Review: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided a copy of the audiobook via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  This will be released on Tuesday, September 15, 2020.

This is fantastic, I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could! Why not 5 stars you ask? My only real issue is the length of the story. When the description says that this is an epic space opera, it means EPIC. This is vast and covers alot of ground, well space. The print book will be almost 900 pages and the audiobook was 32 and a half hours long. That is a huge commitment for an audiobook (I normally opt for the print version of such long tomes), however I found myself opting to listen to the audiobook instead of reading traditionally over and over because I was so invested in the storyline. The characters and plot suck you in and keep you invested. I do feel like there were a few parts that could have been condense or were a bit repetitive, but they were also necessary to transition the story or move a plot point forward. We almost get two endings in this book. I thought the book had ended and we'd get an epilogue, but it kept going with the promise of more potential books in this world, which I would happily devour.

I highly recommend the appendix as it has tons of reference material to the science used in the creation of the book as well as a glossary that explains some of the characters, concepts, and terms used. While this adds quite a bit of length to the audio, I appreciated that this was included as often these parts are left out of audio versions. I learned so much from this section and it will be invaluable to readers, and would have been a great reference while listening. I also loved the author's note and the interview at the end between the author and the narrator. It was a treat to get some insight into the creation of this book as well as the recording of the audiobook. It helps the reader to understand where the book started why it ended where it did. We also get a bit of a teaser that there may be more coming in this universe. Jennifer Hale is a fantastic narrator, it is hard to believe this is her debut as an audiobook narrator. I hope she continues narrating books! There are quite a few characters in this book and she did an amazing job giving life to all of them. I plan on purchasing a copy when this is available as the author mentions some amazing artwork in the print copy.

If you are a fan of Paolini's previous work in the Eragon series, as I am, you won't be disappointed. This has his wonderful writing style and great world building. I loved all of the characters. He dreamt up this amazing sentient alien race and they all look a bit different though they feature qualities of earth's sea life and have a unique way of communicating. He describes them in such detail that you can really begin to envision what they look like. The same goes for the spacecraft, the other characters, and the action scenes. The action scenes can get a little violent and gruesome, so reader be warned. He doesn't hold back when it comes to the fighting, some of the scenes are like a horror novel. Because the book is lengthy we get tons of character development and backstory on all of the side characters, which is something often overlooked in books. I loved that the author took the time to give each of the characters personality, a backstory, and they all played a role in Kira's journey. We get to watch Kira evolved from a human, to a human invaded by this xeno organism, to something else entirely.

I really appreciate that Paolini tried to keep to actual science (he mentions this in his afterward). He had a vision for what he wanted the space travel to look like without breaking all of the rules of science to make it work. While he takes his liberties with the science to make it fit his vision, it isn't all a figment of his imagination. You can tell that he really put time, research, and effort into the creation of his sci fi universe from the tech the humans use to assist in their day to day tasks and military efforts, the space travel, the religions, and the creatures. It makes for a really enjoyable journey.

If you are a fan of space operas, sci-fi, or Paolini's previous books, I 100% recommend this! I'm so honored to have gotten a chance to read this early. This will take you on quite the journey of unbelievable science, action, creatures, and emotions. I just finished it and I want to reread it because I miss the characters already.

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