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A review by bibliomania_express
Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini is a prequel to To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, and I was not at all prepared for what this book would be.
This is a book about pain, grief, hope, religion, love, and humanity's unceasing desire to know. I don't think I've ever read a book like this where I so viscerally felt the atmosphere. Paolini's writing brings the barren sand of Talos and its rhythmic "thud"s vividly alive. As Alex descends into himself, I could feel his fragmenting mind and the progressively louder THUDs.
I'm impressed that this book, while full of pain and gore and anger, ultimately has a lot of say about hope and coming out of grief. That sometimes answers are impossible, reasons unknowable, and everything we think we know wrong, but we keep going, keep trying, and keep caring about each other. Alex is set against himself, his team, and the physical environment, and yet he persists - sometimes foolheartedly, sometimes irrationally.
I think what makes this book so good is that Alex's interal struggle is reflected in the physical struggle to reach the beacon, coupled with the debated about human nature and religion in the face of potential alien lifeforms. The inherent contradictions of it all play out against the backdrop of an unwaverily empty and monotonous world.
This book needs major trigger warnings for death of a spouse, depression, grief, suicidal ideation, religious zeal, physical assault, death, body horror, blood, and medical content.
This is a book about pain, grief, hope, religion, love, and humanity's unceasing desire to know. I don't think I've ever read a book like this where I so viscerally felt the atmosphere. Paolini's writing brings the barren sand of Talos and its rhythmic "thud"s vividly alive. As Alex descends into himself, I could feel his fragmenting mind and the progressively louder THUDs.
I'm impressed that this book, while full of pain and gore and anger, ultimately has a lot of say about hope and coming out of grief. That sometimes answers are impossible, reasons unknowable, and everything we think we know wrong, but we keep going, keep trying, and keep caring about each other. Alex is set against himself, his team, and the physical environment, and yet he persists - sometimes foolheartedly, sometimes irrationally.
I think what makes this book so good is that Alex's interal struggle is reflected in the physical struggle to reach the beacon, coupled with the debated about human nature and religion in the face of potential alien lifeforms. The inherent contradictions of it all play out against the backdrop of an unwaverily empty and monotonous world.
This book needs major trigger warnings for death of a spouse, depression, grief, suicidal ideation, religious zeal, physical assault, death, body horror, blood, and medical content.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail