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Year Zero
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Science Fiction (2012)NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
An alien advance party was suddenly nosing around my planet.
Worse, they were lawyering up. . . .
In the hilarious tradition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Rob Reid takes you on a headlong journey through the outer reaches of the universe—and the inner workings of our absurdly dysfunctional music industry.
Low-level entertainment lawyer Nick Carter thinks it’s a prank, not an alien encounter, when a redheaded mullah and a curvaceous nun show up at his office. But Frampton and Carly are highly advanced (if bumbling) extraterrestrials. And boy, do they have news.
The entire cosmos, they tell him, has been hopelessly hooked on humanity’s music ever since “Year Zero” (1977 to us), when American pop songs first reached alien ears. This addiction has driven a vast intergalactic society to commit the biggest copyright violation since the Big Bang. The resulting fines and penalties have bankrupted the whole universe. We humans suddenly own everything—and the aliens are not amused.
Nick Carter has just been tapped to clean up this mess before things get ugly, and he’s an unlikely galaxy-hopping hero: He’s scared of heights. He’s also about to be fired. And he happens to have the same name as a Backstreet Boy. But he does know a thing or two about copyright law. And he’s packing a couple of other pencil-pushing superpowers that could come in handy.
Soon he’s on the run from a sinister parrot and a highly combustible vacuum cleaner. With Carly and Frampton as his guides, Nick now has forty-eight hours to save humanity, while hopefully wowing the hot girl who lives down the hall from him.
“Hilarious, provocative, and supersmart, Year Zero is a brilliant novel to be enjoyed in perpetuity in the known universe and in all unknown universes yet to be discovered.”—John Hodgman, resident expert, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
An alien advance party was suddenly nosing around my planet.
Worse, they were lawyering up. . . .
In the hilarious tradition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Rob Reid takes you on a headlong journey through the outer reaches of the universe—and the inner workings of our absurdly dysfunctional music industry.
Low-level entertainment lawyer Nick Carter thinks it’s a prank, not an alien encounter, when a redheaded mullah and a curvaceous nun show up at his office. But Frampton and Carly are highly advanced (if bumbling) extraterrestrials. And boy, do they have news.
The entire cosmos, they tell him, has been hopelessly hooked on humanity’s music ever since “Year Zero” (1977 to us), when American pop songs first reached alien ears. This addiction has driven a vast intergalactic society to commit the biggest copyright violation since the Big Bang. The resulting fines and penalties have bankrupted the whole universe. We humans suddenly own everything—and the aliens are not amused.
Nick Carter has just been tapped to clean up this mess before things get ugly, and he’s an unlikely galaxy-hopping hero: He’s scared of heights. He’s also about to be fired. And he happens to have the same name as a Backstreet Boy. But he does know a thing or two about copyright law. And he’s packing a couple of other pencil-pushing superpowers that could come in handy.
Soon he’s on the run from a sinister parrot and a highly combustible vacuum cleaner. With Carly and Frampton as his guides, Nick now has forty-eight hours to save humanity, while hopefully wowing the hot girl who lives down the hall from him.
“Hilarious, provocative, and supersmart, Year Zero is a brilliant novel to be enjoyed in perpetuity in the known universe and in all unknown universes yet to be discovered.”—John Hodgman, resident expert, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
364 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2012
About the author
Rob Reid
4 books345 followersRob Reid is a writer and technology entrepreneur based in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. He's the author of "Year Zero" (Del Rey, 2012) - a novel about aliens with a mad passion for human music. He also wrote "Year One" (William Morrow, 1994), a memoir about student life at Harvard Business School; and "Architects of the Web" (Wiley, 1997), which chronicles the rise of the Internet as a commercial medium. His other writings have included a cover story for Wired Magazine, as well as prominent features in publications including the Wall Street Journal, Business 2.0, and the Gilder Technology Report. He has also written for countless websites, including Ars Technica, Wired.com, and Spinner.com.
Rob was the founder, CEO, and Chairman of Listen.com, the online music company that developed the Rhapsody music service. Listen was the first online music company to secure full-catalog licenses from all of the major labels. Rob sold Listen to RealNetworks. Viacom's MTV Networks division later bought half of Rhapsody, and in March of 2010 it was spun out as an independent company. Rhapsody now has over a million paying subscribers.
Rob was the founder, CEO, and Chairman of Listen.com, the online music company that developed the Rhapsody music service. Listen was the first online music company to secure full-catalog licenses from all of the major labels. Rob sold Listen to RealNetworks. Viacom's MTV Networks division later bought half of Rhapsody, and in March of 2010 it was spun out as an independent company. Rhapsody now has over a million paying subscribers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,861 reviews
May 30, 2012
Nobody should ever be compared to Douglas Adams. It's unfair. Not to eulogise the dead but Adams is literally incomparable. That's why I respect the bravery of Eoin Colfer. Now there's an idea. Rob Reid matches and often surpasses the wit and glorious absurdity of Eoin Colfer. Year Zero not only paints a beautiful tale of the absurdity of our laws but packs the story full of excellent geeky nuggets both musical and Monty Python. Plus there's some damn fine science fiction concepts packed in like the ideas of wrinkles and The Townshend Line. Absolutely a pleasure to read.
March 16, 2014
I can imagine Rob Reid writing with a copy of Mad Magazine or Cracked on his desk, if not for comic material, ammunition for spit wads perhaps. Fiction needs a funny bone, but my patience has its limits, and like having to sit in front of the class clown, Year Zero exhausted mine.
In a nod to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Year Zero begins with a thoroughly average Earthling who realizes his planet is facing annihilation for bureaucratic reasons. Nick Carter (cue the first of many Backstreet Boys jokes!) works as an entertainment attorney in Manhattan. Facing certain termination by his boss Judy Sherman due to lack of original thought, Nick is visited by a young woman dressed as a Catholic nun and a dope who looks like a mullah. Giving the names "Carly" and "Frampton", the pair have confused Nick with the Backstreet Boy and assume he's partner at the law firm, ruthless litigators for the music industry.
There's a lot of explaining in this book, so Carly and Frampton explain that the universe has been pirating Earth's music since 1977, when a broadcast of Welcome Back Kotter was intercepted and the theme song brought ecstasy to billions of beings. 1977 is known as Year Zero, when Earth's pop music changed life everywhere. Carly and Frampton (get it?! get it?!) are Perfuffinites, a race that have gained fame as interstellar concert performers lip synching Earth's pop music. They're concerned that by our arcane copyright laws, every being in the universe owes us $140,000 for each illegal download. Certain parties would prefer to destroy the planet rather than pay up.
Intergalactic adventure (or lack thereof) ensues, with Nick receiving assistance from his neighbor, curvaceous musician Manda Shark, and cousin, a capable creep who Nick refers to as Pugwash.
I downloaded a copy of Year Zero for Kindle because the first several pages did sound irreverent and fun. Reid demonstrates a great deal of acumen about music copyright law and the gears of a cutthroat law firm hired to enforce it. My favorite sections simply dealt with Nick's ne'er-do-well poker player versus his boss of brass balls Judy. Nick is clearly a Mary Sue, a nice guy like the author whose only flaw is being a bit vanilla, and the attention that Nick's red hot musician neighbor lavishes on him stretches believability. Manda such a fun character, and I wanted to see what happened to her next.
Year Zero is a joke based book and I hate jokes. Black Sabbath references or digs at reality TV are fine, but what I love is humor based on character, humor that comes from some sort of reality, even if it's Ghostbusters reality. Reid fires pop culture jokes at a clip of one per page and after a while, I just wanted that to stop. I wanted to spend time with characters I liked and enter a strange universe that stimulated my imagination. This book fails to manage either. This isn't so much a novel, it's a wit delivery system loaded by the author and fired at the reader.
The special characters and punctuation in Year Zero annoyed me. The novel is littered with footnotes, at least four per chapter revealed at the end of each chapter. Footnotes took me out of the story, practically directing me to the table where the author of the book was signing copies. And the question marks never cease to end. "So what do we do now?" said Manda after a long pause. "Call the FBI? The air force? NASA?" Forget showing versus telling, this is showing versus asking and telling. Even worse.
In a nod to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Year Zero begins with a thoroughly average Earthling who realizes his planet is facing annihilation for bureaucratic reasons. Nick Carter (cue the first of many Backstreet Boys jokes!) works as an entertainment attorney in Manhattan. Facing certain termination by his boss Judy Sherman due to lack of original thought, Nick is visited by a young woman dressed as a Catholic nun and a dope who looks like a mullah. Giving the names "Carly" and "Frampton", the pair have confused Nick with the Backstreet Boy and assume he's partner at the law firm, ruthless litigators for the music industry.
There's a lot of explaining in this book, so Carly and Frampton explain that the universe has been pirating Earth's music since 1977, when a broadcast of Welcome Back Kotter was intercepted and the theme song brought ecstasy to billions of beings. 1977 is known as Year Zero, when Earth's pop music changed life everywhere. Carly and Frampton (get it?! get it?!) are Perfuffinites, a race that have gained fame as interstellar concert performers lip synching Earth's pop music. They're concerned that by our arcane copyright laws, every being in the universe owes us $140,000 for each illegal download. Certain parties would prefer to destroy the planet rather than pay up.
Intergalactic adventure (or lack thereof) ensues, with Nick receiving assistance from his neighbor, curvaceous musician Manda Shark, and cousin, a capable creep who Nick refers to as Pugwash.
I downloaded a copy of Year Zero for Kindle because the first several pages did sound irreverent and fun. Reid demonstrates a great deal of acumen about music copyright law and the gears of a cutthroat law firm hired to enforce it. My favorite sections simply dealt with Nick's ne'er-do-well poker player versus his boss of brass balls Judy. Nick is clearly a Mary Sue, a nice guy like the author whose only flaw is being a bit vanilla, and the attention that Nick's red hot musician neighbor lavishes on him stretches believability. Manda such a fun character, and I wanted to see what happened to her next.
Year Zero is a joke based book and I hate jokes. Black Sabbath references or digs at reality TV are fine, but what I love is humor based on character, humor that comes from some sort of reality, even if it's Ghostbusters reality. Reid fires pop culture jokes at a clip of one per page and after a while, I just wanted that to stop. I wanted to spend time with characters I liked and enter a strange universe that stimulated my imagination. This book fails to manage either. This isn't so much a novel, it's a wit delivery system loaded by the author and fired at the reader.
The special characters and punctuation in Year Zero annoyed me. The novel is littered with footnotes, at least four per chapter revealed at the end of each chapter. Footnotes took me out of the story, practically directing me to the table where the author of the book was signing copies. And the question marks never cease to end. "So what do we do now?" said Manda after a long pause. "Call the FBI? The air force? NASA?" Forget showing versus telling, this is showing versus asking and telling. Even worse.
July 5, 2021
3 Stars for Year Zero (audiobook) by Rob Reid read by John Hodgman.
I thought the book started out promising, it’s a fun premise. And it has a clever ending. But somewhere in the middle it just got kind of boring to me. Kind of like it needed another rewrite or two.
I thought the book started out promising, it’s a fun premise. And it has a clever ending. But somewhere in the middle it just got kind of boring to me. Kind of like it needed another rewrite or two.
