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Eragon author Christopher Paolini announces first science-fiction novel, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
- Thread starter Spectromixer
- Start date
There's a distinct inability from Hollywood to really use the guy - like why was he playing Alfred in the DC movies? He would have been a far better Lex Luthor than Jesse Eisenberg.
I loved those books but I really didn't need a 300 page explanation on dwarvish mourning customs and political strife over the sale of minerals and electing a new leader when a fucking war was going on in the background.
I became 1000x more interested in Roran than eragon
I mean, it's from the guy who wrote Eragon. What do you expect?
I was super into fantasy when I was young, and even then I couldn't finish his books, the blandness was just too much.
Paolini's work is easy to both criticize and make fun of, but the title is fine. There's plenty of similar sounding titles across works that manage to co-exist without interfering with each other. And the association between seas and stars is so prevalent that it's not even accurate to say it's derivative so much as just something our minds naturally connect to each other.
And while Paolini's writing usually leaves a lot to be desired "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars" is actually a pretty good line. It's alliterative, it evokes a sort of dreamlike poignancy, and it's poetic sounding. It's iambic trimeter, if I'm reading it right, though you have to make "in a" a singular soft syllable for it to work. It's a good title and I hope the actual book is reflective of that quality.
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His parents own a publishing company. Still impressive to write a book at that age, but that definitely helped him to get an editor and the attention of bigger publishers.
Please don't get me started. He spends more time describing the detail on a leaf than the final battle scene.
Or an entire chapter (or two? or five?) of how to forge a sword.
Gosh, I remember that. My man's pacing was horrific. I used to love those books, but I know it'd be bad if I ever went back to them.
I was young enough to like Eragon when I read it. At the time I thought it was great, and knowing it was a book written by a fellow teenager at the time made me enjoy it even more.
But having tried to go back, it's exceedingly mediocre, and I stopped trying to read it again so I could preserve my nostalgia. Hopefully he's stepped up significantly as a writer since then, otherwise I don't think this will be well received.
But having tried to go back, it's exceedingly mediocre, and I stopped trying to read it again so I could preserve my nostalgia. Hopefully he's stepped up significantly as a writer since then, otherwise I don't think this will be well received.
It sure is. The pacing is awful, I have all 4 books on my shelf because I love em but it's just a slog going back.
Rather have Lord of the Rings with Dinosaurs...with lasers, lots and lots of lasers.
Is that supposed to be the first book with "Sea" and "Star" in the title or something?
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Dude's writing is basically the equivalent to stale bread, but i can't fault him for staying in the game and keeping at it. Wish I could get published.
And on the whole, he's less offensive than Cline or Goodkind, so he's got that going for him.
And on the whole, he's less offensive than Cline or Goodkind, so he's got that going for him.
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The excerpt is up
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ew.com
Read the first excerpt from Christopher Paolini's epic sci-fi debut
Read the sweeping first excerpt, exclusive to EW, of the debut adult novel from the author of Eragon.
The naive kid in me wants to check this out but I'm still haunted by that mind numbingly bad sword-smelting chapter in Brisingr.
People in here are talking about him ripping off other authors - he copied and pasted industry smelting instructions like he thought it wouldn't be the driest thing ever.
People in here are talking about him ripping off other authors - he copied and pasted industry smelting instructions like he thought it wouldn't be the driest thing ever.
Finished reading it. As an opening chapter, I think it's a marked improvement over his other work, especially since he doesn't have to fill it with needless fantasy terms. He is still over descriptive in many places, he still isn't terribly great at characterization, and the pacing is still an issue.
Basically, all that happens in this chapter is a woman wakes up from a crash she had, notices she's in an alien room, touches a basil-like structure in the middle of the room and then gets covered by some kind of scifi space dust. The only reason it's as long as it is is because he is desperately filling in mostly irrelevant information like that her dream is to make an alien discovery or that she wants daddy to be proud or what organization she works for.
That stuff is important character building stuff, but it interrupts the action flow here so much. This lady should (and we are told she is) shitting herself at having crashed, made an alien discovery which is the biggest fucking deal in the world, and then is then swarmed by dust. This is highly intense shit, so you want her mind to be on the here and now, not thinking about what her dad's gonna want to hear. In contrast, since the backstory basically comes as an info dump, we don't really get much of a sense of personality for her. All I really pick up from her is that she is career minded and seems to like to follow rules/morals, which is a bit bland.
Nevertheless, as I said, this is pretty leaps and bounds ahead of what his Eragon work was, especially the first book (which is the one I have read most recently). It actually starts with characters doing something important for one, and it atleast know to build some mystery and intrigue. Of course, this only the first couple pages and that's a very basic checklist of what opening chapters ought to do. We'll see how the rest of the story goes forward.
