The camaraderie and depth of the crew members on the Wallfish stand out. Their interactions, unique traits, and even the presence of a pet pig add charm and emotional engagement to the narrative. Characters like Falconi might feel somewhat trope-y, but they contribute to the overall charm of the story.

As the protagonist, Kira undergoes significant development. Her transformation from a xenobiologist to a key figure in an interstellar conflict is compelling. Her character arc is noted for its organic growth, making her relatable and sympathetic. Kira's journey is further enriched by her interaction with the Soft Blade, an alien presence that adds layers of complexity to her character and the narrative.

However some may feel Kira is more of a vessel for the reader's experiences rather than a fully fleshed-out protagonist. However, you are also able to get deeply invested in her personal struggles and development, particularly her grappling with the Soft Blade.

The plot of "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" is quintessentially space opera, with high stakes and an intricate storyline that spans multiple planets and alien species. The discovery of an alien relic by Kira sets off a chain of events with galaxy-wide repercussions.

The novel's structure, reminiscent of video games with side quests and final boss battles, feels fun, and makes it different to a normal story arc. However, like in games this could sometimes feel formulaic, I enjoyed the clear progression and high-octane adventure.

The novel's pacing is a point of contention. The middle sections, laden with exposition and background information, slowed down the momentum. However, the story picks up towards the end, delivering a satisfying conclusion that ties together various narrative threads. The plot's complexity and depth make the lengthy read worthwhile.

Paolini's meticulous attention to detail and extensive research, particularly in the scientific aspects, lend authenticity and plausibility to the story. This dedication helps ground the fantastical elements, making the universe feel expansive and believable.

While the detailed exposition adds depth, it also contributes to slower pacing in parts. Nonetheless, the balance between action and exposition, allowed well-placed bits of information maintaining clarity and coherence.

The humor and witty banter interspersed throughout the story add a human touch, making the characters' reactions to dire circumstances more relatable.

The novel explores humanity's encounter with an alien species, highlighting both the awe-inspiring and terrifying aspects. Kira's interaction with the Soft Blade serves as a lens to examine these themes, adding depth to her character and the overall story.

Through diverse characters and their interactions, Paolini examines themes of loyalty, sacrifice, and the quest for redemption. Kira's struggle to control and understand the alien suit mirrors humanity's quest for knowledge and the accompanying ethical dilemmas.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars fits squarely within the space opera genre, with its grand scale, complex plot, and detailed world-building. Fans of traditional science fiction will likely appreciate the scientific detail and thoroughness in the universe's construction.

The blend of science fiction with character-driven storytelling and emotional depth provides broad appeal, particularly for fans of Paolini's previous works in fantasy. However, those expecting a blend of science fiction and fantasy might be disappointed, as this novel leans heavily into hard science fiction.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is highly recommended for fans of science fiction and space operas. The detailed universe, complex characters, and thought-provoking themes offer a rich and rewarding reading experience. I'm excited for future stories set in this universe, as Paolini has successfully laid the groundwork for an expansive and engaging series. Despite minor criticisms, the novel is a significant achievement and a must-read for sci-fi enthusiasts.

Positives of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Deep character development, particularly with Kira Navarez.

Intricate and expansive plot.

Detailed and plausible scientific elements.

Rich world-building with immersive settings.

Engaging humor and character interactions.

Negatives of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Pacing issues, especially in the middle sections.

Some characters and plot elements may feel formulaic.

Extensive exposition may slow down the narrative for some readers.

My first read by this author and it did not disappoint. Inventive world building and otherworldly this was an addictive read.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan / Tor for sending me a free ARC of this book in return for an honest review (and huge apologies for how long it's taken me to read this!).

I was a big fan of Eragon growing up, and I've been recently re-reading the series to see how it holds up. While there is a huge gap between the first Eragon book and To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (20 years!) and there are some improvements to the writing, I felt that this did suffer from a lot of the same issues.

First of all - this is very long (over 800 pages) and felt long. There were many sections that felt unnecessary and convoluted, and could have been shorter.

There are many occasions when Kira and the crew are saved just in the nick of time, often unrealistically so - much like in Eragon. Kira is mostly there to move the story along - as the story progresses, I felt like she has less and less personality and becomes more of a story tool. Everyone accepts her theories and ideas on what they should do next without question. It's mentioned suddenly that Kira enjoys classical music and plays an instrument, but this isn't talked about much and felt a bit unnatural.

But, the crew of the Wall Fish are the opposite. I loved their banter and jokes, their individual personalities, and even their crazy ship mind, Gregorovich. (And a space pig?! Cute!) The sections when the crew are just hanging out together in the mess hall were my favourite parts of the book.

