*3.75/5 (rating subject to change)

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a hard book to rate. An epic sci-fi tale of nearly 900 pages of action, I was under no illusion before going into this book that it would be perfect. In fantasy, authors can bend the world to their will, but in sci-fi (or at least good sci-fi) they are somewhat constricted by scientific principles. While Paolini takes some liberties, it was clear he wanted this to feel mostly plausible and within the realm of science ... and that makes perfection hard, especially for someone with no degree on these concepts. He spent 9 years writing this book and it shows, but there will always be pitfalls when trying to accomplish a novel of this size and scope while also trying to adhere (somewhat) to science. I think the way he tries to balance these things will trip up some readers, but I also think its admirable how much he did do.

This book is non-stop action. It's engaging and interesting, with humor thrown in to bring some levity to an otherwise ominous tone (aliens threatening to kill mankind and take over the galaxy isn't exactly fun). I found myself not compelled to pick it up necessarily, but I was still enthralled every time while reading it. It was a weird experience knowing I liked the book in the moment even though I felt no drive to read it ... though I think this boils down to me rarely reading sci-fi and usually preferring sci-fi movies to books (I have trouble visualizing it usually). As someone who usually struggles to read this kind of work, I found it pretty approachable in writing style and descriptions.

I think Paolini does a fantastic job with plot and pacing here. There are small lags sure, but the amount of plot in here is impressive. And the world he's built is fantastic. Yes, it has similarities to many sci-fi stories of the past, but he still manages to do his own thing with it.

That being said, the characterization takes a while to really develop which will leave some readers a bit underwhelmed. If you're someone who primarily reads for the characters, I wouldn't call these ones bad.... they just don't start to shine until, you know, hundreds of pages into the book. Which means the beginning of the book will be boring for you.

Is this the best book out there? No... but is it impressive despite all its flaws? Yes. I think that's probably the best way to summarize my feels will reading this: Flawed but still wholly entertaining throughout. I'd recommend this to all you plot oriented friends out there... character-focused readers may want to wait for the movie, or try out the first 100 pages before they commit to this tome.

I was thrilled to receive a review copy of the book, but I’ve struggled to get through it due to the writing style and the epic length. I like the overall concept of the book and the protagonist, but I had trouble really connecting to the story due to the author’s focus on describing minute details in most moments. I’ve tried to come back to it multiple times in the past two months but I can’t get past the style. It’s definitely a personal preference as a reader, and I greatly appreciate the chance to read it.

An interesting science fiction story that takes place in 2257/58. Kira is a xenobiologist who begins this science fiction tale with a fall into a hole. What is this? What is this suit she is wearing? It is a beginning of a race across space to discover answers. There is the crew of Wallfish, the UMC, the Jellies, then the nightmares and corruption. Plus the ship brain, the cat and pig who live on Wallfish. Kira seems to fo from one disaster to another as she flies aboard Wallfish. there is Cyro. There is Xeno bounded outside Kira and inside her, too.
Christopher Paolini has a wonderful imagination and uses scientific information to write this space story. It reads fast as you want to know what is going to happen next. I could see a movie made of the characters.

This was the first book by Paolini I've ever read. It was unique, fun, and brimming with action that kept me turning the page as Kira (the MC) unravelled the origins of the strange dust. It wasn't everything I'd expected or hoped, but enjoyable nonetheless!

To Sleep in A Sea of Stars was my first book by Christopher Paolini, and maybe it’s because I listened to the audiobook, but I found that his writing style flowed well with an assessable quality that made it easy to get into. The problems I had were mainly in the storytelling and pacing—like an overreliance on timeworn sci-fi tropes, underdeveloped side characters and an uneven plot. And yet, although this was not a perfect novel, I was impressed with its scope and the sheer amount of love and effort the author obviously poured into it.

In the end, should you read this book? Well, I personally thought it was worth the read—or in my case, the listen. Given the novel’s length, I’m sure not everyone will feel the same way, but I especially enjoyed my time with the audiobook edition of To Sleep in A Sea of Stars. I confess I chose to review this format specifically for the narrator, the amazing Jennifer Hale, whom I adore for her voicework in video games. The end of the audiobook edition also includes a brief but fantastic interview between Paolini and Hale, which was very illuminating. For one thing, I did not know this was her first time narrating an audiobook, but considering her years of experience in voice acting, I was not surprised at the phenomenal quality of the performance that she delivered, and her heartfelt reading simply made the hours fly by because I could listen to Commander Shepard talk at me forever.