January 20, 2018
I had a great time with this very funny book, but a few things should be accounted for.
1. You have to be a music nerd.
2. You ought to have a healthy respect or disrespect for music copyright laws and the dimensions they involve.
3. You must have a sense of humor.
One really ought to be a must or most of the great references and jokes will be lost and it is entirely possible to learn and be impressed by the great solutions to the copyright kerfuffle here, so you could squeak by with number two, but I'm gonna have to insist on number three. :)
That being said, this is a light and completely snarky SF about music. Specifically, how the rest of the galaxy so completely loves our music that it has been secretly stealing every single song we've produced to their great joy... and as we soon learn, their great dismay... because they respect the law. Or at least, they apply that respect to the home world's system of laws where the art is produced, and this is where the biggest problem arises.
Stolen songs here comes at a cost of 150k per song in damages. Current estimation of damages across the galaxy is about 1/3 the total gross wealth of the galaxy. Earth would be RICH AS HELL if it wasn't for that little spark of expediency called ... destroying the debt owed.
Good music? Sure. But we can't pay that much!!!! Kill em.
:)
So yeah, this does have a bit of a DNA vibe going on and it is very funny throughout because those galactics love everything we've made, but that's where the similarities end.
No spoilers, but a single Earth lawyer's journey through the galaxy is fantastic, and the eventual solution is geeky and fun as hell. Thank you, Lessig! :)
1. You have to be a music nerd.
2. You ought to have a healthy respect or disrespect for music copyright laws and the dimensions they involve.
3. You must have a sense of humor.
One really ought to be a must or most of the great references and jokes will be lost and it is entirely possible to learn and be impressed by the great solutions to the copyright kerfuffle here, so you could squeak by with number two, but I'm gonna have to insist on number three. :)
That being said, this is a light and completely snarky SF about music. Specifically, how the rest of the galaxy so completely loves our music that it has been secretly stealing every single song we've produced to their great joy... and as we soon learn, their great dismay... because they respect the law. Or at least, they apply that respect to the home world's system of laws where the art is produced, and this is where the biggest problem arises.
Stolen songs here comes at a cost of 150k per song in damages. Current estimation of damages across the galaxy is about 1/3 the total gross wealth of the galaxy. Earth would be RICH AS HELL if it wasn't for that little spark of expediency called ... destroying the debt owed.
Good music? Sure. But we can't pay that much!!!! Kill em.
:)
So yeah, this does have a bit of a DNA vibe going on and it is very funny throughout because those galactics love everything we've made, but that's where the similarities end.
No spoilers, but a single Earth lawyer's journey through the galaxy is fantastic, and the eventual solution is geeky and fun as hell. Thank you, Lessig! :)
September 14, 2012
A "science fiction" book for people who normally wouldn't be caught dead reading science fiction, and one that's directed with laser-like focus at its intended audience.
Year Zero is entertaining enough for what it is, but the book is trying very hard to evoke the spirit of Douglas Adams and not surprisingly, it falls well short of that mark.
Add to that an irritating tendency to include pop culture references that are getting well past their time (Rickrolling, Gaga, etc.), and flavor-of-the-moment vocal tics as well ("...Really?", "Zip it!"), and you have a book that's going to feel very dated in about... Well, actually, it feels a bit dated already.
Even this would be fine if the book wasn't quite so desperate to pander to its intended audience. Obviously, a book like this should be entertaining, but it's hard not to notice certain details.
Take for example, the corrupt senator in the pocket of the music labels, who happens to belong to the political party the book's probable readers would prefer he hail from--even though he almost certainly would belong to the other party. You know, the one this book's 30-/40-something, likely-to-be-loyal-NPR-listening readers probably belong to themselves. But we might have found that upsetting, so Reid obliges, even if the result seems very unlikely (and thereby misses a potentially more biting opportunity for humor).
So it's not surprising that the book is getting positive reviews from the likes of BoingBoing (it's not like they would ever ding a book like this, no matter how it was written), and you might very well love it too. But you might want to sample the first couple of chapters before you take the plunge, just to be sure you won't find it more annoying than amusing.
Year Zero is entertaining enough for what it is, but the book is trying very hard to evoke the spirit of Douglas Adams and not surprisingly, it falls well short of that mark.
Add to that an irritating tendency to include pop culture references that are getting well past their time (Rickrolling, Gaga, etc.), and flavor-of-the-moment vocal tics as well ("...Really?", "Zip it!"), and you have a book that's going to feel very dated in about... Well, actually, it feels a bit dated already.
Even this would be fine if the book wasn't quite so desperate to pander to its intended audience. Obviously, a book like this should be entertaining, but it's hard not to notice certain details.
Take for example, the corrupt senator in the pocket of the music labels, who happens to belong to the political party the book's probable readers would prefer he hail from--even though he almost certainly would belong to the other party. You know, the one this book's 30-/40-something, likely-to-be-loyal-NPR-listening readers probably belong to themselves. But we might have found that upsetting, so Reid obliges, even if the result seems very unlikely (and thereby misses a potentially more biting opportunity for humor).
So it's not surprising that the book is getting positive reviews from the likes of BoingBoing (it's not like they would ever ding a book like this, no matter how it was written), and you might very well love it too. But you might want to sample the first couple of chapters before you take the plunge, just to be sure you won't find it more annoying than amusing.
September 25, 2012
Nick Carter (but not the Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys) works at a law firm as a copyright assistant. Life drastically changes when two aliens pop into his office and tell him the news: Earth know owns the entire galaxy and some aliens aren't so happy about that.
NOTE: I received this through the Amazon Vine program.
Up until this morning, I had every intention of reading this book until the very end. But I had an epiphany: I had absolutely ZERO interest in finishing this book.
Why did I stop at page 156 at the book that everyone is comparing to Douglas Adams' brilliantThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Cline's amazing Ready Player One? I've loved both books. I've read Hitchhiker's twice--once on audiobook, once in actual paper form. "Ready Player One" is the best book I've read all year and my new top 5 favorite book. So if this book is being compared to those great works of art, why did I not finish it?
I think the biggest reason is because this book is most definitely NOT either book. It's nowhere near as clever, witty, funny, and irreverent as either book. Instead, this book is sophomoric, clunky, and mean. The characters are 100 shades of stupid, the prose is bland and emotionless, the story is buried under legalese, the footnotes made me stick a fork in my eye, and instead of being satirical or funny, the book is mean-spirited.
Nick Carter is a 12-year-old boy stuck in adult's clothing. I can understand why he has to be clueless (wasn't Arthur Dent?), but making juvenile jokes about petting someone's cat caters to the lowest-common-denominator. Manda is, like most women in stereotypical "scifi" books, reduced to being a set of boobs. Judy Sherman is a hideously caricatured boss, even so far as to be nicknamed "Cruella deVille"! (REALLY?!?) And the aliens, Carly and Frampton, are so stuck in their roles (one as the person who knows everything and the other as the stupid-beyond-belief idiot) that I wanted to cry. At least in Hitchhiker's Guide, pretty much everyone was a moron. And in "Ready Player One", the characters weren't perfect, but they were likable and relatable.
The story idea had promise. Aliens coming to Earth, trying for music rights? Interesting, no? But execution-wise, not so much. Much of the book is like one massive info-dump in music copyright laws (and given that the author was the creator of Rhapsody, I'm not that surprised). I suppose if you are a lawyer or like legal thrillers, you may not mind this as much as I do. But I came in for a scifi novel, not a legal thriller.
What about the scifi aspect? Pathetic. Although there are some mildly amusing sciency remarks in the footnotes (about the periodic table, powers of ten designators), there are ONLY mildly amusing sciency remarks in the FOOTNOTES. FOOTNOTES. What are FOOTNOTES doing in a fiction piece? Talk about completely disrupting the flow of the book! And half the time they could A) have been omitted without losing anything or B) integrated into the text and only ADDED humor to the situation.
Not once in the entire 156 pages I read did I laugh. I didn't even crack a smile. It's just not funny. It's like a 12 year old tossing in every half-funny thing he's ever heard and screaming, "LAUGH LAUGH IT'S FUNNY!!" And what jokes there are, seem to be mean-spirited jabs. The senator nicknamed "Fido" because he's at the law firms beck and call. The insults hurled at Clippy the Microsoft Word assistant. The horrible racial joke about how all Koreans playing WoW are actually aliens. Even the WoW scene seems to be making fun of people who play MMO's. This isn't like the references in "Ready Player One", which may have been silly, but at least they didn't outright insult people who play MMO's or video game nerds or people who like kitschy 80's bands and TV shows and whatnot. Here, it comes across as someone with an axe to grind.
If you are thinking this is like Hitchhiker's Guide or "Ready Player One", I would be VERY cautious when entering this. Please, if you consider reading this, check it out from the library or at least find a place that has a few chapters (and not just the Prologue, which is pretty good) for you to peruse before plunking down nearly 30 bucks. Maybe you'll find you like this book, and that my review doesn't reflect what you like at all. But maybe you'll be surprised that this book is nothing like what it is touted to be, and I can save you some money and time.
NOTE: I received this through the Amazon Vine program.
Up until this morning, I had every intention of reading this book until the very end. But I had an epiphany: I had absolutely ZERO interest in finishing this book.
Why did I stop at page 156 at the book that everyone is comparing to Douglas Adams' brilliantThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Cline's amazing Ready Player One? I've loved both books. I've read Hitchhiker's twice--once on audiobook, once in actual paper form. "Ready Player One" is the best book I've read all year and my new top 5 favorite book. So if this book is being compared to those great works of art, why did I not finish it?
I think the biggest reason is because this book is most definitely NOT either book. It's nowhere near as clever, witty, funny, and irreverent as either book. Instead, this book is sophomoric, clunky, and mean. The characters are 100 shades of stupid, the prose is bland and emotionless, the story is buried under legalese, the footnotes made me stick a fork in my eye, and instead of being satirical or funny, the book is mean-spirited.
Nick Carter is a 12-year-old boy stuck in adult's clothing. I can understand why he has to be clueless (wasn't Arthur Dent?), but making juvenile jokes about petting someone's cat caters to the lowest-common-denominator. Manda is, like most women in stereotypical "scifi" books, reduced to being a set of boobs. Judy Sherman is a hideously caricatured boss, even so far as to be nicknamed "Cruella deVille"! (REALLY?!?) And the aliens, Carly and Frampton, are so stuck in their roles (one as the person who knows everything and the other as the stupid-beyond-belief idiot) that I wanted to cry. At least in Hitchhiker's Guide, pretty much everyone was a moron. And in "Ready Player One", the characters weren't perfect, but they were likable and relatable.
The story idea had promise. Aliens coming to Earth, trying for music rights? Interesting, no? But execution-wise, not so much. Much of the book is like one massive info-dump in music copyright laws (and given that the author was the creator of Rhapsody, I'm not that surprised). I suppose if you are a lawyer or like legal thrillers, you may not mind this as much as I do. But I came in for a scifi novel, not a legal thriller.
