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A review by tifftastic87
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I did not expect "the guy who wrote the YA dragon books" to write such a good, emotional, and intriguing science fiction. That's probably on me, since I never read the Eragon series. But damn, glad I tried this one.
Kira is a xenobiologist, but most of her research is isolated to alien fungus and mold. However, on an expedition to examine a downed drown Kira finds an alien relic that changes her life forever. Within months a war has broken out between humans and an alien life form called the jellies. Kira has formed a bond with the xeno and nothing in her life is the same.
I wasn't sure about this in the first little bit as Kira seemed kind of bland and predictable. But that set up made the change she went through even more traumatic. So much of the story was Kira dealing with her trauma while trying to process the changes in the world around her. Paolini did a great job with this, I am always hesitant to trust a middle aged man writing a woman, but this was done with a lot sensitivity and understanding and was incredibly pleased.
There was so much solid world building in this and the way it was revealed without big info dumps was excellent. Kira's world is about 300 years in our future and includes many colonies and new technology. The jellies, Wranaui, have their own anatomy, biology, culture, history and communication that is all different from humans. Getting this information dolled out to us as Kira learned it and the Soft Blade, the xeno bonded with Kira, shared memories with her made everything digestible without feeling overwhelming.
The found family aspect had so much heart. The group was diverse and characters had so many dimensions to them, I am so happy that we got to see each of them shine. There was a small but firm anti-military line running through this that I was happy to see as well. I look forward to continuing the series.
Kira is a xenobiologist, but most of her research is isolated to alien fungus and mold. However, on an expedition to examine a downed drown Kira finds an alien relic that changes her life forever. Within months a war has broken out between humans and an alien life form called the jellies. Kira has formed a bond with the xeno and nothing in her life is the same.
I wasn't sure about this in the first little bit as Kira seemed kind of bland and predictable. But that set up made the change she went through even more traumatic. So much of the story was Kira dealing with her trauma while trying to process the changes in the world around her. Paolini did a great job with this, I am always hesitant to trust a middle aged man writing a woman, but this was done with a lot sensitivity and understanding and was incredibly pleased.
There was so much solid world building in this and the way it was revealed without big info dumps was excellent. Kira's world is about 300 years in our future and includes many colonies and new technology. The jellies, Wranaui, have their own anatomy, biology, culture, history and communication that is all different from humans. Getting this information dolled out to us as Kira learned it and the Soft Blade, the xeno bonded with Kira, shared memories with her made everything digestible without feeling overwhelming.
The found family aspect had so much heart. The group was diverse and characters had so many dimensions to them, I am so happy that we got to see each of them shine. There was a small but firm anti-military line running through this that I was happy to see as well. I look forward to continuing the series.