Fractal Noise

A Fractalverse Novel

De: Christopher Paolini

Narrado por: Jennifer Hale

Long-listed, Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year 2023

This program features sound design and special effects to enhance your enjoyment of Fractal Noise. Listen out for the sounds of the anomaly at the center of Talos VII and original music evoking the barren landscape.

"Narrator Jennifer Hale's outstanding performance brings this story of alien invasion to life....every unique voice enhances the listening experience." AudioFile, on Earphones Award winner, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.

"Jennifer Hale's narration of this sci-fi novel is exemplary work. Her variety of voices and characterizations, as well as her grasp of the intense drama, is stunning. And just when you think she can't get better, she sings in character, and it transforms her entire performance into art. The combination of Paolini's gripping drama and Hale's voice acting should not be missed."- AudioFile on Fractal Noise

"Narrator Hale’s performance backed by immersive sound effects, elevate this science fiction audiobook about a small team of scientists on the precipice of a major discovery."- Booklist

A new blockbuster science fiction adventure from world-wide phenomenon and #1 New York Times bestseller Christopher Paolini, set in the world of New York Times and USA Today bestseller To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.

July 25, 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.

The Fractalverse Series

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Fractal Noise

The audiobook is read by Jennifer Hale, a prolific and highly acclaimed Canadian American voice actress and singer, who has performed an impressive array of characters for video games, audiobooks, and animated television shows. Hale is renowned for her portrayal of Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series and as Rivet in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA. She made her audiobook debut with Christopher Paolini’s To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

©2023 Christopher Paolini (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

First disappointing Paolini novel.

I was actually excited for this novel. I enjoyed to sleep in a sea of stars more than I expected. This however, was disappointing. I was expecting a sequel and this was not that. The characters were not well flushed out. And it felt like the characters led to nowhere. I wish the book title explained this was just a random entry in the fractal verse. It felt like a codex entry in a video game. Just an interesting data point along the journey.

What is the point?

Listening to this book I’m most of the way through it and other than pretty much saying life sucks I don’t know what it is even about. How does it relate to the previous story and what is the point? The previous one took a long time to get interesting but this one seems like it will end before it attempts to get interesting. Ugh I want my credit back

Huge disappointment

I loved the previous book and was quite excited for this one but was utterly disappointed. The narration was good/fine, though the pulse sound got old quickly.

Gave 1 star for "Story" because, well, there *wasn't* one.

Too much noise to little story.

The constant pounding noise made the story very difficult to listen to. The constant pounding, and other noises distracted from Ms Hale’s excellent performance.

Was expecting a lot more from the story

I was honestly disappointed with the story. There were some interesting parts. Since To Sleep in a sea of stars was so amazing, this story seemed mostly pointless. The crew finds this very potentially interesting planet with a gaping hole and the story has very little to do with the planet or the hole, other than the foot journey to get to it. Not to mention, I don't know how this story is supposed to connect to have anything to do with To Sleep In A Sea of Stars. If there was a connection, other than it veing on the same fictional universe, it was lost on me. I wish the author would have kept it on the shelf until he could fully actualize it to a story that was more thoughtful and had connection to the rest of the "Fractalverse".

The only saving grace that kept me listening was Jennifer Hale. She is amazing. I love her narration of everything. Probably one of the most talented voice actors ever.

Wow Depressing!

A medium length book mostly about one character’s loss of his wife.
“To Sleep in a Sea of Stars” was so fantastic I was really hoping for more.

Took me a while …

This one was a slow burn, and it never quite grabbed me the way To Sleep did. Lots of interesting parts, but I didn’t just love it.

I struggled

I love To Sleep In A See of Stars but I struggled to see how these two connected. This is a great stand alone book but not my favorite of Paolini’s works.

An archetypal alien world exploration story, but with anti climactic finale

Imagine a novel that calls out to great space frontier stories like those of A C Clarke, Greg Bear, but then imagine a climax that punts on the larger revelations in favor of human trauma. While that was often a hallmark of those stories, it is the centerpiece of this novel. So, while you watch a great mystery being built, the weight of human dysfunction collapses it before it goes anywhere. On one level, I admire and respect that from an author. But it also left me feeling very unsatisfied. Maybe an epilogue would have helped, something to give the trauma a larger context other than what it was. I’m trying to be vague, but I feel like I’ve given too much away already.

I will happily read the next Fractalverse novel, but I feel like this was an early draft that needed some expansion.

Great universe, slow story

I really love all of the effort the author put in to build an immersive universe full of nuance and history. TSIASOS had great characters, developed them, and sent them all over the place. Fractal noise didn’t have those qualities. It’s a grim story that has main characters not developing or doing much beyond walking.