What about the scifi aspect? Pathetic. Although there are some mildly amusing sciency remarks in the footnotes (about the periodic table, powers of ten designators), there are ONLY mildly amusing sciency remarks in the FOOTNOTES. FOOTNOTES. What are FOOTNOTES doing in a fiction piece? Talk about completely disrupting the flow of the book! And half the time they could A) have been omitted without losing anything or B) integrated into the text and only ADDED humor to the situation.
Not once in the entire 156 pages I read did I laugh. I didn't even crack a smile. It's just not funny. It's like a 12 year old tossing in every half-funny thing he's ever heard and screaming, "LAUGH LAUGH IT'S FUNNY!!" And what jokes there are, seem to be mean-spirited jabs. The senator nicknamed "Fido" because he's at the law firms beck and call. The insults hurled at Clippy the Microsoft Word assistant. The horrible racial joke about how all Koreans playing WoW are actually aliens. Even the WoW scene seems to be making fun of people who play MMO's. This isn't like the references in "Ready Player One", which may have been silly, but at least they didn't outright insult people who play MMO's or video game nerds or people who like kitschy 80's bands and TV shows and whatnot. Here, it comes across as someone with an axe to grind.
If you are thinking this is like Hitchhiker's Guide or "Ready Player One", I would be VERY cautious when entering this. Please, if you consider reading this, check it out from the library or at least find a place that has a few chapters (and not just the Prologue, which is pretty good) for you to peruse before plunking down nearly 30 bucks. Maybe you'll find you like this book, and that my review doesn't reflect what you like at all. But maybe you'll be surprised that this book is nothing like what it is touted to be, and I can save you some money and time.
December 20, 2012
It starts off really funny, but not gonna lie I got kinda tired of the joke after about the halfway point. Like, seriously I should have written this review earlier because I find it hard to have an opinion anymore. Like two months after watching a mediocre movie or television episode and someone asks you, "How was that?" and you're like, "Uh... it was... okay? I think? I mean, I finished it so it couldn't have been bad... "
September 20, 2012
I hated this book.
I think it has a brilliant premise but beyond that it just fails on everything else. Poor writing, bland characters, boring world, and old jokes. Nothing in this book really worked for me and it was made even worse to find out the book is one long setup for an old, uninspired, not-that-funny, and completely obvious joke at the end of the book.
I think besides the bad writing, boring characters, poor execution, and boring obvious jokes, I think the thing that gets me the most is the world. I've had friends that read the book and loved it tell me that the book is so self aware and that is the excuse for the world being so horrible. That's crap. Just because a book is "meta" doesn't give it an excuse to be that bad. A self aware book still needs to be interesting and have characters I actually care about. The characters in this book are all unbelievable and one-note. Nothing interesting or likable about them and they never change once throughout the book.
I've also had people scoff at me when I tell them the universe the author created is so unbelievable it's bad. I admit, that's a funny thing to complain about in a sci-fi book, but the world is just so bad it takes you out of the story. It's like the author looked at Hitchiker's and thought it would be a good idea to turn it up to 11 (see, he can use old jokes so I can too).
I think the best example of this would be to look at the Harry Potter world and this world. Strange fantastical things happen in the world and characters always act in odd ways but all those things are somewhat grounded. Nothing is grounded in Year Zero and everything just kind of happens which makes for an incredibly unbelievable book that constantly takes you out of the world.
All-in-all, this is just a bad book. It's not actually funny. The jokes are old. The characters aren't interesting. It tries too hard to be self-aware and current, but everything just falls completely flat.
I think it has a brilliant premise but beyond that it just fails on everything else. Poor writing, bland characters, boring world, and old jokes. Nothing in this book really worked for me and it was made even worse to find out the book is one long setup for an old, uninspired, not-that-funny, and completely obvious joke at the end of the book.
I think besides the bad writing, boring characters, poor execution, and boring obvious jokes, I think the thing that gets me the most is the world. I've had friends that read the book and loved it tell me that the book is so self aware and that is the excuse for the world being so horrible. That's crap. Just because a book is "meta" doesn't give it an excuse to be that bad. A self aware book still needs to be interesting and have characters I actually care about. The characters in this book are all unbelievable and one-note. Nothing interesting or likable about them and they never change once throughout the book.
I've also had people scoff at me when I tell them the universe the author created is so unbelievable it's bad. I admit, that's a funny thing to complain about in a sci-fi book, but the world is just so bad it takes you out of the story. It's like the author looked at Hitchiker's and thought it would be a good idea to turn it up to 11 (see, he can use old jokes so I can too).
I think the best example of this would be to look at the Harry Potter world and this world. Strange fantastical things happen in the world and characters always act in odd ways but all those things are somewhat grounded. Nothing is grounded in Year Zero and everything just kind of happens which makes for an incredibly unbelievable book that constantly takes you out of the world.
All-in-all, this is just a bad book. It's not actually funny. The jokes are old. The characters aren't interesting. It tries too hard to be self-aware and current, but everything just falls completely flat.
November 29, 2012
Book Info: Genre: Science Fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of humorous stories, science fiction, people who like music.
Disclosure: I received an ARC paperback copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis: Low-level entertainment lawyer Nick Carter thinks it’s a prank, not an alien encounter, when a redheaded mullah and a curvaceous nun show up at his office. But Frampton and Carly are highly advanced (if bumbling) extraterrestrials. And boy, do they have news.
The entire cosmos, they tell him, has been hopelessly hooked on humanity’s music ever since “Year Zero” (1977 to us), when American pop songs first reached alien ears. This addiction has driven a vast intergalactic society to commit the biggest copyright violation since the Big Bang. The resulting fines and penalties have bankrupted the whole universe. We humans suddenly own everything—and the aliens are not amused.
Nick Carter has just been tapped to clean up this mess before things get ugly, and he’s an unlikely galaxy-hopping hero: He’s scared of heights. He’s also about to be fired. And he happens to have the same name as a Backstreet Boy. But he does know a thing or two about copyright law. And he’s packing a couple of other pencil-pushing superpowers that could come in handy.
Soon he’s on the run from a sinister parrot and a highly combustible vacuum cleaner. With Carly and Frampton as his guides, Nick now has forty-eight hours to save humanity, while hopefully wowing the hot girl who lives down the hall from him.
My Thoughts: “An alien advance party was suddenly nosing around my planet. Worse, they were lawyering up. . . .” This book is hilarious. Seriously, if I started throwing in quotes, this review could end up going on to pages – I ended up reading huge sections of it to my husband wherever we happened to be, because it was so funny I couldn’t stand to keep it to myself and wanted to share it with whomever around me would listen. It’s amazing I didn’t end up going downtown, standing on the street, and starting a performance as I read it, truly.
A good example is a scene a bit past the half-way point in which Nick and his neighbor Manda are in a cab .
You see? A single quote and it doubled the amount of rambling I had already done! Imagine that times about 100 and you’ll figure out how much of this I was tempted to quote at you. And maybe that would be a more effective review than my excessive fangirling... but I don’t want to spoil things, you know? But no one would have time to read that review, so you’ll just have to trust me – this book is absolutely filled with hilarious stuff. And it also effectively explains exactly how Windows has saved the world, which you won’t want to miss. That bit is right at the end, though, so I can’t tell you more of that. There are also individual playlists for several of the characters at the end of the book which reminded me of several songs that I want to add to my own collection.
So, highly recommended for fans of humorous books, science fiction, and music. Definitely check this book out!
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of humorous stories, science fiction, people who like music.
Disclosure: I received an ARC paperback copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis: Low-level entertainment lawyer Nick Carter thinks it’s a prank, not an alien encounter, when a redheaded mullah and a curvaceous nun show up at his office. But Frampton and Carly are highly advanced (if bumbling) extraterrestrials. And boy, do they have news.
The entire cosmos, they tell him, has been hopelessly hooked on humanity’s music ever since “Year Zero” (1977 to us), when American pop songs first reached alien ears. This addiction has driven a vast intergalactic society to commit the biggest copyright violation since the Big Bang. The resulting fines and penalties have bankrupted the whole universe. We humans suddenly own everything—and the aliens are not amused.
Nick Carter has just been tapped to clean up this mess before things get ugly, and he’s an unlikely galaxy-hopping hero: He’s scared of heights. He’s also about to be fired. And he happens to have the same name as a Backstreet Boy. But he does know a thing or two about copyright law. And he’s packing a couple of other pencil-pushing superpowers that could come in handy.
Soon he’s on the run from a sinister parrot and a highly combustible vacuum cleaner. With Carly and Frampton as his guides, Nick now has forty-eight hours to save humanity, while hopefully wowing the hot girl who lives down the hall from him.
My Thoughts: “An alien advance party was suddenly nosing around my planet. Worse, they were lawyering up. . . .” This book is hilarious. Seriously, if I started throwing in quotes, this review could end up going on to pages – I ended up reading huge sections of it to my husband wherever we happened to be, because it was so funny I couldn’t stand to keep it to myself and wanted to share it with whomever around me would listen. It’s amazing I didn’t end up going downtown, standing on the street, and starting a performance as I read it, truly.
A good example is a scene a bit past the half-way point in which Nick and his neighbor Manda are in a cab .
”America Good!” the driver said obsequiously, apparently confusing us for government operatives... As we started to roll, the driver muttered into his cellphone in a language that had a spectacular density of consonants. After listening intently for a few seconds, he turned to me. “North Vietnam?” He shook his head derisively. “Very, very bad.” He listened some more, then denounced Brezhnev. Apparently someone on the other end was now mining an old history book for statements that he could use to prove his loyalty to the secret agents in his cab. After sitting through heated condemnations of Kaiser Wilhelm, the Mexican troops at the Alamo, and King George III, I pulled up a picture of Pugwash... As I opened the taxi door, a loud, shattering sound came from the top floor... and [I] saw something large and Pugwash-shaped accelerating toward the ground... The driver was denouncing the Algonquian tribe to me (they apparently fought against us in the French and Indian War), so he was facing my way and saw everything. Already plenty rattled, that was it for him, and he took off.
You see? A single quote and it doubled the amount of rambling I had already done! Imagine that times about 100 and you’ll figure out how much of this I was tempted to quote at you. And maybe that would be a more effective review than my excessive fangirling... but I don’t want to spoil things, you know? But no one would have time to read that review, so you’ll just have to trust me – this book is absolutely filled with hilarious stuff. And it also effectively explains exactly how Windows has saved the world, which you won’t want to miss. That bit is right at the end, though, so I can’t tell you more of that. There are also individual playlists for several of the characters at the end of the book which reminded me of several songs that I want to add to my own collection.
So, highly recommended for fans of humorous books, science fiction, and music. Definitely check this book out!
December 17, 2012
As I listened to the audiobook during a particularly long and grueling week of work, this was a welcome and hilarious distraction from the technology grind. Probably one of the funniest things I have come across in a while, it has a wicked satire of popular music, trendy television, our array of must-have-electronic devices, laws and lawyers and the improbabilities of space. I probably can't describe the plot any better than any other reviewers, but I will say that all of the music-related easter eggs hidden in the text (there are hundreds...I completely lost count!) and all of the supporting characters (the mysterious cat, the girl-next-door, the copyright-breaking alien colony, the pretentious cousin, the seething medusa lawyer boss, the vacuum cleaner) were all quite hilarious in their own rights. And the resolution to humanity's dilemma could probably send at least dozen conspiracy theorists to the geneticist quicker than Ozzy Osbourne can snarf down a Chipotle burrito. I say read it. Read it when want to laugh aloud in public and spew beverages from your nose onto strangers. Long Live The Townshend Line!
