To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Last updated
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.jpg
Author Christopher Paolini
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
Publisher Macmillan Publishers
Publication date
15 September 2020
Media typeHardcover, softback, Ebook
Pages880 [1]
ISBN 978-1-5290-4652-6
Followed by Fractal Noise  
Website Official website

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a 2020 science fiction novel written by American author Christopher Paolini and published under the Tor imprint of Macmillan Publishers. [2] [3] [4] The book is unrelated to his Inheritance Cycle series. [5] In an interview, Paolini described the book as adult-oriented as opposed to the young adult genre of his previous books. [6]

Contents

The audiobook is read by American voice actress Jennifer Hale. [7]

Plot

Kira Navárez is a xenobiologist in the year 2257 who plans to settle down with her fiance on a new colony in the Sigma Draconis system. Her last assignment is to investigate a crashed drone, which leads her to discover an alien reliquary. Inside, she awakens the Soft Blade, an ancient nanotechnology created by advanced, extinct beings known as the Vanished. The Soft Blade covers her body and binds itself to her will, but it is unaccustomed to serving humans.

At her research base, the Soft Blade believes she is in danger and launches tendrils that impale everyone around her, including her fiance. She is taken into military quarantine, where a doctor, Carr, experiments on the Soft Blade, burning it and Kira with laser blasts despite her pleas for him to stop. Carr is interrupted by an attack from the Wranaui, aliens who worship the Vanished and had hidden the Soft Blade in the reliquary. Kira escapes and inadvertently causes an explosion that joins a damaged piece of the Soft Blade to both Carr and one of the Wranaui, creating a malevolent, corrupted being calling itself the Maw, which floats through space seeking to grow and spread despite its madness and pain. It eventually finds a planet and begins converting the planet's mass into interstellar ships containing Corrupted warriors.

Kira flees to 61 Cygni on a shuttle and discovers that the Wranaui have started a war with humanity, as they believe that humanity intentionally activated the Soft Blade and created the Maw. She is rescued by the Wallfish, a smuggler ship, and convinces its crew to help her access a Wranaui ship, as she intends to use the Soft Blade to broadcast a diplomatic message from the ship’s transmitters. They succeed in boarding a disabled attacking ship, but she is only able to broadcast the location of the Soft Blade, drawing large numbers of both Wranaui and Corrupted to the system. The Soft Blade shows her memories of a Vanished relic, the Staff of Blue, which would allow her to eradicate the Corrupted and protect humanity from the Wranaui.

The Wallfish and a military cruiser journey to the Vanished planet containing the Staff of Blue, but they find it irreparably broken. They are attacked by Wranaui and Corrupted who had tracked them there, but they are saved by the Knot of Minds, a rebellious faction within the Wranaui. It has learned the truth of the Soft Blade’s awakening and seeks to form an alliance with humanity against the Corrupted. The Knot has a plan to use a human warship to kill the current Wranaui leader, Ctein, a tyrant who has genetically modified the Wranaui to be unable to directly kill it.

The Wallfish travels to Sol to inform Earth of the Knot’s offer, but the military detains Kira and the Wallfish crew and sends a fleet to ambush the Knot at their rendezvous point under orders from Earth's leader. Kira and the Wallfish crew escape during a Corrupted attack and leave to warn the Knot and preserve the chance of an alliance. They succeed and travel with the Knot to Ctein’s fleet, which is preparing for a final push against humanity.

As a human attack distracts Ctein, the Knot escorts the Wallfish within firing range, telling Ctein's fleet that its computers contain vital intelligence. The Wallfish hits Ctein’s ship with a nuclear shaped charge, but it does not succeed in killing Ctein, and Wranaui laser defenses preclude further hits. The Wallfish crew boards Ctein’s ship, and Kira advances through the ship with the Soft Blade, which she has now mastered. She kills the numerous Wranaui defenders but finds that Ctein is clad in Vanished armor that resists the Soft Blade. Ctein slowly wears her down, but a surprise attack from the Wallfish's captain opens a hole in the armor large enough for the Soft Blade to breach it and kill Ctein.

The Knot takes control of the Wranaui and unites with the human fleet against the Maw, which has arrived at the system. Kira desperately tries to disable the Maw by killing Carr and the Wranaui controlling it with a nuclear explosion, but instead the Maw’s portion of the Soft Blade merges with her own, joining their minds. She uses her presence to soothe and subdue the Maw's controllers and unmake the Corrupted. She then converts the Maw’s mass into a space station, Unity, intended to serve as an embassy between humanity and the Wranaui. Finally, Kira reveals that the Maw had previously released seven parts of itself in different directions, and she departs alone to track them down.

