What do you think?
Rate this book
Russell's Attic #1
Zero Sum Game
Cas Russell is good at math. Scary good.
The vector calculus blazing through her head lets her smash through armed men twice her size and dodge every bullet in a gunfight. She can take any job for the right price and shoot anyone who gets in her way.
As far as she knows, she's the only person around with a superpower . . . but then Cas discovers someone with a power even more dangerous than her own. Someone who can reach directly into people's minds and twist their brains into Moebius strips. Someone intent on becoming the world's puppet master.
Someone who's already warped Cas's thoughts once before, with her none the wiser.
Cas should run. Going up against a psychic with a god complex isn't exactly a rational move, and saving the world from a power-hungry telepath isn't her responsibility. But she isn't about to let anyone get away with violating her brain -- and besides, she's got a small arsenal and some deadly mathematics on her side. There's only one problem . . .
She doesn't know which of her thoughts are her own anymore.
The vector calculus blazing through her head lets her smash through armed men twice her size and dodge every bullet in a gunfight. She can take any job for the right price and shoot anyone who gets in her way.
As far as she knows, she's the only person around with a superpower . . . but then Cas discovers someone with a power even more dangerous than her own. Someone who can reach directly into people's minds and twist their brains into Moebius strips. Someone intent on becoming the world's puppet master.
Someone who's already warped Cas's thoughts once before, with her none the wiser.
Cas should run. Going up against a psychic with a god complex isn't exactly a rational move, and saving the world from a power-hungry telepath isn't her responsibility. But she isn't about to let anyone get away with violating her brain -- and besides, she's got a small arsenal and some deadly mathematics on her side. There's only one problem . . .
She doesn't know which of her thoughts are her own anymore.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
434 people are currently reading
7,827 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 611 reviews
October 2, 2018
My review at Journey to the BEST! Link here for a Q&A with the author:
S.L. Huang’s ZERO SUM GAME might have the most alluring pitch I’ve ever read: Cas Russell, mathematical genius, fights crime and kicks ass with lightning-quick calculations that supplement her prodigious martial arts abilities. But she might have finally met her match in someone “who can reach directly into people’s minds and twist their brains into Moebius strips.� Cas’s power is being utterly logical; this opponent can warp the only axioms Cas takes to be true. Therefore, explosions.
I know Huang is a martial artist who’s worked as a Hollywood stuntwoman, and it shows. ZERO SUM GAME reads like a blockbuster film best devoured in a single sitting. The action scenes are fast-paced, cinematic, and awesome. The dialogue is quick and snappy, and the criminal tactics and cyber-warfare are just complicated and cool enough for me to suspend all disbelief. It’s Jack Reacher, Mission Impossible, and James Bond all mixed into one, but this time through a narrative voice that doesn’t spend time ogling over boobs or reducing women to sexy plot objects.
I immediately fell for for the three central characters. I LOVE murder boys so my obvious favorite was the bloody and mysterious Rio, a self-admitted utter psychopath who feeds off pain, but somehow abides entirely by the Bible through the fluke of his religious upbringing. He’s a hitman who “seeks out the people he judges deserve God’s vengeance,� in order to “introduce them to God.� He is utterly terrifying and help I’m in love. Arthur Tresting is his polar opposite–he’s the fundamentally good-hearted cop turned private investigator who’s willing to break the law in the service of his morals, but adamantly opposed to killing innocents. And Cas–wonderful, gritty, vulnerable, brilliant, stupid Cas–is a blend of the two. She’d like to believe she’s as cold and ruthlessly efficient as Rio, but her emotions get the best of her more often then she’d like to admit.
There’s nothing new about this combination. It’s a textbook trio, really, but Huang spins the trope to its greatest possible effect. I love how they banter; how they play off each other and push each other to the extremes. And I will never, ever not be down for a Murder Boy with Cool Backstory. Never.
If you always wished you could get a James Bond book with a female protagonist, or if you just really, really like math, this book is for you. I ate it up in two sittings and I’d do it again for the sequel. Huang does a great job outlining stakes and unanswered questions for future books–I’m desperately curious about Cas’s backstory, and I can’t wait for the next installment.
