Name: Samantha Bass's review of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
Item: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
Rating: 5
Author: Samantha Bass

Christopher Paolini

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a masterful epic science fiction novel from the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of the Inheritance Cycle, Christopher Paolini. During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, xenobiologist Kira Navárez finds an alien relic that thrusts her into the wonders and nightmares of first contact. Epic space battles for the fate of humanity take her to the farthest reaches of the galaxy and, in the process, transform not only her - but the entire course of history. Praise for Christopher Paolini and his work: 'Christopher Paolini is a true rarity' - Washington Post 'An authentic work of great talent' - New York Times Book Review 'A breathtaking and unheard of success' - USA Today 'Christopher Paolini make[s] literary magic' - People

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a brand new epic novel from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Paolini. Kira Navárez dreamed of finding life on new worlds. Now she has awakened a nightmare. While exploring a distant planet, she discovers an alien relic that thrusts her into an epic journey of transformation and discovery. Her odyssey will carry her to the far reaches of the galaxy. Earth and her colonies are on the brink of annihilation. One woman. The will to survive. The hope of humanity. This epic novel follows Kira Navárez, who, during a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, finds an alien relic that thrusts her into the wonders and the nightmares of first contact. Epic space battles for the fate of humanity take her to the farthest reaches of the galaxy and, in the process, transform not only her ? but the entire course of history.

Izzy 

"We are all kings and queens of our own dementia. The only question is how we rule.”

Nature has no regard for those who squirm and crawl within its tainted depths. The storm that batters, batters all. None are spared. Not you, not I, not the stars in the sky. We bind our cloaks and bend our heads and focus on our lives. But the storm, it never breaks, never fades. 

The universe wasn't ideal, but it was hardly a prison. After all, you had to exist somewhere; it might as well be here. 

Bethany Jenkins

“Forgive me for my irrepressible curiosity,” said Gregorovich, and he chuckled, “but what strange scents did you exchange with our be-tentacled guest? You stood there for quite some minutes, and you seemed most affected by the stench afflicting your delicate nostrils.” 

Inarë cocked her head. "Oh, you're a clever one, aren't you?" She looked down at the cat and murmured, "Why are the most interesting people always found hiding behind crates? Why?"

Samantha Bass

Jordan

4.5

This book is long, well thought out and only had a few chapters I felt lag behind the rest that is pretty impressive for a book of this size.
Also I am pretty sure Angela and Solumbum make an appearance as oddly brief and helpful refugees on a ship early in the book.
Which is just amazing.

Hannah DCamp

What a beast. It took me a minute to get into - there are so many characters, and I don't think of myself as a hard sf fan, but Paolini's prose was beautiful and his characters grew on me as the story went on. "Eat the Path" has been ringing in my mind since finishing, and I'm not sure I understand what it means yet; I appreciate the food for thought.

I listened to the audio book for most of this journey, and the number of distinct voices the narrator was able to do was astounding. Her Gregorovich made me love him and be simultaneously creeped out by him.

Iman Kamil

C. J. Daley 

Finally finished this one. I originally started it when it came out, but I decided to stop for a while when I got to part 5 so that I could read some spooky seasonal stuff. Although, this is sci-fi fantasy that could honestly also be tagged as horror because some of the stuff, like the nightmares and Soft Blade consumption can get really dark and graphic. 

I love his writing style and I’ve been a fan for years but I found myself really unsure of how to rate this one. There are things that are explosively good about this novel, and there are things that aren’t. I think one of the major issues is length. When it comes to a first novel (and seeing he’s calling it the Fractalverse I’m assuming more is incoming?) it’s sometimes hard for me to feel that connection immediately and want it to keep going on. Like in the Inheritance Cycle, by book 4, you genuinely care enough to know what happens to every single person and why. But those got longer and longer over time... and although I think he does a great job of highlighting the darker side of space travel that I feel like some others skip over (IE. All of the FTL stuff over and over—not that I necessarily liked them...) it doesn’t always necessarily land well. However, the things I liked I really liked and even loved. Personally I decided to go with 4/5*. 

I’m very curious how Paolini and his sister are going to handle adapting it, because it’ll be very hard to get a symbiotic relationship to read as something other than Venom. Especially with Sony’s second film coming out next year...

Now a New York Times and USA Today bestseller! Winner of Best Science Fiction in the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards! To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a brand new epic novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eragon, Christopher Paolini. Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds. Now she's awakened a nightmare. 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. As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn't at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human. While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity's greatest and final hope . . .

The start of the book is a little rough since you are thrown into the universe without much build up, but the story is really good once you get into it.

