Week 27 Review: Fractal Noise

From Goodreads:

July 25th, 2234: The crew of the Adamura discovers the Anomaly.

On the seemingly uninhabited planet Talos VII:a circular pit, 50 kilometers wide.

Its curve not of nature, but design.

Now, a small team must land and journey on foot across the surface to learn who built the hole and why.

But they all carry the burdens of lives carved out on disparate colonies in the cruel cold of space.

For some the mission is the dream of the lifetime, for others a risk not worth taking, and for one it is a desperate attempt to find meaning in an uncaring universe.

Each step they take toward the mysterious abyss is more punishing than the last.

And the ghosts of their past follow.

My Review:
This book was really great to read! It was dense, and sometimes hard to read, just like To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, but it's sci fi, that's the story that's being told, and while it took longer to read a relatively short amount of pages, I really enjoyed reading it! 

One thing that I wanted to know was where this book was in relation to TSiaSfS, so I checked my copy, and the events of this book were listed as an important event in the timeline at the back of the book-about 4 years after Kira was born, so about 20-30 years before the start of TSiaSfS. I don't remember if any of these characters or this story played much of a role in that book, but I'm sure I'll do a reread! 

We were told this story though Alex, a xenobiologist, meaning first contact is scientific expertise of his, of the possibility of it. Two things though. One, he knows enough that for this to have been created, they were much more advanced then humanity at this point. And two, he lost his wife, and he's very much grieving, and deep in depression. But going along with the trip is what his wife would have wanted. That, plus the science information, is what really added some gravity and denseness to this book, and while I don't love sad books, it worked here. 

This story was told in parts, as the team got closer and closer, as the effects of the THUD got louder and more intense, as tensions rose between the teammates. There were some pretty interesting theology discussions, about faith, in the context of aliens, but it was also a discussion on social interactions in an isolated setting, because it's just the 4 of them on this journey for most of the book. Loved how it all came together!

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait to see what comes next in the series! 

Author: Christopher Paolini
Series: Fractalverse #0.5
Read: July 6th, 2023
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Love his writing and the first book, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2023 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Tor Books 
Published: May 16th 2023

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars