I must confess before beginning this review: I have always been a huge fan of Christopher Paolini. I completely fell in love with his previous fantasy series, The Inheritance Cycle, and just have always really admired how kind and down to earth the author is. So when I heard that he was releasing a new book in a different genre; adult science fiction, I was beyond excited. I stayed up super late on the BookishFirst website to be able to redeem a copy of the ARC, and when it arrived I was even more excited because it was a chunkster! Over 800 pages, with cool illustrations and appendixes demonstrating just how much thought, effort, and love went into making this book. And readers, after reading this book I was not disappointed in the least. This book is, hands down, one of the best sci fi stories I have ever read. The main character, Kira, is badass but also human and very relatable. The action scenes are top notch. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book! And the story itself was fascinating and intriguing. I loved every second of it! And I also loved seeing just how much Paolini's skill as an author has grown and improved over the years. If you only read one science fiction book this year, make sure it's this one!