August 7, 2012
Both hilarious and relevant, this book is a must read for people of my generation. The plot is zany and off-the-wall, but it is a great vehicle for explaining the complications, greed, and absurdity behind our music industry. The characters are fun and easy to like. There are plenty of references to bands and musicians that will make any pop culture geek smile. There are also actual laugh out loud moments. This surprised me because I rarely find "humor" books funny anymore. They all seem to try too hard. For example, the Tim Dorsey style of writing (long, tangential rants and non-sequiturs) doesn't do it for me anymore, but this book did.
I initially read this book, because I share the same opinion as the author on the music industry (the way they cling to the past instead of adapted new technology, the way they let their lawyers bully people instead of innovate, etc.). After finishing the book, I really loved it because it gets the point across without laying it on too thick or disrupting the story. And even without the message, it's still a very fun read.
I initially read this book, because I share the same opinion as the author on the music industry (the way they cling to the past instead of adapted new technology, the way they let their lawyers bully people instead of innovate, etc.). After finishing the book, I really loved it because it gets the point across without laying it on too thick or disrupting the story. And even without the message, it's still a very fun read.
July 11, 2012
It started off with a good chuckle--the noble opus so sublime as to trigger the dawning moment of Year Zero was the theme song to Welcome Back, Kotter. Which, I've got to say, while I might not call an opus, is a mighty fine song that is on my iPod.
My first impression was Christopher Moore meets Hitchhiker. I'm not sure why the Moore since it's sci-fi, maybe just the slapstick humor. Now I know everyone is comparing it to Hitchhiker, and really it's not fair to hold it to such a high standard, people are bound to be disappointed if it doesn't meet their expectations after reading that, so I was reluctant to mention it, but I could hardly ignore it. And some will say that it's too derivative of Hitchhiker. But really, just because that was my first thought and so many other people's thoughts doesn't make it actually true. Because once you read it (and I hope you do) you'll see that actually it's nothing like it except in tone and because it has a lot of odd, silly aliens. And the Earth is in danger. And really, every story is derivative of the seven basic stories, right? The trick is just in writing a good, entertaining tale. This definitely doesn't copy Hitchhiker's plot or jokes in any way, it's just similarly styled, so if you like that kind of humor you'll probably like this. It doesn't have Douglas's satirical depth, but it is consistently sweet and amusing.
The book definitely caters to people of a certain age with the some of the humor like Hogan's Gyros, a Magoo-like stroke of fortune, the Kotter thing, Nick Carter, etc., but I fit the demographic so I enjoyed it. On the other hand, it's a thoroughly modern use of tech with mentions of the computer audio software, iPhone, apps, Google, etc., felt very fresh, and the Nick's voice felt very young and relatively hip, if somewhat nebbishy (as intended). I hope that the mentions of technology that were used don't make it feel very dated in a few years like some books that I've read. It doesn't feel like it will because it's pretty general. It mentions iPhones but it doesn't say which one. It complains about the new Windows OS, but everyone does that. It is more obviously set in a certain time than most books, but I think it will have a shelf life.
The plot had a lot of good twists that I didn't expect from the silly way things started out. And Nick isn't as helpless and bumbling as he first appears or as the inevitable comparisons to Hitchhiker will make the reader assume he will be. The premise is silly but the plot really does hold together, it unfurls logically for all of its absurdity and humor. The author said in the (very long) introduction that his beta readers gave him a hard time about this and it was worth it, it's more than just a long series of jokes.
The supporting characters were all pretty good too. Manda was cute without being too anything. Pugwash was a good character, he started off appearing to be that guy you think you're going to hate, but he isn't actually a bad guy, just kind of distasteful and annoying. Judy was a cool shark. Paulie was even funny.
The only printing issue I had with the advanced review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley was that the cutesy little footnotes totally don't work in the ebook version, at least in the pre-release edition, because they're printed at the end of the chapter not at the end of each page, so in order to read them you have to either try to remember what the footnotes were referring to when you get to the end of the chapter, or page forward page by page to find the end of the chapter and the footnote text each time it happens because the chapters weren't marked in a way that could be selected in the ebook version that I had. This may well be corrected in the final print edition. It's not that big of a deal, the footnotes are sometimes funny, but not significant to the story. (**edit - The author reported to me that the printing problem with the ebook version has been corrected, so go ahead and buy it if that's your preferred format.)
Overall, as you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this book. It was clever and funny and surprisingly sweet. I hope you'll give it a try.
My first impression was Christopher Moore meets Hitchhiker. I'm not sure why the Moore since it's sci-fi, maybe just the slapstick humor. Now I know everyone is comparing it to Hitchhiker, and really it's not fair to hold it to such a high standard, people are bound to be disappointed if it doesn't meet their expectations after reading that, so I was reluctant to mention it, but I could hardly ignore it. And some will say that it's too derivative of Hitchhiker. But really, just because that was my first thought and so many other people's thoughts doesn't make it actually true. Because once you read it (and I hope you do) you'll see that actually it's nothing like it except in tone and because it has a lot of odd, silly aliens. And the Earth is in danger. And really, every story is derivative of the seven basic stories, right? The trick is just in writing a good, entertaining tale. This definitely doesn't copy Hitchhiker's plot or jokes in any way, it's just similarly styled, so if you like that kind of humor you'll probably like this. It doesn't have Douglas's satirical depth, but it is consistently sweet and amusing.
The book definitely caters to people of a certain age with the some of the humor like Hogan's Gyros, a Magoo-like stroke of fortune, the Kotter thing, Nick Carter, etc., but I fit the demographic so I enjoyed it. On the other hand, it's a thoroughly modern use of tech with mentions of the computer audio software, iPhone, apps, Google, etc., felt very fresh, and the Nick's voice felt very young and relatively hip, if somewhat nebbishy (as intended). I hope that the mentions of technology that were used don't make it feel very dated in a few years like some books that I've read. It doesn't feel like it will because it's pretty general. It mentions iPhones but it doesn't say which one. It complains about the new Windows OS, but everyone does that. It is more obviously set in a certain time than most books, but I think it will have a shelf life.
The plot had a lot of good twists that I didn't expect from the silly way things started out. And Nick isn't as helpless and bumbling as he first appears or as the inevitable comparisons to Hitchhiker will make the reader assume he will be. The premise is silly but the plot really does hold together, it unfurls logically for all of its absurdity and humor. The author said in the (very long) introduction that his beta readers gave him a hard time about this and it was worth it, it's more than just a long series of jokes.
The supporting characters were all pretty good too. Manda was cute without being too anything. Pugwash was a good character, he started off appearing to be that guy you think you're going to hate, but he isn't actually a bad guy, just kind of distasteful and annoying. Judy was a cool shark. Paulie was even funny.
The only printing issue I had with the advanced review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley was that the cutesy little footnotes totally don't work in the ebook version, at least in the pre-release edition, because they're printed at the end of the chapter not at the end of each page, so in order to read them you have to either try to remember what the footnotes were referring to when you get to the end of the chapter, or page forward page by page to find the end of the chapter and the footnote text each time it happens because the chapters weren't marked in a way that could be selected in the ebook version that I had. This may well be corrected in the final print edition. It's not that big of a deal, the footnotes are sometimes funny, but not significant to the story. (**edit - The author reported to me that the printing problem with the ebook version has been corrected, so go ahead and buy it if that's your preferred format.)
Overall, as you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this book. It was clever and funny and surprisingly sweet. I hope you'll give it a try.
November 23, 2015
I have had this book on my to be read this for a few years. I was excited to finally get around to reading it. I loved the hilarious concept behind it, but I thought the pacing started to drag a bit as the book continued.
I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. The narrator did an excellent job with emotion and having individual character voices for everyone.
In the year 1977 aliens discovered Earth music and found it was far superior to anything aliens had created (in fact it was literally mind-blowing because of how much better it was). Now aliens have been listening to Earth music for the last few decades...without paying any licensing fees. Given the amount aliens listening to Earth music that means that the universe and beyond are quite literally in Earth’s debt by an astronomical amount of money.
Enter Nick Carter, entry level music copyright lawyer (who is sometimes mistaken for a Backstreet Boy). Nick winds up with two aliens in his office one day demanding he figure out a way to nullify the Universe’s debt to Earth. It may not sound like a big deal, but some of the aliens are thinking the best solution to their debt problem is just to blow up Earth...or at least allow it to blow up itself. Suddenly Nick is put in the position have having to save humanity from the music loving aliens that are in debt to it.
This was a hilarious book that reminds a bit of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi or Armada by Peter Clines. The whole story is completely over the top, yet strangely plausible.
For the most part this is a fun and zany sci-fi novel that is entertaining and engaging. None of the characters are all that likable, but this is more of of plot driven story than anything...so that works pretty well for this book.
I do have a couple of complaints...mid-book things start to drag quite a bit and I found myself getting a bit bored with the story. Additionally some of the plot points are so completely over the top that they come across as just plain ludicrous rather than entertaining.
Overall this was a decent humorous sci-fi read. I enjoyed a lot of the humor and craziness and the strange power Earthling music has over the rest of the universe. The story did lag a bit in the middle and some parts were so over the top that they were more ludicrous than entertaining. I would recommend to those who enjoy John Scalzi’s books, Douglas Adams, and Peter Clines.
I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. The narrator did an excellent job with emotion and having individual character voices for everyone.
In the year 1977 aliens discovered Earth music and found it was far superior to anything aliens had created (in fact it was literally mind-blowing because of how much better it was). Now aliens have been listening to Earth music for the last few decades...without paying any licensing fees. Given the amount aliens listening to Earth music that means that the universe and beyond are quite literally in Earth’s debt by an astronomical amount of money.
Enter Nick Carter, entry level music copyright lawyer (who is sometimes mistaken for a Backstreet Boy). Nick winds up with two aliens in his office one day demanding he figure out a way to nullify the Universe’s debt to Earth. It may not sound like a big deal, but some of the aliens are thinking the best solution to their debt problem is just to blow up Earth...or at least allow it to blow up itself. Suddenly Nick is put in the position have having to save humanity from the music loving aliens that are in debt to it.
This was a hilarious book that reminds a bit of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi or Armada by Peter Clines. The whole story is completely over the top, yet strangely plausible.
For the most part this is a fun and zany sci-fi novel that is entertaining and engaging. None of the characters are all that likable, but this is more of of plot driven story than anything...so that works pretty well for this book.
I do have a couple of complaints...mid-book things start to drag quite a bit and I found myself getting a bit bored with the story. Additionally some of the plot points are so completely over the top that they come across as just plain ludicrous rather than entertaining.
Overall this was a decent humorous sci-fi read. I enjoyed a lot of the humor and craziness and the strange power Earthling music has over the rest of the universe. The story did lag a bit in the middle and some parts were so over the top that they were more ludicrous than entertaining. I would recommend to those who enjoy John Scalzi’s books, Douglas Adams, and Peter Clines.
March 10, 2016
I received this book in a First Reads giveaway and really had no idea what to expect when I got it out of the mailbox. It had an alien wearing headphones on the cover... I read the back and realized that this is totally not my style. Still, I felt an obligation to the author to give it a go (he gave me a free copy of his book, after all).
Right from the start, the reader has to be up to date with every musical performer from the 70s until today. As a child raised in the 90s, I have no idea what most of these references even are. For anyone who doesn't know who the stars of the 90s and early 00s are, keeping up will be quite difficult as well. I cannot imagine this will be on too many shelves in 20 years.
The story itself seemed a little hurried and even sporadic. The characters didn't really keep me interested and the style of writing reminded me of an elementary school student's short story - then this happened, and then that happened, etc. I gave up on the footnotes about halfway through.
I'm giving it three stars purely because of the shock value. I was constantly like, "what just happened?" The parrot, for instance... Year Zero was somewhat entertaining and I did get through it very quickly just to see what sort of randomness would happen next, but I definitely wouldn't read it again.
This review can also be found at Cornerfolds.com.
Right from the start, the reader has to be up to date with every musical performer from the 70s until today. As a child raised in the 90s, I have no idea what most of these references even are. For anyone who doesn't know who the stars of the 90s and early 00s are, keeping up will be quite difficult as well. I cannot imagine this will be on too many shelves in 20 years.
The story itself seemed a little hurried and even sporadic. The characters didn't really keep me interested and the style of writing reminded me of an elementary school student's short story - then this happened, and then that happened, etc. I gave up on the footnotes about halfway through.
I'm giving it three stars purely because of the shock value. I was constantly like, "what just happened?" The parrot, for instance... Year Zero was somewhat entertaining and I did get through it very quickly just to see what sort of randomness would happen next, but I definitely wouldn't read it again.
This review can also be found at Cornerfolds.com.
May 11, 2012
I won this book on the Goodreads "enter to win". I read it and all I have to say is that this book is amazing. It truly made me laugh out loud, and I couldn't stop reading it. It has some really clever humor, some of which you have to have the right references to understand like "The cake is a lie", etc. The story line kept me captivated and it's delivery made me feel almost as if I was speaking to a friend. I honestly feel this is one of the best books of all time and I will be truly disapointed if it doesn't get the same coverage as the Twilight series. It certainly deserves it.
Rob Reid: New favorite author.
Rob Reid: New favorite author.
September 12, 2012
4.5 Stars
This book is a laugh out loud blast to read. It is cut from the news headlines and it is very relevant with the news of today. This is a novel that centers on the greed and machinations of the ultimate evil in the universe, the largest and most powerfully corrupt empire to ever walk the face of our Earth. I am speaking of the music industry of course…those dirty bastards. This novel is a parody, a science fiction unmasking of the music industries corporate greed. It is an alien novel twisted with good old spy action. Did I mention that it is laugh out loud funny???Because it is…I had to reread many passages out loud to my wife because they cracked me up…
The novel’s main story:
“Welcome back, Welcome back, Welcome back. On Earth, these lyrics were a humble cue to hit the bathroom before What’s Happening!! came on. But everywhere else, they were the core of an opus so sublime that the Refined League reset its calendars to start counting time from the moment it was first detected. And so, October 13, 1977; 8:29 p.m. EST became the dawning moment of Year Zero to the rest of the universe.”
Our universe became much smaller when aliens first heard that memorable TV song, forever changing the human race’s place in the galaxy. Without any real spoilers this book themes on current law and practices…think Napster!!! Or The Pirate Bay.
This is a fast action novel that does not hold back any punches or opinions, but it does so with humor the whole way through:
““I was disappointed, too,” Özzÿ said, making a shrugging gesture. “I was hoping for ironmaidium. But back when we renamed it, the votes were with Lars and the boys.”
“And what other … superheavy metals do you have?” she asked, clearly more stunned than ever.
“Well, there’s vanhelium, which is tough as steel but has a negative mass that lets it float heavy objects. Defleppimite, which is used in prosthetic limbs. And of course, slayerium, which is the most energetic element in all of creation. And then, let’s see, you’ve got your megadeathium, your ledzeppimite, then there’s anvilium, sabbathide …” As he went through this list, Özzÿ’s voice seemed to be getting higher, raspier, and softer.”
Another scene that I really enjoyed ended with this:
“And uh—remind me what happened with that one?” I asked. Holy shit!
“Some idiot gave them an Arabic copy of the new Glenn Beck book, and they weren’t even five chapters into it before they all defected and joined the Tea Party movement!” The effort of shrieking this left Özzÿ gasping, and brought his pacing to a halt.
“Whoa,” Manda murmured after a long, stunned pause. “There goes my entire worldview.””
I had a blast reading this book and it so much reminded me of those golden X-Files episodes that used humor as the springboard to the story. Jose Chung’s From Outer Space is the perfect example of what I am talking about.
If you enjoy extremely witty and funny light hearted science fiction that is also heavy in its politics similar to that of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, then this book is perfect for you. Highly recommend!!
This book is a laugh out loud blast to read. It is cut from the news headlines and it is very relevant with the news of today. This is a novel that centers on the greed and machinations of the ultimate evil in the universe, the largest and most powerfully corrupt empire to ever walk the face of our Earth. I am speaking of the music industry of course…those dirty bastards. This novel is a parody, a science fiction unmasking of the music industries corporate greed. It is an alien novel twisted with good old spy action. Did I mention that it is laugh out loud funny???Because it is…I had to reread many passages out loud to my wife because they cracked me up…
The novel’s main story:
“Welcome back, Welcome back, Welcome back. On Earth, these lyrics were a humble cue to hit the bathroom before What’s Happening!! came on. But everywhere else, they were the core of an opus so sublime that the Refined League reset its calendars to start counting time from the moment it was first detected. And so, October 13, 1977; 8:29 p.m. EST became the dawning moment of Year Zero to the rest of the universe.”
Our universe became much smaller when aliens first heard that memorable TV song, forever changing the human race’s place in the galaxy. Without any real spoilers this book themes on current law and practices…think Napster!!! Or The Pirate Bay.
This is a fast action novel that does not hold back any punches or opinions, but it does so with humor the whole way through:
““I was disappointed, too,” Özzÿ said, making a shrugging gesture. “I was hoping for ironmaidium. But back when we renamed it, the votes were with Lars and the boys.”
“And what other … superheavy metals do you have?” she asked, clearly more stunned than ever.
“Well, there’s vanhelium, which is tough as steel but has a negative mass that lets it float heavy objects. Defleppimite, which is used in prosthetic limbs. And of course, slayerium, which is the most energetic element in all of creation. And then, let’s see, you’ve got your megadeathium, your ledzeppimite, then there’s anvilium, sabbathide …” As he went through this list, Özzÿ’s voice seemed to be getting higher, raspier, and softer.”
Another scene that I really enjoyed ended with this:
“And uh—remind me what happened with that one?” I asked. Holy shit!
“Some idiot gave them an Arabic copy of the new Glenn Beck book, and they weren’t even five chapters into it before they all defected and joined the Tea Party movement!” The effort of shrieking this left Özzÿ gasping, and brought his pacing to a halt.
“Whoa,” Manda murmured after a long, stunned pause. “There goes my entire worldview.””
I had a blast reading this book and it so much reminded me of those golden X-Files episodes that used humor as the springboard to the story. Jose Chung’s From Outer Space is the perfect example of what I am talking about.
If you enjoy extremely witty and funny light hearted science fiction that is also heavy in its politics similar to that of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, then this book is perfect for you. Highly recommend!!
October 25, 2017
1.5 Stars
This book could have been great. The premise sounded hilarious. Sadly, it was full of racism, misogyny, homophobia, and failed jokes.
This book could have been great. The premise sounded hilarious. Sadly, it was full of racism, misogyny, homophobia, and failed jokes.
January 16, 2019
I am honestly bewildered by how this book has such a low rating on GoodReads. I am going to have to say this must be an instance where something that I really enjoyed just isn't the cuppa for most people and I am the minority on this one.
I found this to be funny and intelligent with some really strong female characters. Who have names. And talk to each other. About things other then a man! Well, there are three female characters who are named, all are strong willed and intelligent in their own right.
However.
They don't meet until only roughly 100 or less pages before the ending. And when two of them meet? It's to call the third one a slut, DESPITE having never met her before and only hearing about her.
Then the MC male agrees with them, using the "s" word and they cut him down, saying only they can do that, since they are women. Then, when they meet the third woman and they call her a slut, she gasps and asks how they knew?
Ok, Mr. Author, that does NOT make it ok for the other women to call her that. Slut shaming is WRONG, one. Two, she NEVER in ANY of the book, at ANY time, acts in ANY sort of sexual way. Never flirts or makes a pass at the MC or any of the other men in the book, let alone have SEX with any of them. So, how does she even qualify as a "slut", not that is an acceptable term for ANY woman, but it doesn't even FIT in this situation. That WHOLE part could have been left out and it would have been a five star book, hands down.
As it stands now? Well, the three female characters, other than having no respect for women in general by using that word, are all smarter than the MC and one of them, Judy, is the one who really saved the world, not our MC. Yes, she got involved because of him, but SHE was the one who did the negotiating that made it possible for the MC male to have the time he needed to come up with the idea he had. If she had been the one in the beginning who had the initial contact with the aliens, the book would have ended in like 50 pages, because Judy was THAT awesome.
The others also had their own parts to play that if they hadn't been involved, things would have gone sideways worse.
Also, this involved copyright law, which is rather close to the law I worked when I was a paralegal, so I was actually able to follow a good portion of it. And I'm also a science/science fiction geek, so that was also up my alley.
So this book rang a LOT of my bells.
Though I want to know exactly how much Manda paid for a bottle of 23 year old Pappy. In NEW YORK. Yes, this book was written in 2012, however, I think Pappy is a MITE hard to find and once it is found, costs just shy of an arm and leg. NO amount of eyelash batting is going to make the price go down.
The tech shown was pretty cool, I like the explanation of Bill Gates and Microsoft. That makes almost TOO much sense.
Despite the spoiler tag, I don't really want to get too into the plot and characters and ruin it for someone. I would recommend one of these two things.
1) If you are an eReader person, get a sample and start reading it. If it grabs you before you finish the sample, get it and read it.
2) If you are more of a physical book person, go to a brick and mortar store, pick it up and read the first few pages. (Or read a sample on Amazon and then go to the brick and mortar store to buy it from them. Indies represent!!) If it grabs you, trust me, get it. It only gets better from there.
The only problem I had with the book was the earlier mentioned ridiculous usage of the word "slut" that did NOTHING to further plot, character development, etc. Not necessary.
4, what a wild ride, stars!
PS-Meowhaus rules!
I found this to be funny and intelligent with some really strong female characters. Who have names. And talk to each other. About things other then a man! Well, there are three female characters who are named, all are strong willed and intelligent in their own right.
However.
They don't meet until only roughly 100 or less pages before the ending. And when two of them meet? It's to call the third one a slut, DESPITE having never met her before and only hearing about her.
Then the MC male agrees with them, using the "s" word and they cut him down, saying only they can do that, since they are women. Then, when they meet the third woman and they call her a slut, she gasps and asks how they knew?
