I was promised a weird, suspenseful psychological thriller assessing crime and tackling dark themes, and I was not disappointed! I honestly co4 STARS!
I was promised a weird, suspenseful psychological thriller assessing crime and tackling dark themes, and I was not disappointed! I honestly could not put it down.
Sure, the mystery could've been handed better so that the reveal would be more satisfying, but it wasn't about the mystery, it was about chaos and faith and control and the grey logic of murderers. Though I do believe the author could have made the arguments even more convincing, and generally developed the ideas more, made the book more. Alas, it was not to be, but I still got it (probably to everyone's horror) and enjoyed it thoroughly.
You'd probably call this book sick, I'd just call it daring—in a creepy way. And creepy, my friends, is my middle name.
FRTC.
I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher, Atria Books!
Merged review:
4 STARS!
I was promised a weird, suspenseful psychological thriller assessing crime and tackling dark themes, and I was not disappointed! I honestly could not put it down.
Sure, the mystery could've been handed better so that the reveal would be more satisfying, but it wasn't about the mystery, it was about chaos and faith and control and the grey logic of murderers. Though I do believe the author could have made the arguments even more convincing, and generally developed the ideas more, made the book more. Alas, it was not to be, but I still got it (probably to everyone's horror) and enjoyed it thoroughly.
You'd probably call this book sick, I'd just call it daring—in a creepy way. And creepy, my friends, is my middle name.
FRTC.
I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher, Atria Books!...more
(4.5 ★’s) No, there are no space dragons—there are space squids instead. And my general reaction to this mammoth is:
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“Eat the path, or the pa
(4.5 ★’s) No, there are no space dragons—there are space squids instead. And my general reaction to this mammoth is:
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“Eat the path, or the path will eat you.”
Christopher Paolini has been sitting on this book for about a decade and man, it shows. No, I don’t mean a glorious Paolini-sized dent in the physical copy but on everything sci-fi and epic and action about To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, which is the majority of it. This man just killed it—seized it by the throat and throttled it, to quote my favourite ship mind Gregorovich.
“I screamed, though I have no mouth to scream. I wept, though I have no eyes for tears. I crawled through space and time, a worm inching through a labyrinth built by the dreams of a mad god. This I learned, meatbag, this and nothing more: when air, food, and shelter are assured, only two things matter. Work and companionship. To be alone and without purpose is to be the living dead.”
There’s a story behind (and not just in) every book, and To Sleep’s is one of dreams and determination. The honest Afterword of the book tells it more thoroughly and beautifully (and I mean that in the literal sense because Christopher has grown to become a true storyteller even when he is not trying) than I ever could, so take this summary with a grain of salt:
The idea for Christopher’s new novel creeped up on him one sleepless night as he felt the strains of being stuck in Alagaësia, a creative frustration all authors feel when writing a long series and needing to dip a finger into something new. After finishing The Inheritance Cycle and taking a short break, what followed for this international bestselling author was years heaped upon years of research, writing, rewriting—revising and/or starting from scratch—and generally relearning how to tell a tale, as he dissected every aspect of plot, character, motivation, meaning, symbology, technology, and science to give birth to a book that might not be perfect, but is unique, imaginative, and magnificent.
“Beware the temptation of false hope,” whispered Gregorovich. “Resist and seek your validation elsewhere.”
As Paolini would put it, “When I started, there was no white in my beard. Hell, I didn’t even have a beard! Now the first streaks of frost have appeared.”
Whatever anyone might say about the Star Wars or Tolkien plagiarism in Eragon, Paolini has long since found and dug his own path through the treacherous waters of creative writing and here he is, in 2020, with a story about a humanity spread across the galaxy, now experiencing first encounter and interstellar war, grasping for survival and not daring to consider peace.
“Somehow I don’t think we’d be paid anything for peace. The only wages to be earned out there are paid in blood.”
