This moved a bit slow for me but it had some interesting ideas and anytime fractals get into a story, it's worth a few bonus points!

I think too many tropes were packed in to make it a study of space opera, but it was reasonably enjoyable if perhaps targeted at a younger audience. Much of it has been done before; the xenobiologist dealing with aliens, the strange substance that does unexpected things, the government trying to move in and that's where it got a little too political/military for my taste.

I am lost for words on this book. It was everything I expected and yet so much more.
I don't read sci-fi as often as I want to, so coming into this beast of a book I was intimidated, especially with the science side of things, but them worries were for nothing, I managed to follow everything just fine even with all the more scientific references.
The plot to this book was just mind-blowing, it kept me on edge wondering what was going to happen, and the last 20% just blew me away, it was so full of emotions and I even teared up at one point it was written so beautifully.
I cannot wait to get my finished copy in my hands, I think this book will be a gift that keeps on giving in any future rereads.

Also, kudos to Paolini for sneaking in some other references, I wondered if I was just seeing things but reading the end note made me see the truth!

Things that I loved about this book:
Fractalverse. Space. Aliens. Action. Paolini writing scifi as beautifully as he did fantasy. Eight hundred and eighty pages of PURE MAGICAL SPACE STORY WONDER. Excitement. VIOLENCE!

Things that I did not love about this book:
I finished it and now I cannot read it for the first time ever again and I need more Kira and more Seed and more Gregorovitch and just more. There are some smaller characters who kind of get lost in the Epic Space Opera of the Decade... but honestly I wasn’t too sad about it because there’s. Just. So. Much. Happening.

Five star read, five star excitement - so excited for this to hit bookshelves so everyone else can experience it with me.

I regret having to report that I could not finish this book and had to abandon it at the 32% mark, with the sad admission that it did not work for me: despite a promising and intriguing beginning, which presented many of the themes I enjoy in Science Fiction, I felt myself progressively losing interest in the story, mainly because its balance leaned more toward plot than characterization and for me a connection with the novel’s characters is essential.

I choose to assign a 3-star rating to the novel because it seemed only fair to give it a mid-range evaluation in light of my inability to reach its end: still, I would like to express my gratitude to the publisher for offering me the opportunity to read Mr. Paolini’s work.

Paolini has done it again.

An inspiration to us all, the great fantasy maestro who brought us the Inheritance Cycle, which sold over 35 million copies as an award winning piece of literature is back and better than ever!

Kira, our easygoing narrator falls into a universe she never quite understood the danger of, one where humans have conquered the stars- but have yet to encounter what lies in wait between them ...

A heart pounding read that despite it's hefty size sizzles through your senses like a dream and can easily be consumed in just one or two sittings. I need more, and cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of the story, which has everything you never knew you wanted from space age sci-fi and more.

If you love the thought of conquering the stars for habitation and technology just within our comprehension but still far enough to leave of tantalising with imagination- this books is for you. Don't wait, because there are things waiting in the darkness, and their coming ...

Review to be published in the link my mid-September.

