Reviews

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

hebberelle's review

3.0

This was epic in every sense of the word. It's a HUGE novel, and not an easy, fluffy read. It has big ideas and big explanations and big locations. I had a rough time with it though. The beginning was so jarring (is supposed to be), but then it seemed like fully 2/3rds of the novel was 'shit going wrong in every way possible'. At one point it read like someone's drunken rpg with the PC's just scrambling to do whatever they could. Then all of the sudden it's wrapped up neatly and things are going right. Then it just goes completely off the rails and into crazypants. I feel like I've been wrung out reading this. Like my brain is a bit too small for all the information this book tried to present and cram in there.

The best character in this book is Gregorovitch. Each character was actually refreshingly real as a person and unique.

melinda_and_her_books's review

5.0

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my gifted copy. I received both the ebook and the audiobook. I'm glad I was able to get ahold of the audiobook because seeing how many pages this book has was a little overwhelming. Even the audiobook said it was over 30 hours long. I was skeptical at first but I really enjoyed this book. It made me think a lot about the Illumanae files by Jay Kristoff but an adult version. I feel the narrator did a great job as well. Despite how long it was it kept my interest.

andyjacksson's review

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Strange book. Some really good, interesting writing for long stretches then you get hit in the face with stuff that sounds like it was ripped straight out of the YA cliche textbook. Never felt bored or like it was dragging despite it being 800ish pages long but also felt that some elements/concepts were left irritatingly unexplored, maybe there's more conceptual meat in the huge appendix at the back but I never felt like I *had* to read that to understand anything so who knows. 

Read it half-print, half-audiobook and having Jennifer Hale narrate a big sci-fi novel is just always gonna be a good time.

rebicon's review

Too slow paced for me, couldn’t stick with it

jess_mango's review

3.0

Clocking in at almost 900 pages, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars definitely requires a chunk of your time. This sci-fi epic tells the story of Kira Navarez, a 23rd century xenobiologist. She works as part of a crew that visits various planets to help establish new colonies. While on one such planet, Kira discovers an alien artifact, and from that point on life as she knows it changes. She is suddenly in a situation where she has the fate of humanity in her hands.

OK, I know a lot of people are fans of Paolini's Eragon books. I read the first one and was not a fan. But, I decided to give this book a try since it was a different genre and more targeted at adults. While I did enjoy this more than I liked Eragon, I didn't love this book. The first part of this book was kind of slow for me and it took me awhile to get into it.

It reminded me quite a bit of a number of other books that I've read, mainly [b:Dawn|60929|Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1)|Octavia E. Butler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388290339l/60929._SY75_.jpg|1008111] by Octavia Butler, [b:Binti|25667918|Binti (Binti, #1)|Nnedi Okorafor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1433804020l/25667918._SY75_.jpg|45491127] by [a:Nnedi Okorafor|588356|Nnedi Okorafor|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1507148868p2/588356.jpg], and [b:The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet|22733729|The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)|Becky Chambers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405532474l/22733729._SY75_.jpg|42270825] by Becky Chambers with a dash of [b:2001: A Space Odyssey|70535|2001 A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)|Arthur C. Clarke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432468943l/70535._SY75_.jpg|208362] for good measure. Admittedly I am not super widely read in sci-fi but I saw definite influences in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. The book has themes of loneliness, what it means to be human, and the value of the life of one over the life of many.

What to listen to while reading...
Sea of Stars by Jennifer Hale
Space Song by Beach House
Blackstar by David Bowie
Warning Call by CHVRCHES
Solitude by M83


Thank you to MacMillan Audio for the audio book in exchange for an honest review!

wophy's review

4.0

Me sigue encantando este libro. Me he leído la mitad en tres días, amo la física

pagebent's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

graceannee's review against another edition

Most anticipated book of 2020 and I don’t even read sci fi!

Edit*

DNF

theycallmealex's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

viennaloveselyse's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

there is some swear words and some really romantic parts in this story. I was never a really big fan of sci-fi, but this story is amazing. It has really good description of the plot and the characters and it is always really exciting