Sweet Mother Of Fucknuggets! This was one Helluva Ride.
June 2nd 2022
It took me a month to read this book.
That may not sound like a lot, but lets put it in perspective. I was a book nerd in school, and I very much read the bigass paving slabs of fantasy that were available. I can knock my way through a 500 page book, particularly any one I've read before, in a single day, EASY. So imaging my shock when an 880 page book, and seeing as I can make my way through the 860 page Paolini book, Inheritance, in the 5 to 7 hours of there and back trip to and from my grandmother's, who lives in the next province over, when we go up for the weekend. Yet this book took me a few days more than a FUCKING MONTH! Thats astronomical, pun intended and regretted, relative to my normal speeds. I bought the book in late April, and finished it last night.
I'm still in shock.
The book was beyond perfect, and made me realize I need to devote dome serious time to Sci-Fi if even a percent of whats out there is this good. The book was, like I said, 880 pages, 262,500-ish words, a plot that traversed the known and setlled universe of two different races, in a world set 250 odd years beyond present day, and instantly has become one of the best books I have ever read.
I dont want to spoil anything, but then again the book is so large in scale and scope I probably could spoil a bunch of stuff without spoiling the book. But I wont do that. Suffice it to say that a xenobiologist stumbles across another lifeform, ( a xeno which, I will reveal, is basically the perfect description for an Ultimate Venom, and honestly could fit into the MCU easily, while also being unique and brand new, and the Marvel and Paolini fan parts of my brain LOVE IT). And by realizing the dream of making first contact, causes everything to go straight down a National Lampoons Christmas style shitter at Faster Than Light speeds.
Books and movies are going to be harder than music. You cant really spoil literal music, because its impossible to comprehend the information given until you have heard it. You can spoil the lore, an ARG, or the plot twist of the music video, but not the music. You CAN spoil TV shows, Movies, and of course books. So I wont say much more than that.
This book is, like all of Paolini's other books, a labor of love, that saw him relearn the craft to create, a book that contains both technology that seems all but mythical out in space, yet perfectly feasibkle technology on the human end. The technology is truly science based, rather than just fancifully futuristic, things like Markov Drives, implants, overlays, and ship minds all have basis in the theoretical progressions of our most modern innovations. The political systems make sense, the battles make sense, the the makes sense, and the more fantasy based aspects all make sense. There are even rewarding moments for us Inheritance Cycle fans, and for Paolini fans in general, as this book is the beginning of Paolini's connected universe, which will be known as the Fractalverse (think similar to Brandon Sandersons Cosmere, J.K. Rowlings Wizarding World, J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth et al). Which will contain futuristic and present day stories (However it seems like Alagaesia isnt a part of it, although if it was, it would explain certain particular nods to the series that appear in TSIASOS).
Books will be graded on the same scale as Music, with the addition of certain letter subcodes such as:"UF" meaning unfinishable, "ODR" meaning One Day Read (meaning a shorter book that was good enough that I tore through it the day I bought it) "CC" meaning Cover Clickbait (looks like its good on the cover, it's trash inside), "OH" meaning OverHyped (super popular, but I personally hate it), "SS" meaning sequel slump (it hurts or kills the whole series), and "IC" meaning Instant Classic, and PHENOM, meaning Cultural Phenomenon is being born.
I grade To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars as a 100 (IC/PHENOM), for being one of the best books I have ever read, and Paolini's first adult book, first Sci-Fi Book, and the first novel in the Fractalverse, that I believe will be a cultural phenom, and I believe this novel will be a true classic as time gives it further notoriety.
You can find TSIASOS, and Paolini, here: PAOLINI
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