Year Zero

A Novel

By: Rob Reid

Narrated by: John Hodgman

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

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 48 hours to save humanity, while hopefully wowing the hot girl who lives down the hall from him.

©2012 Robert Reid (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Fans of Douglas Adams will rave about this smart, funny satire. Debut novelist Reid, founder of Listen.com, has crafted a masterly plot that deftly skewers the American obsession with music, money, and power. Fast paced and original, this is highly recommended." (Library Journal [starred review])

"Witty and original - I loved it. A biting satire of the record business and those who run it...and ultimately ran it into the ground." (Cliff Bleszinski, creator, Gears of War)

"With chess master precision, the refreshingly ray gun-free novel wittily plays with the possibilities of its fantastical plot. It mixes airtight point-and-counter point rounds of arguments with wild travails to distant worlds. The careful cohesion of Year Zero is a marvel given its star-hopping digressions." (Buffalo News)

So that is how it took place.

Would you consider the audio edition of Year Zero to be better than the print version?

Interesting what the pivot point was that humanity was discovered. I loved the references to all the things we remember from the past. This book gives us the answer to why we have not advanced to flying cars and hover boards.

What did you like best about this story?

References

What about John Hodgman’s performance did you like?

ability to verbalize the characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Good, not Earth-shattering

Lovely book, even being such an obvious nod to Douglas Adams with all the key ingredients- somewhat clueless, yet adorkable protagonist and his quirky sidekicks try to save the planet, all the while stumbling through Universe and encountering various goofy aliens.

The copyright laws wrapping and expositionary dialogues are a little too thick in the middle of the book, where I had to rewind a few times due to loss of attention.

Excellent narrator, read the story very engagingly, yet without overwhelming with silly voices - no mean feat, considering the aforementioned goofiness of characters.

While I enjoyed the book once (well, 1.5 times, if you take all the rewinding into account), I cannot see myself reaching for it again in the future - except, maybe, in need of light-hearted, fluffy ear stuffing while trying to fall asleep with neighbors hosting their own Performance Canyon show at 3 am.

A fun flight of Fancy

I'll admit it - I'm a John Hodgman fan - his brand of humor is what initially made me buy this book. I was pleasantly surprised by a story that is not only zany, but, in its own way, entirely possible. This book is more about us than aliens, but uses aliens to comment on ourselves. Its funny - its a bit wacky - but it works.

Just plain fun

What made the experience of listening to Year Zero the most enjoyable?

This was a fun story made better by the narrator.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Carly, the narrator made her sound somewhat like Stewie from Family Guy and that made all her lines hysterical.

Which scene was your favorite?

All had their moments, any with Carly and Frampton.

If you could take any character from Year Zero out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Judy, the go getter lawyer with no conscious or scruples. She tells it like it is

Any additional comments?

Don't take this too seriously and you will have a good time.

Funny, Wry Look at Lawyers, Politicians and Aliens

What made the experience of listening to Year Zero the most enjoyable?

I loved the story. Reid's imagination is fantastic. I really could not stop chuckling at all the lines.

What about John Hodgman’s performance did you like?

He did a very good job with the material. He got into the voices and the characters.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and as soon as it was done I wanted to listen to it over again.

Any additional comments?

You see so many books compared to The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, but this really is the best book since. If you liked Dougles Adams you will love this book.

didn't get me hooked

I bought this book because of the good recommendations and the various references to other sci-fi authors whose books I like to read. Well, what can I say: It does have all the relevant stuff a book in this genre needs (originality, weird but likable characters, good pace and humor) but still: I have to say the last two hours I repeatedly looked at my iPod to check how much longer there is to go ...
The narration was very good though.

Great Book, Great Narration!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I would. It certainly was a different experience compared to the other alien encounter books I have read. Humorous and a great story line

Good Listen!!

Move over Douglas Adams! Year Zero is reminiscent of Adams' quirky humor -- an enjoyable, light listen.

Great narration!

Good job, John on all the voices! I also enjoyed the originality of the story.

Year zero?

More like Year HERO! Im only putting these words here to reach the min limit.