Akane

Really good, excellent pace that sucks you in and keeps you interested even after what seems like would be the same thing over and over again. I loved Eragon and while this is totally different, the characters and world building felt similar. 

Caroline Piephoff

This was the first sci-fi book I read in probably a decade, so take my review with a grain of salt due to inexperience and/or lack of a refined taste. The book was recommended by a friend, so I dove in knowing absolutely nothing about it. To my surprise, I breathed through the 800 pages of the main plot in about 3 weeks. 

It's most certainly plot-driven. In spite of the length, a lot of cool things happen on a fairly fast pace. I really enjoyed the Paolini's creative, intelligent and thorough approach in building the "fractalverse" world. While the unfolding of the events was enthralling, the characters felt underdeveloped. I don't think any of the characters with the exception of the protagonist were that well developed. But I didn't mind that all. I enjoyed Kira's growth and interaction with the aliens.

I'm now really curious to read more of Paolini's work and other sci-fi books.

Tem Nugmanov

This was the first sci-fi book I read in probably a decade, so take my review with a grain of salt due to inexperience and/or lack of a refined taste. The book was recommended by a friend, so I dove in knowing absolutely nothing about it. To my surprise, I breathed through the 800 pages of the main plot in about 3 weeks. 

It's most certainly plot-driven. In spite of the length, a lot of cool things happen on a fairly fast pace. I really enjoyed the Paolini's creative, intelligent and thorough approach in building the "fractalverse" world. While the unfolding of the events was enthralling, the characters felt underdeveloped. I don't think any of the characters with the exception of the protagonist were that well developed. But I didn't mind that all. I enjoyed Kira's growth and interaction with the aliens.

I'm now really curious to read more of Paolini's work and other sci-fi books.

Rachel Kanyid

I really enjoyed the way this story built, and the length of it. I found the side characters more enjoyable than our lead, but I think that may have been intentional. The very end and how happily it wrapped up made me a little upset because it seemed like a little bit of a cop-out, but overall I thought this was a very solid book! After growing up reading the Eragon books as they came out, I am really happy to see Paolini stepping out into a different genre!

this book was 800+ pages long, and yet I wasn’t ready for it to end. I was constantly surprised by how much I was enjoying it. 

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the book for the first 150 pages or so, but once Kira joined up with the crew of the Wallfish I couldn’t put it down. I could have read several 800 page books about Kira exploring space with her found family, but alas, Paolini had bigger plans. 

the ending was wild and brilliant, but for me it was also so profoundly sad. it was incredible following Kira on this journey and seeing how her character developed and morphed along the way. 

I’m looking forward to reading more books in the fractalverse!

this book was 800+ pages long, and yet I wasn’t ready for it to end. I was constantly surprised by how much I was enjoying it. 

(spoilers)

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the book for the first 150 pages or so, but once Kira joined up with the crew of the Wallfish I couldn’t put it down. I could have read several 800 page books about Kira exploring space with her found family, but alas, Paolini had bigger plans. 

the ending was wild and brilliant, but for me it was also so profoundly sad. it was incredible following Kira on this journey and seeing how her character developed and morphed along the way. 

I’m looking forward to reading more books in the fractalverse!

Ethan Hill

There were some parts of this that were really good! Unfortunately most of it was pretty bland :/

Now a New York Times and USA Today bestseller! Winner of Best Science Fiction in the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards! To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a brand new epic novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eragon, Christopher Paolini. Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds. Now she's awakened a nightmare. 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. As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn't at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human. While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity's greatest and final hope . . . At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Vilde

Jenny

There was so much that happened. At times it was hard to keep up, but this book kept me on my toes and wondering what was next, even if I had my suspicions. That is all I ever ask for in novels. Fantastic read.

Cindy Lieberman

The first time this audiobook came up to borrow from my library I saw it was 34 parts (34 hours!) and decided I had too many other books I wanted to read. When it came up a second time, I downloaded only the first 3 parts and figured I’d give it a go. It was a top sci-fi book of 2020 on Goodreads, after all. I had not heard of the author before as I’m not a big reader of YA fantasy. But this book sounded like hard sci-fi with space travel and first contact of an alien race - the type of stuff I typically enjoy. About halfway into the second downloaded part I decided I was liking it enough to download the rest. I was hooked. It was the way that the protagonist, Kira, first met the aliens. Or, rather, the way they insinuated themselves into her spacesuit and into her being. Fortunately it did not become an “invasion of the body snatchers” horror story, but a sweeping epic of interstellar travel, alien engagement, and especially Intra- and inter-species communication. Long enough to have been a trilogy, it was wise to release as a single (if long) book, as the intermediate stakes would not have been enough to avidly wait a year or so between volumes. I enjoyed Kira’s character, her interactions and work with the soft blade, and a number of the characters she met along the way, including the dark and grumpy ship mind. 