Reception

The novel received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed towards Paolini's worldbuilding, plot, and pace. Kirkus Reviews called it "A fun, fast-paced epic that science fiction fans will gobble up." [8] The Nerd Daily awarded the novel an eight out of ten, stating it was "...a wild ride from the start to the end." [9]

The novel won the 2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. [10]

Television adaptation

On October 8, 2020, Paolini announced on Twitter that To Sleep in a Sea of Stars would be adapted for film by him and his sister, Angela Paolini, in collaboration with Made Up Stories and Snoot Entertainment. Paolini and his sister will also serve as executive producers on the project. The news was also covered in entertainment trade press.

In August 2022, Paolini announced that the book would no longer be adapted as a feature film, but instead was being adapted as a television show and that writing had already begun on episodic scripts. [11]

Prequel

A prequel titled Fractal Noise was released on May 16, 2023. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh Brackett</span> American novelist and screenwriter (1915–1978)

Leigh Douglass Brackett was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for The Big Sleep (1946), Rio Bravo (1959), and The Long Goodbye (1973). She also worked on an early draft of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), elements of which remained in the film; she died before it went into production. In 1956, her book The Long Tomorrow made her the first woman ever shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and, along with C. L. Moore, one of the first two women ever nominated for a Hugo Award. In 2020, she won a Retro Hugo for her novel The Nemesis From Terra, originally published as "Shadow Over Mars".

<i>Absolution Gap</i> 2003 novel by Alastair Reynolds

Absolution Gap is a 2003 science fiction novel written by Welsh author Alastair Reynolds. It takes place in the Revelation Space universe and is a direct sequel to Redemption Ark.

Kate Elliott is the pen name of American fantasy and science fiction writer Alis A. Rasmussen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Paolini</span> American writer

Christopher James Paolini is an American author and screenwriter. He is best known for The Inheritance Cycle, which consists of the books Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance, and the follow up short story collection The Fork, the Witch and the Worm. His first science fiction novel, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, was published on September 15, 2020. He lives in Paradise Valley, Montana, where he wrote his first book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jody Lynn Nye</span> American science fiction writer

Jody Lynn Nye is an American science fiction writer. She is the author or co-author of approximately forty published novels and more than 100 short stories. She has specialized in science fiction or fantasy action novels and humor. Her humorous series range from contemporary fantasy to military science fiction. About one-third of her novels are collaborations, either as a co-author or as the author of a sequel. She has been an instructor of the Fantasy Writing Workshop at Columbia College Chicago (2007) and she teaches the annual Science Fiction Writing Workshop at DragonCon.

"Necessary Evil" is the 28th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is the eighth episode of the second season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nnedi Okorafor</span> Nigerian-American writer of science fiction and fantasy

Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor(listen) is a Nigerian-American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her Binti Series and her novels Who Fears Death, Zahrah the Windseeker, Akata Witch, Akata Warrior, Lagoon and Remote Control. She has also written for comics and film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Wells</span> American speculative fiction writer (born 1964)

Martha Wells is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has published a number of fantasy novels, young adult novels, media tie-ins, short stories, and nonfiction essays on fantasy and science fiction subjects. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages. Wells has won four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards and three Locus Awards for her science fiction series The Murderbot Diaries. She is also known for her fantasy series Ile-Rien and The Books of the Raksura. Wells is praised for the complex, realistically detailed societies she creates; this is often credited to her academic background in anthropology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starship Down</span> 6th episode of the 4th season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

"Starship Down" is the 79th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the sixth episode of the fourth season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Jane Anders</span> American science fiction author and commentator

Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer and commentator. She has written several novels, published magazines and websites, and hosted podcasts. In 2005, she received the Lambda Literary Award for work in the transgender category, and in 2009, the Emperor Norton Award. Her 2011 novelette Six Months, Three Days won the 2012 Hugo and was a finalist for the Nebula and Theodore Sturgeon Awards. Her 2016 novel All the Birds in the Sky was listed No. 5 on Time magazine's "Top 10 Novels" of 2016, won the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2017 Crawford Award, and the 2017 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel; it was also a finalist for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

<i>Off Armageddon Reef</i> 2007 novel by David Weber

Off Armageddon Reef is a science fiction novel by American author David Weber, published by Tor Books. It is the first book in the open-ended Safehold series. It follows a group of survivors who have settled a planet they name Safehold, a place where they had sought to escape from a terrible war, but that becomes the scene of a new struggle to uphold the principles of human civilization.

