Fractal Noise: A blockbuster space opera set in the same world as the bestselling To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

A really good but disturbing book very different from the first book but as dark. I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to book 3!

3.5 stars.This was a tough book for me to get into. It is billed as a prequel to To Sleep in a Sea of Stars which I haven't yet read (but have on Audible to start soon) so that might have influenced/marred my initial experience. That said, by the time the four intrepid explorers hit the planet I was fully committed and it started to get more interesting.That said, I wasn't particularly enamoured by the MC Alex. He is still struggling with the loss of his wife and it is affecting everything he does - not sure where the corporate duty of care went in this situation as he didn't really hide his struggles but, there we are...! It did get a bit all consuming and I think overshadowed what I wanted to be the main story of the giant hole anomaly that they discovered. It all became a bit more philosophical and went the way of four people in a bad situation and their ways of coping, or not as the case may be. And it all got a bit messy and pointless. I really wanted more sci-fi. It's really more the journey rather that the destination and I am afraid the destination was a bit lacking for me.All that said, I think it is more a me thing... it wasn't what I expected from the blurb and wasn't what I wanted. No one's fault, just one of those things... Despite all that though, it was well written and even though I didn't like the characters, they were well described so it has not put me off trying TSiaSoS. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

it's not bad.......the characters are good.....and the pacing is ok but......i was hoping for some sort of connection to 'to sleep in a sea of stars' .......i couldn't find it yet.......maybe in the third fractalverse book

After "to sleep in a sea of stars" I was expecting more of a direct link to that story, but there really isn't one.Which is fine, actually. This short novel is bleak, grim and really compelling. A total change of pace from the whizzbang space opera of the first book, this is personal, meditative and as unrelentingly bleak as a dead alien planet can be. Super.

To sleep in a sea of stars was absolutely stunning, and then to have to drag myself through (and believe me it was tough going) this boring, repetitive dark nonsense was beyond belief. I was SO looking forward to reading Fractal noise as the first book blew my mind. I was so disgusted with the whole story of fractal that for the first time in my life I binned the book!! Not something I do lightly as I am a huge SF fan and have a library of several hundred novels, most of which i've read at least twice (yes I have had the time as nearly 70 years young!).Why on earth did this pass the editors ok?? The bulk of this novel centres around the characters struggling against horrific noise/vibration and not much else.... How I kept reading it I don't know, as always, hoping for it to get better.. it never did! DO NOT BUY!!

Two stories in one neither were for me.Also having read To sleep in a sea of stars I both knew the outcome and was expecting a sequel rather that a prequel short story.Glad I read to sleep in a sea of stars again since it is a great book

"Fractal Noise" was a disappointing read for me. It just moved soooo slowly. Just over 300 pages, and it felt twice that length. That said, the writing is great, the imagery impressive, and the setting awesome. There was a feeling of being pulled in and thrown out like a yo-yo, because it just couldn't hold my attention. I think I would have enjoyed this more had it been a short story.My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Fractal Noise took the reader on a personal, an existential and an exploratory journey. I had so many questions, so much tension and I got some answers. The story was told from Alex’s perspective, a somewhat morose but understandably grief-striken xenobiologist who found himself in the centre of investigating an anomoly.Unlike the crew of the Wallfish, this crew (the Adamura) were a disfunctional bunch of people. The wider group on the ship had some positives but as this group focused down into an exploratory group, only Alex and Chen had facets of integrity. The trek became a demise in the style of Lord of the Flies.There was so much fascinating about Tavos VII while at the same time the planet presented a creepiness both in terms of the environment and creatures. I read the second half of this book drenched in adrenaline and found the culmination both satisfying with a slice of frustration. I want more story and answers and maybe we’ll get that in the future, maybe we won’t.This story was as much an anthropological narrative as it was science fiction. That worked for me because humans interracting with alien worlds and environments do stupid stuff, make their ego the focus and the fall out is fascinating. You’ll find much here to entertain.

El libro llegó muy dañado de laa esquinas

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.”

I enjoyed this book although it did seem slow and repetitive. Read the end appendix and timeline first to gather some info on the book.

It's a book you need to read if you enjoy scifi and /or have been bereaved. I was hoping it wouldn't end the way I thought it would end, and it didn't so I was pleased. Also was pleased that To Sleep in a Sea of Stars came sort of after it. Love the cover, BTW.

Ich war nach 'To Sleep in a Sea of Stars' sehr neugierig auf dieses Buch. Leider schafft es Paolini nicht, erneut so eine runde und aufregende Geschichte zu erschaffen. Die ganze Story steuert auf einen großen Klimax zu, der dann leider nicht kommt. Ich habe das Buch am Ende sehr enttäuscht zugemacht.