To Sleep In a Sea of Stars is a great novel. During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she's delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move. Great story line. Great characters. I loved it.

Excellent read from Paolini. Fast-paced, epic, and everything I want in a book. The characters are badass, quirky, and unique. The world building is spectacular. He must have done extensive research to create it. There's so much detail and intricacies, yet it's also simple and easy to grasp. The conflicts were many layered and interesting. Such a good story, and I highly recommend it!

Set when humans have already reached the stars and are terraforming other planets. The the journey of Kira a xenobiologist that accidently gets bonded with an ancient alien artifact, and everyone wants it, including previously unknown species in space.

What an incredible read! And I usually do not like Sci-Fi at all. It took me a while to get through because the book is so long, but it was well worth it. Paolini does an incredible job with balancing character and action. Also what an amazing job developing whole different species systems in our vast universe. Definitely on the level of Arrival with the development of the aliens. I hadn't even finished it and I was already recommending it to customers in my store.

What a saga! Honestly, so much happened that I don't even know how to write a review for this one.

If you like space operas, sci fi, aliens, philosophical dsicussions about humanity but also space battles then you would love this book.

One recommendation I would make is to read the addendum first because it help you better understand the mechanics and science of the travel within the book.

As a child I grew up with Christopher Paolini's works such as Eragon, Eldest, etc. I loved his books and his ability to write fantasy and a world of dragons was aw inspiring. I was really looking forward to this new book with a different kind of world building and character development. There were things I loved about this book, I mean absolutely loved. The characters are awesome! Greg was hands down my favorite and Kira, the narrator was great. There were other characters I enjoyed from start to finish as well. The concept of this book was also really intriguing.

Overall was a good book. The only issues I had were with pacing. The book goes so incredibly slow at times. I am usually a fast reader, but it took me weeks to get through this work. Too much happens that drags the narrative on and on. Honestly, I probably would have enjoyed the book more if it had maybe been split into more than one book. By the end, I dreaded picking it up and rushed through the finish just to be done with it. Overall was not a bad book, but I do think it could have been done better. I would still recommend this book just because I do think it is unique and it showcases Paolini's breadth of experience as a writer and novelist.

This book was really difficult for me to finish. There were many sections I felt were unnecessary, a lot of long treks across space, only for another big fight. Another stretch of cryo, then yet another big fight. There is also a lot of lore and background history that bogs it down.

The descriptions of the different species were difficult to picture at first. Especially the xeno that attaches itself to Kira. What the xeno is capable of becomes more apparent as time goes on, which makes it easier to picture. I first thought of it as Venom, like from the Marvel comics, a sort of ectoplasmic material that oozes like slime. It’s not just that, though I continued to picture it that way.

Kira’s reaction to her fiance’s death was underwhelming at best. It definitely had me questioning her love for him, not that we saw all that much of them together in the first place. She barely spends a second to grieve and doesn’t even think of him often after that. If she does, it’s very distant. One could blame everything that happened giving her a sense of unreality and causing her to dissociate. The cryo gives a false sense of time passing, as well. Suddenly, nine months have passed and of course Kira isn’t grieving as she should have been.

My favorite character was Gregorovitch, the ship's mind. He spoke the best and was the most interesting. I would have much rather heard more about his history and his point of view. He reminded me of the AI in Illuminae, as well as Wheatley from the video game, Portal 2. I definitely see elements of both Illuminae and the Starbound trilogy in Paolini’s writing. It’s not incredibly unique as a story line. It’s a little bigger than many stories try to take it, with the jellies attacking the entire galaxy, rather than just one system. I still don’t think I fully understand what was happening.

For the most part, I found Kira annoying and boring. She just wants to get married, in the beginning. Then she becomes host to the xeno, an alien being that covers her and inhabits her like a suit. She kills people, including her own fiance, Alan, after she loses control of the suit. One could argue that the xeno killed her friends and fiance. I just don’t think she struggled enough with the horrible things that happened, from the death of her fiance to killing some of her friends, to being tortured. I wish she would have faced her suffering with more realism.

