Alien life has been discovered again and this time it’s hostile. Kira finds herself on a new path that she never anticipated. She finds an alien relic while doing a routine check and her life changes forever when she realizes that part of this relic is alive (sort of? I’m pretty sure it’s alive.) There’s not much about this part of the story in the synopsis so I’m going to stop there so I don’t spoil anything. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars follows Kira (who I assumed to be Latinx from her last name but I don’t remember if it was ever specifically stated as the human population lives on many different planets now, so I don’t know that this distinction would exist in the same way anymore.) Kira is a xenobiologist which I honestly can’t tell you what that is, so. But I am happy to say that all of those thoughts and expectations were wrong. When I started the book and realized that this was a man writing a story with a female main character, I texted my friends that I buddy read this with (hey, The Bookish Chick & Books in the Skye) and told them I was wary. I didn’t love the Eragon series, but science fiction is my favorite genre, so I knew I was going to read this. I’m going to start by saying that I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from this book. Now, Kira might be humanity’s greatest and final hope. While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. First contact isn’t at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human. At first she’s delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.Īs war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds.ĭuring a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. To be alone and without purpose is to be the living dead.“To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a brand new epic novel from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Paolini. “This I learned, meatbag, this and nothing more: when air, food, and shelter are assured, only two things matter. The only character I felt like we really got a good feel on was Gregorivich, and that’s mostly that he’s crazy as a loon. We get to learn a bit about each character, even Runcible, the ship pig, but it all still felt a bit shallow. I’m a sucker for found families, so I loved the crew of the Wallfish, especially Sparrow and Hua Chung, and of course, Gregorovich. Luckily – and I cannot honestly believe I’m typing these words – the romance isn’t a big focus of the book. It’s also glaringly obvious that it’s a male author writing a female character – some of the more supposedly romantic sections made me laugh out loud. The characters, even Kira, almost felt like an afterthought at times, and there were several times where I felt like they – especially Kira – acted out of character given what they’d experienced. What stopped this book from being a 5-star read for me is that it’s very much plot-driven. We fall down, and then we help each other back up again.” From the different alien species to the various human colonies to the nitty gritty details of space combat, everything is described in exquisite detail. The worldbuilding is intricate and enthralling. This is very hard scifi, science-y as all get out but not quite as accessible as, say, The Martian. There’s a good balance between the action scenes and the worldbuilding exposition. Once that happens, though, the book turns into a rollercoaster of action. The first part – Kira discovering evidence of alien life just as she’s about to leave the planet she’s been surveying – is just the beginning of her journey, and it’s slowly paced. Suffice it to say that a lot goes on in this book. Honestly, I can’t believe this is Jennifer Hale’s first audiobook, and I’ll definitely be looking for her work in the future. My personal favorite – and I’m sure, a lot of people’s favorite – was the shipmind Gregorovitch. Hale did an amazing job differentiating each of them, from accent to tone to speaking style. This is a behemoth of a book – almost 33 hours (880 pages) – with a large cast of characters. But when I saw that Jennifer Hale (fem Shep from Mass Effect) was doing the audiobook, I couldn’t resist. Look, I’ll be honest – I preordered the ebook of this as soon as it was available. Content warnings: View Spoiler » body horror, medical procedures without consent, death, torture, scifi violence (lasers, guns, ship combat, amputation of limbs, etc) « Hide Spoiler
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