Reviews with content warning for Confinement - To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars follows Kira Navárez, a xenobiologist who works studying the flora and fauna of to-be-colonized planets around the galaxy. At the end of a mission, she makes a discovery that sends reverberating impacts throughout settled space and sets the trajectory for the rest of the 800+ page story.

Let me start by saying that Jennifer Hale was a downright phenomenal narrator (I listened via LibroFM). Her performance brought the characters to life and helped me keep track of the story. I was a particular fan of her portrayal of Grigorovich.

First, what I liked: Paolini clearly spent tons of time building out the world for this book. I don’t read a ton of sci-fi, but it reminded me a bit of Ender’s Game with the robust, thoroughly imagined setting. Secondly, (and this is a minor spoiler, so skip to the next paragraph if you like), I thought the alien encounter was incredibly unique. Kira’s fuel experience as a xenobiologist and host was an inspired choice by Paolini. Finally, the crew of the Wallfish was one of the best parts of the book for me. They were dynamic and human and funny.

Now, what didn’t work for me: As is a risk whenever someone writes a main character who is a different gender than their own, there were some cringe-y moments with Kira’s internal dialogue. Especially during romantic scenes. Secondly, I found the main source of conflict to be poorly explained. It wasn’t until nearly the end that I understood the Maw and the Nightmares, and even then, their backstory felt like the least developed part of the book. Finally, the end got trippy. I won’t get into it because I try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, but it had some horcruxes-meet-Captain-Marvel vibes I was not expecting.

Ultimately, I’m glad I listened to it. It was enjoyable and distinctive. I heard it is being made into a film, and I could see it adapting well to screen.

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the_chaotic_witch's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

878 pages; 2020; 5/5 stars; 9.57 CAWPILE; spoiler-free

This junker of a book was gifted to Me by a youtube-friend who was really excited about the release of this book and desperately wanted Me to read it, too. At first, I was a bit apprehensive, not really even knowing what the book was actually about. I had just put it on my wishlist because she praised it so much.

On another note, bear with Me here; it will all come together. A few weeks back, a friend from home and I talked about Sci-Fi books and how we never seemed to find what we were looking for in them. And that was: plotting, political intrigue, universe/multiverse-vast world-building, multiple characters, that may not all be that important and not only our knot of that perfect friend group, (for Me:) found family, (for her:) engaging battles, aliens (duh), with more than "they are different we'll fight them" and logic. Logic was a big part for both of us. We didn't want a poor reason to get the plot going, no holes in the world-building or illogical character choices.

And then my friend sent Me this book. "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars." The title alone is beautiful, isn't it? It's melodic and mysterious. The cover, too, is intriguing. A human floating in space, seemingly naked, meaning no suit, not ship, nothing to keep them alive. Nothing to sustain their body. How do they do it? Why are they there? What do they feel beholding the universe all around them? What does it physically feel like?

Needless to say, the book was everything I was looking for.

To start this off, let Me quickly summarize a snippet of the plot. It is the year 2157, and our Main character is a young woman working as a xenobiologist on a far off planet with her team and her boyfriend. On their last day, she is sent out to recover some of their machines, and in the process, she stumbles upon a strange rock formation with a curious cave inside. As is the fashion with Main characters, she falls in. Her being a xenobiologist, someone who does science on the life forms on different planets, she is fascinated by this cave and what it beholds. But when she touches something, that something starts to move and to absorb into her body. And she doesn't like that. And the rest of the universe won't either.

Now that we have the basic premise out of the way, let Me tell you what else it is about: loss, grief, being separated from family, travel, responsibility and having to deal with things that are outside of your control, bureaucracy (would you believe it), science (duh), what makes a person a person (but not in the way you think), love of all different kinds, mental health, determination, dealing with cultures you are not accustomed to, confidence, willpower, friend( )ship, safety on a global rate (also not how you think), the multitude of human life experiences, sacrifice, the greater good, trust, the frustrations of life, and an ending that is open and so different from what you usually find in stories in general.

You can really feel that Paolini worked on this book for nine years. It is coherent in its plot, world, and characters. There is a logic behind each action. Each character is adequately fleshed out and has their reasons to act the way they do, that are not just there to serve as a sob-story but contribute to the plot. The development of different civilizations and cultures is handled with much care and diversity. Being a white, german woman, I can't speak to their accuracy, but I like to think that Paolini dedicated himself to writing them as best he could. There were some parts where I was like, eh, but then again; I cannot be the judge of that.

From the very beginning, the world-building was intricate. Of course, it is a stark difference from our own reality, so it needs to be a bit blunt and extreme, but that only lasts for the first few pages. Once the action starts, it fades quickly into the naturalness of the storytelling. The world/universe expands are we (the Main character) learn ever the more, and it is done with precision and careful planning. I have rarely read a book that was so cohesive in its world, characters, and plot each. Usually, one of those is lacking. Not here.

Over almost 900 pages, there is plenty of room and time for the characters to develop, and they did not fail to do so. Some of their development happened on them plot-related, some came from within. Some of it was caused by the people around them, so was for the people around them.

The cast of characters is big, and while we have our group of main characters, not even the small side-characters that appear once or twice feel one-dimensional. There is an undercurrent of meaning and depth to all of them and their actions, and that is one of the things that makes this book so magical. Not the glitter of stars, not the epic battles, not the crew's feelings and emotions. But the inherent humanness of it all. Even of the parts that were not human and weren't portrayed to be human, there was a realness to them that made it easy to emerge yourself in the story.

Now, of course, 900 pages makes this a very long story. So, I would highly recommend listening to the audiobook (at the time of Me writing this review, it is up on Scribd).

The ending of this book was bitter-sweet in more than one way. Of course, and more prevalent for Me because it ended. I didn't want to lose these characters. To not know how they would continue onwards, what their next adventure would be (because this story is truly more than only one adventure). But also because of the nature of the ending. I hinted at this before, and, to be honest, it frustrated Me - goodness, it still frustrates Me! But at the same time, I do love it so much. Because this is what I've been looking for for so long, something that is so close to life and that does not depend on what toxic traits the characters tried to overcome initially (trying hard to keep it vague and spoiler-free).

So, needless to say, I highly recommend this to anyone, who wants a cast of characters to fall in love with, a world that almost feels more real than this one, and a journey through space to find not only humanity's only hope but also themselves.

This is Me signing off, be kind, especially to yourselves. Bye ♥

Content Warnings

plantbasedbride's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

When Kira discovers an ancient alien relic while on a scientific mission, the xenobiologist's life is forever altered.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars started off strong. In fact, the first few chapters were my favourite of the entire novel and immediately drew me in. Sadly, with a few exceptions, it was all downhill from there.

I'll start with the good.

The discovery of the xeno and the early development of its nature and abilities. I loved how we learned of the xeno and I was intrigued by its purpose and origins. I couldn't wait to untangle the mystery! Sadly, the more we learned the less I cared. Paolini took the xeno in a decidedly fantastical direction that was at odds with the setting and expectations set forth by his work.

Gregorivitch. He is the star of this novel. I pretty much only finished it because of him. He is 100% responsible for at least one extra star in my rating. I would let him call me his spiky meatbag anytime! The only way I'd consider reading a sequel is if it's all Gregorivitch all the time.

The narrator of the audiobook. They did a fantastic job.

And... oh. I guess that's it for the good.

And then there's the bad.

Kira. She's our protagonist, and yet we know very little about her. She's incredibly one dimensional and not particularly interesting outside of the circumstances she has found herself in. I would much rather read a book about Gregorivitch (as previously stated).

The oh-so predictable romance between our self-insert protagonist and the roguish captain of a ship with a ragtag yet lovable crew.