S.L. Huang’s ZERO SUM GAME might have the most alluring pitch I’ve ever read: Cas Russell, mathematical genius, fights crime and kicks ass with lightning-quick calculations that supplement her prodigious martial arts abilities. But she might have finally met her match in someone “who can reach directly into people’s minds and twist their brains into Moebius strips.� Cas’s power is being utterly logical; this opponent can warp the only axioms Cas takes to be true. Therefore, explosions.
I know Huang is a martial artist who’s worked as a Hollywood stuntwoman, and it shows. ZERO SUM GAME reads like a blockbuster film best devoured in a single sitting. The action scenes are fast-paced, cinematic, and awesome. The dialogue is quick and snappy, and the criminal tactics and cyber-warfare are just complicated and cool enough for me to suspend all disbelief. It’s Jack Reacher, Mission Impossible, and James Bond all mixed into one, but this time through a narrative voice that doesn’t spend time ogling over boobs or reducing women to sexy plot objects.
I immediately fell for for the three central characters. I LOVE murder boys so my obvious favorite was the bloody and mysterious Rio, a self-admitted utter psychopath who feeds off pain, but somehow abides entirely by the Bible through the fluke of his religious upbringing. He’s a hitman who “seeks out the people he judges deserve God’s vengeance,� in order to “introduce them to God.� He is utterly terrifying and help I’m in love. Arthur Tresting is his polar opposite–he’s the fundamentally good-hearted cop turned private investigator who’s willing to break the law in the service of his morals, but adamantly opposed to killing innocents. And Cas–wonderful, gritty, vulnerable, brilliant, stupid Cas–is a blend of the two. She’d like to believe she’s as cold and ruthlessly efficient as Rio, but her emotions get the best of her more often then she’d like to admit.
There’s nothing new about this combination. It’s a textbook trio, really, but Huang spins the trope to its greatest possible effect. I love how they banter; how they play off each other and push each other to the extremes. And I will never, ever not be down for a Murder Boy with Cool Backstory. Never.
If you always wished you could get a James Bond book with a female protagonist, or if you just really, really like math, this book is for you. I ate it up in two sittings and I’d do it again for the sequel. Huang does a great job outlining stakes and unanswered questions for future books–I’m desperately curious about Cas’s backstory, and I can’t wait for the next installment.
November 9, 2014
I slipped down from my loft, brilliant red angles triangulating in the 60% daylight, each step on the ladder calculated exactly for cat-like speed and maximum effectiveness. I opened my laptop, my mind going through the numbers. Five stars for the zero sum I calculated was needed to get this frenetic book to the e-market, a victory for the 99%. Eat your hearts out, vile publishers. Minus one star for my jealousy. Hah! Take that, you bitch. Wait! My calculations told me that Huang spent money on the cover. My jealousy abated, I upped it to five stars again - supporting artists is a good thing.
With lightning speed, algorithms racing across my vision like silver bullets, I recalculated. The MC is unique, I was willing to give five stars for that. A superhero female with mathematic super skills, scarred face, and precious little interest in sex or legal niceties. If her super fast assessment of body counts left her queasy, the statistical variables pointed to somebody having slipped her something. Doing the math pointed to the suspect - another woman, one whose demeanor had been calculated to suggest a helpless bitch. Brilliant! Now, who put her up to it. Nice that the algorithms confirmed what was already suspected - the government!
I felt like I was onto something. So far, it was a five. Though I hadn't reached the end, at this point I had to put it at 50/50 of satisfying me - Huang was smart, I'd give her that - so I recalculated at 60/40. Still a five - if the end didn't satisfy, I'd likely buy the sequel on the statistical probability that the end wasn't the end. If it did satisfy, then still a five.
But wait! My head was pounding. Something was missing. I scanned the numbers. Ah, humor. Equations and triangulations in brightly colored patterns were bouncing across my keyboard. Three! Three for relentlessly dark action with no comic relief. With that realization, a certain ruthless joy took hold of me. You bitch, take that! And another three for sucking me into this damn voice and genre that were not even mine.
The reviewer, having finally given four stars, sighed back into her chair, her own third person Civil War voice settling like a mantle of civility. Ahhh. It would be pleasant to come abreast of her ŷ history group. She almost felt like having a cup of tea.
