Year Zero: A Novel

It definitely had its funny moments and I enjoyed the book. Definitely not a story that makes you think though.

Cute, original, with a dash of Douglas Adams, but ultimately just a little too silly for me to recommend unreservedly.

Funny concept, a bit long on execution. Would have made a first-rate novella; at novel-length, it dragged in places.

A fun sci-fi romp reminiscent of a good Dr. Who episode or a Douglas Adams novel.

Maybe I picked up this book at the wrong time. Maybe the comparison to Hitchhiker's set the bar too high. Whatever the reason, I didn't find the first few chapters entertaining enough to keep reading.

not as funny as it could have been

Douglas Adams is inimitable. His imagination fires off in all directions, with you never sure just what he’s going to say next. Reid doesn’t imitate Adams but channels his genius in ways I didn’t think was possible. Year Zero is a fantastically ridiculous story that doesn’t stray too far from Adams’ style.

If your interests cross over between music (piracy), computers, and aliens, then this is best story for you. We start off slow and easy and eventually build into a crescendo of fantastic images that are laugh-out-loud funny.

The idea of the “Refined” league is preposterously awesome. Reid builds an incredible universe of aliens that are so in love with human music that they’ll hold lip-sync concerts, make faux reality shows, and carry around the entire library of human music. Oh, and when they listen to our music, they go into so much ecstasy that it literally kills them.

But that’s not all. The aliens are as strange as they can be. Between 2D entities, insect-like creatures, cute teddy bears with sharp weapons, and humanoid sluts, you’ll never see what’s coming. Reid channels his inner Adams in hilarious ways that even Adams would have appreciated.

Most notable is the fact that the most powerful organization in the universe – the Guardians – are impotent. In contrast, the actual most powerful organization in the universe is the Union, which is a government workers union.

What the book does best is music. From the peppiest pop to the heaviest metal that can be, this book covers them all. You won’t be disappointed at all by the music references, though many of them are from the ‘70s and will be lost on younger audiences.

I also loved the geekiness it exudes. It’s filled with jabs at computers, especially the whole Windows vs. Mac debate. And there’s a wonderful reference to why a particular operating system is such a pain in the ass. I didn’t see that coming.

The biggest star of all, however, is the human characters. While they aren’t exactly developed in detail, the characters still feel real and work well within the story. Without spoiling too much, I loved how the lawyers were represented as ruthless, inhuman machines with a soft corner for legalese, money, and rappers.

I haven’t had as much fun with a book in a long, long time. If you’re looking for something geeky and fun, then go pick this up right now. Just don’t pirate any music while you’re doing so!

Absurd sci-fi comedy is good. Okay, so maybe some things ring more like fantasy than sci-fi, but it's intended to be sci-fi and I had a good time. The ending gave me a good giggle. For sure, I'd read more.

Clever idea; sloppy execution. Both Benj and I look forward to a remix of this book by a more talented writer.

This is a quirky novel. It had a great premise, but didn't really deliver much. Year Zero made me smirk occasionally, and snort a couple times, but it wasn't as funny as promoted to be. It could have been so very much more than it was. The business part of the legality of music was a bit beyond me, and a little boring also. The name dropping, trend mentioning, and band/singer naming seemed a little dated.
The narrator or he audiobook is John Hodgman, and he was pretty good at all the characters. The surprise at the end, of the "earthling" that turned out to be an escaped alien, was pretty interesting for about a minute, but I guess it makes sense for the novel.
It also sounds like there will maybe be a sequel coming along, in the future. I'm not sure if I'm all that interested in it.
3 stars, and only recommended to those who like silly Martian stories.

Fun parody of the music industry. A little uneven but worth the read.

Very reminiscent of Hitch-hikers Guide books. Delightfully pokes fun at a number of human institutions, including copyright laws, lawyers and Microsoft.

Not as good as "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", but quite humorous and entertaining. Well worth the read.

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.

More comedy than sci-fi, in the style of Hitchhiker's Guide, that reads as a social commentary centered around lawyers and music rights/licensing. Enjoyable read overall.

Laugh-out-loud funny. It's been a while since a book elicited tears of laughter from me.
Reid skewers almost everybody from lawyers to unions; hipsters to politicians.
Gets a bit preachy about intellectual property rights through the middle, without much regard to the artist.
It has all the simple anti big-label arguments that say, "They brought it on themselves," and "It's only stealing if you get caught."