The awkward dialogue where everyone starts each sentence with "[my name], here..." and ends every other sentence with "..., also." This got seriously irritating after several hundred pages.

The many space battles that bled into each other after a while and added nothing to the plot or character development.

The "our MC is actually basically a God/chosen one and is the only one who can save the entire universe!" trope, which I hate with a burning passion.

And an added dose of victim blaming (of a character being bullied by fellow crewmates) and body shaming (in regard to scars).

Oh, and it was easily 500 pages too long.

Listen, despite all my issues with this one I did enjoy it, for the most part. There were some interesting ideas (though none were fully developed), there were some loveable side characters, and I love sci-fi enough that I just enjoyed being in space for a while. But this is certainly not one of the better sci-fi novels I've read, and I don't plan on continuing with the series (if it in fact becomes one).

VIDEO REVIEW: (coming soon)

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radreadswithrachel's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book gripped me start to finish. The first thing I would like to say is that it's excellently paced. There was no part where I found myself bored. The MC is flawed & realistic, which I really appriciated. She is not great at everything from the get. In addition, the cast of character is so wonderful, nuanced and diverse. I want to read more about them. I know this book wrapped itself up, if not entirely then mostly, but I wish I could stay in this world with them. You'll probably catch me doing a reread of this sometime this year, I know there is some stuff that went over my head and I just want to reexperience this story. Honestly, I might go read the entire Eragon series just to read his writting again.

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futureofmydays's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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fromjuliereads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

WOW WOW WOW. I still love Christopher Paolini's writing. Of course he would be the one to get me to jump into sci fi! It wasn't too heavy with a lot of science all the time, which I was dreading and terrified of. There were definitely concepts in relation to the spaceships and space travel that I didn't fully understand, but I had enough information that I followed along for how it moved the story.
I was OBSESSED with the characters. All of the beginning kind of sets things up, but then when things get rolling, it is a great balance of bonding moments with terrifying space battles that have you on the edge of your seat! The addition of Inare was AMAZING and I saw the connection immediately - it put such a big smile on my face! There were other little references to the Inheritance Cycle that you see in bits and pieces. And of course Runcible and Mr. Fuzzypants were awesome! I wish they were in it a little bit more.

Gregorovitch has got to be one of my new favourite characters ever - his sass and retorts are next level, and his story just thoroughly pulls you in to sympathize with him. And his fierceness to protect his crew? Amazing. There wasn't a single character that I didn't like. Falconi is awesome, Nielsen, Sparrow, and Hwa-jung are all BADASS, and I loved Trig and Vishal. Kira of course is the most epic character of all, and I absolutely loved having the story from her perspective. I thought that Paolini did a fantastic job writing her pov - it definitely did not feel like how some male authors write female characters. While the focus had to be on her body at so many points because of the Soft Blade, it never felt like he was oversexualizing or using a stereotypical male author perspective to write her. I felt she was written so well.

I will say that there is obviously a lot of space travelling, and a lot of space battles. I felt that he did really well with the balance of pacing, slowing things down at point to develop characters and the plot but then ramping things up for completely epic escapes and battles. The space travel sub-chapters could get a bit slow, since most characters are sleeping or in cryo, but they were soooo important to the development of Kira's character, and he did a really good job of breaking them up at the ends of the parts of the book. The battles were intense and had me stressed out more than once - screaming in my head "DON'T KILL THE BABIES" - but written well where they were easy to follow and picture in my head.
Plus, I just love the artwork and the cool sciencey space maps!? Such cool additions.

I also HIGHLY recommend reading Paolini's afterward and acknowledgements. Knowing what he went through to write this book and how long of a process it was gives me an even deeper appreciation for this book.

Note: I was buddy reading this with two friends who love sci-fi, and I am someone who has not read sci-fi. Somehow, I was constantly past them in reading, and ended up finishing before them. Apparently, Paolini has gotten me to like sci-fi...

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