Who knew that four scientists walking towards a hole could be an absolute sci-fi masterpiece! On the surface of things — that’s what this story is. A quest. A search. An exploration. Call it what you want, there’s a clear goal right from the outset. Aliens have built a hole that’s shielded by insane conditions, and four people are trying to walk there. But take a peek under the surface, and what do you find? One man’s journey through grief — and it’s absolutely soul-wrenching.

I loved everything about this book. How it built. How it resolved. How a thud coming from a big hole every 10.6 seconds resulted in characters speculating over the meaning of life. And in the midst of it all, a man trying to move on from the worst moment of his life. How he does that is where you’ll find the magic of this book.

For the characters, their journey to the hole can be a literal crawl, (surrounded by alien turtles, of all things) but for the reader, there’s so much suspense and tension and intrigue packed into every step, you’ll be riveted. My eyes were glued to the pages. And my heart took a battering as Alex’s trauma manifested itself through memory and determination.

There’s a definite build as the suspense mounts. One of the things I loved was how this is depicted on the page. Some clever formatting really aids the momentum. It never once lets you breathe. It forces you to the edge of your seat, but then it keeps on pushing, and you can sense the growing tension with every page-turn. But it never overwhelms or tires you. It reminds you that there’s an end in sight. And the payoff or all this build delivers in spades. The pacing is beyond perfect. To say that this is a true master at work is kind of putting it mildly.

Different characters open up a huge spectrum of speculation. The varying viewpoints and debates lead to philosophical conundrums in the midst of extreme conditions. It makes me wonder whether explorers striving to surmount an impossible voyage spend their time pondering impossible answers to impossible questions, because they’re constantly grasping for the impossible.

Fractal Noise is, on paper, a simple enough story. But in reality, it’s a deeply complex, rich, and visceral journey that’ll take you by surprise. Thrill rides don’t come more satisfying than this. It’s an absolute monster of a hole that’ll swallow you completely, packed with meaning and symbolism, and you’ll feel so rewarded for having taken the plunge.

This book was really great to read! It was dense, and sometimes hard to read, just like To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, but it's sci fi, that's the story that's being told, and while it took longer to read a relatively short amount of pages, I really enjoyed reading it!

One thing that I wanted to know was where this book was in relation to TSiaSfS, so I checked my copy, and the events of this book were listed as an important event in the timeline at the back of the book-about 4 years after Kira was born, so about 20-30 years before the start of TSiaSfS. I don't remember if any of these characters or this story played much of a role in that book, but I'm sure I'll do a reread!

We were told this story though Alex, a xenobiologist, meaning first contact is scientific expertise of his, of the possibility of it. Two things though. One, he knows enough that for this to have been created, they were much more advanced then humanity at this point. And two, he lost his wife, and he's very much grieving, and deep in depression. But going along with the trip is what his wife would have wanted. That, plus the science information, is what really added some gravity and denseness to this book, and while I don't love sad books, it worked here.

This story was told in parts, as the team got closer and closer, as the effects of the THUD got louder and more intense, as tensions rose between the teammates. There were some pretty interesting theology discussions, about faith, in the context of aliens, but it was also a discussion on social interactions in an isolated setting, because it's just the 4 of them on this journey for most of the book. Loved how it all came together!

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait to see what comes next in the series!

Fans of Paolini’s fantasy series might be expecting a dragon to make an appearance at some point, but this is 100% amazing techno sci-fi. Great read.

I am always here for a dangerous scifi space mission, and Fractal Noise is definitely that. Fractal Noise is set in the same world as Paolini's 2020-release, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. But it's not more of the same (in a good way).

We initially follow Alex who lost his wife and the beginning of the book and of course no shit he is depressed what is the purpose of life? Which really works for me because not only is Alex a flawed character the rest of the crew is as well and I really love stories that follow characters like these.

I got to around 54% of this book before I decided to set it aside. I might just not be in the mood for it but either way, I wasn't connecting with it the way I did the first book. I will pick it up again in the future, hopefully, and will update this if/when I do.

On a seemingly desolate and uninhabited planet, the crew of the Adamura stumbles upon an enigmatic perfectly circular hole, its existence marked by an intriguing fractal pattern woven into the fabric of soundwaves. This peculiar phenomenon raises one question above all: "Why?"

Driven by curiosity, four intrepid crew members embark on an expedition to closely investigate the anomaly, yet the journey unfolds into an exploration of not only this newfound alien environment but of their own inner worlds. The gigantic hole, measuring a staggering fifty kilometres in diameter, presents an eerie symmetry and regularly emanates powerful fractal noise, sparking conjectures about the existence of self-aware, sentient extraterrestrial beings. However, these elusive builders remain elusive, evading discovery.

Amidst the harsh, unforgiving expanse of the alien landscape, the team finds themselves inexorably drawn towards the mysteries concealed along the perimeter of the enigmatic hole. As they grapple with the profound implications of their findings, both for themselves and for humanity's burgeoning presence among the stars, the narrative unfolds with an undercurrent of tension, eerie atmospherics, and a thought-provoking backdrop of scientific speculation. A truly remarkable book that captivates the imagination.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded to 3. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was on of my favorite books I read a couple years back and I couldn't wait to get back to the fractalverse, especially in this prequel, where we would be in on the discovery phase of its existence. And I really enjoyed it! I loved going back and meeting all new characters, while have familiar pieces to go back to as well. Compared to the thick first book, this is a short story (even though it's a full length novel) and I missed the depth of the first book. I think readers who loved the first book will like the prequel; but if you were meh on the first one, this won't really add to it much. I still want more. More adventure, more super thick books in this world.

Dang, that really wasn't what I was expecting. Of course, the premise of this novel, like most of his previous novels, centers around a journey. In this case, a band of four travels across an alien landscape and the hopes of reaching a giant pit so they can do research on it.

What surprised me about this is that this is largely a character driven novel. Sure, there are some exciting moments, but this book is just as much about Alex's psychological journey through the loss of his partner as it is about the physical journey to the pit.

Pleasantly surprised, four stars. Also, do yourself a favor and get this on audio. Jennifer Hale, aka Commander Shepard, is a PHENOMENAL voice actress. Would listen to her read the phone book.

I went in to this book not knowing what to expect, which was a good way to go into it. If you think it will be similar to “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars”, you will be disappointed. TSIASOS was a classic first contact space opera riddled with adventure and action. Fractal Noise was totally different. Still had a bit of that first contact exploration, but this one really focused on the journey of getting to the end, and it read more like literature. The characters all had their flaws, and were deeply human in that they had fears and concerns and traumas to deal with as they walked together across a desolate planet filled with the unknown.

I felt like this book really explored the philosophy of existentialism and human nature, and the writing was compelling every step of the way. Again, completely different from TSIASOS but I still really loved it. If you like The Life of Pi or Death Stranding (the game), you will also really love this.

This was, in my opinion, an extremely dark and sad story about an emotionally distraught man who joins a mission to space after loosing his wife tragically four months prior. I found the writing to be quite beautiful, though stark and slightly depressing but it was actually quite riveting in a tension filled sort of way.
It was a pretty quick read for me and it definitely made you feel like a small spec in an incredibly un-ending universe. Overall I would recommend to those who like some psychological space drama.

I would like to thank Tor/forge for providing a copy of this novel via NetGalley. Fractal Noise is a prequel to To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. It is considerable shorter. It revolves around a crew that has been tasked with investigating the appearance of a perfectly circular hole in an uninhabited planet. Although space exploration is the setting, it takes a backseat to the examination and dissection of human nature. Major plot points and twists center around the motivation of humans and how space affects them. I enjoyed this novel for doing what it set out to do well. I also enjoyed its inclusion of space microbes. I look forward to a sequel to To sleep in a Sea of Stars.

NetGalley gave me some issues with submitting a review when I first downloaded this book, so I kinda stopped trying for a bit, but I can submit it now so here goes (even though it's been like half a year since I read this).

Overall, I really wanted to like this book, as I do love the author, and while I didn't love To Sleep, some of my main issues with To Sleep was the length and pacing, and this was a much shorter book, so on the surface I thought it would be better.

However, this book just really wasn't the book for me. It is shorter, but given the content that's in the book, it still fills paced too slow, and I would think it should be better as a novella. And the afterword mentions that it used to be a lot darker, but as it is it was still much darker than I wanted.

Reading through the book felt like I was slogging through an unfun task just like the characters, and then you eventually reach the end and there is zero payoff. The book just ends without any resolution to the parts I was actually interested in, just a resolution to main character's trauma, which is not something I much cared for.

The book did nail down a good vibe though, where it felt very similar to a story about climbing mount everest or something like that, and I think that much worked well, even if it wasn't really what I was looking for.

And for many readers this book would probably be great. It is a more "sophisticated" book than Christopher usually writes, but when I read a book I'm looking for something enjoyable, not something sophisticated.

