FORMAT: HARDCOVER (REVIEWED), DIGITAL | RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 15TH
Christopher Paolini is best known for the Eragon books, adventure fantasy targeted at the Young Adult audience and notable for being quick and light reads. So it might come as a bit of a surprise that his new book is not only space opera, but it’s also epic sci-fi. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is nearly 900 pages long and firmly aimed at an adult audience. It’s very, very good.
It is a distant future and the story focuses on Kira Navarez, who uncovers a weird alien artefact on a distant world. Humanity makes contact with an alien civilisation and it does not go well for anyone. Going to the stars has not made humanity any kinder or more sympathetic, and the result is a story that is epic and engaging.
It’s an ambitious book. They are a lot of people with their own stories in this tale and an awful lot going on, but it’s the plot that drives the story forward, not the character development. This approach makes for epic sci-fi and Paolini excels here; it’s an addictive and interesting setting. There’s something fascinating on pretty much every page, which means the plot doesn’t hang about.
The result is something that is multi-layered and very much a page-turner. You keep reading to explore this new world again and again and though the plot is quite deep this style of novel constantly keeps you in the loop. The result is that you find yourself immersed in Paolini’s space opera.
Pacing is gentle until it’s not; they are plenty of big scenes and lots of build-up to those sequences. It’s mostly crunchy science fiction, with enough fact there to keep the reader on board without being a technical manual. This gives it all a cinematic feel and we would be very surprised if some sort of adaptation isn’t already planned, the work is begging to be turned into an epic series along the lines of The Expanse. This is Paolini’s best book so far, skilfully done, brilliantly imagined and cleverly executed. It’s accessible and engaging and left us wanting more.