I will never read a book like this again. I did not enjoy it. It was boring most of the time, with some interesting aspects spread throughout. I wish the characters had been fleshed out more, but the ‘plot’ kept jumping around, shuttling the characters off to somewhere else and into cryo before we could really learn about them. It was easily apparent that the main characters wouldn’t die, after a point. Between medical advances and tech, almost everything could be fixed and, if not right away, the character could be put in cryo until a fix was available.

I almost stopped reading several times but I pushed on, just to finish it. It was a constant exercise in checking how many pages I had left. I was just so bored and there was a bare wisp of intrigue, and the desire to finish, keeping me reading.

When I read the summary of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, I was hooked immediately. Far in the future, set in space, with a female scientist who stumbles upon alien ruins and ends up trapped in an alien skinsuit? Yes please.

While I really enjoyed Kira's journey and space adventures with the members of the Wallfish (I LOVED this crew- can we get a book with just their fun adventures!?), this book was overwhelming mammoth and dragged in A LOT of places. The writing isn't bad, there is just too much of it and I found myself constantly checking to see how close I was to being finished. I've always heard the writing advice- if you don't know what to do next, have something bad happen to your characters- Paolini must have been stumped throughout most of this book, because it is one bad experience after another. Jellies (squid aliens) and Nightmares (another alien form) attack . . . and attack and attack. There are so many space battles and fights and I can't get over just a giant squid named Ctein swinging around a flame torch. Everyone should have died a million times over.

That being said, I really liked Kira's character and the relationships that she forms throughout the novel. I'm a bit torn on the ending, and would have loved to see her just travel with the Wallfish for the foreseeable future, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Another top SciFi from Paolini. He takes us on a voyage into the depths of the future world of the stars where alien creatures overtake the crew. The “Jellies” want to rule the humans. The ship also wants to be in charge and Kira needs to move on from the loss of her fiance.

I have been looking forward to a new Christopher Paolini book for over a decade! I'm so happy this book did not disappoint me in the least.

christopher_paolini you took a wrench to my heart in the very first chapter! All the things I love -- space, science, fantasy, romance -- and you put them in a book! In the very first chapter! All the things I love -- space, science, fantasy, romance -- and you put them in a book!

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The summary of the book, which included the premise of a sci fi first contact scenario and female protagonist, interested me in starting to read it. However, I was quickly disappointed and only made it through about 10% of this 190 page book before I gave up. Kira (the main character) spent the first half of those pages vapidly talking on and on about her boyfriend, which was boring and annoying, but I kept reading thinking it would get better once we got to the exciting adventure part. Alas. Kira then did nothing but pass out and be repeatedly tortured. This is not science fiction, this is glorifying violence against women in the form of pain porn masquerading as a long-winded epic. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, but it's particularly worrisome that impressionable young folks might stumble upon this book due to the author's link to YA fiction and be influenced by this terrible portrayal of women.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this book is just long.

An amazing story but a lot was going on so it was hard to follow at times.

I loved the beginning but then that major plot twist - wowza.

Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley for an advanced copy of my sassy reveiw.

I really struggled through this book. It is very, very long. I enjoyed the first part with Kira and Alan working on a space station. It caught my attention and drew me into the story. As it moved into the further parts, I had some trouble following all the characters, places and names. Kira's character really changed after the first section and it turned into a very science fiction story. While this story was not for me, someone who enjoys this genre and a lot of detail would enjoy this story. It was well written and detailed. It does include further explanations, a timeline and terminology explanations at the end which was helpful.

Having read Paolini's Inheritance series, I was not certain what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it throughly.

this book was very long and i didn’t think that i would enjoy it as much as i did but i did! feels like there is potential to be another book and if there is i’ll definitely be reading it.

I m a fan of Paolini's previous work but was not prepared for this action packed science fiction saga. He gives a generous back story to all the characters and does a great deal of world building which sometimes makes parts of the text drag. However, all of this information becomes important later on. The last 100 pages I had to read straight through.

