Hull Zero Three

I picked this book up because Greg Bear was signing with another authoer at my local bookstore. I've never read him before, but I've seen his name over and over at bookstores and on my dad's bookshelves. Time to finally fill a hole in my sci-fi knowledge. This novel looked to be the most interesting stand-alone novel the bookshelf had of his, so I bought it for him to sign. His handwriting is pretty atrocious, but he's a great speaker who kept the audience entertained. His banter and dark humor translate very well to this particular story.

The first part reminded be very vividly of the movie “Cube.” Strangers wake up confused in a ship that appears bent on killing them. Their memories are hazy and most of them are mutated in some way or another. It's got creepy children (sometimes multiple copies of them), philosphical monsters, and trap after trap after trap. The pace takes off from the very first paragraph and really doesn't let up... ever. If you're looking for high action, this is definitely a good choice.

The story is more than just a thrill ride, though. It delves into the ideas of exactly how humanity survives, the costs we may or may not be willing to pay. Sometimes it does this in a very bizarre way, and I'll admit a few of the time shifts gave me trouble following, but mostly I enjoyed unraveling the mysteries that never seemed to quit. Also, the random pop culture references even the characters making them do not understand. Bear plays with language a lot in this book, unusual for such an action adventure and an element that makes it stand out.

I definitely enjoyed this story and hopefully will have time to pick up more of Bear's work inthe future.

Lots of excellent creepy stuff and team building exercises. Strong mommy issues. I'd love to see this reimagined for screen tho.

Subjectively, this just didn't work for me. I'm not the biggest fan of first person novels anyway, and for some reason I really hate any story where the narrator goes through the process of discovering words like “food” and “air.” I realize that in the context of this story it is appropriate, but it's a pet peeve (the only notable exception that comes to mind being the whale in Hitchhiker). I've always loved Bear's books, this one just didn't do it for me.