Ok, Mr. Author, that does NOT make it ok for the other women to call her that. Slut shaming is WRONG, one. Two, she NEVER in ANY of the book, at ANY time, acts in ANY sort of sexual way. Never flirts or makes a pass at the MC or any of the other men in the book, let alone have SEX with any of them. So, how does she even qualify as a "slut", not that is an acceptable term for ANY woman, but it doesn't even FIT in this situation. That WHOLE part could have been left out and it would have been a five star book, hands down.
As it stands now? Well, the three female characters, other than having no respect for women in general by using that word, are all smarter than the MC and one of them, Judy, is the one who really saved the world, not our MC. Yes, she got involved because of him, but SHE was the one who did the negotiating that made it possible for the MC male to have the time he needed to come up with the idea he had. If she had been the one in the beginning who had the initial contact with the aliens, the book would have ended in like 50 pages, because Judy was THAT awesome.
The others also had their own parts to play that if they hadn't been involved, things would have gone sideways worse.
Also, this involved copyright law, which is rather close to the law I worked when I was a paralegal, so I was actually able to follow a good portion of it. And I'm also a science/science fiction geek, so that was also up my alley.
So this book rang a LOT of my bells.
Though I want to know exactly how much Manda paid for a bottle of 23 year old Pappy. In NEW YORK. Yes, this book was written in 2012, however, I think Pappy is a MITE hard to find and once it is found, costs just shy of an arm and leg. NO amount of eyelash batting is going to make the price go down.
The tech shown was pretty cool, I like the explanation of Bill Gates and Microsoft. That makes almost TOO much sense.
Despite the spoiler tag, I don't really want to get too into the plot and characters and ruin it for someone. I would recommend one of these two things.
1) If you are an eReader person, get a sample and start reading it. If it grabs you before you finish the sample, get it and read it.
2) If you are more of a physical book person, go to a brick and mortar store, pick it up and read the first few pages. (Or read a sample on Amazon and then go to the brick and mortar store to buy it from them. Indies represent!!) If it grabs you, trust me, get it. It only gets better from there.
The only problem I had with the book was the earlier mentioned ridiculous usage of the word "slut" that did NOTHING to further plot, character development, etc. Not necessary.
4, what a wild ride, stars!
PS-Meowhaus rules!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 23, 2023
According to Year Zero by Rob Reid, it turns out that there are many sentient life forms in the universe, and all of them are terrible at music – except one species. Humans. Us. Other brilliant and peaceful species in the universe have formed a confederation called the Refined League (Earthlings have not yet been invited to join), and members of the Refined League value music as the highest of the 40 identified “Noble Arts.”
One day a few years ago some alien anthropologists eavesdropping on Earth heard their first music created by humans. And rhapsodic joy swept the cosmos. Human music was so much better than any music ever heard elsewhere in the galaxy that many aliens died from forgetting to eat while replaying the theme song. The Refined League was so moved by the discovery of human music that they begin counting time anew from the moment of the discovery, and that moment became Year Zero. And the song that inspired such exaltation and respect? The theme song to the television show Welcome Back, Kotter.
If that last sentence made you laugh, or even smile, than you will probably enjoy Year Zero, a kind of Men in Black meets The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s a very funny take on human society through the eyes of young lawyer Nick Carter, a peon in a law firm specializing in copyrights and patents. He is in his office late one night when his assistant announces the arrival of two strange visitors. They are aliens trying to arrange for a license for all of humanity’s music. It turns out the Refined League has strict rules about following the laws of primitive societies like ours, and as aliens have been illegally downloading billions of copies of our music since the 1970s, they now owe us all the wealth in the universe. There are other aliens who figure it would be far easier, and far less expensive, to destroy the Earth instead.
Fortunately for Nick, the aliens mistake him not only for the founder of the law firm (now retired), but also for the Backstreet Boy by the same name. The interaction between the characters is great, and Nick is a likeable and totally believable guy. (At one point, the author spends half a page describing Nick’s thought process as he types up a brief text message to the girl he likes, so that it will sound friendly but not goofy, enthusiastic but not dorky.) Year Zero has references to other sci fi/fantasy series, but they are not overwhelming the way I’ve found them in some books. Year Zero also contains a wise-cracking sentient alien parrot and his sidekick, a sentient alien vacuum cleaner.
Author Reid offers a satirical look at the music industry, music piracy and the U.S. legal system. He takes many pokes at Windows, Microsoft, and Bill Gates. (“I twisted my fingers to hit the CTRL, ALT, and DEL keys – a gesture I associate so strongly with both annoyance and panic that my hand now reflexively makes it when I’m caught in traffic, stuck in a long line, flying in extreme turbulence – you name it.”) When Nick and a friend have trouble with an alien interface on a computer, the computer switches to a “native” interface that turns out to be Clippy from Microsoft Office (and no desperate act will make Clippy go away).
I completely enjoyed Year Zero, and I’m not even a big music fan. It’s funny and well written, and it moves at a great pace. I highly recommend it. I read an advance reader’s edition; Year Zero will be available on July 10.
One day a few years ago some alien anthropologists eavesdropping on Earth heard their first music created by humans. And rhapsodic joy swept the cosmos. Human music was so much better than any music ever heard elsewhere in the galaxy that many aliens died from forgetting to eat while replaying the theme song. The Refined League was so moved by the discovery of human music that they begin counting time anew from the moment of the discovery, and that moment became Year Zero. And the song that inspired such exaltation and respect? The theme song to the television show Welcome Back, Kotter.
If that last sentence made you laugh, or even smile, than you will probably enjoy Year Zero, a kind of Men in Black meets The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s a very funny take on human society through the eyes of young lawyer Nick Carter, a peon in a law firm specializing in copyrights and patents. He is in his office late one night when his assistant announces the arrival of two strange visitors. They are aliens trying to arrange for a license for all of humanity’s music. It turns out the Refined League has strict rules about following the laws of primitive societies like ours, and as aliens have been illegally downloading billions of copies of our music since the 1970s, they now owe us all the wealth in the universe. There are other aliens who figure it would be far easier, and far less expensive, to destroy the Earth instead.
Fortunately for Nick, the aliens mistake him not only for the founder of the law firm (now retired), but also for the Backstreet Boy by the same name. The interaction between the characters is great, and Nick is a likeable and totally believable guy. (At one point, the author spends half a page describing Nick’s thought process as he types up a brief text message to the girl he likes, so that it will sound friendly but not goofy, enthusiastic but not dorky.) Year Zero has references to other sci fi/fantasy series, but they are not overwhelming the way I’ve found them in some books. Year Zero also contains a wise-cracking sentient alien parrot and his sidekick, a sentient alien vacuum cleaner.
Author Reid offers a satirical look at the music industry, music piracy and the U.S. legal system. He takes many pokes at Windows, Microsoft, and Bill Gates. (“I twisted my fingers to hit the CTRL, ALT, and DEL keys – a gesture I associate so strongly with both annoyance and panic that my hand now reflexively makes it when I’m caught in traffic, stuck in a long line, flying in extreme turbulence – you name it.”) When Nick and a friend have trouble with an alien interface on a computer, the computer switches to a “native” interface that turns out to be Clippy from Microsoft Office (and no desperate act will make Clippy go away).
I completely enjoyed Year Zero, and I’m not even a big music fan. It’s funny and well written, and it moves at a great pace. I highly recommend it. I read an advance reader’s edition; Year Zero will be available on July 10.
November 13, 2018
3.5 Stars
Year Zero is a humorous romp about a guy just trying to save the Earth from copyright infringements and fangirling aliens.
The publisher’s blurb and a lot of readers compare this book to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy . And on the surface, they do have similarities. They are both comedies about average joes who get stuck in the middle of aliens trying to destroy the Earth. But it’s kind of unfair to compare Year Zero to such a hallmark. I think it might have set some extremely high expectations. Year Zero does have some rough parts, but it was a light, breezy read that I had a lot of fun reading. Sure, it had some cheesy parts, but it made me laugh out loud.
Nick Carter is a low-level copyright lawyer (not a Backstreet Boy) who is drifting through life. Everything changes the day he meets the aliens. It turns out that the galaxy is filled with refined beings who prize and excel at all art forms… except music. They really, really suck at music. So when they started picking up Earth’s transmissions, the rest of the galaxy became obsessed with Earth music and everybody downloaded all the music they could get their hands on. The problem is that the rules of the refined beings dictate that if you use a planet’s material, you have to follow that planet’s laws. Now the rest of the galaxy owes Earth an absurd amount of money for copyright infringement. And some evil genius has decided it will be cheaper to just blow up the Earth rather than pay the legal fees.
Like I said, it’s a silly story. But silly was exactly what I was in the mood for. Some of the humor was trying a little hard, but there were quite a few moments that made me laugh. Hell, that Backstreet Boys scene is still making me giggle just writing this. The music references were fun. There’s an awesome Rick Roll in there. And I could picture what was happening so well even if the writing was simplistic. The ending fizzled a little, but this was an entertaining and hilarious story great for lovers of humorous SciFi.
RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars
Year Zero is a humorous romp about a guy just trying to save the Earth from copyright infringements and fangirling aliens.
The publisher’s blurb and a lot of readers compare this book to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy . And on the surface, they do have similarities. They are both comedies about average joes who get stuck in the middle of aliens trying to destroy the Earth. But it’s kind of unfair to compare Year Zero to such a hallmark. I think it might have set some extremely high expectations. Year Zero does have some rough parts, but it was a light, breezy read that I had a lot of fun reading. Sure, it had some cheesy parts, but it made me laugh out loud.
Nick Carter is a low-level copyright lawyer (not a Backstreet Boy) who is drifting through life. Everything changes the day he meets the aliens. It turns out that the galaxy is filled with refined beings who prize and excel at all art forms… except music. They really, really suck at music. So when they started picking up Earth’s transmissions, the rest of the galaxy became obsessed with Earth music and everybody downloaded all the music they could get their hands on. The problem is that the rules of the refined beings dictate that if you use a planet’s material, you have to follow that planet’s laws. Now the rest of the galaxy owes Earth an absurd amount of money for copyright infringement. And some evil genius has decided it will be cheaper to just blow up the Earth rather than pay the legal fees.
Like I said, it’s a silly story. But silly was exactly what I was in the mood for. Some of the humor was trying a little hard, but there were quite a few moments that made me laugh. Hell, that Backstreet Boys scene is still making me giggle just writing this. The music references were fun. There’s an awesome Rick Roll in there. And I could picture what was happening so well even if the writing was simplistic. The ending fizzled a little, but this was an entertaining and hilarious story great for lovers of humorous SciFi.
RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 4 Stars
July 16, 2012
I did a video review for this book, which I posted here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7bI9b...
Below, I'm experimenting with pasting in the YouTube embed code. If it winds up being gibberish, just move along, nothing to see here.
Below, I'm experimenting with pasting in the YouTube embed code. If it winds up being gibberish, just move along, nothing to see here.
