J. S. Collyer

This is an ambitious first novel, one which creates a sprawling and credible near-future, a tense and turbulent political situation, and then throws a rogue crew of space pirates into the mix. We’re a long way from old-school ‘hard’ sci-fi which tried as hard to be technically accurate as it did to tell a good story. Nope, think instead of Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate, Firefly, Farscape and all. Zero certainly aims high.

Although Zero is set in space and in the future, it’s not really space-opera as such. This isn’t about galaxy-spanning travel: it’s about human interactions set against the backdrop of a fragmenting social structure. This isn’t the gleaming world of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek where everything is crisp and white and perfectly functional. Instead it’s dark, grubby and corrupt: people scratch out miserable existences on remote way stations and shabby lunar colonies. Author JR Collyer has cleverly created an environment which is entirely her own – but also feels extremely familiar, allowing the reader to follow the plot at a ripping pace without getting bogged down in endless techobabble.

There’s a wee bit too much running and shouting and shooting in the several set-piece action sequences. I know I’m probably twice the age of the average Zero reader which might have something to do with my ennui, but it felt kinda repetitive after a while. The narrative really came alive for me not in the extended descriptions of running down corridors and being blown halfway to bits, but in the tense interplay between the two lead characters.

Then there’s one gob-smacking I DON’T BELIEVE IT moment (which I can’t reveal cos it’d spoil too much) where I literally squealed while reading. And I’m old. And I really have read it all before. It takes a lot to make me squeal.

There's more thoughts on plot and characters over at:
http://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/zero-action-adventure-in-nea...

Overall, then, Zero is an extremely entertaining read. It doesn’t bend any boundaries by extrapolating new technologies, nor does it challenge the reader’s comprehension with experimental styles. I hope that in future Collyer steers her space series more towards the speculative and fantastic aspects of the genre and spends a bit less time choreographing fist fights. It’s definitely a delight to find a talented new author who’s obviously enthused about the genre and has plans to explore it.

More spaceships, please. More space battles, please. And some aliens. Can we have aliens next time around?
7/10… (plus d'informations)