Another faceted world birthed by Paolini; this world covering depths of loss & grief but discovering the salvation of life. Significant read. Elegant journey.

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and I was so so so excited to get an ARC! Thanks, @tor for making all my wishes come true. My preorder came in today, and I’m extra glad to have a physical copy of the book I enjoyed so much! Paolini knows how to world build like few out there and this immersive standalone prequel to To Sleep in a Sea of Stars drops the reader into a nightmare of a new world expedition. The content is heavy and gets dark but ultimately has a solid exploration of the human spirit within the context of ancient alien race existence. The backstory lent depth to the story as the main character drove himself to his limit in a hostile world. I loved the scientific pieces that got pulled in and how the characters initially chosen to complement each other on the mission gradually devolved with the increasing stress. The heavy tone and increasingly aggressive territory the team navigated made this a suspenseful and propulsive read. I was shocked at how short the book was given Paolini’s other works but when I read it was meant to be a short story everything came together. Definitely a pleasant surprise making this a quick read! You must read the author’s note for a fun sneak peek at what might be next. 😍

I, like many readers of a similar age, absolutely devoured Eragon and its sequels. Looking back on it later, it wasn’t incredibly well written technically, but the characterization and world building were fantastic. I picked up this book after reading his other science fiction book, which was much stronger than this book. This book, unfortunately, has both a plot that actively doesn’t make sense - the amount of times a xenobiologist would have called this mission off for safety reasons- and characters that are flat and uninteresting. It’s disappointing coming from an author whose other books I enjoyed so much.

I *really* like the earlier book "To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars" by the same author, so I was looking forward to this book, which is marketed as a "prequel" to "Sea of Stars". Paolini is an excellent writer, but "Fractal Noise" really doesn't have enough of a plot to make an interesting novel. The main action is a heroic march to the edge of an alien artifact, but we are never told the significance of their findings.

This novel takes place before the events in the author's "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars". A survey ship discovers an anomaly in the system they are exploring. It turns out to be a large and very deep circular hole that is also producing a very large amount of energy. It is clear that this hole is artificial and would be the first sign of an alien race ever discovered. They decide to investigate the hole knowing full well that it will be a dangerous endeavor considering the prodigious amount of energy and noise the hole is producing. Our protagonist Alex volunteers for the mission even though he is still in a state of malaise due to the recent horrific death of his wife. He is after all the ship's Xenobiologist. It turns out to be quite an arduous trek to the hole and there are fierce arguments between the leader of the expedition, Talia, and the geologist Pushkin who constantly insists that they turn around as the trek is becoming way too dangerous. As they approach the hole the action gets quite intense. Between the harsh physical conditions, the injuries, and the constant infighting, it seems they have little chance of completing their mission. The author provides a great deal of verisimilitude making the reader believe they are part of this momentous expedition.

I read “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars” before I read “Fractal Noise”, which some have called a prequel. I would not call it that. True, the events in “Fractal Noise” occur 23 years earlier than the events in “To Sleep” on the same timeline that Paolini has established for all of the fractal universe. Otherwise, the stories strike me as quite different. None of the characters are the same, for instance. And although the Great Beacon of Talos VII plays a small but important part in the plot of “To Sleep,” to me that’s where the resemblance ends. I would characterize “Fractal Noise” as a psychological novella told from the point of view of one of four completely dissimilar human beings who, physically, take a journey into the unknown—to the very edge of the newly discovered Great Beacon on Talos VII. The story focuses on revealing the mindset of each person and explores their motivations for making the trip, particularly, whether or not they are capable of helping one another survive the dangers of the journey. It’s a toss-up which of the journeys is more fraught, the actual journey or the four separate psychological journeys. That’s what keeps this novella riveting. Without giving away any more of the plot, I found this book much more tightly written and better propelled, plot-wise , than “To Sleep.” For that reason, I’m giving it five stars. In a way, what Paolini attempted to achieve in “To Sleep” is better realized in “Fractal Noise.”