Although I gave this 5 stars, there were plenty of loose ends and things that could have been improved or made clearer. But overall I enjoyed it very much. A few things seemed to have been thrown in for their madcap properties but were then dropped. I paraphrase Chekov here when I say if there’s a pet pig on a spaceship in the first act, I expect someone to be frying bacon in the fifth act. But perhaps that particular character is being saved for the next book…?

The last two parts (2 hours at normal speed) of the audiobook include the author’s description of the FTL travel used in the story, a long glossary (odd at the end of an audiobook), and an interesting discussion between the author and the audiobook performer.

During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, xenobiologist Kira Navarez finds an alien relic that thrusts her into the wonders and nightmares of first contact. Epic space battles for the fate of humanity take her to the farthest reaches of the galaxy and, in the process, transform not only her - but the entire course of history.

Inga Kühn 

Das war ja mal eine lange Reise...
Eigentlich bin ich durch die häufigen Bemerkungen auf Bookstagram, den Titel (ich kann Sternen nicht widerstehen) und das schöne Cover auf dieses Buch aufmerksam geworden, hatte aber nicht diese sehr komplexe Welt erwartet.
Paolini hat wirklich einen guten Sinn für sein Medium, er nutzt viele Möglichkeiten, die ihm ein Buch gibt und spielt erfolgreich mit Schriftgrößen, Satzzeichen, etc. Um klare Dialoge und Handlungen darzustellen. Die reinen Handlungen und Orte finde ich verständlich und gut beschrieben, auch wenn ich kein wirklicher Fan seines Stils bin. Besonders jegliche emotionale Situationen, die mir eh an der Geschichte zu wenig ausgebaut waren, fand ich nicht so gut verfasst. Es war oftmals eher pragmatisch und auf Logik bedacht gehalten, was dem Buch eine gewisse Kälte verliehen hat. Ein weiterer Kritikpunkt lag bei mir in der Fixierung auf 2 Geschlechter, ich hatte gehofft, dass sich in der Zukunft dieses binäre Denken aufgelöst hätte. 
Ich muss ebenfalls zugeben, dass ich kein großer Fan vom Ende war, was größtenteils an der Umsetzung lag.
Alles in allem, ist das Buch aber eine interessante Reise durch unbekannte Welten, bedeutet viel Frustration mit Menschen und der Menschlichkeit und ist das Lesen wert, auch wenn ich für mich entschieden habe, das einmal definitiv genug ist.

Charmaine

A nice long space opera… but too long for me. I actually spaced out at times. :( But a great story nonetheless!

Courtney 

I thought this was going to be so good but I struggled. There was so much science written in great detail that I just didn't understand (maybe I needed a degree before reading?). I found Kira to be a very boring main character. Falconi and Trig was probably the only thing I liked and they didn't have a big part. Overall, I was disappointed and I struggled to finish this book. The ending was super weird as well.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a masterful epic science fiction novel from the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of the Inheritance Cycle, Christopher Paolini. Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds Now she’s awakened a nightmare 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. As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn’t at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human. While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity’s greatest and final hope . . . Praise for Christopher Paolini and his work: 'Christopher Paolini is a true rarity' – Washington Post 'An authentic work of great talent' – New York Times Book Review 'A breathtaking and unheard of success' – USA Today 'Christopher Paolini make[s] literary magic' – People

Kass

It was a solid read, I didn’t love the ending but maybe I’m just not that into sci-fi 🤷🏽‍♀️

Lauren Sullivan

Content warnings: (view spoiler)[body horror, medical procedures without consent, death, torture, scifi violence (lasers, guns, ship combat, amputation of limbs, etc) (hide spoiler)]

Look, I’ll be honest – I preordered the ebook of this as soon as it was available. But when I saw that Jennifer Hale (fem Shep from Mass Effect) was doing the audiobook, I couldn’t resist. This is a behemoth of a book – almost 33 hours (880 pages) – with a large cast of characters. Ms. Hale did an amazing job differentiating each of them, from accent to tone to speaking style. My personal favorite – and I’m sure, a lot of people’s favorite – was the shipmind Gregorovitch. Honestly, I can’t believe this is Jennifer Hale’s first audiobook, and I’ll definitely be looking for her work in the future.