Still, I enjoyed the book so much that I bought it twice.
I started on Audible for a long drive and then picked up the Kindle version to finish up at home.
(I would feel silly listening to an audiobook at home. For some reason, it seems to make perfect sense in the car.)

We're clearly set up for a sequel. I look forward to it.

This is one of those books that I look back on and go "what did I just read?!?!"
It was a very fun book with the items that I have come to expect from sci-fi with humor that comes from looking back on the 70s & 80s!
If you love music, sci-fi or are just looking for an easy read that will entertain you it is all here.

At first this book seemed like a knock-off of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which I am not at all a fan of, but as I got into it I realized that it is actually quite a bit more. Underneath the "quirky" "random" humor it is a pointed social satire about intellectual property issues in the digital age. Filled with pop culture references, it will probably feel incredibly dated in just a few years, but right now it is clever indeed.

This book was cute and charming with a big hook. The hook was awesome and worth reading on its own. The cute and the charming held the whole thing together, but didn't really improve on the first impression.

The hook though, what a hook. The hook is the premise that alien cultures love earth music, but are legally obligated to respect our copyright laws. Thus, the insanity that is the copyright damage protection act and the Digital Millenium Copyright act threaten to be the end of humanity.

This central premise is the reason to read this book. If copyright aliens and the end of the Earth don't make you giggle, don't bother. The rest of the book is cute and charming, but hardly remarkable. There is a lot that feels influenced by Scalzi's Agent to the Stars. Scalzi does it better.

I'm very glad I took a chance on this one, but it is a one-joke book. If you like the joke, you'll enjoy the book. If it doesn't work for you, neither will the book.

Enjoyable, but not great. Reads a bit like Scalzi's more comedic stories.

This is the funniest thing I've read in a long, long time. And one of the most originals.

A fun sci-fi farce, with aliens and lawyers. The universe has fallen in love with Earth's music, but illegally pirated all of it. Then trouble and misadventures follow.

An engaging book about what happens when aliens copy the entirety of the Earth's musical catalog, and the copyright licensing implications of such copying. It's more fun than it sounds, honest, although I do speak as an intellectual property lawyer, and my tastes may be a trifle skewed in this regard. A light, fun read.

Aliens have been spying on humanity since the 1970s. And while they don't have a terribly high opinion of our culture in general, they really like our music. They really, really like our music. Turns out we're the only species in the universe that's any good at all at that particular art form, to the extent that even our schlockiest TV theme songs can make the average alien swoon with ecstasy. So, needless to say, they've spent a lot of time listening to our songs. And making copies. Lots of copies. And now, they've suddenly discovered the human concept of copyright law, which they feel morally bound to obey... meaning humanity is now owed literally all of the money in the universe. But there are some people who think it would be nice if humanity were to quietly wipe itself out, so that no one will have to pay up.

Based on the premise, and the buzz I heard about this novel when it first came out, I was expecting a really smart, sharp satire. On that score, I must say, I was a little disappointed. There is some satire here, but it's rather uneven in its effectiveness, and mostly the humor is more on the "silly romp" end of things. Sometimes a little too silly, really. Still, it was fairly amusing, and I did chuckle out loud a number of times. So, not bad, but not quite what I was expecting or entirely in the mood for.

Really clever and funny. The reason it gets 4 stars instead of 5 is that in a few parts of the 2nd act, it starts to bog down because it takes itself too seriously. The novel is at its best when the author's tongue is firmly in cheek. HIGHLY recommended (especially if you are a lawyer, or in the music business).

If you liked the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you'll like Year Zero, too. Robert Reid's satirical look at what happens when aliens realize they have violated American copyright laws will have you smiling and chuckling from the moment two oddly dressed people (a redheaded mullah and a curvaceous nun) appear in Nick Carter's office and ask for him to straighten things out. Reminiscent of the sarcastic and over-the-top style made Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a cult classic, Reid has a style all his own.

Nick Carter is an junior attorney at a large New York law firm that makes its money suing every possible threat to their entertainment industry masters. On the verge of crossing over into the big time, Carter finds himself thrust into a plot to save the Earth from its own universe renowned music, all because he shares a name with a member of a once popular boyband still famous from Alpha Centauri to Andromeda. Before he's done, Nick will face the awesome power of unionized government employees, travel with entitled and bumbling reality stars from the stars, hoodwink a vacuum cleaner made of heavy metals, and argue before a tribunal of spineless alien bureaucrats. Also, he'll win love and impress a tough as nails partner in his firm.