This doesn't mean I did not enjoy To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, however. The world-building elements are excellent. I loved the jellies, for example - they feel so believable and I loved that their world is so different to ours. They communicate by smell, which was an interesting idea. The ship minds were great too! I loved that we got to explore Gregorovich's background - why he became a ship mind in the first place, his background and his frustrations with being a shipmind.

Overall, this was a fun read - I also listened to this on audiobook and the narrator Jennifer Hale does a great job. It's just a shame that the main character Kira and the convoluted plot lets it down.

(This review will go live on my website on 18th March at https://www.lecari.co.uk/2024/03/book-review-to-sleep-in-a-sea-of-stars/)

Long. So very long.
Despite the fact that it felt neverending I enjoyed it. It was action packed in a way that felt quite natural although we missed huge swaths of time every time they travelled long distances, thanks to cryo. I think this was a good idea as it gave time for events to unfold over the entirety of Space and time.
There were some slow sections which did feel a bit dull but overall the pacing was good
There were lots of loose ends which I assume will come back in future installments.
I did feel bad for our main character as so many awful things happened to her, she definitely needs a break. But overall a really good story. If a bit.... And I mean a lot lengthy.

I’ve put off reading this book for so long because I was so intimidated by reading a sci fi book of this size from an author I haven’t previously read from, but I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed this book and would definitely read this again in the future.
The characters were so well written and likeable and I really loved the found family aspect, it wasn’t instantaneous, the main character worked to form relationships with the crew of the ship. The war between species and the description of the soft blade was so in depth and I could easily picture what I was reading.

While "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" is an ambitious and well-written science fiction novel, I ultimately found it to be a mixed bag. On the one hand, the world-building and character development are excellent, and the plot is filled with plenty of action, intrigue, and unexpected twists. The concept of an alien invasion and the mystery surrounding the alien artifact was intriguing and kept me engaged throughout.

However, I found the pacing to be a bit uneven, with some sections dragging on for too long and others feeling rushed. Additionally, I found some of the science fiction elements to be a bit hard to follow, and I had trouble visualizing some of the concepts and technologies described in the book.

Overall, "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" is a solid science fiction novel that fans of the genre will likely enjoy. However, it may not be for everyone, particularly those who are not well-versed in science fiction or who prefer a more evenly-paced plot. For me, it was a 3/5 read.

Firstly a big thank you to Tor Books UK and Stephen Haskins for sending me a copy of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions in this post are entirely my own.

Secondly, yes you did read that correctly, this book is a chunky almost 900 pager, including a hefty appendix that is nothing but a credit to just how much work and research has gone into this novel. I attended an online release event with Paolini prior to reading this book and remember him discussing the efforts that go into Sci-Fi novels with Tchaikovsky; the science behind potential Faster-Than-Light travel, effects of cryo-sleep etc, are all topics he has investigated at great length in order to provide the most authentic experience to the reader, and it is one of the aspects of this book that I very much appreciate.

Kira, our protagonist, is a xenobiologist and part of a team tasked with assessing the habitability of planets. The latest assignment is coming to an end and Kira is making plans for her future with Alan, a geologist on the same assignment. Just before their departure back to HQ, Kira stumbles on the discovery of a lifetime; evidence of intelligent life on the planet, and this is undoubtedly from an ancient time, however the situation soon turns sour as the dust on the structure gets to Kira and leads to an unprecedented turn of events. It was from this moment I was hooked; I wouldn't say it's a ground-breaking sci-fi exploring new and exciting literary territory but it is an entertaining and engaging read.

This novel is told from one point of view which does work to Paolini's advantage when setting up plot twists, but it does also mean that the perspective of the reader is solely limited to Kira's view and thoughts. For most of the book this is fine, but I think perhaps some of the stereotypes believed by the protagonist are projected onto secondary and supporting characters with a lack of capability for the reader to develop their own opinions and pictures of these characters for themselves. Getting to know any secondary character is slow given Kira closes herself off, and background characters feel quite two-dimensional. I wouldn't say this inhibits the enjoyment of the book; this is simply something I noticed as I was reading.

Being such a large book, I did wonder how Paolini was going to keep the reader engaged for all that time but all credit to him, he managed this just fine. It certainly doesn't end up going in the direction I expected but that was a pleasant surprise and just another layer to the this gigantic space opera mystery that Paolini has constructed. Another aspect of the narrative I appreciated was the clean, no nonsense, delivery; though full of technical and scientific jargon, I actually found it surprisingly easy to read. But this format I thought really helped the engagement and pacing of TSIASOS overall and combined with the excellent worldbuilding, I'd say this is a a solid publication; Paolini himself admits it is a less than perfect book but it was engaging, entertaining, and despite its size, a relatively quick read, and who can really ask for any more than that from a book?

