It's Happening: Second Fractalverse Book Announced

[masterghandalf]

Literally just stumbled onto this on Tor.com this morning, and when I checked here I was a bit surprised to see that no one had posted this already, so I thought I'd go ahead and break the news. It looks like another Fractalverse book is indeed happening; behold Fractal Noise, coming May 16th, 2023. I'm honestly a bit surprised by this, since To Sleep in a Sea of Stars didn't seem to make all that big of a splash, but it looks like Paolini is determined to go ahead. At the very least, hopefully it will be sporkable. And apparently it's set before To Sleep, rather than a sequel.

There's also a summary, which sounds rather generic to me: 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.

Comments

[dryaddryagain]

"Now, a small team must land and journey on foot across the surface to learn who built the hole and why. ... For some the mission is the dream of the lifetime, for others a risk not worth taking..."

Who assembled this team? Were they just the closest to the site? Why wouldn't they all be excited to investigate? What's so risky? I ask out of confusion, not intrigue.

"Each step they take toward the mysterious abyss is more punishing than the last. And the ghosts of their past follow."

So...the story is about GETTING to the abyss?

Edit to say: I wonder if this is a horror story? It seems focused on the characters and the ghosts of their pasts, which seems like he's trying something new.

[epistler]

It seems focused on the characters and the ghosts of their pasts, which seems like he's trying something new

As soon as we know what their names are I'm going to start making bets on which one will get the ridiculous unnecessary superpowers.

[dryaddryagain]

I cannot for the life of me find what the space wizards that Angela is a part of are called or what they stood for or when it began, but my first thought is of them. I'm throwing it out there in case I'm right 😁

[epistler]

You're probably thinking of the annoying Entropists. Angela isn't one of them though. She's just randomly hanging around being OMG RANDOM AND SO QUIRKY LOLOLOL. It's amazing how she keeps finding ways to scale new heights of insufferability.

[dryaddryagain]

Yes, thanks, I was thinking of them. I was scouring my degraded memories of the spork to make tenuous connections. The round pit--is that something like where Kira found the Seed? I assume it was made by the long-gone entities, which I want to call the Builders except I think that's from The Expanse? So I'm grasping at fuzzy holograms of straws.

[epistler]

The round pit--is that something like where Kira found the Seed?

Yeah, I think it's called The Beacon or something. You never actually see it in the book.

I assume it was made by the long-gone entities, which I want to call the Builders except I think that's from The Expanse?

The Vanished, who basically seem to be the equivalent of Paolini's elves/grey folk. We don't learn anything about them in the book other than that they made the Limp Dick and its fellows, as well as the pointless Staff of Blue.

[dryaddryagain]

I wonder if the trend of authors connecting their works as literary universes is growing, or if I've just started encountering it more? I can only think of three right now but I don't read as much as I used to.

[torylltales]

Paolini is just blatantly copying the idea from his idol Brandon Sanderson.

Except that Cosmere was built up for decades within his novels before it was announced as an overarching universe, to the point that fans had figured it out long before Sanderson said anything about it. He waited until he knew he had a big enough fanbase to support such a huge project.

Paplini annoubced his fractalverse literally begore the first book came out, with no idea of how it would be received or whether there would be enough interest to sustain an expansive multi-novel universe like that.

[epistler]

Because once again he doesn't want to write so much as he wants to have written.

[torylltales]

Exactly!

[dryaddryagain]

I just read an interview with the two of them and pulled out some amusing quotes:

Paolini added that “The goal was to do an entire series in one book. I’ve done the multi-book series with over a million published words, and I think you hold the record for the biggest of the big series at the moment—but I wanted to tell a complete story with a beginning middle, and end in one volume. It was a personal challenge, and I thought it was going to save me time instead of writing a series, but it took me nearly ten years to write the darn thing anyways!”

and

"BS: I’ve read a lot of your books, and this is by far your best technical writing so far. I’m loving the book. I can see the influences, but it doesn’t feel derivative in any way. It’s its own thing. This is a big departure in a lot of ways for you."

I'm still bobbing around with what I think about the Fractalverse. I like that Paolini is pursuing something he seems excited about, even if his fans would prefer Book V and the reinvigoration of interest hasn't resulted in well-received pieces of work. I think he intends to write more Inheritance stuff and is just slow to produce. He tweets about having a few projects going on right now, and I'm most curious about how potentially being in the writers' room of the Eragon show might improve his writing.

I guess the main thing is WHY he wants an overarching universe and what the different worlds and stories have to offer each other except for lore and Angela. Brandon Sanderson's method seems to be the way to go, and the authors I thought of went the same route. I'd read a lot of Stephen King's works and enjoyed the way he brought some of them together in The Dark Tower, and he has his own fictional settings that he returns to and builds up. I'd read just enough Laini Taylor for a near-ending line suggesting that there was hope for a character from one series if they encountered one from another spawned a yearning in me for it to happen. Maas seems to have been building a universe for a while.

But if Alagaesia and Fractalverse are connected, it doesn't say much to me except maybe the vanished/grey folk wrought different things in different places.

[epistler]

but I wanted to tell a complete story with a beginning middle, and end in one volume.

Oh my GOD could he possibly get any more clueless?? EVERY BOOK SHOULD HAVE A BEGINNING MIDDLE AND END. Even if it's part of a series!

"BS: I’ve read a lot of your books, and this is by far your best technical writing so far. I’m loving the book. I can see the influences, but it doesn’t feel derivative in any way. It’s its own thing. This is a big departure in a lot of ways for you."

Kiss-ass. 🙄

[dryaddryagain]

"Oh my GOD could he possibly get any more clueless?? EVERY BOOK SHOULD HAVE A BEGINNING MIDDLE AND END. Even if it's part of a series!

Yeah I thought that was pretty funny, along with the idea that the parts of To Sleep should stand on their own but have been gathered into one volume.

As for the Brandon Sanderson quote, I amused myself by imagining he was implying that Paolini's previous works were derivative by saying To Sleep is a departure in that way.

[epistler]

As for the Brandon Sanderson quote, I amused myself by imagining he was implying that Paolini's previous works were derivative by saying To Sleep is a departure in that way.

If he was then he was either bullshitting or has somehow never heard of Venom or watched an episode of Star Trek or Firefly. Actually, now I mention it I realise we never really discussed the fact that the idiots on board the Edible Snail are clearly supposed to be like the crew of the Serenity - ie multicultural and endearingly quirky and eccentric. Falcon Punch for one is a blatant attempt at a Mal Reynolds type Badass Captain With a Heart of Gold and a Troubled Past. I said as much when I sporked the chapter where he's first introduced.

[dryaddryagain]

I totally buy that. I saw him use "the 'verse" once or twice on twitter.

[epistler]

Goddammit, Paolini.

[minionnumber2]

Either that or which SciFi classic is he going to rip off and claim is an homage. Given the description, I have my bets on Event Horizon or The Thing.

[epistler]

I'm definitely picking up shades of Event Horizon.

Of course that doesn't preclude the existence of Sueperpowers, because for one thing Paolini seems incapable of writing any novel that doesn't star a stupidly over-powered Sue.