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Year Zero: A Novel Kindle Edition
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. The entire cosmos, they tell him, has been hopelessly hooked on American pop songs ever since “Year Zero” (1977 to us), resulting in the biggest copyright violation since the Big Bang and bankrupting the whole universe. Nick has just been tapped to clean up this mess before things get ugly. Thankfully, this unlikely galaxy-hopping hero does know a thing or two about copyright law. Now, with Carly and Frampton as his guides, Nick has forty-eight hours to save humanity—while hoping to wow the hot girl who lives down the hall from him.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDel Rey
- Publication date10 July 2012
- File size881 KB
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Review
"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
"Reid's extreme imagination never wanes as he builds an entire universe solely on how alien societies would react to our music and culture. Nothing is typical or obvious. Reid uses the lens of an outsider to unleash a sarcastic--and hilarious--rant on how obsessed we are with technology and greed."
Associated Press
"Holy hilarity! A new force in geek humor is upon us. You'll never think the same way again about extraterrestrials, bad music, buggy technology--or lawyers!"
Chris Anderson, TED curator
"I loved it. Funny, smart, silly . . . three things I also happen to admire in a novel. Bottom line: recommended. Buy it and read it."
Phil Plait, Discover Magazine
"Year Zero made me laugh out loud and taught me stuff about copyright infringement: It's clever, smart, and so original that people are probably already trying to rip it off."
Charles Yu, author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
"All in all, it's a supremely fun read which will remind you how much you love science fiction comedy--and how much you hate the music industry."
io9
"My pick for best (and funniest) sci-fi book of the year."
Chris Anderson, editor in chief, Wired
"Hailed as this summer's best beach read for science fiction and music geeks . . . It's an often hilarious satire on much of current entertainment, including reality TV, the legal profession and fandom (interstellar and otherwise), but the book's crowning achievement is that it actually makes copyright funny."
Toronto Star
"Year Zero is ROFLMAO funny, insightful, and sly: A sort of Hitchhiker's Guide to our own tortured commercial/litigation culture, by way of planet Zinkiwu."
Mark Jannot, editor in chief, Popular Science
"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
"Smart and wacky."
Bob Boilen, NPR's All Songs Considered
"Reid . . . takes aim at many targets--technology, the music industry, hipsters--and nails them hilariously."
Parade
"What if aliens heard our music--and really liked it? You could 'what if' for the next millennium and still not come up with as many zany scenarios as Rob Reid does in this tale of copyright law, astrophysics, biophysics, and crazy physics that hasn't yet been invented. So sit back, hold your sides to ease the laughing pains, and find out whether Earth survives."
Jill Tarter, director, Center for SETI Research
"Awesome. Think Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but with copyright law driving a major plot line. A mainstream humorous sci-fi novel that uses the Berne Convention as a key plot point and tosses aside casual references to Larry Lessig and Fark? Yes. Count me in."
Techdirt
"Year Zero is a brilliant satire of the American entertainment industry, and I never stopped grinning."
Kevin Hearne, author of The Iron Druid Chronicles
"Light-hearted, intelligent and just plain silly . . . Year Zero is very clever and has wonderful fun with themes I think you'll enjoy."
Boing Boing
"The fun in Year Zero comes from the banter among the main characters, all of whom are well drawn and hilarious in their own right. While the novel satirizes the music industry, it's obvious the author feels as passionately as some of the alien characters about the power of pop music."
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Product details
- ASIN : B005X0K520
- Publisher : Del Rey
- Accessibility : Learn more
- Publication date : 10 July 2012
- Language : English
- File size : 881 KB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 386 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-0345534484
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank: 712,866 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 1,810 in Legal Thrillers (Kindle Store)
- 2,190 in Legal Thrillers (Books)
- 3,401 in Satire Fiction
- Customer reviews:
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Customers find the book easy to read, with one describing it as an enjoyable holiday read that appeals to their inner geek.
"I found this to be an enjoyable holiday read, very amusing in parts if not laugh out loud funny...." Read more
"Brilliant book, funny, original and incredibly well written. I would highly recommend this easy read I couldn't put it down." Read more
"...Parts of ‘Year Zero’ are quite clever and funny – particularly the opening sections and the epilogue – but, at nearly 400 pages, I found it..." Read more
"A must read for people like me who see things differently...." Read more
Customers find the book amusing.
"I found this to be an enjoyable holiday read, very amusing in parts if not laugh out loud funny...." Read more
"Brilliant book, funny, original and incredibly well written. I would highly recommend this easy read I couldn't put it down." Read more
"...Parts of ‘Year Zero’ are quite clever and funny – particularly the opening sections and the epilogue – but, at nearly 400 pages, I found it..." Read more
"really enjoyable scifi comedy..." Read more
Customers find the storyline interesting, with one describing it as a mad novel.
"A promising storyline, but a disappointing, nerdy and puerile writing style...." Read more
"...I decided to put the time in and was rewarded with a genuine story." Read more
"What a mad novel this is......" Read more
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 September 2016I found this to be an enjoyable holiday read, very amusing in parts if not laugh out loud funny. Unfortunately reading on my Kindle made following the jokes and comments in the footnotes difficult as these were shifted to the end of the chapter meaning I missed out on what should have been quite witty asides.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 December 2020Brilliant book, funny, original and incredibly well written. I would highly recommend this easy read I couldn't put it down.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 April 2017Douglas Adams initial books – ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’, ‘The Restaurant at the End of the Universe’, ‘Life, the Universe and Everything.’, ‘So Long and Thanks for the Fish’ – are relatively short, self-contained and amusing.
