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call_me_gwalchmai 's review for:
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
by Christopher Paolini
This book like its many sections and xeno subject matter takes many shapes: Sci fi exploration, first contact horror, dehumanized test subject account, ragtag ensemble adventure, interplanetary war story, over-the-top sci-fi action movie/game, prison break narrative, and ultimately that futurist wonder of technologically induced transcendence.
As a writer, I know this was an *undertaking* and a passion project.
If a friend were to come up to me and say they were planning to put so many things in a single book, I would certainly advise against it, knowing the difficulty to achieve it.
This is not a perfect book but is one the author is happy with and in that it is a success.
As a reader, there are things I enjoyed and things I didn't, and I set this book down a number of times in frustration and once almost didn't pick it back up. I don't regret picking it back up as the things I enjoyed out number the things I didn't, because I prefer a finished story over not, and because much like it was for the author, it wasn't an easy journey and there is a sense of triumph in finishing it with a majority positive view and fairly fulfilling end.
I would have happily read the first arc as the whole story: a scientist couple dealing with the intricacies of space colonization and the difficulties of corporate space but ultimately the story of love and finding a path through the everyday (albeit future-set) difficulties.
I would have also continued the second part as the main story: the more typical alien horror.
Separate from these, I would have enjoyed a novel focused on a ship like the Wallfish being faced with a settled space wide war.
Together, though, these elements offer such a vast tonal and thematic difference that they do cause some whiplash.
I am harshest of the Bughunt arc, which almost made me put the book aside for good.
But the ending was decent and not entirely expected while still being true to the characters.
As a whole, it is a big and often fun book with a good amount of interest and entertainment. I feel its main flaw for a reader like me is that it tries to do too much (something I myself struggle with) and in that the brightness of the parts do not shine as brightly as they could if they had been the sole focus.
In this, and as I rate things based on my enjoyment rather than their technical prowess, it is a three stars. Higher than just three stars alone but probably shy of high three stars. To be clear, though, the technical sentence level writing of the book was highly polished and smooth. My main dislikes are with scope and plot.
I wish the author continued success and satisfaction with his work. He has my respect. This one just didn't always hit the mark for me.
As a writer, I know this was an *undertaking* and a passion project.
If a friend were to come up to me and say they were planning to put so many things in a single book, I would certainly advise against it, knowing the difficulty to achieve it.
This is not a perfect book but is one the author is happy with and in that it is a success.
As a reader, there are things I enjoyed and things I didn't, and I set this book down a number of times in frustration and once almost didn't pick it back up. I don't regret picking it back up as the things I enjoyed out number the things I didn't, because I prefer a finished story over not, and because much like it was for the author, it wasn't an easy journey and there is a sense of triumph in finishing it with a majority positive view and fairly fulfilling end.
I would have happily read the first arc as the whole story: a scientist couple dealing with the intricacies of space colonization and the difficulties of corporate space but ultimately the story of love and finding a path through the everyday (albeit future-set) difficulties.
I would have also continued the second part as the main story: the more typical alien horror.
Separate from these, I would have enjoyed a novel focused on a ship like the Wallfish being faced with a settled space wide war.
Together, though, these elements offer such a vast tonal and thematic difference that they do cause some whiplash.
I am harshest of the Bughunt arc, which almost made me put the book aside for good.
But the ending was decent and not entirely expected while still being true to the characters.
As a whole, it is a big and often fun book with a good amount of interest and entertainment. I feel its main flaw for a reader like me is that it tries to do too much (something I myself struggle with) and in that the brightness of the parts do not shine as brightly as they could if they had been the sole focus.
In this, and as I rate things based on my enjoyment rather than their technical prowess, it is a three stars. Higher than just three stars alone but probably shy of high three stars. To be clear, though, the technical sentence level writing of the book was highly polished and smooth. My main dislikes are with scope and plot.
I wish the author continued success and satisfaction with his work. He has my respect. This one just didn't always hit the mark for me.