It was unexpected but I loved it!!
Thank you to Tor and BookishFirst for this ARC of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars in exchange for an honest review*
Christopher Paolini’s latest To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was unexpected but amazing. This epic space adventure is 800+ pages of excitement and mystery. I’m not normally a sci-fi fan but I love Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle and was very excited to learn he had written another book. While the size was initially a little intimidating although all of his books are quite large which I love! I felt like I was instantly transported into the story.
If there is one thing Paolini is great at it is world building and To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was no different. He put a lot of work into the world, characters and technology and when reading it that level of detail becomes clear. The story revolves around xenobiologist Kiera Navarez who is on a mission with her crew studying an uncolonized planet when unbeknownst to her finds a new alien relic that “literally” becomes a part of her and throws the entire mission into chaos.
One of her crew mates Neghar is able to help when Kiera becomes trapped on the planet and both are transferred back to Extenuating Circumstances where she is examined and treated. At first they are not aware of the new life form that had become a part of her but when the Xeno or “Soft Blade” as it would become known takes over Kiera’s body and motor functions it kills everyone on board including Kiera’s Fiancé Alan whom she had planned a life with.
Her life is turned upside down and now has to deal with an alien suit literally invading her body almost like a new skin. I loved learning about the world and it’s technology even if at times it was a little hard to understand. One of the most fascinating were the ship minds. Now it was a little hard to understand if these were people who literally became a part of the ship or if they had just given over their mind to become like a computer. A very unique aspect to the story.
After the death of her crew mates and Alan Kiera blacks out only to be awakened on a new ship the SLV Wallfish being examined by a doctor and a new crew. Although she is devastated by what happened to her crew and Alan she quickly warms to the members of the ship. Especially one of its youngest members Trig. I loved his friendly personality. This ship mind Gregorvich was sarcastic and insulting and quickly became a favorite character.
Kiera is in a tough place not only is she now sharing a body with an alien she is in a strange place w new ship with a new crew. She knows she has to get out of there circumstances though would prevent that. The galaxy was in the midst of a war one between humanity and Jellies intelligent life forms that threaten humanity’s very existence. Kiera is now thrust into the center of this war. Her “ suit” can communicate with the jellies she may be the only one that can end the war.
Many obstacles stand in her way one of the biggest being UMC or the United Military Command a group that is technically Kiera’s boss. She ignores their orders though and teams up with the crew of the Wellfish in order to try and study the jellies to better understand them. The captain of the ship Falconi was a hard-lined and driven. I was crushed when Alan was killed I really liked him as a character but I quickly warmed up to Falconi.
He was very well respected among his ship. I was surprised that he and Kiera developed some what of a romantic relationship although it was not a major focus of the story which I liked. I loved Paolini’s humor which was throughout the story and I really appreciated Runcible the ships per pig and Mr. Fuzzypants the cat ha ha the best part being they lived!
I waited to see if Kiera or the crew from the wellfish would try to remove the suit from Kiera but as the story progresses “The Soft Blade” continues to become more intertwined with her. Something else I wondered about was how come Neghar was killed by the alien form after being infected but Kiera wasn’t... maybe that will be discussed further in book two. I’m only barely skimming the surface when discussing the intricate technology and world Paolini has created.
This review would be pages long if I attempted that but nonetheless I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would and cannot wait for the second one!
Christopher Paolini’s latest To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was unexpected but amazing. This epic space adventure is 800+ pages of excitement and mystery. I’m not normally a sci-fi fan but I love Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle and was very excited to learn he had written another book. While the size was initially a little intimidating although all of his books are quite large which I love! I felt like I was instantly transported into the story.
If there is one thing Paolini is great at it is world building and To Sleep in a Sea of Stars was no different. He put a lot of work into the world, characters and technology and when reading it that level of detail becomes clear. The story revolves around xenobiologist Kiera Navarez who is on a mission with her crew studying an uncolonized planet when unbeknownst to her finds a new alien relic that “literally” becomes a part of her and throws the entire mission into chaos.
One of her crew mates Neghar is able to help when Kiera becomes trapped on the planet and both are transferred back to Extenuating Circumstances where she is examined and treated. At first they are not aware of the new life form that had become a part of her but when the Xeno or “Soft Blade” as it would become known takes over Kiera’s body and motor functions it kills everyone on board including Kiera’s Fiancé Alan whom she had planned a life with.
Her life is turned upside down and now has to deal with an alien suit literally invading her body almost like a new skin. I loved learning about the world and it’s technology even if at times it was a little hard to understand. One of the most fascinating were the ship minds. Now it was a little hard to understand if these were people who literally became a part of the ship or if they had just given over their mind to become like a computer. A very unique aspect to the story.
After the death of her crew mates and Alan Kiera blacks out only to be awakened on a new ship the SLV Wallfish being examined by a doctor and a new crew. Although she is devastated by what happened to her crew and Alan she quickly warms to the members of the ship. Especially one of its youngest members Trig. I loved his friendly personality. This ship mind Gregorvich was sarcastic and insulting and quickly became a favorite character.
Kiera is in a tough place not only is she now sharing a body with an alien she is in a strange place w new ship with a new crew. She knows she has to get out of there circumstances though would prevent that. The galaxy was in the midst of a war one between humanity and Jellies intelligent life forms that threaten humanity’s very existence. Kiera is now thrust into the center of this war. Her “ suit” can communicate with the jellies she may be the only one that can end the war.
Many obstacles stand in her way one of the biggest being UMC or the United Military Command a group that is technically Kiera’s boss. She ignores their orders though and teams up with the crew of the Wellfish in order to try and study the jellies to better understand them. The captain of the ship Falconi was a hard-lined and driven. I was crushed when Alan was killed I really liked him as a character but I quickly warmed up to Falconi.
He was very well respected among his ship. I was surprised that he and Kiera developed some what of a romantic relationship although it was not a major focus of the story which I liked. I loved Paolini’s humor which was throughout the story and I really appreciated Runcible the ships per pig and Mr. Fuzzypants the cat ha ha the best part being they lived!
I waited to see if Kiera or the crew from the wellfish would try to remove the suit from Kiera but as the story progresses “The Soft Blade” continues to become more intertwined with her. Something else I wondered about was how come Neghar was killed by the alien form after being infected but Kiera wasn’t... maybe that will be discussed further in book two. I’m only barely skimming the surface when discussing the intricate technology and world Paolini has created.
This review would be pages long if I attempted that but nonetheless I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would and cannot wait for the second one!