With fictional/nonfictional scientific theories, advanced aliens, crews of rogues, and even Easter eggs for Inheritance Cycle fans, this is a positive story of personal transformation (Paolini’s obsession which I cannot get enough of) and the awe and wonder of being alive and a part of this magnificent, vast universe. This is a story that asks, “how can we do better?” And oh it made for a mesmerising playlist that transports you right into space amidst wars or stars alongside this immersive giant of a book ➾ Spotify URL
“See you by the light of a strange star, Captain.”
But what sets To Sleep in a Sea of Stars apart from the many space operas of first encounter out there? And what puts it next to all the rest and keeps it from soaring as high as it could’ve?
Let’s see.
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The G O O D: Why You Would Love This
★ Every Science-Fiction Element: To me the most noteworthy part of Paolini’s fantasy series was the set rules to the magic—the order, the logic, the system. I was awed by the amount of thought he had put into creating such a detailed and sensible magic system. And as magic is to fantasy what science is to science fiction, you bet this applaudably organised and efficient man would impress in his new genre venture as well.
Just take the aforementioned amount of thought, multiply it by 9 years of gathering and shaping ideas, studying and researching relevant scientific theories, and eating the brains of scientists by making them explain and reexplain their work for you (yes he went that far, no kidding) and you would have this gem of creative accuracy that appeals too strongly to the unrelenting scientist in me...yes I’m gonna reread this a hundred times just to underline all the science OK?
With implants instead of phones, humans who choose to become ship minds (not exactly artificial intelligence and more expanded human intelligence, like the film Transcendence), terraforming corporations, first encounter, printers that print whatever you want (from musical instrument to body part), Numerist religions, mysterious knowledge-worshipping Entropists, epic battles, and using scientific theories and discoveries (Gregory Meholic’s Tri-Space theory for FTL [Faster Than Light] system; Richard Gauthier for TEQs [Transluminal Energy Quanta]; H. David Froning Jr. for conditioned EM [Electromagnetic] fields)—all the best ideas in Sci-Fi gathered and applied and ingeniously built upon—this is most likely the space-opera I’ve been looking for 5ever.
“May your path always lead to knowledge.” “Knowledge to freedom.” —Entropic Litany
★ Fast-Paced Plot That Hits the Ground Running and Doesn’t Stop: This book truly wears its thriller coat with style; what can I say, it’s bite-your-nails, edge-of-your-seat, oh-my-god-oh-my-god addictive that holds your attention by the balls with its twists and turns and steep curves despite the technical information assaulting you rather frequently. Can we please just appreciate this?
“The path to our goal is rarely straight. It tends to turn and twist, which makes the journey far more enjoyable than it would otherwise be.”
★ The Action, Viciousness, and Epicness of It All:To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (which I’ll call “SSS” aka “Triple S” from now on because hey I’m lazy) is not scared of putting its characters in circumstances that would have them facing death, going to the brink of death, or even being served the cold meal of death. It is epic. It is deadly. It is packed with well-written action scenes. Nothing more is needed.
“We’re losing. They won’t break us tomorrow. And they won’t break us the day after. But at this rate, it’s inevitable.”
★ Writing and Atmosphere-Building: I am obsessed with space, but that does not mean I get obsessed with every book set in space. But Paolini makes sure you feel the vastness of space, the danger of each encounter, the explorers of the deep unknown. That’s why I’m obsessed. Plus the subtle and occasional humour and banter, there is the fact that interstellar wars, travels, and messages are a slow affair and yet, even as he takes this into meticulous account, Christopher cleverly never lets it drag you down.
“We’ll meet again at Sol,” “In the shadow of the moon,” “By the shine of that green Earth.”
★ The Ending, Themes, and Feels: I’ll be straight up honest with you; I didn’t think this book had it in it to make me super emotional (I’ll talk about why later), but then it did.
