I was beyond thrilled when I heard that Christopher Paolini was releasing a new book, particularly when I learned that it would be a completely separate story from the Inheritance Cycle. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is an original sci-fi novel about space exploration and first contact with new alien species. Having just finished another fantastic first contact novel (Lindsay Ellis' Axiom's End), I am very excited to see how Paolini's story compares. From the excerpt, it's clear that Paolini's writing has much improved since Eragon. It's also fun to spot the Easter eggs that Paolini has included for sci-fi fans, such as the planet Weyland being named for Weyland-Yutani from Alien.