Amazing! I highly recommend this for fans of Paolini, sci-fi, creative, engrossing fiction! 5 stars from me!

I really enjoyed reading this on my iPad, so I could search certain #scifi terms and gain wider context of what was happening. That being said, I wouldn’t have been lost or confused without that feature; the makeup of the planets, technology, aliens, and overall system was approachable and easy to envision.

I took a break from this to read horror for October, but I found myself missing the characters in this book. Kira is a strong, realistic female lead. She stood up for herself as needed, but there were times when she made mistakes, and we definitely saw her learn a lot.

The crew was the classic ragtag team of misfits. They’re thrown into extraordinary unexpected circumstances, and have to work together to try to save the universes. The crew was made up of different species, or “forms” as the Jelly (alien) would call them. They reminded me of crew from Star Trek or Guardians of the Galaxy.

Overall there was lots of action, perfect world-building, and great character development. ⭐️ 4.5/5 because it was just a tad too long.

Wow, this was epic. I loved the backstory, the seems-so-real science that makes all this space travel possible, and I reeeeally love the aliens. Like, the variety, the language, the everything. Oh, and what I love most of all is the camaraderie and banter between the crew members. It makes it...well, it makes it feel real. The ship mind was an extra bonus - I've read other books that include a ship mind, an AI, but they've always been basically a huge computer, not a huge human brain. Soooo neat.

Boy howdy, this was a big book. To start, I've got to say full disclosure: I'm a Paolini fan. The Inheritance Cycle was a must-read for me growing up as I was absolutely floored someone the same age as me could write a New York Times bestseller. I went into this book exited and eager to see what he could do with a Sci-Fi genre story. And when I went into it, it just kept going....and going.....and going.

If it wasn't for being a fan of Paolini, I probably would have given up on this one without finishing it. The Sci-Fi elements of the story are standard, and you can totally feel the loving homage to many standards of the genre, but the new or exiting or distinct components are few and far between. With minimal spoilers, girl explores alien world, girl finds alien artifact, shenanigans ensue.

I think my biggest criticism of Sea Of Stars is that it setting-hops so fast and frequently. The places and plot points move so quickly that it is hard to really get a sense of their importance or value. It literally feels like an entire series-worth of stuff happens in this one book, with character arcs and different find the McGuffin quests that could have been stand-alone books in and of themselves. You'd start to get interested and exited about the plot we were on, and then it would hop to the next thing and you'd just be like....but I was enjoying that last place we were or thing we were trying to find. Slowing down the story progression and giving us more time with the characters or locations would have improved the book greatly.

The part that I give Paolini amazing credit for is the fantastic research and believably he put into the scientific parts of the technology of his world. The space travel and speed issues are handled in an interesting way. Plus there's rail guns. I'm always down for anything that has rail guns, minimal questions asked.

All things considered, a slightly better than average Sci-Fi adventure with bonus points for scientific integrity and world-building and extra bonus points for a first novel in the genre. Paolini remains on my must read list, but I'd recommend he read a couple Stephen King books to learn about pacing out a large novel without giving a reader whiplash (The Institute being a good example.)

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Christopher Paolini gives us a hard science fiction stand alone in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. Although an extremely lengthy novel, the action keeps moving along. Kira Naveraz finds an alien artefact while exploring another world. Kira is transformed in ways she doesn't understand. As she ventures into first contact with the aliens war erupts. Unexpected developments all along the way to a crescendo of strangeness at the end. Read if you enjoy classic science fiction .

I'm glad to see something from Christopher Paolini after so long! I really enjoyed this book. It's not the sort of thing I typically read but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Our readers are loving it!

This book was sci-fi to the MAX! I highly enjoyed the world-building and thought it was easy to understand and follow while still adding that element of sci-fi. Paolini did not disappoint in his quest telling story, but I wish it had been a bit shorter for time restraints of reading.