I suspect Rob Reid has tried to repeat the same formula but, at least in my opinion, falls short of that goal. Parts of ‘Year Zero’ are quite clever and funny – particularly the opening sections and the epilogue – but, at nearly 400 pages, I found it difficult to maintain an interest in the way copyright fees for earth music have apparently accrued across the years and across the galaxy.
If it hadn’t been for a wish to see how the story-line developed, I feel sure I would have given up on the book relatively early.
Other reviewers have rated the book somewhat more generously, but I consider my three star rating is charitable.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 August 2012Nick 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.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 March 2016What a mad novel this is. 'Mad' is the only word I can describe for this book. It all begins when the main character (a lawyer in New York) is visited by two aliens looking to settle an intergalactic lawsuit that is being slapped on the universe for illegally downloading and listening to Earth's music. And that's how it starts!
I tell you now; you will never have read anything quite like this, so strap in and enjoy the crazy ride that is this novel. I had to give this 5 stars for the mad tale Rob Reid has weaved!
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2017A must read for people like me who see things differently. It is the fist time in a long time thar a book has had me giggling and snorting gaining glares from my husband :-) keep up the good work Rob I want more .... like NOW!
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 April 2017I hate giving anything less than three stars, but I'm tempted to give this one.
The characters are unlikable, it's quite obvious from the get-go that the protagonist will get exactly what we expect him to get at the end. Every time the protagonist finds a solution, there's a problem which is easily overcome. And it just gets tedious. I found it very difficult to finish because I couldn't care at all about the thin, obvious story and the wafer-thin characters.
When I reached the end, I read the Acknowledgements, which confirmed what I thought. The author is a non-fiction writer who is well-connected with all the celebrity reviewers (some of whom helped him rewrite it because - guess what - 'There was no plot in the original'. Just avoid this.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2017Brilliant, brilliant book. Loved every page.
Top reviews from other countries
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José LuisReviewed in Mexico on 1 May 2017
4.0 out of 5 stars Original
La verdad es que es un libro muy original (que los extraterrestres oigan nuestra música sin pagar regalías, esta mal no...) , pero llega un momento en que se vuelve muy aburrido y luego recupera el sentido y termina siendo un libro regular.
Creo que trató de ser parecido a los libros de Douglas Adamas pero le falto.
- Francois FortierReviewed in Canada on 5 November 2013
4.0 out of 5 stars Great mix of Sci-Fi, Gadgetry and Humour
A great light read with enough sci-fi, gadgetry and topical geek culture to keep you going. The story line is quite original and Rob Reid's writing reminded me of Douglas Adams and Red Dwarf's Rob Grant and Doug Naylor.
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have-a-look.atReviewed in Germany on 13 August 2015
4.0 out of 5 stars Witziges Buch, dass vor guten Ideen sprudelt...
Wer sich nach dem Lesen von Year Zero an Douglas Adams' "Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis" erinnert fühlt, dem kann ich nachempfinden. Einige der Ideen sind so herrlich abstrus, dass man die gedankliche Verwandtschaft der beiden Bücher unweigerlich merkt. Aber das ist in meinen Augen nichts schlechtes. Eher ein Kompliment an Rob Reid. Year Zero ist gute Unterhaltung. Punkt. Man könnte - ja man SOLLTE es vielleicht sogar verfilmen!
Mein einziges Problem ist, dass das Buch witzig sein WILL... und das nicht immer schafft. Möglicherweise bin ich da schon abgestumpft... Ich habe bei Andy Weirs "The Martian" jedenfalls deutlich mehr gelacht. (Wirklich großartige Unterhaltung!)
Trotzdem... Year Zero ist ein lohnenswerter Zeitvertreib... und falls es ne Fortsetzung geben sollte.... ich würde sie kaufen. :)
- David DurtschiReviewed in the United States on 25 August 2012
4.0 out of 5 stars Hitchhiker's Guide to Napster
This is a fun little novel with quirky irreverent humor similar to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but centering more on our most current music piracy witch hunt by the RIAA. The fact that it is written by the CEO of Listen.com (which later became Rhapsody.com) immediately gives it instant street credibility, but Reid's writing is amazing for someone without a literary background. I found it interesting that the author tried very hard to take a neutral stance on every issue, for example, if he makes a snide comment about an "NPR listening liberal" then he immediately follows it up with a jab at a "Greedy Idiotic GOP Senator". There's plenty of irreverent humor in here to offend and amuse just about anyone. My only big gripe about the book was that it was a bit short, and lacking in the kind of detail that made Hitchhiker's Guide such a cult classic. This is a great idea, that has been written by a good writer, but in the quickest, easiest way possible, probably to maximize exposure.
Addition Gripe (ONLY FOR KINDLE VERSION): The book has many footnotes that appear at the end of each chapter, and flipping back and forth in a kindle is a pain in the A$$. I have this general kindle gripe about all books with similar kindle issues, but I'm not taking it out on this book specifically, and it doesn't change my star rating.
- Paul LockReviewed in Australia on 11 September 2014
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Great read and throws a new light on the music industry.