The space opera is one of those science fiction subgenres that can be mixed with many other genres and topics and be merged successfully. Thriller, politics, science, biology, adventures, war and many other topics have been mixed with space opera creating a wide range of works very different one to each other.
As long as I was reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars it was more and more clear for me that Paolini has actually tried to review most, if not all, the topics ever been included in a space opera. I can imagen himself writing these in a notepad and, hey, nine hundred pages came up after ten years of work. Let summarize what can be found in his new book.
The novel is set in a not extremely far future, mid-23rd century. Kira, a xenobiologist, is exploring some ruins in a moon called Adrasteia. When she and her team are going back to the main spaceship she decides to take a look at something she has seen, ending up with her in an ancient structure not being explored so far. In this place she touches a pedestal covered in dust that wakes up some kind of black alive material that covers her whole body. This new skin is capable, among other things she will need to learn on the way, of creating forms to defend the host from any exterior threat, something she will need to learn to live with. This skin also causes the appearance of a so far unknown alien species who are very interested on such skin.
I said that To Sleep in a Sea of Stars has almost everything that can be found in the space opera as a genre. The skin that wraps Kira allows Paolini to create a first contact story, including a whole new language and specie. To control such skin Kira will need to practice during most of the novel, in a way that reminds of the classical fantasy novels where a character needs to learn about a new power. The main character is a xenobiologist worried about some biological aspects of relation between humans and aliens, in addition to the analysis of what the skin is built with.
There are also some politics involved in the novel. It’s being a long time since the Earth lived the best of its time, but humankind is still expanding their territories forming new governments and hierarchies. All of them want to be part of the decisions that Kira will make as they can put humanity at risk.
The first third on the novel is a fast-paced action packed story where we will start knowing about this new alien species at the same time as Kira. Honestly, I could not stop reading for the first 25% of the book. I also got familiarise with the way Paolini is telling the story: a third person view but fully focused in Kira. Just Kira for nine hundred pages. In this first hundreds of pages I have already missed some other points of view as many secondary characters will be left apart forever in the book and I felt that something else could’ve been told. I mean, you get used to that within the reading, but I felt that I am missing some parts of the motivations that build Kira personality and decision making.
Once this first part of the story is done, Paolini transforms the story into a journey through space. In the Wallfish, the spaceship, we meet many other crew and passenger that will accompany Kira on her faster the light travel. Not just physical people but also the spaceship AI, which is an interesting part where we can get more knowledge about Kira and the aliens thanks to the conversations between both. However, I have to say that this second third of the book was by far the most boring part of the reading. Not many things happen and felt it was too long.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a long but auto conclusive book. The ending is great and kept me reading until the very end. The VERY end. There are some good action scenes and interesting revelations. There are couple of things that Paolini can write more about in a potential future novel but the plot itself is fairly close.
I haven’t talked so far about Paolini and the relation between To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and the fantasy series that made him well-known worldwide. The reason is because I haven’t read those series! In the notes at the end of the book the author himself talks about some references in this books to the previous but I can’t say anything else as this is my first Paolini. In the same notes, the author discusses about the work to write this book and decisions made during the ten years of work writing it. It is very interesting even if you are not reading this book to see how he planned himself and what was the evolution of a book as long as this. Also about the planning, including the various maps in the book that help a lot during the first few hours of reading.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a long novel that sometimes feel like that as well. One of the reasons might be the decision on the point of view and the already mentioned fact that I felt I was missing something else. Other reason might be because of a boring second third of the book but might be a consequence of the first reason. Also that sometimes there are huge descriptions in a paragraph that finally ends up with an easy short sentence that summarize all the previous.
At the same time the story in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a very entertaining novel. Including lots of different space opera topics makes the reading a continue surprise. Don’t forget to read the final appendix as well, which explains lot of the science behind the novel, very compelling. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a long reading, sometimes enjoyable, some other a bit boring, and with a feel of screen adaptation that I wouldn’t be surprised to see shortly.

Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the access to the initial extract of To sleep in a sea of stars in exchange for an honest review.

Kira Navárez is a xenobiologist just finishing a research project on the large moon Adrasteia as part of a small science team, that includes her fiancé (very recent,) Alan. Life is looking good as they plan their future together, until Kira has to do a final check just prior to their departure from the moon.

During this task Kira encounters an ancient cave and touches a dust covered pedestal, immediately a strange black material emerges and encompasses her.

After her rescue a government team arrives to investigate, but matters worsen when the material forms into a suit that takes over body, resulting in a fatal attack on her cohort and she is imprisoned on the government ship for investigation and examination.

Whilst Kira is incarcerated the government military ship is attacked by an unknown alias and Kira is forced to learn to use the suit to escape.

A fascinating start to what looks like a great adventure, filled with complex world-building, solid characters and an interesting, well researched concept. I’m looking forward to reading the full time!

The formatting of the ebook did not allow me to read it properly and had to give up quite early. I'm giving it 3 stars for now and update my review when I can actually get my hands on a copy, which I know I'm going to enjoy.

Wow wow wow! I loved this book. I was a little intimidated by the size of it, but it wasn't heavy going at all. Can't wait for my goldsboro edition to arrive

A sci-fi adventure with beautiful writing! After reading this preview I'm even more excited for the release of this book- it sounds like something I will love and sci-fi is the love of my life, so I can't wait to have a hardcopy in my hands!

Wow! To Sleep was one of my most highly anticipated reads of 2020 and it certainly didn't disappoint. I've been a long time Paolini fan, growing up reading the Inheritance cycle and loving it! So when it was announced that he was publishing a new book after 9 long years the excitement was through the room. I was slightly worried as sci-fi isn't normally my thing, especially when it is aimed at an adult audience, but I have auto-buy authors where it doesn't matter if they decide to collate their shopping lists and publish it with a fancy cover and I would devour it.

I loved Kira - she's flawed and feels real. All of the characters had their moments really!

His writing has improved immensely, not to say it was bad before but when he wrote Eragon he was a teenager and now in his 30's his craft has grown.

There isn't really much I can say without spoilers becoming involved. What I did love however is that this book deserves its length. Sometimes books can feel bloated, over-written and just dragged out but TSIASOS didn't really suffer from that. There were a few quieter moments but then the pace would pick up again and leave me breathless. The last 2 parts of the book blew my mind time and time again.