I would like to thank Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing a digital copy of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a thrilling story set in the 2200s where humans have colonized the Solar system. Kira Navarez is a xenobiologist who finds an alien relic, which turns out to be a biosuit, during an excursion. This finding sets off a series of events that threatens the peace in the Solar system as war breaks out between humans and differing alien species. I loved the role that language plays in the story and the focus on the importance of accurate translation among different species. The theme of otherism is quite prevalent throughout the story, with the building of distrust among humans and alien species, between alien species themselves, and between different human factions as well. I enjoyed the depiction of different alien species inspired by pillbugs, millipedes, octopi, crabs, and jellyfish among others. I loved the concept of a ship mind: individuals of elite intelligence opting to give up their bodies and have their brains used to run spaceships. The author did an amazing job at explaining the motivation behind an individual choosing that life. I also loved the journey that we go on as we follow Kira through the process of learning to use the alien biosuit she discovered. The depictions of the many uses of this biosuit were so much fun to read. I loved reading in great detail about the thought process that Kira goes through in order to solve a particular problem using this suit she doesn't know much about while the stakes could not be higher. The story is largely about her learning to trust both herself and this living alien relic. The battles were also well written and completely enthralling. There are several appendices at the back of the book, which include a glossary of terms and a timeline, which were very helpful. The final resolution of the story felt organic and ultimately rewarding. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys thought provoking sci-fi set in space.

This book was just okay for me. There was just something off about the ending. I really enjoyed the SciFi aspect of the book but the ending was just off.

I suspect that there has been a great deal of anticipation for this book - the newest book by the much-acclaimed author of the Eragon series, Christopher Paolini.

Kira Navárez is on a routine survey mission when she discovers an alien artifact. This might be an exciting discovery if it didn't bring with it an invasion - not the first contact humanity was hoping for, but not unexpected, either. Now Kira is an expert on this aggressive race (often referred to as "Jellies" do to their resemblance to jellyfish) and will be meeting them on the front line of space battle.

That's a pretty brief description for a book that's nearly 900 pages long but I think it's pretty appropriate and ultimately that's the problem with the book.

This is a first contact novel, with the alien race being aggressive. This is certainly not a new theme in science fiction, so we would be looking for some aspect that is original and exciting. And I can't find it.

There is a lot of exposition and repetition here which slows the read down. While it contrasts nicely with the action scenes, the contrast is almost too severe - feast or famine - and the sluggish portions overwhelm the few active scenes.

Any time you go into an 'epic' novel (and a book well over 800 pages is definitely on the epic scale) you should expect to find characters that carry the story. Paolini's Eragon is a good example. But here we essentially have two characters - Kira and the Jellies. Everyone else is so bland and uninteresting as to be just names on the page because someone other than Kira needed to do something or provide some information.

I thought Kira was interesting and a good protagonist. Unfortunately she doesn't really grow through the course of the novel. There is a change, but I felt it was rather abrupt. And the Jellies, being such a major part of the story, remain an awfully big mystery.

Though I was never a big fan or follower of Paolini, I enjoyed The Inheritance Cycle and was very interested in reading this, especially since it was more sci-fi than fantasy.

This was certainly a much-anticipated book and interestingly, I recently read another highly anticipated sci-fi book by a best-selling author, and it, too, had a first contact with an alien race and also had two main characters - the protagonist and the alien. But that book pulled the reader in with interesting characters and a plot that constantly had the reader on edge. This book gets caught up in telling a story, forgetting that the story is more interesting if the characters brings some kind of stakes to what is happening.

Looking for a good book? To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini is a long, slow first contact sci-fi novel. It is not recommended except to those who will gladly read anything Paolini writes.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I’m judging a 2020 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got this book from the perspective pile into the read further pile.

If I’m honest the thing that most intrigued me about this novel was the inscription “And also for the scientists, engineers, and dreamers working to build our future among the stars.”