To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

 

“Who is she?” said Inarë, and smiled in the most unsettling way. “Why, she’s the fury of the stars."

Kira Navarez, is a xenobiologist. It's her job to make sure that newly discovered planets are safe for colonizaton, as humanity expands life across the galaxy. Stationed on a moon, Adrasteia, she's close to ending her career of shuttling through space looking for life on other planets, ready to settle down and start a family. (That doesn't go as planned.) Accidentally, she finds Life. An entity, known as The Soft Blade, part alien parasite and part nanotechnology, bonds with her body inadvertently starting an intergalactic war that only she has the power to end.

(Personal opinion) Sometimes, I perceive the science-fiction genre as having more masculine themes than feminine ones, and sometimes when female characters appear their character is cheapened by their inability to survive without their main love interest. (end personal opinion) Christopher Paolini earns my respect right from the start by bringing us a believable, strong female character, who is responsible for narrating the entirety of the story. Despite Kira Navarez's plans to settle down, she doesn't let that stop her from fulfilling her role as an out of this world superhero.

I can totally see why people wouldn't like this book. It reads like pure, undiluted, imagination. It's light on science, heavy on drama, and absolutely fills the definition of "space opera." It is like Paolini woke up one morning and said to himself, "What happens if I just started writing about spaceships and didn't stop?"

The story rapidly expands, and expands, and expands, which made for a super exciting read up until the 50% point when he realized he needed to tie all the elements together for any of it to make sense... 

I actually wasn't crazy about how he tied it all together, he utilized the old, "This absolutely convenient thing is going to happen with a little too convenient character, because I said so," which for me, kind of cheapens the story, which is why he's not getting that 5th star. But if you can push through the "Thank God, that person showed up," and, "That doesn't make any sense, Chris!" bits in the middle, the story actually picks back up for an exciting conclusion.

4 STARS because I enjoyed it, because I'm jealous of the natural span of his imagination, but this is not a story for people addicted to the little details. (Although I do wish his editor had made him pick different names for the alien menaces.)

Originally posted on GoodReads February 21, 2022