I cannot wait to see what else Christopher does with this universe!

Thank you to Tor UK for my copy!

**FULL REVIEW TO BE WRITTEN UP AND POSTED ON BLOG NEARER TO RELEASE**

Thank you to Pan McMillan and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When xenobiologist Kira finds an alien relic on a planet they are about to finish studying, she imagines all the positive ways her world will change - money, fame and the thrill of discovery. Though when the dust around her starts to move and cleaves itself to her body, the following events are not quite as she'd pictured. The discovery leads Kira on a wide scale adventure through the galaxies in an attempt to staunch the threat of oncoming war.

I am going to start by being completely honest and say that I was unable to finish this book - I got about 25% of the way through. There are a few reasons for this, which I will touch on in a moment.

I liked the start of the book. The premise is cool and as soon as the whole 'wait a minute there's just one more thing we have to check before you can ride off into the sunset' bit came up, I was getting excited because it was about to KICK OFF. And it did. It was tense and a bit scary and crazy and I was really getting into the action of the story.

However, I struggled with the characters here. The main character Kira feels slightly off and I found her very difficult to relate to or connect with. I also found her lack of emotional response to some pretty large, life shattering events kind of weird. Also, a huge array of other characters flit in and out of the story with not a lot of development, and I found that hard as I typically like a character driven plot.

I was also kind of disappointed in the 'Jellies' as an alien race, as the initial contact leads you to think of highly sophisticated creatures, yet when we are first faced with them, they are big jelly-like blob creatures holding laser guns in their tentacles. This may change later in the book though.

I don't want to be negative about this book because if sci fi is your thing and you like an epic sort of story, it might be a great read for you. However for me, the pacing became a little slow and I didn't click with the main POV which made it hard for me to continue with it. Although, I do also think it would make an awesome movie adaptation!

I was a bit disappointed by this one, but I went into it a little blind. I knew the author and was really interested in what he might come out with outside of Eragon. I wasn't too impressed. Most of it came down to me not enjoying his style though.

A big epic space opera, well Wetten great MCs

The book also pulls you in and never lets you go

This is a new and exciting take on the space opera

I struggled with this book but I'm not sure if it is because I'm not a massive sci fi fan or because it felt to be going from one impossible escape to another without much progression of the characters.

I enjoyed that the heroine wasn't sure of herself, that she had doubts and troubles and that she was just doing the best she knew how to and was learning as she went rather than being simply all powerful right off the bat. The other characters seemed to mainly be fillers for the story with little to no progression of them and so many flew through the book that I had real trouble keeping up with whether they were canon fodder to move the story along or if they were actually necessary for the story to progress. The world building was amazing and the creatures involved were clear in my mind from the descriptions in the book, the plot was tricky to follow at times but overall it had a really good storyline to it

If sci fi was my main passion then I would've enjoyed this book more but overall I felt like it was too disjointed at first and was too long overall for what the story was.

An intriguing and complex book, filled with beautiful world building. It’s not everyday you get to read about what seems to be an artificial alien/ armour.

It is completely fascinating and so well written it transports you to this other world and before you know it you have devoured 100 pages just like that.

I love some of the small jokes and little lines as well such as jellies and just the inclusivity and diversity of the characters it is very well done.

An amazing piece of science fiction. Don't we all dream of being involved in human beings first contact with another sentient species? But what if it doesn't go as we hoped? What if the relevant authorities don't listen to us? Kira has her dream come true and that is when it all starts to unravel. It will keep you gripped from start to finish

I need more and I need more now. I am so grateful for receiving a partial e-arc of this book. But it has definitely left me wanting more and I am so sad that I cannot continue yet. I have preordered this book and I cannot wait for it to arrive!

Thanks to NetGalley I have been able to read an ARC for Part 1 of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars - I may now burst waiting for another month before I can continue Kiras' story!
Kira is a Xenobiologist working for the Lapsang Corp. and is finishing her mission on a moon soon to be terraformed. The story starts by exploring humanity and connections providing a sense of who Kira is and what her desires are for her future. The day before the team are set to leave an anomaly is detected which Kira as a Xenobiologist must investigate - a straightforward last task which inevitably becomes complicated and leads Kira into a First Contact scenario.
It is difficult to say more without providing spoilers but let us just say that Kira is about to embark on a life changing journey, with battles, aliens, and overriding imperative to save humankind...I left Kira floating in her sea of stars and can't wait to rejoin her again in September.

I’m happy and sad I read this preview because now I want the whole book even more. I now also want to read Christopher Paolini Eragon series. Definitely adding this to my wishlist.