This is a hard review to write because while I only read half the book, I still feel like it is a good book; this is just not a book for me.
I had fond memories of reading Christopher Paolini as a teenager so I wanted to check out his new book. The added bonus was that I had never read a space opera before but was curious; two birds one stone! What reading this book told me was that space operas are perhaps not for me.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is epic. It spans the universe and introduces legions of characters, planets, new technology, and mysterious circumstances. Part of this was fast paced and very exciting to read while other parts were on the slower side and had me trying to get through the pages as quick as possible.
I ended up not finishing this because, for me, I wasn't invested enough to read another 400 pages to find out what happens. That being said, I would absolutely recommend this to people who either want to try this type of storytelling, or are already fans.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow okay, I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did. Don’t get me wrong, I figured I would like it, but actually? It was a really interesting story that kept me compelled throughout the whole thing! Well, most of the whole thing. I enjoyed Kira and her journey, I thought she was a really fascinating character and her profession (as well as the professions of her coworkers) were genuinely really fascinating to me. First contact stories can all be a bit meh and end up sounding similar or just very boring, but I think this one was done in a way that was actually compelling and also holy SHIT I couldn’t imagine going through all that. Oh my GOD.
My main complaint is that it was very. very. very long. I don’t typically shy away from big books, I don’t mind them at all, but I was nervous about this one, and I feel I had the right to be. At times, I felt like Paolini was just writing because he liked hearing the sound of his own voice, and there was, in my opinion, a decent amount that just... wasn’t 100% necessary to the story.
Over all, I enjoyed this book, and I’m very glad I got the chance to read it. I will be recommending it to my friends, and I’m excited to see more like this from Paolini in the future!

When Kira stumbled across proof of alien life, she didn't expect it to change the universe. Now bonded to an alien material, she finds herself in the middle of an intergalactic war, and she may be the only one who can save the human race.

What starts out as a basic sci-fi exploration novel takes a twist as the story progresses. The science and explanations behind different technologies was easy to follow, though at times the interactions with the various alien species was not as clear.

This was an enjoyable read, but one I felt was overly long. Fans of the genre will most likely eat it up, as will those who really enjoyed the extra details in the Inheritance Chronicles.

As someone who was OBSESSED with The Inheritance Cycle when I was younger, I cannot tell you how excited I was for this book. I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint! I enjoyed Kira as a protagonist, and having read only a handful of science fiction novels up to this point, it was very exciting to step out of my comfort zone.
As always with Christopher Paolini, the worldbuilding was exquisite. Was it a lot at first? Sure. But powering through the initial slight confusion yielded major payoff! He managed to fit the setting and description that you’d think would be in a long series into a standalone and I think that’s really impressive. My usual complaints with standalones are that they skim over some details and the pacing tends to feel a bit rushed, but To Sleep in a Sea of Stars definitely didn’t have those problems.
I can’t wait for Paolini to write more books and I really recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Eragon and/or loves sci-fi!
I just bought a hardcover copy today and it’s absolutely STUNNING! I showed my friend and she already really wants to read it based on appearances alone!

Close to a literal space opera, with Bach and a Poison Ivy/Venom hybrid that will change how aliens are written in the future.

**I received this copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who has loved the Inheritance Cycle books for many years, I was ecstatic to learn that Christopher Paolini had a new book coming out. I naively assumed his new book would read the same and bring a sense of nostalgia. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars proved how dynamic of a writer Paolini is. This book is definitely not for the faint of heart. It has all the ingredients of a Science Fiction mystery but from a much more analytical and logical standpoint.

Kira Navárez is a xenobiologist about to finish up a four month exploration stint on the planet of Adrasteia. While on Adrasteia, she stumbles upon an Alien ruin and her life is forever changed. Kira becomes bonded with an alien form which covers her in a suit of thick fibers from head to toe. Unable to understand what has happened, the League of Allied Worlds becomes involved and quarantines Kira and everyone else who was on the mission. What they don’t know is since the Alien is sentient and bonded to Kira, it will protect her from any threat... real or perceived. Eventually, war breaks out across the galaxy; humans are fighting an alien species all throughout space. It seems as though Kira may be the only hope to bring peace and unity to the galaxy.

