I'm so excited to be on the blog tour for the newest release from Christopher Paolini - Fractal Noise! Make sure to check out the other stops on the tour too, and grab a copy of the book as it's out now! Here it is:
On the planet Talos VII, twenty-three years before the events of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, an anomaly is detected: a vast circular pit, with dimensions so perfect that it could only have been the result of conscious design. So a small team is assembled to learn more – perhaps even who built the hole and why. Their mission will take them on a hazardous trek to the very edge of existence.
For one explorer, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. For another, a risk not worth taking. And for xenobiologist Alex Crichton, it’s a desperate attempt to find meaning in an uncaring universe. But every step they take towards that mysterious abyss is more punishing than the last. Ultimately, no one is prepared for what they will encounter.
So, Christopher Paolini is one of my favourite authors, and as soon as he started telling us about branching into Sci-Fi, I knew I'd be picking up whatever he wrote. It was definitely worth it, and now he's gone and wrote a prequel to the beast of a book that is To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. I would say, if you are a bit worried about starting the giant TSiaSoS, you could very easily read this book as a standalone, or read it first if you want to start small. There's nothing in this that would confuse you or make you not understand what was happening, everything in it is well explained, so you can definitely read this first if you want to jump into something smaller to begin with!
Now getting into the actual book - this was definitely a fascinating read. The characters were so well written, each having different motives for going to explore the new planet. The MC and narrator, Alex, was especially an interesting person to read the POV of. Although you were exploring the new planet, and had lots of information thrown at you about that, you also get to read about his reason for exploring - the death of his partner. It can be a bit hard hitting at time as the book leans on that, but you really get to see his struggles with grief and at times you really feel like you are living it with him and I just found that such a thought-provoking way of reading - not one I've really dealt with before in a book, but one I would definitely read again if they're written as well as this was.
I think the suspense of getting closer to the centre of the hole they found on the planet was really well done - and the noise that the hole is making follows you through the book with a 'Thud' every few lines. I found this really good at keeping the suspense and also I think it really made you feel how much that noise would affect you if you were in the book too. I especially loved that it slowly got larger as you read, as if you really were in the book and could see how much it would affect the explorers the nearer they got.
I'll admit, I am a bit rusty in my sci-fi reading, so quite a bit of the terminology went over my head, but it was still a smooth read and I really didn't want to put the book down after starting it was so gripping. I think that the writing was so good, because even if you aren't the best with sci-fi terminology you can still pick up the plot and read along, and if you are a sci-fi buff then you'll love it too!
Overall, I give this book: 5 cats!
Make sure to check out the other stops on the tour below, it's running until the 2nd June, and go pick up a copy of the book! It will definitely be worth it - and if you loved TSiaSoS in sure you'll love this too. I can't wait to see what else Paolini will come up with in the world of sci-fi!