Reid's Year Zero weaves a smart and satirical tale that mocks politics, pop music and the music industry, recording artists, Branson, Missouri, big law firms (and lawyers in general), Microsoft, bureaucrats, government unions, the United Nations, Senator Orrin Hatch, and indie musicians, just to name a few. Along the way, Reid peppers the story (heavily) with footnotes, and footnotes on the footnotes, that are humorous and informative in themselves.

As it goes in Jerry Maguire, Reid had me at 'hello," and I blazed through Year Zero and was almost sad to see it end. With any luck, it won't be Reid's last. I can't wait to read Rob Reid's next book. Whatever it is, I'm picking it up. If he can write anything even half as fun, insightful, and witty as Year Zero, then it will be worth the time.

Nick Carter is a New York City intellectual property lawyer teetering on a career precipice. Only bringing in some fantastic new client can save him from getting the boot. That's doesn't seem likely, though, until a couple of aliens materialize in his office, bringing him the biggest copyright infringement case of all time.

Carly and Frampton tell Nick (who they think is Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys in a second career) that aliens discovered Earth music some years back, during the "Kotter Moment," the instant when their monitoring of US airwaves allowed them to hear the Welcome Back Kotter theme song. It threw them into such ecstasies that brains literally melted. They sent teams to a secret tunnel under the Waldorf Astoria to copy all of the Earth's music for the listening delight of the universe.

The problem is, the universe is run by the Refined League, who insist that all local laws be obeyed, which means that the fines for unauthorized music copying will bankrupt the entire universe. Some think a better solution is to obliterate the Earth. Carly, Frampton and Nick race against the clock to find a solution before the Earth goes boom.

There follows a wild ride through time Wrinkles, meetings with aliens like pluhhhs, Perfuffinites and the Guardians from the planet Fiffywhumpy. Some are cute and some are extremely scary. But on a scale of scariness, none can rival Judy, the partner at Nick's firm whom they decide is the only person crazily aggressive enough to win this fight.

Author Rob Reid was the founder of Listen[dot]com, which initiated the Rhapsody music streaming service. He has been a longtime critic of the music industry, its lawyers and lobbyists, over their music copyright stands. He satirizes them relentlessly in Year Zero. It's funny stuff. The book's footnotes contain some real gems and should not be skipped----the way footnotes often are, even though we don't like to admit it. And don't omit the endnotes either, where you'll see playlists of the book's key characters. They'll have you giving your iTunes a workout.

Reid has a rollicking, smart-alecky writing style (describing a protective mob as appearing as if they "had just heard that their kid sister was at the junior high school dance with R. Kelly"), and strong characterization and dialog skills, but he stumbles somewhat in the plotting department. In his acknowledgments, he mentions one person as giving him the "polite but firm suggestion that I consider adding a plot to the book after reading an early draft of it." No doubt he added some, but more would have been better. As it is, the book has less of a story arc than a squiggle. All in all, though, this is a promising effort for a first-time novelist and an amusing read. I'm giving it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

Note: How weird is it that I've read two books in a row with meetings set in the secret rail tunnel underneath the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel that Franklin Delano Roosevelt used to travel on? The other book, which I do NOT recommend, is the mystery Jack 1939, by Francine Mathews.

If you're interested in aliens, music, fun and copyright this book is for you. It tells the story of a lawyer trying to save the world.

Book is a fun read. Pages flow, there isn't a breath taking speed in story but it is read very easily. There are a lot of brilliant plot twists. Rob Reid knows his music industry and his alien society is believable. He put lots of easter eggs in novel and merits a second read.

I'll put a longer review for my blog but if you saw this book buy it.

Hilarious and informative, all at once.

So funny, so ridiculous! Gives a little nostalgic walk down memory lane with mention of old TV sitcoms, bands, singers, and music from the mid '70s on. The author makes fun of the music industry, goofy copyright laws and punishments, lawyers, government workers, labor unions, almost no one is left out from his satirical wit. I listened to the audio ebook version, and it took me a short time to get into it, but once I was hooked I was completely hooked!