Michaela-Marie Roessner-Hermann is an American science-fiction writer publishing under the name Michaela Roessner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Robinette Kowal</span> American author and puppeteer (born 1969)

Mary Robinette Kowal is an American author and puppeteer. Originally a puppeteer by primary trade after receiving a bachelor's degree in art education, she became art director for science fiction magazines and by 2010 was also authoring her first full-length published novels. The majority of her work is characterized by science fiction themes, such as interplanetary travel; a common element present in many of her novels is historical or alternate history fantasy, such as in her Glamourist Histories and Lady Astronaut books.

Brenda Cooper is an author and futurist who resides in Kirkland, Washington, where she is the Chief Information Officer of the city of Kirkland. She has co-written various short stories with Larry Niven and has written ten novels.

<i>The Three-Body Problem</i> (novel) 2008 science fiction novel by Liu Cixin

The Three-Body Problem is a science fiction novel written by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. It is the first novel of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, but the whole series is often referred to as Three-Body. The trilogy's second and third novels are The Dark Forest and Death's End, respectively. The series portrays a fictional past, present and future where, in the first book, Earth encounters an alien civilization in a nearby star system that consists of three sun-like stars orbiting each other in an unstable system. The title refers to the three-body problem in orbital mechanics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Becky Chambers</span> American science-fiction writer

Becky Chambers is an American science fiction writer. She is the author of the Hugo Award-winning Wayfarers series as well as novellas including To Be Taught, if Fortunate and the Monk & Robot series, which begins with the Hugo Award-winning A Psalm for the Wild-Built. She is known for her imaginative world-building and character-driven stories.

Bethany C. Morrow is an American author. She writes speculative fiction for adult and young adult audiences and is the author of Mem (2018), A Song Below Water (2020), So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix (2021), and the editor of YA anthology Take the Mic (2019).

S. B. Divya is the pen name of Divya Srinivasan Breed, who writes speculative fiction. She is also an engineer and was the co-editor for Escape Pod, along with Mur Lafferty, through April 8, 2022.

<i>The Vanished Birds</i> 2020 space opera novel by Simon Jimenez

The Vanished Birds is a 2020 space opera novel, the debut work by Simon Jimenez. In a plot that spans millennia, the story focuses on the interconnected lives of several characters, including a boy whose special ability may hold the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe. The novel received critical acclaim. It was nominated for the 2021 Locus Award for Best First Novel and the 2021 Arthur C. Clarke Award.

Fractal Noise is a 2023 science fiction novel written by American author Christopher Paolini and published under the Tor imprint of Macmillan Publishers. It is a prequel to the 2020 book To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and will be released on May 16, 2023.

References

  1. Noble, Barnes &. "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (Signed Book)|Signed Book". Barnes & Noble. Archived from the original on 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  2. "Christopher Paolini announces his new book, 'To Sleep in a Sea of Stars'!". Shur'tugal - Inheritance Cycle community. 2019-11-19. Archived from the original on 2021-01-10. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  3. "Exclusive: 'Eragon' author Christopher Paolini announces first science-fiction novel". EW.com. Archived from the original on 2019-11-23. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  4. "Book Deals: Week of November 25, 2019". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on November 28, 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  5. Mahbub, Mufsin (2019-11-20). "'Eragon' Author Christopher Paolini Is Working On A Sci-Fi Novel". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 2019-12-11. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  6. stuartconover (2019-11-19). "Christopher Paolini Is Jumping To Science Fiction With 'To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars'". ScienceFiction.com. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  7. "Amazon.com: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (Audible Audio Edition): Christopher Paolini, Jennifer Hale, Macmillan Audio:Books". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  8. TO SLEEP IN A SEA OF STARS | Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  9. Truffles·Books·September 16, Tracy; Read, 2020·5 Min (2020-09-15). "Review: To Sleep In A Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini". The Nerd Daily. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  10. Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Best Science Fiction!. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  11. D'Alessandro, Anthony (2020-10-08). "Made Up Stories & Snoot Entertainment To Adapt Novel 'To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars' Into Feature Film". Deadline. Archived from the original on 2020-11-19. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  12. Tor.com (2022-10-03). "Tor Publishing Group to Publish a New Entry in Christopher Paolini's Fractalverse". Tor.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.