I tried really hard to enjoy this book.
I love Paolini’s tales of Alagaësia more than anything, but something about the Farctal Verse just isn’t for me…

Overall a well written scifi with tense moments and interesting characters. I was confused at times as to what was going on, but could follow along well enough. I almost wish it wasn't marketed as a prequel of To Sleep in a Sea of stars because of how little it actually had to do with it, but I would definitely recommend reading it if you liked To Sleep!
3.75/5

I received an advanced reader copy of Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini courtesy of Tor Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Tor Books!

Alex Crichton is a broken man. He only joined the crew of the Adamura because it was the next job available after losing his wife. It was a last ditch effort to escape the constant torment of her loss. He's barely doing his job, and he knows it. That is until another scientist on the crew discovers the Anomaly.

The Anomaly is a 50 kilometer wide, perfectly round hole found on the nearby planet Talos VII. The Adamura is months away from other ships or colonies while conducting their survey of the Talos system. The very nature of the Anomaly suggests alien life, and as such, the captain makes the decision to send a crew to learn what they can in case the Anomaly poses a risk to humanity while waiting on more well-equipped assistance to arrive.

Even though Alex has hardly exerted himself or instilled trust with the captain and crew on this trip, as the crew's xenobiologist he is one of the six people chosen to study the Anomaly on Talos VII's surface. On the trip to the planet, the crew outfit a shuttle and motorized sledges to assist the four crew members tasked with walking to the very lip of the hole. Thus, Alex and his fellow crew members set out on a dangerous, back-breaking journey in which they will fight the conditions surrounding the Anomaly as well as their own demons along the way.

At its heart, Fractal Noise is a story about grief. Alex is deeply affected by his wife's death and blames himself for the events leading up to it. It's this self-blame and grief that inspire his decision to volunteer for the team going down to Talos VII to inspect the Anomaly. He can't help but think about how excited his wife would've been to discover evidence of alien life. He knows she would have volunteered in a heart-beat, and he believes it's the least he can do to make up for his perceived faults in their relationship.

In fact, Alex's response to his trauma is to hyper-fixate on fulfilling what he believes to be his late wife's dreams. Even when things start to go wrong and the team's situation becomes more dangerous, Alex objectively knows they should turn back. However, his obsession with reaching the edge of the Anomaly for his wife supersedes logic, and he keeps going. Through every obstacle, Alex forces himself to the limit to reach this goal.

Alex isn't the only one with unhealthy obsessions on the team either. Two other team members have constant philosophical debates the entire way. It's obvious the discovery of the Anomaly fits into their world views very differently, and they stubbornly try to change each other's point of view to no avail. This discussion quickly devolves as the hardships of the mission take their toll on the entire team. The subsequent events really drove home the dangers of blind belief and rigidity of thought. It was an interesting secondary theme of the story.

Fractal Noise is ultimately a microscopic view of how different people of different backgrounds may react to irrefutable evidence that we are not alone in the universe. Readers looking for more sci-fi action and suspense like what's offered in the previous book, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, may be a bit disappointed. Very little is revealed about the origins of the Anomaly or who created it and for what reason it was built, and the story had a slower start that To Sleep. However, I think that was intentional, and I can't wait to read more in the Fractalverse.

I gave Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini four out of five stars. Reading this book is like watching someone go through all the stages of grief while everyone around them slowly loses their minds. It explores how grief can change the way we make decisions and how hardship and danger can wear down mental defenses revealing a deeply disturbed mind beneath. Despite its slow start, I think this book did an amazing job of breaking the potential reactions to confirmed alien life, and it was an interesting example of the sci-fi horror genre. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and wants more but with a twist.

From a copyrighted review in The Cullman Times, The Athens News-Courier, St. Clair News-Aegis, Mountain Times

By Tom Mayer
tmayer@cullmantimes.com

In continuing to “pack the beach bag … with books” — June is upon us and the waves are beckoning — are nine new titles, including two crossovers from our May 9 (https://tinyurl.com/24rwb2mr) round up and a couple of freebies you’ll want to find room for.

From the wildly, internationally famous (Justin Cronin, Christopher Paolini) to more than a few who deserve to be in that camp, this list is not only long on story, it includes the one beach book you can’t ignore (“until it swims up and bites you on the …”).

Bon appetit.

'The Ferryman' by Justin Cronin (Ballantine Books, 530 pages)
Few books, and their authors, can earn attention from the likes of Stephen King (“totally satisfying”), Chris Bohjalian (“brilliant hybrid”) or Andy Weir (“mind-bending”), but Justin Cronin is one of the elect. And “The Ferryman” shows us why (or to be more precise, why again: Cronin is the best-selling author of “The Passage” trilogy and a world-building style unique to his oeuvre). But as good as his current canon is, "The Ferryman" is better. Cronin's latest tops the charts in the "post-apocalyptic-science fiction" category, but it's not really that public consensus that shows its worth; it's more than that.

