![]() Even when they show emotion, the reactions at best lack nuance or at worst seem to be almost entirely nonsensical. The characters of Kira and her colleagues in TSIASOS are flat. His characters from Eragon had tangible personalities and shared witty, uncertain, or humorous conversations, supplemented by thoroughly described, evocative settings. Across his first four novels he develops an innate aptitude for knowing when to “show” something to his readers instead of “tell” them about it. Throughout his Inheritance Cycle, one can actually read Paolini mature as a writer (the first entry came out when he was 18, and the last when he was 27). However, while speed helps to move past cliched plot points, it also results in an unfavorable number of stilted dialogue moments and exposition dumps, which is highly uncharacteristic of Paolini’s writing. The saving grace behind Paolini’s rehashing of existing tropes is that he resolves the isolation, tests, and fear of the xeno fairly quickly so that he can introduce the reader to the greater story: one that involves the threat of another, far more advanced alien species known only as “graspers” and their strange connection to the xeno Kira encountered on Adra. The isolation methods weren’t perfect because of extenuating circumstances (which also happens to be the literal name of one of the interplanetary ships), so further complications arise and Kira is subjected to tests and study, during which time she realizes that her contact with the alien (forthwith called “xeno”) has affected her in surprising ways. The plot of every first contact film and book plays out as Kira is put into isolation. Sadly, Paolini doesn’t seem to tread any new sci-fi ground in the early pages of his newest novel. ![]() At the site of the anomaly she finds an alien relic and, more importantly, an alien. That is until the last day of her mission on the planet Adrasteia when a biological anomaly on the planet’s surface requires her to make an investigative trip. She finds it rewarding, if tedious, but she’s also willing to leave her job behind if it means setting down some roots. Her job is to get shipped out among the stars to identify, catalog, and prepare new worlds for the human species. You see, Kira is a xenobiologist working for one of Earth’s colonization corporations. For weeks I contemplated how much of the story I would get to read before anyone else.Ĭome to find, the partial galley I received was only 157 pages of the finished manuscript, which was just enough to meet the protagonist of TSIASOS, Kira Návarez, and witness the initial days following her first contact with an alien species. I was giddy with excitement, especially considering that the full novel is listed at nearly 900 pages on Amazon. As part of a Shelf Awareness promotion I was afforded the opportunity to read a partial galley of Paolini’s new book ahead of its wide release date on September 15, 2020. ![]() Growing up almost as much a fan of Christopher Paolini’s first novel Eragon as I was of Harry Potter, his long-gestating sci-fi project, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (TSIASOS), was destined to join my to-read pile. ![]() Early pages of derivative plot forego author’s penchant for character in effort to set up something bigger ![]()
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