October 28, 2012
Since the moment I first saw this book I have been completely fascinated by it, and was even more enthralled when I won an advanced reading copy on GoodReads.com. At first glance, the cover looks somehow familiar, yet foreign. Anyone see a hint of Napster? Well you should, as Rob Reid took a lot of the inspiration for this story from those very legal battles. Oh, also, he was the founder of Rhapsody (Napster competitor and iTunes predecessor).
Have you worked in an office in the past decade? Have you gone to school in the past decade? Have you listened to music? Or stayed up with the buzz on Facebook? Have you ever been Rick-Rolled? If you answered yes to ANY of those things, then this book is for you. From page one this story is jammed packed with pop-culture references and viral tag-ups that any redditer would be amazed with. Chances are anything iconic you’ve seen on the internet, heard on the radio, watched on TV, or played in a game in the past 10 years is referenced somewhere in this book. I was completely amazed at Reid’s ability to intricately weave humor and plot, distributing little quips here and there and interlacing entire pages that were (literally) laugh out loud funny.
From the strangely familiar logo on the cover down to the roots of each character, this book entirely absorbed me and has changed the way I listen to music for the rest of my life. Reid did a great job giving our lives on earth some perspective, and laid some impressive groundwork for some unique and original science fiction concepts. WARNING: this book will give you a new appreciation for all things creative, be ready!
Also, the birds in Chapter 3 were EPIC and made me laugh so hard I cried!
Have you worked in an office in the past decade? Have you gone to school in the past decade? Have you listened to music? Or stayed up with the buzz on Facebook? Have you ever been Rick-Rolled? If you answered yes to ANY of those things, then this book is for you. From page one this story is jammed packed with pop-culture references and viral tag-ups that any redditer would be amazed with. Chances are anything iconic you’ve seen on the internet, heard on the radio, watched on TV, or played in a game in the past 10 years is referenced somewhere in this book. I was completely amazed at Reid’s ability to intricately weave humor and plot, distributing little quips here and there and interlacing entire pages that were (literally) laugh out loud funny.
From the strangely familiar logo on the cover down to the roots of each character, this book entirely absorbed me and has changed the way I listen to music for the rest of my life. Reid did a great job giving our lives on earth some perspective, and laid some impressive groundwork for some unique and original science fiction concepts. WARNING: this book will give you a new appreciation for all things creative, be ready!
Also, the birds in Chapter 3 were EPIC and made me laugh so hard I cried!
November 7, 2018
The premise of this book is that aliens have been illegally listening and copying the music of Earth, and due to the copyright laws and penalties now owe the citizens of Earth the entire wealth of the known universe :)
Pretty amusing concept and some of the prose quite pretty funny. The blurb compares Rob Reid with Douglas Adams but I think that's going too far. In this example I find him amusing in places but not hysterical. I think a better comparison would be to John Scalzi's 'Agent to the Stars'. Most of the story is more a commentary on the stupidity of some copyright laws and the bizarre practices that surround them. For me, the first part of the book, where these laws were being explained was the funniest. The middle of the book dragged a bit and then the ending seemed kind of rushed.
Not bad, but not as good as I was hoping.
Oh.. and this is the second book that I have read recently with an annoying musical reference. American authors all seem to believe that 'Cum on Feel the Noize' was by Quiet Riot, when in reality it was written, owned and first recorded by the UK band Slade in 1973. Quiet Riot had a big hit with their cover version in the USA (1983), but Slade got all the royalties:)
Pretty amusing concept and some of the prose quite pretty funny. The blurb compares Rob Reid with Douglas Adams but I think that's going too far. In this example I find him amusing in places but not hysterical. I think a better comparison would be to John Scalzi's 'Agent to the Stars'. Most of the story is more a commentary on the stupidity of some copyright laws and the bizarre practices that surround them. For me, the first part of the book, where these laws were being explained was the funniest. The middle of the book dragged a bit and then the ending seemed kind of rushed.
Not bad, but not as good as I was hoping.
Oh.. and this is the second book that I have read recently with an annoying musical reference. American authors all seem to believe that 'Cum on Feel the Noize' was by Quiet Riot, when in reality it was written, owned and first recorded by the UK band Slade in 1973. Quiet Riot had a big hit with their cover version in the USA (1983), but Slade got all the royalties:)
September 20, 2012
If you’ve seen the movie Earth Girls Are Easy that’s where I thought this book was going. A motley bunch of aliens bumbling around Earth trying to assimilate our culture and instead standing out like the Three Stooges.
It turns out to be a lot more than that. Although creative, original and funny there were times where the author overdoes the creativity and the humor felt forced. Instead of building on the background of previous aliens, we get introduced to more of them. And there were a few places where too much time is spent dwelling on mundane details. Also there are numerous references made to classic rock. If you don't know Led Zeppelin from the Graf Zeppelin you can still enjoy this, but you're going to read some of the jokes and go "Huh?"
The premise is a good one. Aliens intercept our tv and radio transmissions and think we are the greatest beings in the universe when it comes to music. Upon finding us, they believe we are entitled to royalties that would make everyone a millionaire. Neat-o! I'd be more than happy to take payment in gold.
If you like offbeat humor and science fiction this should appeal to you. 3 ½ stars.
It turns out to be a lot more than that. Although creative, original and funny there were times where the author overdoes the creativity and the humor felt forced. Instead of building on the background of previous aliens, we get introduced to more of them. And there were a few places where too much time is spent dwelling on mundane details. Also there are numerous references made to classic rock. If you don't know Led Zeppelin from the Graf Zeppelin you can still enjoy this, but you're going to read some of the jokes and go "Huh?"
The premise is a good one. Aliens intercept our tv and radio transmissions and think we are the greatest beings in the universe when it comes to music. Upon finding us, they believe we are entitled to royalties that would make everyone a millionaire. Neat-o! I'd be more than happy to take payment in gold.
If you like offbeat humor and science fiction this should appeal to you. 3 ½ stars.
January 8, 2016
Why not finish out 2015 by reading a book called Year Zero? I was ambivalent about this one, and I figured this for a win–win proposition. Either I love it, so my year ends with a bang; or I hate it, but if so, then there’s always next year! I was correct—and I’m coming down on the “hate it” side. So here’s to 2016: a brand new year for reading! But first, let’s sweep away this year with one last scathing review!
The warning signs for Year Zero start early. The prologue, Chapter Zero, is a neutron-star–dense cludge of exposition dropping us into this universe, where the universe’s civilizations are enthralled by humanity’s music but, because they are bound to respect our laws, are now guilty of copyright infringement and owe us ALL THE MONEY in statutory fines. It’s a stupid premise—and I’m OK with that. I appreciate that Rob Reid is trying to poke fun at a subject we normally consider dry and uninteresting, even though it’s super important. The cover copy of this book tries to liken it to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which is sacrilege and inaccurate. And it’s clear that Year Zero is trying to be a hip, zany-but-compelling critique of the music business and the absurdity of (American) copyright laws. Yet it is just so poorly written (and edited) that it falls short of even the most generous expectations I might set for it.
The prologue is short; I’ll give it that. If it were the only example of egregious exposition, then I might be able to move past it. But the infodumping really only gets worse from there. When Nick Carter, our hero, meets his first aliens, he naturally has lots of questions. And so most of the scenes are question-and-answer dialogues that lead us down increasingly convoluted rabbit-holes replete with pop culture references that might have been relevant and interesting in the nineties but just feel tired now. Nick periodically pauses to curse out Windows (and the last chapter is devoted, in a sad digression, almost entirely to that), and Reid alludes to Clippy, the Backstreet Boys, Brittney Spears … for a book from 2012, it feels dated almost instantly.
Meanwhile, between the constant, unwanted stream of information and the dated pop culture references, keeping track of the high-concept plot becomes an unwieldy proposition. There’s a reason why law shows focus on the drama among lawyers and their minions and courtroom scenes are unrealistically presented: real-life law can be boring. It’s tedious and dull. And the legal parts of Year Zero are exactly that. The moment Nick or someone else starts talking about the law, my eyes begin to glaze over. It doesn’t help that Reid belongs to the select group of people who think that footnotes are funny or somehow add something to a novel. (Full disclosure: I was briefly one of those people one summer in 2006, but I was also 16, so I feel like I have a bit of an excuse.) While they might have a claim to being more appropriate given the law motifs of the book, the footnotes are universally unfunny and forgettable; indeed, they are simply another excuse to shove more “facts” at us and more irrelevant names and dates.
I get the feeling that Reid is just trying so hard to be funny with every single page, as if the sheer volume of humour contained within the story might somehow make people care about copyright reform. Now, I already care about copyright reform, and I actually completely agree with some of Reid’s real-life positions on the absurd nature of these infringement laws. So maybe it’s a case of preaching to the choir, but this book neither made me laugh nor made me care about copyright.
There was one set of remarks I found both genuinely hilarious and thought-provoking. Reid has Nick comment on how the executives in the music industry seem to hate everyone who helps them make money:
He continues in this vein to point out how the industry’s hatred of Apple for revolutionizing digital music sales (and striking the biggest blow to piracy) with iTunes/iPods is irrational. This is a really great point, and this moment resonated for me. And then the book goes and makes another stupid joke about something else, and the moment is gone.
I’m sure a great deal of work went into this. And that’s where the editing needed to be better—burn it down and salt the earth help. Because the constant stream of “look at me and how clever and relevant I can be” jokes, however hard it might have been to come up with them, just feels like an attempt to cover up a lazy plot that meanders and goes almost nowhere, only to fizzle at the end. This also in the way Reid names things: Wrinkles, Perfuffinites, pluuhhs, and Guardians. It’s so half-baked and lazy that it almost feels contemptuous, as if Reid is intentionally writing bad science fiction in order to mock it—and, to be clear, I’m certain that isn’t the intent. But this is what happens when, in trying to be humourous, you make the mistake of not taking the genre itself seriously.
Further to the idea of laziness, Year Zero’s protagonist is a great example of one of the more common and troubling effects of white male privilege in literature. It’s kind of the corollary to the uproar over more diverse casts, or casting non-white, non-male actors as leads in “important” movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Basically, we white dudes are very good at believing that everyone likes to read stories where the hero is a white dude like us. Now, by itself, a story with a white dude as the hero is not a bad thing. But it gets really problematic when the white dude is almost certainly less competent and less interesting than other members of the cast.
Nick Carter is somewhat boring and not all that original—much as his boss initially pegs him. Indeed, Manda and Judy both seem far more suited to the task of dealing with aliens—and despite Nick’s eleventh hour inspiration to make him the hero once again, they pretty much shoulder the heavy lifting. And both Manda and Judy feel like far more interesting characters than Nick, to the extent that the entire book could have been written from one of their perspectives, without Nick at all, and been better for it.
But white male privilege often means authors have a huge blindspot here and labour under the assumption that a bland white guy with no particular redeeming talents or skills will, by default, be a more likable and sympathetic protagonist than competent women. While this is a problem for Year Zero, it’s not so much a critique of Reid in particular as an author but an example of a more systemic problem with our literature. We need to do better here, and one way to do it is to stop and think about who the main character of our books should really be.