Prospera, founded by the mysterious Designer, is an archipelago hidden from the ravages of time and an outside world. Those who live there enjoy inordinately long lives, and when they retire (as determined by implanted health monitors) they take a ferry ride to the Nursery, where their bodies are rejuvenated, their memories wiped and life begins anew.

You can imagine the story lines that develop from here, but it's unlikely you'll see what Cronin has planned. A long, engaging book, the story moves as fast as the movie it certainly will be from an author who keeps improving, even as he, like us all, inches toward his own ferry ride.

'Below the Line' by Lowell Cauffiel (Arcade Crimewise, 311 pages)
Lowell Cauffiel's "Below the Line" won't be the most intense book you bring to the beach this summer, but it could be the most fun. Part Hollywood noir, part comedy of errors, Cauffiel's Tinsel Town crime caper joins a corrupt Hollywood producer, an ex-cop with regrets and career criminal in a satisfying (well, once you add in the roller derby queen, anyway) romp that's more than part Hollywood hustle.

The story of a former Detroit homicide detective, Edwin Blake, trying to break into the movies could turn out to be the lark of the summer as the author pits the dark side of Hollywood with an everyman-dream of striking gold in California.

‘The Book That Wouldn’t Burn (The Library Trilogy 1)’ by Mark Lawrence (Ace, 571 pages)
Stories spiral, clash and whirl through time in this first offering of a fantasy trilogy poised to enthrall anyone who loves books.

After wolf-men destroy her desert village, Livira comes to Crath City as a refugee. Though young and uneducated, based on her aptitude she earns a position as a trainee in the city’s vast and voluminous library — the same library that serves as prison for Evar and home to the Mechanism, a mysterious structure that can bring any book to life.

Escaping the Mechanism a decade after it had entrapped him and his “siblings,” Evar mounts a quest to track down a mystery woman he can barely remember, one also lost to the Mechanism years before.

When Evar and Livira cross paths, they join forces with the new refugee taking on Evar’s quest as her own. A taut, tightly drawn series of ensuing stories interlock, gradually spooling out thread by thread in this masterfully woven tale.

‘Silent Came the Monster’ by Amy Hill Hearth (Blackstone, 354 pages)
Jaws before “Jaws,” Amy Hill Hearth’s historical thriller is a fictional treatment of a real series of deadly shark attacks that taunted and terrified beachgoers on the sandy shores of New Jersey’s coast in 1916. Replete with sourcing — Hearth is noted for her nonfiction works and those research skills are well adapted here — the real-life reporting and ear for period language is brought brutally to life under the author’s pen.

Though the story is laced with fact, Heath advances a fictional protagonist, Dr. Edwin Halsey, whose secretive past ties him to the current attacks. Besieged with conspiracy theories — German submarines patrolling the coast, for one — Halsey, like his future counterpart, Hooper, has a hard time getting anyone to believe his theory that a shark is responsible for the assaults.

A well-told story, including an addendum of books, newspapers and websites to explore further, not only fills a historical gap, but is perfect for that gap between Tuesday to Tuesday of July 11-18 — aka, Shark Week.

‘Fractal Noise: A Fractalverse Novel,’ by Christopher Paolini (Tor Books, 304 pages; Macmillan Audio, 9 hours 57 minutes)
In this throbbing masterwork, Christopher Paolini returns us to the Fractalverse for a second installment in a sweeping space opera that launched the author’s science fiction foray in 2019.

Building on ship-minds and xenobiology, Paolini takes us aboard the Adamura with Alex Crichton, a scientist whose troubled and recent past includes the death of his wife, Layla, to the maul of a wild animal on the planet where the pair were colonists. Working through his grief isn’t easy, as he’s not the only one aboard the ship with significant baggage. As the crew travels toward the remote Talos VII and an enormous, unworldly crater there that is giving off a continuous series of timed pulses in a mysterious message, Crichton and the others are tasked to evaluate and understand the source.

As with his earlier journey into the Fractalverse (“To Sleep in a Sea of Stars,” review and interview at https://tinyurl.com/4km3j6np) Paolini offers hard science mingled with mystical storytelling, though here some light edits (“0800 at night” should be 2100 hours; and “1,500 kcal” is a really, really lot of calories) would polish the brass. Still, “Fractal Noise” is a worthy successor to “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars,” and it’ll more than fill out your own universal reading list.

