audiobook. Or at least, that's what it feels like. I'm kind of disappointed that this book started losing me after the first five hours because I LOVED the beginning. I could picture everything but then the book started to bore me and I got lost among all the fighting, types of aliens and sciency stuff. Sometimes, this book also felt repetitive and that just didn't capture my attention. I also couldn't even tell you another character's name (other than the MC's), which is just sad.

To sleep in a sea of stars follows Kira as she discovers an alien relic. That whole scene was like a horror movie where you keep thinking "no don't go there... don't do that... go back!!" but of course our main character doesn't and ends up having some alien skin-suit wrapped all around her. It's weird, creepy and unpredictable. So when she wakes up scared, it lashes out...

I could have loved this book if it had been 400 pages. It had a really strong start but then it dragged and the end was never in sight. Overall, it was a struggle even though I loved the premise.

(Thank you for letting me listen and review an ARC via Netgalley)

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is an epic first contact story with characters that jump off the page and a story that sweeps you along in the best way possible. I received a copy of the audiobook through NetGalley, and I must say, after listening to it, the audiobook is the way to go. Not only is the story fascinating, but the narration adds a level to this book. The differentiation between characters is wonderful. The narrator somehow makes you forget that it is a single person voicing everything. I think the personification that she gave to each person was much better than anything I would have created for myself while reading. I love the scope of this book, and while it is long, it doesn’t feel long. This somehow brings to mind all the best science fiction I have read while still being different from all of it. I enjoyed this immensely!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kira Navárez is a xenologist in the very distant future who stumbles upon an alien artifact and is thrust into a whole new universe after first contact. After being bonded with a sort of xeno-weapon she is seen as a lab rat, a liability, and even possibly a traitor to the human race. She travels all over the universe with a rag tag crew after escaping from the clutches of the military, looking for a way to re-establish peace in the cosmos.

This book is THICK! At 880 pages this novel couldn't be considered light reading. The greatest thing about it however is how the plot very rarely felt stagnant, which is no small feat in a 300 page book. It became a bit repetitive at times, but not enough to be off-putting. The crew of the Wallfish(what a great ship name!) made this story worth all 880 pages. Every member added something juicy to this world and kept Kira from becoming super droll. The antagonists are really well written and well, it's hard to create multiple species out of your mind and bring the reader along in a way they understand this new creation; but the author does a phenomenal job. My biggest gripe(and cost this book a star) was the very very end. I loved how the story played out and how things were coming to a close, but the last bit just seemed thrown in as a hail mary pass in case the author was asked for a sequel. It took away from the beautiful closing for these characters as it threw me out if my submersion into that world to scratch my head at where it was going.

Overall, if you have the patience to read a book this size on a normal day, this book will be a grand adventure for you. However, if you often find yourself on Facebook claiming that you're "30 pages in and already bored, does it get better?' this book is not for you. The story is so wonderfully woven that it requires world and character building, but the reward is worth the wait.

** Review **

For anyone who loved Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amy Kauffman as well as Skyward by Brandon Sanderson, I think you will fall in love with this story and it's characters.

Nikki here

There are honestly no words that can accurately describe how much I loved this book! From the start, I was all in and the rest of this 880 page book (or 32+ hours) did not dissapoint! This is the kind of story you will want to re-visit over and over, because you won't be able to stop thinking about it.

I don't even know where to start... This story will give you all the feels with this amazing cast of characters. I genuinely loved every one of them and felt every emotion for them! Each character was so well written and different, from human to alien forms, machines, a leaching xenoform and even a pig.

Gregorovich (a ship mind) and Sparrow (a snarky bad-ass) are probably my two very favorite with their darker, more dangerous sides and their sometimes questionable tactics. They bring so much to the story and are characters that will stick with me for life. Our MC, Kira was also amazing, having to overcome and become something and someone so much different than how we first meet her. Kira's growth throughout the book is done fantstically!

The storyline was just prefect. It was everything I had hoped for, and yet so much more than I ever knew I needed. Anyone can write a "save the world/s" type story, but it takes a real master of words to accomplish what Paolini did with this book.

The descriptive nature of Paolini's writing is damn near perfect. It is not over the top, it does not drag on.. Paolini gives us exactly what we need in the moment to keep you in the action.

Even the way different life forms speak and identify with each other was so unique and brought that little bit of almost, inclusiveness, making you feel like you were right there experiencing these conversations.

Of course no great adventure would be complete without some form of evil to destroy your day. It was no surprise that Paolini absolutely nailed it in that department as well. Jellies, nightmares, the maw... The way he goes about quite literally creating something new was full of fearful fun.

I dare you to embark on this great adventure to save worlds, defeat great evils and become something more, oh spiky meat bag!

** Audio Review **

Hale killed it with her narration of this story!

You always know who is talking with the different voices and intonation she uses for each character. The way she gives certain characters quirks and how she pronounces names was so damn fun.

I will forever be saying Gregorovich the way she does, I freakin loved it.