Suffice it to say that a lot goes on in this book. The first part – Kira discovering evidence of alien life just as she’s about to leave the planet she’s been surveying – is just the beginning of her journey, and it’s slowly paced. Once that happens, though, the book turns into a rollercoaster of action. There’s a good balance between the action scenes and the worldbuilding exposition. This is very hard scifi, science-y as all get out but not quite as accessible as, say, The Martian. The worldbuilding is intricate and enthralling. From the different alien species to the various human colonies to the nitty gritty details of space combat, everything is described in exquisite detail.

“Because that’s what we do. We fall down, and then we help each other back up again.”

What stopped this book from being a 5-star read for me is that it’s very much plot-driven. The characters, even Kira, almost felt like an afterthought at times, and there were several times where I felt like they – especially Kira – acted out of character given what they’d experienced. It’s also glaringly obvious that it’s a male author writing a female character – some of the more supposedly romantic sections made me laugh out loud. Luckily – and I cannot honestly believe I’m typing these words – the romance isn’t a big focus of the book. I’m a sucker for found families, so I loved the crew of the Wallfish, especially Sparrow and Hua Chung, and of course, Gregorovich. We get to learn a bit about each character, even Runcible, the ship pig, but it all still felt a bit shallow. The only character I felt like we really got a good feel on was Gregorivich, and that’s mostly that he’s crazy as a loon.

“This I learned, meatbag, this and nothing more: when air, food, and shelter are assured, only two things matter. Work and companionship. To be alone and without purpose is to be the living dead.”

There’s a lot of themes explored in the story, almost to the point of being a bit too much. The one that stuck with me, though, was Kira’s continual fight for agency for herself. Near the beginning of the book, a character tells Kira to “eat the path” – basically, she means, that only through owning and accepting her actions can she overcome her circumstances. Kira spends a lot of time and energy initially fighting against the xeno, worrying about remaining a separate person from it, worrying about whether she’s still really Kira. Her journey towards accepting the xeno – and everything that means – and her strength while she did it was my favorite part of the book.

“I am the spark in the center of the void. I am the widdershin scream that cleaves the night. I am your eschatological nightmare. I am the one and the word and the fullness of the light. Would you like to play a game? Y/N – Gregorovich
No – Kira
😟 – Gregorovich”

Overall, this is a chonker of a book and totally worth it. Recommended to anyone interested in plot-driven first contact stories that span galaxies and question what it means to be human.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

valentina 🕯️

this was such a weird book
I don't have a lot to say tho but what I will say is that I don't know if I like it or not? 

Andrew Kerr

I can’t believe this won the best sci-fi book for 2020... After doing some research turns out the author is know for their fantasy writing and it show a as they lean heavily on fantasy troupes. A quote stuck out to me which sums up the problem with this book ‘technology sufficiently advanced seems like magic’. The author uses this a crutch enabling far too much ex deus machina to drive the story. Wait there are aliens? No Wait there are two aliens! Oh wait their is a ‘technologically advanced’ (ie magic) staff that can save the day? Oh wait it is broken? Oh wait some of the 1st bad aliens are not bad. This repeats for some 900 pages...

Lili 

A friend told me to read this, and I'm so glad she did as this is probably my favourite book so far.

Katharina Hoffmann

I want to assume fetal position and weep. I'm literally broken.

Toni Turner

EAT THE PATH! 

I am very much in love with this story and I am crying but it’s fine.

Story Eater

I am not a SciFi book reader. I watch SciFi; I don’t read it. Following several tropes of the genre, Paolini puts together an interesting first piece—that conveniently and abruptly stops just when I was getting settled in and engrossed. I’m not complaining; I’m very glad to have been given the opportunity to read this partial ARC. But, c’mon! 

Paolini’s toe dip into the genre takes some getting used to at the offset. His prose feels very choppy, but it lends itself to the pace he sets with the action he presents. He uses concise descriptions to familiarize the reader with the universe quickly in order get on with the rest of the story. I felt it was very seamless and not a taxing info dump. In fact, there is so much going on under the surface, with a book this seemingly large (it at one time was somewhere upwards of 800 pages; now it’s at 600 or so—not sure where the discordances are from), I wonder if readers will be taken all over the universe before arriving at the end. 

My biggest complaint is the dialogue, which starts off a bit rough. I remember with Eragon that I could not suffer the dialogue, so I quit reading the book early on. For TSiaSoS, after the first main action sequence, the dialogue gets better and settles into something tolerable for me. 

I’m certainly excited for this one to come out. It may be the gateway book for me into a new genre. I usually don’t reach for SciFi books. I may, after a pleasing experience with this one, just have to start. And I will definitely see to it that my local library has a copy for everyone to enjoy.

My thanks to NetGalley for the partial ARC, for which I give my own opinion.

Samantha Bass &
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

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