A few days ago a shared the first part of an excerpt from Christopher Paolini’s upcoming novel, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. You can see that first piece here. Today, I’m here with the full excerpt for you!! I hope you enjoy it – it definitely made me super excited for the novel!! I mean, more than I already was haha.

I’m sure many of you have heard about the new upcoming book by Christopher Paolini (of Eragon fame). If you haven’t, it’s called To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and it sounds amazing!!! Here is the synopsis so you can get a little idea about the book:

Kira Navárez dreamed of finding life on new worlds.
Now she has awakened a nightmare.
While exploring a distant planet, she discovers an alien relic that thrusts her into an epic journey of transformation and discovery.
Her odyssey will carry her to the far reaches of the galaxy.
Earth and her colonies are on the brink of annihilation.
One woman.
The will to survive.
The hope of humanity.
This epic novel follows Kira Navárez, who, during a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, finds an alien relic that thrusts her into the wonders and the nightmares of first contact. Epic space battles for the fate of humanity take her to the farthest reaches of the galaxy and, in the process, transform not only her ― but the entire course of history.

First things first (I’m the realest). Sorry, whenever I say that phrase, that lyric from Fancy always pops into my head. Anyway!! My point was I first wanted to focus on the premise – a heist? An AI? Yes. Two of my favorite things. I went into this book being pretty sure I would love it. Sadly I didn’t quite LOVE it, but I still did enjoy it a lot.

I had been wanting to read this novella since the cover was revealed because it’s beauuuuutiful. After finishing, it is almost more beautiful because you know the significance of the different animals that are depicted. This novella tells the tale of the titular Empress of Salt and Fortune, and what her life was like.

Thank you to Tor Books (via NetGalley) for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

FIRST OF ALL – look at the blurb okay?? “This book is very close to perfect.” – Seanan McGuire AKA MY QUEEN. How could anyone NOT want to read this book based on that alone?? Okay fine, if that wasn’t enough, then this bit from the synopsis might reel you in:

“…he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist.”

To me that is like the perfect cast of characters haha. And Linus himself! He’s such a softie – albeit a boring one at the onset of the book. But wow does he grow into himself! This book is truly a shining example of a character driven novel – and after reading about 20% of it, I knew it would go on my list of favorite books. It was a true joy to read, and made my heart all warm and fuzzy.