A pleasure to read, and an easy, entertaining story that any sci-fi fan

Unfortunately this one I really didn't enjoy the writing style and found that it wasn't my taste so I didn't get very far with it and I ended up putting this one down about two weeks after I started as I had made very little progress. I am sure other readers who enjoyed other titles by this author may find it more appealing if they like his style, but for me it felt like a very slow build up and a story which didn't really pull me in. The concept of alien planets and ancient relic was one I thought I would connect with, but I disliked the MC and that was a bit of an immediate turn off for me.

Well... that was a waste of time.

Sorry, that sounds harsh. Let me start this again. Have you ever been really excited for a book? Like, really excited for it and you kept putting it off because you wanted to savour it and, once you're ready, you start only to be thoroughly disappointed and annoyed that you spent your precious time and money on it? Well, this is what happened with me and with To Sleep In A Sea of Stars.

I had such high hopes. I am not a big sci-fi/space opera reader, but there was something about this that got me excited. I preordered the audiobook on Audible and I first attempted to read it when it first came out and I enjoyed what I read (the first 75/100 pages or so). Then Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer came out and the Twihard in me demanded I read that instead, so I put this down, deciding I wanted to come back to it and take me time, enjoy myself with these characters and these worlds and...

You know you're in trouble when you decide to speed up the audiobook when the narrator reads SO SLOW. And it's not her fault because the book and it's plot is SO SLOW. And I don't mean speed up to 1.5 or a speed you are comfortable with. On my last day with this book, I tested the fastest speed the audible app (3.5x) and I still was annoyed over how slow the plot was going.

This story has so many issues for me: the book was needlessly long, the plot was really thin for a book of this length, pacing was painfully slow, characters didn't feel fully fleshed out, there were times that elements needed to be more fleshed out and other times, elements needed to be edited down. Plus, we have seen this type of "first contact" story multiply times and done so much better in a novel half TSIASOS size and it would still add something new. TSIASOS didn't add anything new.

I understand that this is a love letter to the genre and many readers love this, but I am hugely annoyed with myself that I didn't listen to my gut and quit this when I first felt that this wasn't the book for me.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a book that I was hyped for as I love Paolini’s other work, but every time I got around to reading it, I honestly struggled but more due to me than the actual book.
Many Thanks to Tor and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Plot summary:
During a survey mission, Kira find some mysterious alien relic and is delighted at first, but then a war erupts and she is launched into a whole new world of danger and learning more about her own horrors and earth’s colonies that may be on the brink of annihilation.

Review:
First off before the review:
I have been in and out of reading this since before it’s release in 2020, my partner has read it post it’s release and adored it since it’s release but every time I try to read it, honestly it’s a struggle and I have officially decided to DNF at around 30% but may come back to it in the future.
Plot and World Building – This was a heavy plot base. I will fully admit I’m trying to read more Sci-Fi and some stories work for me, some don’t. This one just seemed so good at the start, before becoming very heavily plot wise to the point I couldn’t name a character outside Kira. It also began to become slightly repetitive which frustrated me and took me out of the narrative.

Overall pacing of the story was quite slow and I struggled to stay engaged, I’m also curious as to how this is over 800 pages? I feel the main gist of the plot and story could be done in 500 pages based on what I have read and heard via goodreads but I think that may be down to personal writing styles which I can appreciate.

The world building was so dense, which I expected from Sci-Fi and honestly that was the main thing I was fine with. I love detailed worlds and from what I got to read I enjoyed that side of the story.

I feel bad giving this the rating I have, but honestly it might just be that this style of writing in Sci-Fi is not for me.

Characters and Development- Honestly I can only remember Kira, and what I do remember I wasn’t particularly enamoured with. It might just be me but she just seemed quite two dimensional and didn’t seem to have much growth.

Final Thoughts:
A good initial thought and idea for a Sci-fi story, but I’m questioning if it really needed to be over 800 pages.

I enjoyed reading this and it was a good book but I don't think it needed to be so long. Its a good story but its also obvious that this is the authors first both adult and Sci-fi book. The writing is really good but for me the plot and the pacing wasn't great. The pace doesn't really change throughout. It can be hard to get through because of this and the ending was a bit of a let down for me.

The plot was basically a first contact with aliens that goes pretty badly wrong and ends in all out war. I found a lot happened but at the same time not a lot happened. There was a lot of getting to know the characters and a lot of interactions between characters which I liked but it didn't really add to the plot. I did find there was a few things that seemed important but didn't go anywhere. The main problem was it really didn't have to be so long and drawn out. It was basically fight, travel, military repeated a few times and by the end I kind of just wanted it to be over.

