Hull Zero Three

Good condition, delivery time. Great book

I really enjoyed the moral questions this book asked and how the characters grew and learned, and loved that aspect of the horror presented. I initially wanted to listen to this on audiobook because I could have read it faster, but I'm glad it wasn't available. While I was able to generally keep up while reading on my kindle, there were definitely moments that I felt the narrative got so bogged down with technical details that I would skip paragraphs (particularly as characters were traveling from one place to another) and resume when I saw dialog or some kind of change. I understand that the characters are "remembering" as they go, but even as someone with more than average exposure to terms like "aft", "bow", "pylon", etc., it was hard to keep up with how the characters more or less navigated.

Not a bad story, but not really good one either. While the premise of a sleeper ship being damaged and turning on the crew is interesting, this story is badly done.

I believe this is a much stronger book than many writing here have understood or credited. In fact it remains in memory for more than a year, and the reference which most often comes to mind is Kafka -- yet with much more charitably accurate human insight, and with much more beauty. Many seem to want to be told what's happened before, or is going to happen after. But the person you are traveling with can't know these things, and that is the basis of his problem as you accompany him, which is filled with moments of danger that will make you fully awake, along with a very natural sense of its frustration. Teacher learns, and becomes more and more aware, then insightful, thus saving his life, and gaining the truth of the mystery. Hiding in plain sight, but only once you arrive to seeing it, is a very full and fresh view of the extent of human power -- and of its ethical dimensions. As we arrive closer to this truth, more and more amazing beauty shines out of the writing and the story; in visual imagination, in character of those traveling together, in acts of openhearted courage, and in unexpected reward for accomplishment and bravery. A beautiful book, then, with such rewards; delivered so in the respect fully shown to each reader.

I had a hard time starting this book. The language used reminded me of a the children from Mad Max. But, when I got used to it I found the story compelling and worth finishing. Whoever compared this to Event Horizon was a bit off the mark though, in my opinion.

The story definitely wasn't what I thought it would be, and the book kept the suspense and the grandiose sense of purpose all the way to the end. I liked it very much.

As a stand-alone novel, this book is above average, but not great. A prequel and sequel would make this book part of an exceptional story. As it is, I enjoyed following along as the hero is quickly propelled from the dreamworld of what should be to the nightmare of what is. As he desperately tries to keep himself alive, he carries us along on a journey through a menagerie of genetics gone hellishly wrong, in an environment that has taken on a seemingly bipolar personality. The ending seems a bit rushed, or summarized. As if the author had more story in mind when he decides that "enough is enough" and quickly dumps the remainder on the page and sends it off to the editor. Again, if this were the second in a three-part series, much of what there is to complain about would be easily dismissed. The origins of the events that unfold in Hull Zero Three would easily fill the pages of a novel, and would set the stage for what is really a very remarkable read. In the same manner, a sequel that expands and breathes life into the summary ending of Hull Zero Three would be a welcome addition to this story. And that is my only real complaint. I had only just begun to understand how great the story was before it was suddenly cut off and the book slammed shut. There is a remarkable story that is only partially told within this book. Add a #1 and #3 to the series and this book becomes great.

This is not the hard sci-fi I expected, but the tech is still cool. A colony ship on a 500 yr mission to a distant star runs into difficulties. People are woken up. All is not right with the ship. Events go from bad to worse, to... bizarre. This is a tale about identity, about the human condition. What makes us who we are? As the story develops the ship becomes more of a mousetrap with some very weird creatures and scenarios. Not your typical generation ship story at all. Wanting to find out what the hell was going on kept me turning pages but I found much of it to be over-described and repetitive. The revelations at the end were a let down for me. I was expecting something more dramatic, and it turned out to be rather obvious.

Was soll ich sagen… Bear schreibt toll (ich beziehe mich auf den original englischen Text) … der Stil, die Kunst Worte zu Sätzen zu verbinden die geschliffen scharf sind und sprachlich einfach *Freude* machen, für sich genommen schon, lockt mich immer wieder an. Zugleich sind viele von Bears Büchern mit oft zu düster gewesen. Ich startete also sich hier mit der gleichen Erwartung und ward sehr positiv überrascht: Düster ja, aber so menschlich so viel Hoffnung in aller Not und durch alle Abgründe durch die die Protagonisten sich schlagen müssen… Geheimnisse, intelligent und mit Wendungen die einfach fesseln und geradezu dazu *zwingen* weiter zu lesen, Charaktere die sich echt anfühlen, lakonisch, hilflos, verletzlich und gerade darin und dadurch stark… ich bin zutiefst beeindruckt und kann nur sagen: Nicht lange überlegen, einfach lesen.

This is the story of a man who wakes up in a starship, naked and freezing, and is forced out into the corridors of the ship to survive; to find out what the hell is going on. Split into three sections - The Flesh, The Devil, and The World - it starts like an offshoot of the Alien franchise movies, with a dash of Event Horizon, as our narrator encounters deadly beasts, and struggles just to survive. Some parts of the ship are cold and getting colder. Some have lower gravity and some have higher gravity. It's a puzzle, and therefore the story progresses, with the struggle for survival combined with the hunt for answers and redemption. Where is the ship going to, and why? Are his memories dreams, reality, or implanted? Should he be trusting the voices he hears, and the creatures he meets? Any? All? Which? And, ultimately, is there an escape? The horror aspect is truly horrible; there are some pretty awful things he encounters. I wasn't a hundred percent convinced by the rationale, but accept it as at least a possibility in that world. The unravelling of the riddle about the ship was, to me, a bit patchy. As the bits and pieces were revealed, there was no sense of wonder or surprise, or satisfaction. (Maybe I missed some detail in the reading.) However, this did not detract as much as I thought it might, perhaps because the survival story keeps racing along and is engrossing. I hope somebody decent has bought the movie rights, as with good direction this could be a super piece of cinema. Overall, I enjoyed the book. Bear's observations, and his whole take on the position of the book's central figure, is both entertaining and thoughtful. It is well written, largely cliche free, contains a good blend of action, puzzle, and conjecture, and is a fine piece of fiction.

Strange, at the beginning difficult to follow, intriguing. Then, with the developing of the plot (for what there is of a plot, very little) you understand it and are motivated to read on. I am happy to have read it just because it is different but, even considered that the first book leaves you in the middle of the story, I didn't buy the second one of the series. I have had enough.

An Interesting story line with plenty of intriguing twists and turns. Well written and holding up to Bear's usual standard.

When this book first came out I looked at it and passed. I have now read it after buying it at a reduced rate and my first instincts were right. Not really one of Bears stronger books. It was not as enjoyable to read as many of his other books I have read. It's a story that starts out with a fully grown man popping out of a birthing chamber with very little of his memory in place. He the meets varied people/creatures that help him reach Hull Zero Three. He finds he is on a heavily damaged triple hull space ship that has sustained significant damage and the ship is now systematically killing everything aboard. He runs into other inhabitants that are trying to stay alive and tags along with them. The main problem I had with the book was that there was not a good link for me to the character , so that I didn't really care whether they made it or not. Also the story was scattered and confusing at times