First, there was the sense of a humanity with numerous colonies across the vast expanse of space and their attachment and loyalty to their gained home clashing with their longing for their Homeworld. But that’s not what cracked my icy heart. Second, there was the dominant and underlying message that you cannot own a path you walk due to necessity and inevitability, like a sleeper without dreams, and only through owning it and eating it can you clearly reach your destination. But that’s not what hit me me either, though it was beautiful. Third, there existed the loud and clear theme of identity and how one can feel safe and in control if their body does not seem to be their own, and the question that could a person be more than a person, a limited and defined individual, and still maintain a sense of self, or would that self be lost and overwhelmed as a single drop is in the sea? Yet, even that did not spear my soul. Fourth, there was life and existence and the brightness of a single being’s happiness within the immensity of the universe of inescapable suffering, and the importance of every step, however inconsequential. That, that got close but no, no that’s not it.
Without consciousness to appreciate it, existence was meaningless—an abandoned tomb decaying into oblivion.
What broke my heart and bled my heart and made it weep tears of gloriously bloodred life liquified, what made me leave to sleep in a sea of feels was, unsurprisingly, the theme of solitude and lonely paths. Christopher Paolini seems to have a certain fondness for this recurring focus in his books and I am not complaining.
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The B A D: Why You Would Not Love This
★ Too Plot-Driven Rather Than Character-Driven: While this made for a fast-paced thriller, it did what I dislike in plot-driven books; using characters as plot devices. Yes, after part one the characters get more fleshed out (which is the reason why I didn’t take off any more stars from my rating) it still focuses mainly on plot and world, and for a character-driven reader such as I, that prevented me from getting attached to the cast.
BUT, I did grow to love Sparrow, and extremely like the Captain and machine boss and first officer and the Entropists. And, quite evidently, I’m in love with my #1 ship mind Gregorovich—I do tend to have a thing for the crazy ones, as like calls to like. I think my main concern is with how the main character’s arc and struggles didn’t get the page time and attention they should’ve (due to previously mentioned focus elsewhere) and that took much away from the book.
“Everyone messes up. How you deal with it is what determines who you are.”
★ (Slightly) Underdeveloped Themes: This point is rooted in the previous issue. I named 4 themes in the book that didn’t quite hit hard enough, and that’s because, where most sci-fi thrillers are more high than heart, SSS is more head and high than heart, and that makes it a step up from the average yet not as fantastic as it could’ve been if it had chosen to go off the beaten track and onto the equally head and high and heart path—a rare example for which is An Absolutely Remarkable Thing.
“I was in fractures before. I am in fractures now. But the pieces still form the same broken picture.”
★ It Might Also Be Too Long: I don’t believe there is any part of SSS that should’ve or even could’ve been taken out. In fact, I think it needed more time with the characters. What I’m trying to say here is that, even as I love thick books and thrills and scientific explanations and technicalities, Triple S could be seen as a drawn out affair of constant thrills and scientific explanations and technicalities—because of the lack of (or to be fair inadequateness of) heart. IMO having been divided into a duology or a trilogy with more development of previous points would’ve served it significantly.
“Nature has no regard for those who squirm and crawl within its tainted depths. The storm that batters, batters all. None are spared. Not you, not I, not the stars in the sky. We bind our cloaks and bend our heads and focus on our lives. But the storm, it never breaks, never fades.”
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And The U G L Y: Why You Would Hate This
★ Dot Dot Dot: I actually just put this here because I liked the sound of it. I found nothing ugly in SSS. Though Tabi the Tremendous would tell you it felt like a male author wrote the female MC. It didn’t, to me, mostly because Kira’s character was eclipsed by all the more interesting things in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.
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“Hear me now. The Lord of Empty Spaces protect us as we venture forth to fight our foes. Guide our hands—and our thoughts—and guide our weapons that we may work our will upon these perversions of peace. Let daring be our shield and righteous fury be our sword, and may our enemies flee at the sight of those who defend the defenseless, and may we stand unbowed and unbroken in the face of evil. Today is the Day of Wrath, and we are the instruments of our species’ retribution. Deo duce, ferro comitante. Amen.”