Personally, I felt as though there were a lot of unnecessary, scattered plotlines in the book. With so many things happening, and a lot of technical space jargon, I had a hard time enjoying the characters because I was so focused on trying to figure out what was going on. Between actually keeping all the characters straight and noting which ship they belonged to, and then remembering which part of space they were in I had my work cut out for me.

When I finished the book, I didn’t feel as though any of my questions were answered. I found myself skimming parts of the book because I either didn’t understand what it was saying, or I wasn’t able to visualize how an alien was being described in my head. With all the moving parts of the book, what Kira was up to, all the different species of aliens I needed to keep straight because they all did different things, artifacts Kira and the crew were after but ended up not being what they needed, I was left feeling unsatisfied at the outcome. I will always be a Paolini fan, his characters and stories were the reason I fell in love with reading. However, his first series will remain my favorite for now.

So I was a middle-grade reader of the Inheritance Cycle and at that point in my life I absolutely loved it. Rereading it recently opened my eyes to some of the flaws that I may not have noticed all those years ago, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. That being said, when I heard about this new book, I was incredibly excited to see how Paolini had evolved, despite my being less enthusiastic about sci-fi.

Turns out this kind of sci-fi is definitely my style. It took Paolini years of rewrites to come out with the final product…and it shows. This was an adventure of epic proportions, and I am still stunned at how he managed to build such an intricate story with philosophical themes about what it means to be human and the value of life in general. This was an 900-page behemoth that kept me turning pages nonstop.

This novel isn’t just “pew pew” back and forth until the bad guy is dead (although there is a lot of that); there are elements that I wouldn’t have expected to see in a sci-fi like this. The character development of our main character, Kira, is pretty astounding. She’s smart and brave while still having moments of doubt and anguish. She’s the perfect companion for this sort of adventure, and I was so proud of who she had become by the end of the book. I don’t think the other characters were nearly as well-developed, but honestly I’m ok with that since everything was from her perspective anyway. Her character arc encompassed a lot of the aspects that brought depth into the story; her exploration of morality and self took this to another level for me. Seeing her struggles of being human juxtaposed against the alien lifeforms/technologies made her decisions relatable while still leaving room for the wonders of the universe.

Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the prose. The Eragon series is a bit notorious for its lack of artistry, and I think Paolini has come a long way in that regard. He has always been a strong storyteller, and this time I think the language was able to reinforce that skill. It wasn’t flowery or especially individualistic, but I think that’s ok for a novel of this length. Having streamlined (but well-written) prose for 900 pages is definitely preferable, at least in my opinion.

There were a few plot points that kind of fizzled out without any bearing on the main direction of the story, which was a bit frustrating. I wish these hadn’t been included because they just made the plot drag a bit. In addition, I think there was a bit too much extraneous description that could have also been trimmed away (descriptions of walking from point A to point B, etc.). Overall, though, I think To Sleep followed a nice arc that wrapped up with a perfectly ambiguous ending. It left a lot of room for thought while still being satisfying.

There are a few things in the afterword that really just made me want to read this again, including affirmation of Eragon Easter eggs as well as a hint towards deeper meanings of certain things in the book. Maybe someone will do an analysis of this one day so that I don’t have to…

Anyways, that about sums up my initial thoughts. I would highly recommend this to Paolini lovers, even if sci-fi isn’t your cup of tea. I think the story was really well done, and I’m so glad I got to see the universe from Kira’s eyes. It’s clear that there is a true love for the beauty of the unknown parts of the vast world we live in. While I may not understand all of the technical jargon*, the wonder and trepidation of being such a small piece in the universe is something I have a lot of appreciation for.

*For those of you who are not comfortable in sci-fi settings, I was in the same boat (ship?) and I don’t think it detracted from my experience. While there is a fair amount of technical jargon, I found that it was fine that I wasn’t able to follow it exactly (also, I’m not sure if it was actually logical technicalities or if it was a load of baloney). I thought that the culture/dialogue was built up well enough that I could understand the gist of what was happening during the especially tech-heavy scenes.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I really tried.

I loved the premise of the story. I loved the characters. However, I could not get past ALL the descriptions and explanations. I felt weighed down by them. I know this is how some people enjoy their books. Unfortunately, not me.

If I had a physical copy of this, it may have been better.

Maybe I will try again at a later date.