And a last note on the audio format reviewed here: a sound suggestion is to get both the hardcover (you’ll want this series on your shelf) and the audio version. As she did with “To Sleep,” Jennifer Hale does a masterful reading of the novel, and — kudos to the sound effects team — the constant, rhythmic thrumming of the pulsating hole will jar you in a way not felt since taking a long shower while reading “The Long Rain” (tip, to avoid soggy pages, try a haunting version of Ray Bradury's short story at https://tinyurl.com/4uxc2yce).

'Love Follows Murder: In the Land of Enchantment,' by Maryrose Carroll (Big Table Books, 112 pages)
Self-described as "transformed into a writer and poet" by following the path of the "love of her life," the poet Paul Carroll who lost his battle with cancer in 1996, Maryrose Carroll is no stranger to nonfiction: "Beats Me: Love, Poetry, Censorship from Chicago to Appalachia," "Tales From Beaver Dam" and "The Secret of Contentment" are among her myriad titles.

In “Love Follows Murder” she shifts her pen, although, as she said, “It took 60 years to turn the memory of murder into my first fictional book.” The wait was worth it.

Carroll’s murder cum love story fictionalizes the real account of a 1962 killing: “Sixty years ago, I saw the victim of a gruesome murder wheeled in Embed Hospital in New Mexico.”

Today, the hospital no longer remains, but the story lingers as the author’s brief rendering of the blossoming love between a white sheriff and American Indian deputy while tracking the path of a killer on horseback in the surroundings of Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, is a twice-told tale — but one presented as fresh as the trail Luke and Ava travel together.

Knowing a bit of Carroll’s own background as offered through her nonfiction certainly informs the narrative, but “Love Follows Murder” is a worthy successor to her earlier works, capturing the imagination of a land, a love and the evil that threatens to separate two heroes.

‘Spider-Man: Fake Red’ by Yusuke Osawa (Viz Media, 328 pages, graphic novel)
And speaking of heroes: Few are the young boys and girls who don’t fantasize about having superpowers — and super adventures — of their own. Yu is no different. His new high school is … troubling … and he’s not making the grade either academically or socially. So, when he finds what appears to be a very realistic Spider-Man costume, he doesn’t hesitate to try it on for size. Predictably, photo ops and social media likes ensue. At that point, it’s all fun and games — until it isn’t.

With the real Spidey no where to be found and trouble lurking down every dark alley, Yu is thrust into the limelight as the city’s super savior — should he chose to take the mission.

Ably and enchantingly written and drawn by Yusuke Osawa — the Japanese artist who has written and illustrated, among others, manga adaptations for “The Mandalorian” and the “The Ninth Jedi” — the author’s take on an age-old hero’s tale is presented fresh for a new generation of graphic readers.

And before I leave ...

How about a pair of freebies to get the summer off to a great literary start?

John Hood, whose new historical fantasy series is as fresh as anything you’ll find today, is offering a wonderful taste of the feast that is "The Folklore Cycle" with two free novelettes: “The Bard: A Mountain Folk Tale” and “The Pixie Light: A Forest Folk Tale.”

Find both at folklorecycle.com and click on the link, Tales in the Series. There, you’ll be transported to a world that makes reading about our nation’s past as much fun as watching the movies these books are destined to be.

If you haven’t read Hood’s magnum opus in process, you’re in for a surprise. Read a review of Book 2 in the series, “Forest Folk,” at https://tinyurl.com/y4dk4wns.

I liked this one. It's definitely a different tone from Sleep in a Sea of Stars. We still have a cool world, but this is more character focused and philosophical than epic sci fi. I did find that the beginning seemed to almost be missing. I never connected with the characters because it was hard for me to get to know them. I also didn't love the abrupt, slightly ambiguous ending

Thanks TOR and Netgalley for this advanced copy.

Fractal Noise was such a better book than To Sleep in The Sea of Stars. More scifi, more adventurous, more plot. Definitely a 5 star read for me

Christopher Paolini has a simple tale of survival set in the same universe as his excellent To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (paper). Exobiologist Alex Crichton is mourning the death of his lover, when his survey ship discovers a planet with a hole in it emitting Fractal Noise (hard from TOR). The only way to observe the hole is to spend days walking to the edge pulling sledges. What follows reminded me of polar expedition tales. Very tense, but I couldn’t help wondering why the Survey ship couldn’t have merely sent a report so that a better equipped expedition could explore this strange discovery.

Christopher Paolini writes about a dystopian event in man's future in Fractal Noise. In 2234, the crew of Adamur finds an anomaly on Talos VII, a circular pit 50 kilometers wide, designed not natural. The crew chooses to send an exploration team which suffers on the surface from the inhospitable planet and from their own different histories. In the end will the team reach the anomaly and will anyone survive?