Year Zero
A Novel
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Year Zero
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Narrated by:
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John Hodgman
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By:
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Rob Reid
About this listen
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 AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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)
What listeners say about Year Zero
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Vincent
- 24-12-12
This will go out of date very quickly.
This book was fairly humorous, an interesting tweak on the digital aspect of DNA and the so called 'junk genes'. In real life someone has taken the genome of a living cell and converted it into digital code, altered it using a computer to recreate a new bacteria that replicates, which has 'www url addresses' encoded in it too. The problem I had with the book is the story is too trite. The title is wrong, it should have at least have been Years Zero, but we never speak about month, day and year in the same terms as we speak of hours, minutes and seconds.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Paul McGuinness
- 18-12-21
an enjoyable listen
a story and style that leans heavily on Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers "trilogy" for inspiration.
While it lack the sparkle and effortless wit of THGTTG, it is nonetheless an engaging, if forgettable, listen.
The narrator does a sterling job in bring the tile to life
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gina Kenison
- 23-07-20
Just read it!!!!!
So funny and interesting... you need nothing more to read it I promise! You won't regret it!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sphelx
- 28-09-14
Amazingly funny
Would you listen to Year Zero again? Why?
Absolutely, it packed a lot into a relatively short story and kept me laughing with every paragraph.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Nick Carter, the main character because he was so level headed and reasonable without ever being dull.
Which character – as performed by John Hodgman – was your favourite?
Trudy, he managed to play such a curt and brusque character so well.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It made me laugh out loud on the train for a whole week.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- lyn Alton
- 31-01-16
took time to get into but once there great
I took time to get into it but loved the concept. funny clever concept. recommend it
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Adam
- 21-10-18
Surprisingly good light hearted Sci-fi
Despite its light hearted nature this book is filled full with well thought alien races with just enough explanation to understand which is helped along by the main character often breaking the fourth wall to help our poor human minds.
With a good few twists and turns and solid narration throughout id highly recommend this to anyone who likes a less serious Sci-Fi story.
If i had to pick any faults it would only be that I felt some relationships were not given enough time to be explored to their potential so it was sometimes hard to be fully invested.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Paul R
- 06-05-22
Great idea, terrible execution
The premise of the story seemed great, but the execution was such a let down. The narration was ok, not terribly engaging, but not the worst. But the story line just dragged, and never did anything to hook me. I gave up after about a third of the way and I have now requested a refund.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Olly Buxton
- 16-02-19
Couldn't abide it
Just not funny enough, not well written enough, abd not goid enough characters, to be worth persevering with. Douglas Adams this ain't. Well enough read, but you can't polish a turd.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Peter Beverley-Smith
- 05-02-17
I can't believe I chose this book
What disappointed you about Year Zero?
The premise is poor, delivery is below standard and I have only just made it to the end of the first chapter.
What will your next listen be?
Still thinking about it
Who might you have cast as narrator instead of John Hodgman?
Not sure the book is worth it
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Extreme disappointment
Any additional comments?
Sad
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2 people found this helpful