Triple S ends with a proper closing of the plot, yet there is a very bold loose thread that could be considered a perfect open ending...or the possibility for a sequel; which there will be in a way. To quote Paolini, “any stories that I want to tell that aren’t explicitly fantasy can fit within the Fractalverse. So it includes the real world, the far future, the distant past. And even though some of those stories might seem a little disconnected, they will all tie together in the end.”
To put it straight in your face: If you want emotional attachment and heartwrenching character arcs, you probably won’t find it with this book—except for the last 100 pages or so. But if you’re looking for dead accurate hard sci-fi that navigates the lands of thriller genre, then you will be more than satiated.
P.S. There are four appendixes at the end of the book: Spacetime & FTL; Ship-based Combat in Space; Terminology; Timeline. Do NOT miss them, this is a gigantic book and you might need help.
A sea of thankful stars to my superhero for providing me with an eARC through NetGalley!
“Look, Ezekiel Blast, the past is like gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. When bad stuff first happens, it
3.5 STARS! Brilliant, and yet lacking.
“Look, Ezekiel Blast, the past is like gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. When bad stuff first happens, it’s like when the gum is sticking to everything—the road, the sidewalk. And you can’t wear that shoe into the house because it will get all involved in the carpet and the bathroom rug, but when you try to scrape it off on the edge of the sidewalk or the edge of the porch, or you try to rub it off in the grass, it won’t come off. So you have to just live with it. You walk along, your foot trying to stick with every step, but gradually as the gum gets dirtier and dries out more and more, it loses its stickiness. And eventually, without ever actually removing it, you forget the gum is there. Except maybe on a hot day the gum gets soft and a little sticky again, and you think, Oh, yeah, gum on my shoe.”
You know, I've always wondered—we say my eyes stung or burst or burned, and all that is good and true, but to me it feels more like being stung by a vicious bug and starting to swell up and then generally failing to be of any use.
And reading this book, my eyes were stung by a vicious bug and started swelling up and generally failed to be of any use.
Lost and Found could've easily been a five-star read; it had everything: clever, weird, and creative observations and ideas; amazing, thrilling plot, unforgettable characters; unique magic-micropower-whatever-you-wanna-call-it; and much witty, hilarious dialogue.
The only problem (which is also kind of a big one) is that the whole book was an endless string of dialogue, sprinkled with occasional endless streams of thought. There were no descriptions of anything. At all. Places? Barely. People? What. Expressions? Haha. Tones? Don't even think about it. Feelings? What are they even. The fact that the characters had actually left the house and were walking to other houses? Duh. Even plays include a note on tone or movements of the characters. It felt like only reading the subtitles of a spectacular film, if the subtitles also included conversations in our heads as well as on our lips.
Yes, those were all awesome, fantastic, perfetto, but they weren't enough. Seriously, this is Orson Card! Sure, I haven't read anything else by him yet but, I mean, it's Orson Card. Truth, I can see why Orson Card is Orson Card, the genius in this book is testament enough. And truth, this was an ARC. But. I can't believe they gave out ARCs at such an early stage and that the finished copy would actually have the missing 100-150 pages of...well...everything.
All that aside, I truly enjoyed this book. Hell, I even loved it. And no, I didn't mind that most all the characters sounded the same smart-snotty, because it was such an entertaining, brilliant, creative smart-snotty that I couldn't help but crave more despite it being quite unrealistic.
I loved it, and it drove me utterly insane.
“It’s driving me crazy.” “We’re all just a quick bike ride from crazy, Ezekiel,”said Dad. “It almost never requires any driving.” “Dad, I carry crazy in my pocket all the time and keep taking it out to look at it...makes me wonder if it’s sanity I keep in my pocket and it only looks like crazy because I’m already bonkers.” “As good a description of human life as I’ve ever heard,” said Father.
I received an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review. Many thanks to Blackstone Publishing!...more
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