This audiobook was exciting! There was almost always something going on, but even in the down times, Hale's narration reflected the story.

I definitely look forward to listening to more audiobooks narrated by her.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and Libro.fm for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review

Christopher Paolini has crafted a fascinating universe that I'm eager to further explore, but elements of this first foray into the Fractalverse fell flat and kept a good book from being great. Perhaps the biggest issue here is pacing. The audio book is 32.5 hours, and it feels it. While there are shimmering scenes of action and character development, they are interspersed by long slogs of not much happening. Slower parts of a tome like this might be designed to give ample time for the reader to get to know the characters and for character development to happen; however, the large cast of characters felt, on the whole, flat and indistinguishable. The narrator added personality and emotion to the otherwise same-y characters. The notable exception is Gregorovich, the ship mind, who is delightfully bizarre. Overall, this was a solid sci-fi novel that left me intrigued to see what Paolini is planning on doing with this universe and certain larger plot elements that he seemed to be moving into place throughout the book.

Excellent strong start! But, I have to say it felt too long for me. The storyline started the same but it just kept continuing and going and going. With no end in sight. I think about half of the book was just filler and prolonged background information.

From #1 New York Best Selling author, Christopher Paolini comes a brand new space epic. It’s time to blast off into the skies an explore the vastness of space. Kira Navarez has always dreamed of exploring the stars and making first contact. On a routine mission, her dreams come true as Kira stumbles upon an ancient relic that propels her on an adventure that will have her saving the universe, or watching its total destruction

As in his prior books, Paolini has masterfully crafted a world of places and characters that will pull you in from the start. This is a book that anyone can enjoy, however, the sci-fi lovers, which I am one of, will absolutely adore this book and the ones to follow. I really loved the world building aspect of this story, as well as the thought behind each aspect, even though set in the future is still felt realistic. This is a new story, it is not one that has been heard before and I am excited to see what comes next.

The audio version of this book is great and I enjoyed Jennifer Hale’s reading of the book.

Yeah... this feels right.

Absolutely stunning. I don’t think I’m capable of coming up with a cohesive and well thought out review. There is so much to love in this book.

To start this book is an ode to sci-fi. It combines the love I have for Becky Chambers (found family on a tiny ship), Leviathan Wakes (humor, scope, heart), and the science/physics of Three Body Problem. Or to be accurate what I imagine cuz I haven’t read TBP.

Diving into the found family I found myself incapable to putting feelings into words. I wanted nothing to happen to the crew of the Wallfish because they are all so near, dear, and precious to my heart.

I have so many more thoughts but it’s hard to put everything into words. This book was perfect in so many ways and I will greedily snatch up multiple copies. I’m up to 5 so far...

As a thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Macmillian publisher for an advanced audiobook of Christopher Paolini’s novel “ To Sleep In a Sea of Stars” narrated by Jennifer Hale. The novel follows Kira Navarez and a team of scientists exploring distant planets in the hope they are suitable for human life. For Kira who has had lifelong aspirations in finding life on distant planets, a comes across a discovery that will change life as she knows it. The novels' attention to scientific terms adds to Hale’s narration for it made the conversations even more believable for they were said with such certainty and ease. The audiobooks' narrator brought life to the role of Kira and held my attention as the character grew throughout the novel. It is amazing to think that Hale voiced all the characters. The mixture of the many characters human and not is acting at its best. The pace in which Hale read gave a clear understanding of the material and gave me extra room to increase the speed. In doing this was I still able to comprehend the material being read and enjoy it at a pace with audiobooks I am accustomed to. As War entered the story did Hale’s narration adds to the depth and complexity to which the characters were experiencing in this futuristic reality. The mixture of suspense and drama will suit any reader no matter if they are a reader of science fiction or not. The writing along with Hale’s narration is worth looking into. I would recommend readers to follow along if they can with an e-copy or book. As there are some sections in which the science behind space exploration is explained. As I had a partial copy I was not able to follow along with the entire book. Another addition that made this audiobook memorable was the conversation at the end of the novel between Christopher Paolini and Jennifer Hale. In this, they discuss the novel and Jennifer’s experience as protagonist Kira Navarez and the many characters in this space opera. This conversation showed both Paolini and Hale’s enthusiasm to bring these characters to life and was a welcomed piece to listen to after the novel was done. I shall give the novel four out of five stars on GoodReads.As for the audiobook and its quality to express this story along with its technical production and excellent acting by Jennifer Hale, I would give this five out of five stars.

I’d like to thank #netgalley for giving me access to the audiobook early.

First let’s talk about the performance. This is hands-down one of the best audiobook performances I’ve heard. Jennifer Hale, the reader, has apparently done a lot of voice work in anime and you can tell! Each character has a distinct voice, and Kira is especially captivating.

Now the story: it is complete sci-fi magic. This book apparently took ten years to write and you can tell because the author’s attention to detail is impeccable. It might be my new favorite sci-fi novel.

I liked it so much that I BOUGHT my own copy of the hard cover novel and I have never done that before.