I found the worldbuilding lacking, it was an interesting place and we see humans have colonised in space but we don't really see any of it and the technologies are not really explained all that well. This is a more personal thing to me but I don't really like when first contact with an alien species is so quick to violence. To me the war completely ruined the wonder of the contact and the knowledge that could have been shared.

I did enjoy the concept behind this book and the first few parts I was really into but the overall execution was not the best. It was enjoyable and the characters were good and the story wasn't bad but I don't think its worth it considering the length of the book.

I'm officially DNF'ing this book! I've had it in my currently reading for almost 2 months and haven't even gone back to it after my audiobook borrowbox expired. I just have no real desire to read this book and don't see any point in pretending that I will! It's just not for me.

I fell in love with Christopher Paolini's Eragon series. I tried to keep any previous bias and expectations from marring my enjoyment of this novel, especially since there has been such a gap between the series and this release. I found that Paolini has not lost any of his story crafting magic and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It moved differently from Eragon and the time he dedicated to this novel shows in his work. I highly recommend giving it a try.

Fab sci fi book set in space with a great range of characters and exciting events that occur within this monster of a gigantic novel!

I was so unbelievably excited to be approved to review this book. It was one of my most anticipated new releases, but I'm so upset by how disappointed it left me.

A first contact with aliens story, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars follows Kira who finds an ancient relic whilst on a routine survey mission. Finding this relic launches Kira into a world filled with war, uncertainty, and the threat of annihilation to the human race.

In theory, this should have worked perfectly for me. First contact with aliens is one of my favourite tropes in sci-fi, but this just got too long and... boring?! The first 100 pages were absolutely fantastic and they had me sucked in right away. I didn't want to put the book down, and I found myself putting off work just to read it. Yet, it all changes its tone and swiftly goes downhill. This story contains an unlimited amount of potential. It's crazy to think of all the directions it could've been taken in, but, instead, it felt like nothing really happened. Sure, there were a few battles in space, but the bits in between were all just the same and super dull. I also found some of the writing to be incredibly cringey. We even got treated to a "she let out of breath that she didn't know she was holding " line, which I was really surprised to see.

As much as it pains me to say it, as I was so so excited for this book, this was disappointing. It could easily have been cut down without impacting the storyline, and I think that the author only dipped a toe into the true potential of this book. Incredible start, just a disappointing end.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

There was a lot to enjoy here, but ultimately I thought it was too long, prone to repetitive action set pieces and quite honestly, a bit boring in places. It tells the story of Kira, a xenobiologist who discovers an underground cavern on a distant planet. Her actions within the cave spark a series of events including alien contact. What I enjoyed the most about this book was the characters, specifically, the crew of the Wallfish. I really loved the relationships between the crew members and thought that their interactions were fun and authentic. The narrative started strong and I thought that the first third of the book was fast paced and compelling. Unfortunately for me, this pacing began to lag and I did think that a lot of the action was repetitive. I also found Kira pretty frustrating as a protagonist, as she made some pretty questionable decisions throughout. Overall, this was a pretty average book for me and would have worked better had it been shorter.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I couldn't finish this one. I wanted so much to like it as much as I loved Eragon however something about this just didn't click with this one.

I'm not sure if the plot was generic for sci-fi but I found incredible similarities to the Halo book series based of the original games, and that turned me off. As in large parts of the world had counterparts that were almost exactly the same.

I will definitely be recommending this to our customers though because other customers that I have spoken to have really enjoyed it, but it's just not for me.

From the genius author who gave us the Eragon series comes an epic space adventure. A story about first contact which is one of my favorite genres of science fiction and is so well done in this novel that it doesn't feel like a book nearly 900 pages long, an engaging, humorous, and thrilling space adventure, I could not put down. 100% recommend to all SF and Fantasy fans around.

Thank you for sending me the first part of this book to read and review.

I could not put this down. I read the whole sampler within a day. I am a big fan of the eragon books so thought it might be like those but this is so different. Sci fi is one of my favourite genres and this just blew all the others out the water. I’m going to go and get my hands on a full copy so that I can see what happens next for Kira, the aliens and her alien skin suit 😍

This novel is more like an epic trilogy's when you start be ready for a long, but utterly satisfying, ride through Christopher Paolini's imagination. There was just enough technical detail for me to grab hold of the concepts and follow the evolving and expanding narrative that enabled the heart of the emotional journey of Kira to be cohesive and believable. It seemed like a science fiction future that could possibly become a reality at sometime in the future. The emotional journey of the protagonist and the friends she makes on this epic journey are also very believable and I liked them. For me it is very important to be able to like the characters that drive the narrative. At the end there is a whole section of imagined technical manual and glossary that will appeal to those who want to get more involved in the scientific side of drive behind the storyline so there is something for everyone here. I heartily recommend that you journey with Paolini through his sea of stars, you won't sleep though, it's a real page turner.