Aside from that brief moment of lucidity I mentioned above, Year Zero almost manages to come together and feel coherent towards the end of the book. Nick and Manda are racing, almost out of time before the baddies’ plot comes to fruition. This crunch lends an urgency to the pacing that not even the constant infodumping can dispel. Unfortunately, Reid doesn’t sustain this suspense, and at what should have been a fretful climax, Nick miraculously saves the day in one of the most boring and tedious courtroom scenes I’ve read. And then there’s that last chapter about how Bill Gates and Windows are evil (amirite), and I just wanted to groan.
If Year Zero demonstrates anything, it isn’t the absurdity of copyright law. It’s that writing comedy is difficult. Not only does it take hard work, but I think a lot of people don’t realize that even good comedy writers end up discarding a lot of material just because it doesn’t work. Sometimes it can be salvaged, and sometimes it gets put to rest for good. But just because you have tried your best to be funny doesn’t mean you should put that best effort out there and expect a gold star.
I’m disappointed in this book not just because it’s terrible but because it’s terrible and it’s about a subject close to my heart. I’m really sympathetic to the ideas Reid portrays here; I wish I could love this book and hold it up as a great way to learn more about what bad copyright laws are doing to our society. It’s not meant to be.
So here’s to my last review of 2015!
The warning signs for Year Zero start early. The prologue, Chapter Zero, is a neutron-star–dense cludge of exposition dropping us into this universe, where the universe’s civilizations are enthralled by humanity’s music but, because they are bound to respect our laws, are now guilty of copyright infringement and owe us ALL THE MONEY in statutory fines. It’s a stupid premise—and I’m OK with that. I appreciate that Rob Reid is trying to poke fun at a subject we normally consider dry and uninteresting, even though it’s super important. The cover copy of this book tries to liken it to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which is sacrilege and inaccurate. And it’s clear that Year Zero is trying to be a hip, zany-but-compelling critique of the music business and the absurdity of (American) copyright laws. Yet it is just so poorly written (and edited) that it falls short of even the most generous expectations I might set for it.
The prologue is short; I’ll give it that. If it were the only example of egregious exposition, then I might be able to move past it. But the infodumping really only gets worse from there. When Nick Carter, our hero, meets his first aliens, he naturally has lots of questions. And so most of the scenes are question-and-answer dialogues that lead us down increasingly convoluted rabbit-holes replete with pop culture references that might have been relevant and interesting in the nineties but just feel tired now. Nick periodically pauses to curse out Windows (and the last chapter is devoted, in a sad digression, almost entirely to that), and Reid alludes to Clippy, the Backstreet Boys, Brittney Spears … for a book from 2012, it feels dated almost instantly.
Meanwhile, between the constant, unwanted stream of information and the dated pop culture references, keeping track of the high-concept plot becomes an unwieldy proposition. There’s a reason why law shows focus on the drama among lawyers and their minions and courtroom scenes are unrealistically presented: real-life law can be boring. It’s tedious and dull. And the legal parts of Year Zero are exactly that. The moment Nick or someone else starts talking about the law, my eyes begin to glaze over. It doesn’t help that Reid belongs to the select group of people who think that footnotes are funny or somehow add something to a novel. (Full disclosure: I was briefly one of those people one summer in 2006, but I was also 16, so I feel like I have a bit of an excuse.) While they might have a claim to being more appropriate given the law motifs of the book, the footnotes are universally unfunny and forgettable; indeed, they are simply another excuse to shove more “facts” at us and more irrelevant names and dates.
I get the feeling that Reid is just trying so hard to be funny with every single page, as if the sheer volume of humour contained within the story might somehow make people care about copyright reform. Now, I already care about copyright reform, and I actually completely agree with some of Reid’s real-life positions on the absurd nature of these infringement laws. So maybe it’s a case of preaching to the choir, but this book neither made me laugh nor made me care about copyright.
There was one set of remarks I found both genuinely hilarious and thought-provoking. Reid has Nick comment on how the executives in the music industry seem to hate everyone who helps them make money:
And as for decisive, these people are clinically paralyzed by ignorance, arrogance, politics, bureaucracy and, above all else, fear — fear of doing the wrong thing. And it's not just fear of hurting themselves that has them hamstrung. No — what brings on the night sweats is their fear of doing something that might inadvertently benefit someone they hate. And this is a real risk, because the giant music execs seem to hate everyone their businesses touch. They hate each other, for one thing. And boy, do they hate the musicians (spoiled druggie narcissists!) They certainly hate the radio stations that basically advertise their music for free (too much power, the bastards!) And they loathe the online music industry (thieving geek bastards!) They hated the music retailers, back when they still existed (the bastards took too much margin!) They hate the Walmart folks, who account for most of what's left of physical CD sales (red state Nazi cheapskates!) They've always hated the concert industry (we should be getting that money!) And they all but despise the music-buying public (thieves! they're all a bunch of down-loading geek bastard thieving-ass thieves!)
He continues in this vein to point out how the industry’s hatred of Apple for revolutionizing digital music sales (and striking the biggest blow to piracy) with iTunes/iPods is irrational. This is a really great point, and this moment resonated for me. And then the book goes and makes another stupid joke about something else, and the moment is gone.
I’m sure a great deal of work went into this. And that’s where the editing needed to be better—burn it down and salt the earth help. Because the constant stream of “look at me and how clever and relevant I can be” jokes, however hard it might have been to come up with them, just feels like an attempt to cover up a lazy plot that meanders and goes almost nowhere, only to fizzle at the end. This also in the way Reid names things: Wrinkles, Perfuffinites, pluuhhs, and Guardians. It’s so half-baked and lazy that it almost feels contemptuous, as if Reid is intentionally writing bad science fiction in order to mock it—and, to be clear, I’m certain that isn’t the intent. But this is what happens when, in trying to be humourous, you make the mistake of not taking the genre itself seriously.
Further to the idea of laziness, Year Zero’s protagonist is a great example of one of the more common and troubling effects of white male privilege in literature. It’s kind of the corollary to the uproar over more diverse casts, or casting non-white, non-male actors as leads in “important” movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Basically, we white dudes are very good at believing that everyone likes to read stories where the hero is a white dude like us. Now, by itself, a story with a white dude as the hero is not a bad thing. But it gets really problematic when the white dude is almost certainly less competent and less interesting than other members of the cast.
Nick Carter is somewhat boring and not all that original—much as his boss initially pegs him. Indeed, Manda and Judy both seem far more suited to the task of dealing with aliens—and despite Nick’s eleventh hour inspiration to make him the hero once again, they pretty much shoulder the heavy lifting. And both Manda and Judy feel like far more interesting characters than Nick, to the extent that the entire book could have been written from one of their perspectives, without Nick at all, and been better for it.
But white male privilege often means authors have a huge blindspot here and labour under the assumption that a bland white guy with no particular redeeming talents or skills will, by default, be a more likable and sympathetic protagonist than competent women. While this is a problem for Year Zero, it’s not so much a critique of Reid in particular as an author but an example of a more systemic problem with our literature. We need to do better here, and one way to do it is to stop and think about who the main character of our books should really be.
Aside from that brief moment of lucidity I mentioned above, Year Zero almost manages to come together and feel coherent towards the end of the book. Nick and Manda are racing, almost out of time before the baddies’ plot comes to fruition. This crunch lends an urgency to the pacing that not even the constant infodumping can dispel. Unfortunately, Reid doesn’t sustain this suspense, and at what should have been a fretful climax, Nick miraculously saves the day in one of the most boring and tedious courtroom scenes I’ve read. And then there’s that last chapter about how Bill Gates and Windows are evil (amirite), and I just wanted to groan.
If Year Zero demonstrates anything, it isn’t the absurdity of copyright law. It’s that writing comedy is difficult. Not only does it take hard work, but I think a lot of people don’t realize that even good comedy writers end up discarding a lot of material just because it doesn’t work. Sometimes it can be salvaged, and sometimes it gets put to rest for good. But just because you have tried your best to be funny doesn’t mean you should put that best effort out there and expect a gold star.
I’m disappointed in this book not just because it’s terrible but because it’s terrible and it’s about a subject close to my heart. I’m really sympathetic to the ideas Reid portrays here; I wish I could love this book and hold it up as a great way to learn more about what bad copyright laws are doing to our society. It’s not meant to be.
So here’s to my last review of 2015!
February 13, 2018
Year Zero is significantly better than After On. It’s funnier and more direct and a uniquely new plot I haven’t come across yet.
I still didn’t care much for it.
It boils down to the style; I get tired of the tone set by the writing, and the witty jokes only work so long before I zone out. Footnotes are a killing blow for me; books can be amazingly written, but if there are unnecessary footnotes? Game over. This was especially true in Year Zero because SO MANY EXCESSIVE FOOTNOTES. Seriously. If you can’t say what you want to say in the body of the novel, don’t say it. I stopped reading the footnotes about halfway through because they were useless.
The plot is very clever and I loved how the dilemma was solved. It was quirky and original, which is only reason I’m rating this one star higher than I normally would. The aliens were funny (what were they called? The pluhhh?) and the way they varied from one another was great.
Jude was easily the best character simply because she was so badass. Manda was cool too, but Nick was a stick in the mud and I totally understood why Judy wanted to fire him. That said, I also think he was brilliant at bullshitting.
I just couldn’t get excited after a while. I honestly expected to love this book but the minutiae is copyright laws (which Reid rightly makes fun of constantly) and the constant circular conversations between the characters wore on me. Conclusion: I don’t like this author’s style, despite a killer plot.
I still didn’t care much for it.
It boils down to the style; I get tired of the tone set by the writing, and the witty jokes only work so long before I zone out. Footnotes are a killing blow for me; books can be amazingly written, but if there are unnecessary footnotes? Game over. This was especially true in Year Zero because SO MANY EXCESSIVE FOOTNOTES. Seriously. If you can’t say what you want to say in the body of the novel, don’t say it. I stopped reading the footnotes about halfway through because they were useless.
The plot is very clever and I loved how the dilemma was solved. It was quirky and original, which is only reason I’m rating this one star higher than I normally would. The aliens were funny (what were they called? The pluhhh?) and the way they varied from one another was great.
Jude was easily the best character simply because she was so badass. Manda was cool too, but Nick was a stick in the mud and I totally understood why Judy wanted to fire him. That said, I also think he was brilliant at bullshitting.
I just couldn’t get excited after a while. I honestly expected to love this book but the minutiae is copyright laws (which Reid rightly makes fun of constantly) and the constant circular conversations between the characters wore on me. Conclusion: I don’t like this author’s style, despite a killer plot.
January 22, 2019
Most politely described as a satirical farce about the popular music industry in North America.
If you care deeply about such matters and are willing to accept the premise that the entire universe’s population of aliens is obsessed by recent US pop music, the resulting laboured exposition might strike you as occasionally witty or worth following. I don’t, I’m not, and it didn’t.
If you care deeply about such matters and are willing to accept the premise that the entire universe’s population of aliens is obsessed by recent US pop music, the resulting laboured exposition might strike you as occasionally witty or worth following. I don’t, I’m not, and it didn’t.
December 21, 2018
A nice quick read that was fun. A good popcorn book.
Characters: 4*
Universe: 4*
Plot: 3*
Characters: 4*
Universe: 4*
Plot: 3*
June 21, 2020
Silly fun and John Hodgman absolutely crushes the narration.
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