When I read that this book took Christopher Paolini 9 years to write, I realized he had put all of his creative effort into telling a story that really meant something to him. Nobody puts 9 years into something that is only a "story.'' I knew I had to read this book! I enjoyed his first books -- The Inheritance Cycle. And I love, love, LOVE science fiction. So I was hopeful that this book would really wow me....

And it did.

OMG. I got pulled right into the characters, the action, the plot. I enjoyed reading my digital galley...got half way through....and started over again with the audio book version because this was a story that I wanted to HEAR told to me. Not just that....but I can listen more than I can sit down and read a physical copy due to commuting to work, household chores...you know, adulting. The audio book let me devour this story much faster than I could have reading the physical review copy....

The basics: Kira Navarez is a xenobiologist. She is assigned a routine survey mission, and dutifully goes about her job. But, then it all goes wrong....or right and then wrong from her point of view. She discovers an alien relic and is overjoyed, but that joy soon turns to horror as she has an encounter with something on the planet that will change her life forever.

I'm not saying anything else about the plot! Read (or listen to) the book! If you enjoy sci-fi action or space operas -- you will love this book!

The audio is 32 hours long -- but worth every minute. Jennifer Hale does a superb job of voice acting. Very enjoyable listen! The front cover art is phenomenal, too!

This story is action packed, emotional, thought provoking and very very entertaining for this sci-fi fan! I can't wait to see what else Paolini is going to write! I hope I don't have 9 years to wait! But, even if I do, I will gladly read whatever he publishes next!

**I voluntarily read both the digital galley and the audiobook versions of this novel from Macmillan/Tor-Forge/Macmillan Audio for review purposes. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

As a lover of Space Operas, I didn’t think one would come along and make me completely fall in love with the genre all over again. I felt like I got a 10 book series all in one that I didn’t want to end. The world building was phenomenal. The character development was a sight to behold. I cannot wait to read it again.

I was never a huge fan of Eragon but I didn't hate the series either so I went into this with a pretty open mind. The first 50%(ish) if this book is absolutely great but it just progressively got worse the further I got into the book.

It was very repetitive. An example of this is long term space travel. The main character has a condition that doesn't allow her to go into cryosleep so she is alone and awake for 6+ month chunk times during of space travel. Pretty lonely, pretty boring. I did NOT need to read about that same experience multiple times. I also counted 3 times the book used the exact "to sleep in a sea of stars" quote. Like I get it, its the title of your book. Don't need to repeat it. This book could have been a good 400 pages shorter

My other major problem was the ending. It dragged .. and dragged ... and dragged (just like this review) The book had reached a wonderful stopping spot for me .. then went on .. and I was like "okay" then it did it again .. and I looked at my app and the book still had 5 hours remaining. The last 2-3 hours of the book should have been the start of a sequel and just felt like a huge waste of time. (the actual last 2 hours are "bonus material" so when it said I had 5 hours remaining it was more like 3)

Outside of the major pacing problems listed above this is a really decent sci-fi novel. I liked the characters and I liked the story. It just missed out on some major editing.

Phew this book is LONG. It seems like forever ago that we were with Kira's original crew. That is really my only downside to this book. There were a few times I felt like I was slogging through and I just kept seeing SO MANY hours left on the audiobook it was really daunting. I honestly felt like it could have been split into 3 books.
However, I have found an AI to rival AIDAN. Gregorivich was just amazing. He was so snarky and sarcastic and whatever relationship he made with Kira was so weird and out there, but I was 100% here for it. I loved the comradery of the Wallfish crew, that crew was definitely my favorite out of all the ones Kira found herself with. Speaking of Kira, she was such a great character. She was so determined and loyal and had such a great personality.
This book had so many different sci-fi elements which created so much depth. The aliens were such a big part, but I absolutely loved the aspect of the soft blade. It was so interesting and honestly terrifying and I loved seeing Kira's struggle to overcome the mind of the soft blade.
I was really interesting for the last chunk of the book. It took a turn I completely wasn't expecting and I actually really enjoyed the ending. I'm not sure if this is a series or standalone, but I would absolutely love to see what happens to Kira in the future!

This audiobook was fabulous and will be a Classic Sci-Fi EPIC story that I predict will be used as a reference for future space sci-fi novels. Excellent and a must listen for fans of the video game voice of Jennifer Hale. I highly recommend if you have the opportunity to listen to the interview at the end, to take the time and listen.

This was a long long long story of a women in space exploration who bonds with an alien (literally). It was reminiscent of Andy Weir's book, The Martian, in the extreme detail that went into the alien life and science behind the story. Amazing research put into this story to avoid any holes that would distract the reader from the story. Fabulous character development and relationships. This was an undertaking to read , but one that I recommend any fan of Space and Sci-Fi stories embark on.

I am left with an empty abyss that can only be filled with a #2 book ... lol

***A huge thank you to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley and Christopher Paolini for an advance copy of this audiobook.