Christopher Paolini: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (2020, Pan Macmillan)
816 pages
English language
Published Feb. 26, 2020 by Pan Macmillan.
I think this is three books that I listened to as a single book. Engaging but at times I was thinking “what is taking you so long to figure this out”. Aliens were quite alien but had human thought processes as well. I enjoyed it nonetheless, although I did not care for the Epilog.
Paolini kann vielleicht Phantasie. Eine Phantasie-Story in die Zukunft und den Weltraum zu verlegen macht leider noch keinen brauchbaren Science-Fiction-Roman. Selten so ein uninspierertes und vorhersehbares Buch gelesen.
Content warning Spoilers
Meh. For someone who read a bit of sci-fi, this book is really bland. Characters are behaving inconsistently, which makes it difficult to relate with them. I turned the pages, one sci-fi cliché after another, waiting for have some narrative signifiance. But the ruthless space marine who is actually kind, the alien-that-is-different-from-us-but-is-actually-thinking-just-like-the-humans-in-the-books, the countraband ship captain who is also a love interest... This first book does not really hype me for the upcoming sequel.
Wow. Never ever bored. Gripping exciting stuff. Enjoyed every page.
I originally found a hardcover copy of this book in a "free books" bin, then borrowed the audiobook edition from the library. I definitely enjoyed it, but I never felt emotionally invested in the characters. The episodic nature of the plot made the book feel very long; whenever I expected things to wrap up another conflict was tacked on.
Loads of fun, but the longer it goes, the farther it gets from its promising start as "real" scifi. The author's afterword discussing the long process creating this book was quite interesting. I wonder if I personally might have liked one of the earlier versions?
The backdrop is great, the characters engaging. By all means read it, but I guess I was hoping for something it's not.