Basically, all that happens in this chapter is a woman wakes up from a crash she had, notices she's in an alien room, touches a basil-like structure in the middle of the room and then gets covered by some kind of scifi space dust. The only reason it's as long as it is is because he is desperately filling in mostly irrelevant information like that her dream is to make an alien discovery or that she wants daddy to be proud or what organization she works for.
That stuff is important character building stuff, but it interrupts the action flow here so much. This lady should (and we are told she is) shitting herself at having crashed, made an alien discovery which is the biggest fucking deal in the world, and then is then swarmed by dust. This is highly intense shit, so you want her mind to be on the here and now, not thinking about what her dad's gonna want to hear. In contrast, since the backstory basically comes as an info dump, we don't really get much of a sense of personality for her. All I really pick up from her is that she is career minded and seems to like to follow rules/morals, which is a bit bland.
Nevertheless, as I said, this is pretty leaps and bounds ahead of what his Eragon work was, especially the first book (which is the one I have read most recently). It actually starts with characters doing something important for one, and it atleast know to build some mystery and intrigue. Of course, this only the first couple pages and that's a very basic checklist of what opening chapters ought to do. We'll see how the rest of the story goes forward.
Thanks for the review. Not sure I'll read the book but I'm glad to see he's improved.
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I somehow missed this, new art, cover, and a Mystery Gift promotion when you pre-order
www.paolini.net
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars - Christopher Paolini - Paolini.net
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is Christopher Paolini's debut science fiction novel, set to be published by Tor Books on September 15, 2020.
www.paolini.net
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I just pre-ordered an Amazon. Looks like I will only get one of the mystery gifts.
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Ok, one more thread bump otherwise I'll just assume no one else is interested haha
Jennifer Hale is doing the audiobook
Jennifer Hale is doing the audiobook
Wait, why's the sticker a BETTER looking version of the cover?Got my sticker from the preorder
Got my sticker from the preorder
What a gorgeous sticker. They should have made the cover holographic.
Oh, I love Jennifer Hale!
I'm hesitant to get this book until I read some reviews, but...hmmm now I'm intrigued.
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Getting strong Dark Universe vibes off that.
And I'm hoping he's smart enough to tell a complete story with the first book first.
And I'm hoping he's smart enough to tell a complete story with the first book first.
The Eragon movie is much worse than the book, but that's something of a backhanded compliment. I read his latest work, and...not really, it's still bad, but I also wouldn't see it as representative of what he can do. We'll see how this book turns out.
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YouTuber Daniel Greene did an interview with Paolini
Also, TOR has been posting preview chapters
Chapter 1: Dreams | Chapter 2: Reliquary | Chapter 3: Extenuating Circumstances | Chapter 4: Anguish | Chapter 5: Madness
Also, TOR has been posting preview chapters
Chapter 1: Dreams | Chapter 2: Reliquary | Chapter 3: Extenuating Circumstances | Chapter 4: Anguish | Chapter 5: Madness
I remember reading the Inheritance cycle ten-ish or so years ago and not being overly impressed. My girlfriend absolutely adores the books though, just finished her reread of the series and she keeps pushing me to do the same. I really don't feel the need 😅
I'm a sucker for first contact stories, though: I might give this a go eventually.
"Fractalverse" sounds stupid as fuck, though.
I'm a sucker for first contact stories, though: I might give this a go eventually.
"Fractalverse" sounds stupid as fuck, though.
I can't contribute too much, as I haven't read his books. But I take major issue with that blurb in OP. To describe the initial setting on Left Hand of Darkness as "a routine survey mission" is to betray that you didn't understand that book at all.
Also, announcing a "massive universe!!!" before anyone has read a page of the first book is a giant red flag.
Also, announcing a "massive universe!!!" before anyone has read a page of the first book is a giant red flag.
Every book has to be part of something nowadays. The names are getting ridiculous.
The X-iverse
A Song of X and X
The X Cycle
The X Chronicles
The World of X
The X Saga
The X Sequence
The Remembrance of X
etc.
The only person I'd trust to pre-announce an entire series is Brandon Sanderson, and only because he is pumping out three books a years consistently.
I read Eragon and the first sequel in fourth grade. By the time the third and fourth came out it wasn't exactly safe to be reading books about dragons openly in public school if you wanted to keep your lunch money safe ( I switched to the Edge Chronicles and the Gone series).
I wouldn't expect Eragon books to hold up now that I'm in my 20s, but I didn't know that so many people didn't like him or the series until reading this thread lol. This being said, this new novel doesn't seem like the most inspired piece of fiction but I'll probably at least take it out from the library eventually.
I wouldn't expect Eragon books to hold up now that I'm in my 20s, but I didn't know that so many people didn't like him or the series until reading this thread lol. This being said, this new novel doesn't seem like the most inspired piece of fiction but I'll probably at least take it out from the library eventually.
Reminds me that one of these days I need to make a thread about good YA books.
I don't know how to tell you this, but I've never read any of the Dragonriders of Pern books...
