Goodreads First Reads winner: I really enjoyed reading this book. It didn't have many slow points, and had some twists in it that you don't see from the beginning. The world is well framed and you can see yourself in it.

After disobeying multiple commands to retreat, in the opening pages of JS Collyer’s sci-fi debut, Commander Kaleb Hugo finds himself publicly disgraced but secretly promoted to captain the Zero. A cobbled-together ship, the Zero is the covert pride of the Service, its motley crew a band of rogue pirates.I’ll be honest – I’m not terribly well-read in the arena of military science fiction, despite it being a genre I enjoy quite a lot, especially on film. Like so many others, I was a huge fan of Fi...

In the not-so-distant future, humanity has colonised the Moon. But spaceflight for the everyman is not without its drawbacks: space pirates, mega cities and interplanetary webs of lies – did I say drawbacks? Sorry, I meant AWESOME BENEFITS.The Good: Zero is an interplanetary tale of intrigue. When Kaleb Hugo is booted out of the space military for doing the morally right thing (and the technically wrong thing), he thinks that’s the end of his career. Instead, he’s silently shuffled into the crew...

REVIEW From page one I thought this would be a new series that would be a definite winner. The author used a different approach to sci fi. Commander Kaleb Hugo is disgraced after not adhering to several commands ordering retreat. Even though, he was disgraced he was promoted to be the captain of the ZERO. The ZERO was a ship shod stuck together with whatever was available. The crew was a bunch of pirates that had gone rogue. The Serviceman and the True Believer are forced to work alongside a cre...

Rarely have I read a novel that integrated plot and character development so well. The story of Captain Hugo and his assignment to the spaceship Zero builds slowly at first, giving the reader time to meet the large cast of characters. Before too long, you're taken on a series of adventures, each one more dangerous than the last. The pace is fast, leaving the reader almost breathless, but Collyer balances action with those in-between times perfect for dwelling on character and relationships. Befo...

The debut novel by JS Collyer, (published by Dagda Publishing) is a sci-fi epic that is actually longer than 200 pages! While these types of stories are further down on my "favorite genres" list, this book really appealed to me, with its amazing descriptive text, making me feel like I was there, on the Zero, on the colonized moon. The story is visual, and I could actually see every unique place Collyer took the characters. It would make and excellent movie, and an even better anime! The characte...

I really loved this book. I got an e-copy in exchange for an honest review. Usually when I make such a deal I plan on only giving 4 stars because, it is typically breakout and indie author books I'm reading. J.S. Collyer's ZERO might be both of those, but you wouldn't know it going through the pages. This is an expertly crafted story with incredible character depth, and a compelling plot with twists I didn't see coming even at the very end. The scifi elements were evident and important to the st...

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-ope...

ZERO by J. S. Collyer is an interesting debut Sci-Fi novel. An interesting take on sci-fi. While, Sci-Fi is not my favorite genre, I found ZERO to be interesting as well as intriguing. The characters where engaging and entertaining. Well written, with danger, adventure and excitement. A well thought out plot and characters. If you enjoy Sci-Fi, you will probably enjoy ZERO as well. I look forward to more from this author. Received for an honest review.Rating: 4Heat Rating: mildReviewed by: April...

Ever felt overwhelmed on a new job? Like you don’t quite fit in, people are talking behind your back and, when it comes down to it, you really don’t have the slightest idea what you’re doing? It could be worse. Kaleb Hugo is tasked by the shadowy Academy to captain the legally dubious Zero space ship on a series of desperate (and frequently very violent) missions. Offering his unique brand of assistance is the de facto leader of the ship, Ezekiel Webb who gives all the help you’d expect from som...

**I recieved an ARC of this in return for a fair review.**This book is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. The only reason I don't give it a 5☆ is because it is not something I would go looking for. Miles away from my normal interests.However, that didn't matter. The author took something that would normally be very boring for me and hooked me almost from the first instant. The story is amazingly intricate and so very well done. The world building is fantastic. I would definitely read a second and

I enjoyed this book. It wasn't amazing but it was definitely extremely enjoyable. I wish we could rate things on a 10 point scale because this would be at about 7.75/10. I would recommend this to someone trying to bust a reading slump or if they were going to be traveling all day. First off. This is not hard sci fi. One of the few things I didn't like about the book was things didn't really seem to scale. At one point they spend a few hours flying from one Lunar colony to the next (which seems l...

I picked this book up without really knowing much about it; it was relatively new and therefore had very few reviews, but the blurb drew me in and struck me as being Firefly-meets-Star-Wars with a little extra military sci fi thrown in. I finally got around to reading it this past week and discovered that was exactly the case!Love the premise. No-nonsense military officer gets thrown in with a rag-tag crew of contractors with their own set of rules and methods of operation. It's a perfect setup

My earliest memories of science fiction all revolve around Wookies and green-skinned aliens, and having to learn different languages or else read sub-titles. As a child, I enjoyed the space-battles and futuristic technology, but for some reason, never got into reading this genre. For me, it was always more visual, perhaps because a lot of those stories were created to showcase new techniques in special effects.So, how does a writer carry a story full of action without the benefit of CGI and a Jo...

Intelligent Sci-Fi. Kaleb Hugo is the perfect officer for the Service, an organisation that keeps order in a not so distant future. But after disobeying his superiors in a spacefight with rebels, he is demoted and becomes Captain of the ramshackle spacecraft Zero and its ragtag crew. Officially the Zero is a privateer vessel. Unofficially, it does covert missions for the Service, sailing unnoticed into the darker ports of the universe.The adventures begin with a spine-tingling raid on a data fac...

Disclosure: I received an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of this novel directly from the author.Zero is the debut novel from author J.S. Collyer and the first in a series of what promises to be a restless, back-of-your-skull-pinned-to-the-seat ride for classical science fiction aficionados. If you're looking for hard sci-fi, look elsewhere. Zero is more Star Wars than 2001: A Space Odyssey.When an introductory quote is pulled from Tennyson's The Charge of the Light Brigade, the hint is there: expect...

Zero: An Orbit Novel takes readers on a fast paced exciting ride through outer space on a quest to protect the Orbit from devastation.The world has changed and many people have left Earth to live in the new colonies created in outer space, known as Orbit. Keeping order is difficult in this new world and The Service has been assigned to undertake this challenging mission. The Zero, a ship commanded by Ezekiel Webb, travels the Orbit building relationships through the exchange of goods. Their "poi...

Wow! This book moves at a great pace, and rarely lets up. This is a space adventure, a fast-moving action piece with little time to spend on explanation of the setting. However, the author cleverly integrates plenty of clues within the action so that the reader is able to envisage the world she has created here. And it is a world of undesirables, military types, skilled and able technicians, heroes and villains in many guises.This is a story that gamers in particular will love. The reader experi...

There are some books you read that you instantly want to see made into a film, to have the images you create in your mind brought alive on the big screen. I have had this with a number of books over the years but Zero went in another direction. I want Zero: The Game.From the first Zero has you wanting to grab a pistol and run alongside Hugo and Webb as they battle Splinters in the Lunar Strip or escape AI enforcers in daring motorbike chases through the forests of Old Europe.Channelling Joss Whe...

I admit it. Sci-fi isn’t my usual cup o’ tea, so I approached this novel with a little skepticism. Within a few pages, though, I knew I was reading a writer in full command of her craft (no pun intended).Collyer introduces a large cast of characters with perfect clarity and finesse. It doesn’t take long to know who’s who on the crew of the Zero, but knowing who to trust is another matter. It’s a big theme in the book, because many things are not as they seem, and moral boundaries are often ambig...