I really liked Paolini's first novel in his so called Fractalverse, "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars". But I absolutely hated this second entry. I almost think one star is too much but I just can't bring myself to rate it lower than Mary Gentle's "Architecture of Desire" which remains, to this day, the most singularly frustrating and infuriating book I've ever read. So one lone star it will be for this, Paolini's "Fractal Noise". This book is an unhappy, depressing slog, full of entirely unlikable characters, and an ending so anticlimactic it literally gave me a headache out of anger and disappointment. Spoiler alert: this is a story about four mentally unstable assholes walking for miles on an inhospitable alien planet just to stare at a giant hole in the ground. ( )

This psychodramatic novel presupposes that by 2234 we'll have faster-than-light travel, extra-solar colonies, mind uploading ("ship minds), aging reversal, and many other wonders. It tells of a group of scientists, afflicted with severe animosities toward each other, making an arduous and misery-laden journey across a newly surveyed exoplanet marked by a mammoth, mysterious, ultra-noisy, artifactual hole in its surface. Despite all its negativities, the story is quite suspenseful -- one might even say gripping.

3.5 stars. A lot of misery for one character to find his purpose. Never learned a damned thing about the aliens. ( )

2023 book #53. 2023. Four humans struggle across a hostile planet to investigate the giant hole they saw from space. After many words and much angst they find the hole and it's a big hole. What a waste of time this book was. ( )

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: May 16, 2023

4.5 stars rounded up. I love Paolini's writing. I will say I didn't expect the emotional depth and thoughts this book went to, I was expecting it to be more about space exploration, and the evidence of sentient life other than ours but wow, did this book explore a lot. The main character not only grapples with all the questions pertaining to evidence of other sentient life and why and how they may have done the things they did, but also with his past and himself and everyone in the exploration with him. It is amazing what got packed into this book (which really is a short story for Paolini).

And Jennifer Hale (the narrator), I could listen to that woman read a phone book and be entertained. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and she is THE BEST narrator I have ever listened to. The author wrote lyrics to a song and she came up with a melody and freaking SANG it in the book!

I also really enjoyed the sound design and special effects that were used in this audiobook. The *thumps* that got put in really helped you feel more connected with the characters and what they were going through. ( )