ADDENDUM: Having finished the book, I feel impelled to add a bit about the characters. A recent show on NPR's This American Life concluded that sociopaths, especially murderous ones, lack empathy and are irredeemable (though in typical TAL fashion, it left room for doubt). In Zero Sum Game, the protagonist, Cas, is a murderous sociopath while the antagonist uses empathic entrainment, not so much to bend people to her will as to get them to see things her way. The protagonist's motives are to survive, while the antagonist has laudable world peace goals. Will Cas be able to resist the empathic and irresistible onslaught that threatens to redeem her as a person? It is to this author's profound credit that we are rooting for Cas and her even more sociopathic cohort Rio to kill their nemesis, and rid the world of her empathic sweetness. A great mind-fuck that transcends its genre, and leaves lingering questions about good and evil. Well done, Huang. I'm changing this to five stars.
With lightning speed, algorithms racing across my vision like silver bullets, I recalculated. The MC is unique, I was willing to give five stars for that. A superhero female with mathematic super skills, scarred face, and precious little interest in sex or legal niceties. If her super fast assessment of body counts left her queasy, the statistical variables pointed to somebody having slipped her something. Doing the math pointed to the suspect - another woman, one whose demeanor had been calculated to suggest a helpless bitch. Brilliant! Now, who put her up to it. Nice that the algorithms confirmed what was already suspected - the government!
I felt like I was onto something. So far, it was a five. Though I hadn't reached the end, at this point I had to put it at 50/50 of satisfying me - Huang was smart, I'd give her that - so I recalculated at 60/40. Still a five - if the end didn't satisfy, I'd likely buy the sequel on the statistical probability that the end wasn't the end. If it did satisfy, then still a five.
But wait! My head was pounding. Something was missing. I scanned the numbers. Ah, humor. Equations and triangulations in brightly colored patterns were bouncing across my keyboard. Three! Three for relentlessly dark action with no comic relief. With that realization, a certain ruthless joy took hold of me. You bitch, take that! And another three for sucking me into this damn voice and genre that were not even mine.
The reviewer, having finally given four stars, sighed back into her chair, her own third person Civil War voice settling like a mantle of civility. Ahhh. It would be pleasant to come abreast of her ŷ history group. She almost felt like having a cup of tea.
ADDENDUM: Having finished the book, I feel impelled to add a bit about the characters. A recent show on NPR's This American Life concluded that sociopaths, especially murderous ones, lack empathy and are irredeemable (though in typical TAL fashion, it left room for doubt). In Zero Sum Game, the protagonist, Cas, is a murderous sociopath while the antagonist uses empathic entrainment, not so much to bend people to her will as to get them to see things her way. The protagonist's motives are to survive, while the antagonist has laudable world peace goals. Will Cas be able to resist the empathic and irresistible onslaught that threatens to redeem her as a person? It is to this author's profound credit that we are rooting for Cas and her even more sociopathic cohort Rio to kill their nemesis, and rid the world of her empathic sweetness. A great mind-fuck that transcends its genre, and leaves lingering questions about good and evil. Well done, Huang. I'm changing this to five stars.
November 13, 2018
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum
Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang was a fast-paced and entertaining page-turner that put me in mind of a sci-fi blockbuster thriller. The story’s protagonist, a self-described retrieval specialist named Cas Russell, is a quick-witted and legitimate badass who is scarily good at what she does. People may hire her to do rough jobs like smash-and-grabs or hostage recovery, but her logical mind ensures she always has a plan. Her tremendous math skills and ability to calculate complex equations on the fly have helped her navigate through the worst dangers of her profession and made her a survivor.
Which is why Cas is thrown for a loop on her latest assignment when what should have been an easy rescue operation goes completely awry. Receiving a tip from her colleague Rio, our protagonist accepts a mission that takes her deep into the heart of drug cartel territory to find and retrieve a young woman named Courtney Polk. The problem, however, is that Courtney’s sister, the one who is paying Cas for the job, isn’t in fact who she claims to be at all. Before long, Cas finds herself entangled in web of conspiracy and lies involving a shadowy organization and its deranged telepathic leader who has designs on world domination.
My thoughts on the plot: fun, if not entirely cogent or deep. Both protagonist and antagonist are kind of hokey, though a blast to follow. I also like how the book does not take itself too seriously, which allows the reader to laugh at the corny jokes or overlook some of the story’s more absurd and farcical moments. There are a lot of cool ideas in in here, which made this one a quick and enjoyable read, even if there were parts that made me scratch my head or grit my teeth in frustration.
First, let’s start with the things I felt could have been improved. Like a lot of debuts, Zero Sum Game suffered from quite a few pacing issues. If I recall correctly, the book began as a self-published project before it was picked up by Tor for this second iteration, and throughout that process, I assume it went through a lot more polishing and editing. I was therefore a bit surprised at the clunkiness of some of the prose, as well as the awkward delivery of some of Cas� more cringe-worthy lines. A lot of the times her internal dialogue felt like a messy stream of consciousness, spelling out every thought process and emotion, which really made it hard to concentrate on everything else happening in the plot.
Story-wise, this novel also falls squarely in the technothriller category. But with regards to the “techno� part of thet equation, I feel as though the author left things neither here nor there. She goes into a great deal of detail about certain mathematical or technological concepts, but overall worldbuilding feels pretty vague and undefined. On top of the sci-fi elements, there are also paranormal factors at play, but again, the why’s and how’s of it are not very well explained.
But here’s what I did like: the characters, despite their flaws, are compelling and memorable—especially Cas. Without giving away too much of the story, what our protagonist struggles with here is a conflict that rattles her to her core, because it threatens one of the only things she can count on: her mind. When someone who prides herself on her logic and intelligence is faced with the possibility that she can’t trust her own thoughts, the results are as interesting to read about as you would expect. Even the villain is impressive, their whole bent-on-taking-over-the-world angle notwithstanding. I liked how none of the characters were black and white, with the line between good and evil not only being blurred and uncertain, but redrawn again and again throughout the course of this tale.
All told, Zero Sum Game was a lot of fun to read, the story made even more intriguing by its bold and unforgettable characters as well as themes exploring topics like psychology, mind control, and futuristic tech. That said, I thought the novel’s full scope and potential was likely held back by minor issues like plot pacing and structural flaws. Nevertheless, it’s a solid debut and I think most sci-fi and thriller fans will enjoy it and appreciate it for what it is.
Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang was a fast-paced and entertaining page-turner that put me in mind of a sci-fi blockbuster thriller. The story’s protagonist, a self-described retrieval specialist named Cas Russell, is a quick-witted and legitimate badass who is scarily good at what she does. People may hire her to do rough jobs like smash-and-grabs or hostage recovery, but her logical mind ensures she always has a plan. Her tremendous math skills and ability to calculate complex equations on the fly have helped her navigate through the worst dangers of her profession and made her a survivor.
Which is why Cas is thrown for a loop on her latest assignment when what should have been an easy rescue operation goes completely awry. Receiving a tip from her colleague Rio, our protagonist accepts a mission that takes her deep into the heart of drug cartel territory to find and retrieve a young woman named Courtney Polk. The problem, however, is that Courtney’s sister, the one who is paying Cas for the job, isn’t in fact who she claims to be at all. Before long, Cas finds herself entangled in web of conspiracy and lies involving a shadowy organization and its deranged telepathic leader who has designs on world domination.
My thoughts on the plot: fun, if not entirely cogent or deep. Both protagonist and antagonist are kind of hokey, though a blast to follow. I also like how the book does not take itself too seriously, which allows the reader to laugh at the corny jokes or overlook some of the story’s more absurd and farcical moments. There are a lot of cool ideas in in here, which made this one a quick and enjoyable read, even if there were parts that made me scratch my head or grit my teeth in frustration.
First, let’s start with the things I felt could have been improved. Like a lot of debuts, Zero Sum Game suffered from quite a few pacing issues. If I recall correctly, the book began as a self-published project before it was picked up by Tor for this second iteration, and throughout that process, I assume it went through a lot more polishing and editing. I was therefore a bit surprised at the clunkiness of some of the prose, as well as the awkward delivery of some of Cas� more cringe-worthy lines. A lot of the times her internal dialogue felt like a messy stream of consciousness, spelling out every thought process and emotion, which really made it hard to concentrate on everything else happening in the plot.
Story-wise, this novel also falls squarely in the technothriller category. But with regards to the “techno� part of thet equation, I feel as though the author left things neither here nor there. She goes into a great deal of detail about certain mathematical or technological concepts, but overall worldbuilding feels pretty vague and undefined. On top of the sci-fi elements, there are also paranormal factors at play, but again, the why’s and how’s of it are not very well explained.
But here’s what I did like: the characters, despite their flaws, are compelling and memorable—especially Cas. Without giving away too much of the story, what our protagonist struggles with here is a conflict that rattles her to her core, because it threatens one of the only things she can count on: her mind. When someone who prides herself on her logic and intelligence is faced with the possibility that she can’t trust her own thoughts, the results are as interesting to read about as you would expect. Even the villain is impressive, their whole bent-on-taking-over-the-world angle notwithstanding. I liked how none of the characters were black and white, with the line between good and evil not only being blurred and uncertain, but redrawn again and again throughout the course of this tale.
All told, Zero Sum Game was a lot of fun to read, the story made even more intriguing by its bold and unforgettable characters as well as themes exploring topics like psychology, mind control, and futuristic tech. That said, I thought the novel’s full scope and potential was likely held back by minor issues like plot pacing and structural flaws. Nevertheless, it’s a solid debut and I think most sci-fi and thriller fans will enjoy it and appreciate it for what it is.
March 26, 2017
This book has one of the best opening scenes I've ever read. It's awesome!
So why the 2 stars? Because that's the high point, sadly.
This suffers from typical First Book Problems, like inconsistent narrative, uneven characters, repetitive and frequently obtuse dialogue, and, worst of all, a weak ending. I bought this book years ago and kept putting it down. In the meantime I've read numerous books that were two or three times longer with ease. Just in terms of pure "time spent with the story", it took me less time to read the 900-page Seveneves than it did to get through this book.
Which is a shame, because the idea here is solid. It's just that the execution is lacking. It feels like we're spinning our wheels and backtracking a lot when the main character is investigating the mystery at the core of the story, and there are tons of tedious action scenes which feel like they were included just because Huang thought they were cool. If that floats your boat, fine, but it feels gratuitous to me.
In the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, the first time Starlord, Rocket, Groot and Gamora meet, they engage in a particularly painful game of Keep-Away. They each want different things and those things are at odds with each other. It's a fun action scene. Later in the movie they are being chased by a bunch of goons in spaceships and Gamora almost dies and Peter chooses to sacrifice himself to save her, but it's boring because you know no one is going to actually die. Aside from the initial scene, the action sequences in Zero Sum Game feel like multiple versions of that second GotG scene.
The main character, Cas, is super-mathy and can instantly calculate trajectories and angles and such, which makes her especially dangerous. She knows just how to hit someone so they go flying across the room, she never wastes a bullet, she can do extreme parkour without hurting herself... it's literal applied math.
Sure, we've seen this exact skill dozens of times before. Cyclops demonstrated that he has this skill way back in the 1970s when the X-Men first encountered Murderworld and he took out multiple kill bots with one banked optic blast. It turns up in . Pretty much every superhero marksman with "eye" or "dead" in their name has this ability. Hawkeye, Bullseye, Deadshot, Deathlok, etc. Is there a "Deadeye"? If so, he probably has it double.
But it's cool to see it used, especially from an author who apparently has a degree in math. I just wish it were employed more engagingly. There's enough "been there done that" to the skillset that I suspect she hasn't read those other versions of characters with this ability.
Anyway, super-calculator Cas comes up against a psychic. And HERE is where it really should have gotten interesting: turns out the evil plot the psychic and her organization are engaging in is good for all mankind. Which makes the protagonist and her group of ne'er-do-wells the bad guys. How cool is that?
Not very, turns out.
They don't agonize much over this, which really should be the meat of the story. This is the heart of the conflict, after all. They spend time wondering whether or not they're doing the right thing by opposing Pythica, and they worry that this super-psychic may have messed with their minds so that they merely think this Hydra-like organization is actually doing good in the world. Then they decide, "Nah, burn it all down," and go from there. Except they have actual proof that Pythica is strangling drug cartels and crime syndicates!
I can imagine this story in the hands of a subtler, more imaginative writer would have offered up a decent "What would you do?" conundrum for readers, or at the very least been more ambiguous as to how the main characters responded. Even Philip K. Dick, who was not a great writer, managed to make this sort of concept thought-provoking, which is why his work has such staying power.
The only real uncertainty I was left with was why Huang didn't give us any answers -- or even any hints -- as to why Cas has this amazing calculation ability or why she has the protection of the world's most dangerous sociopath. We get fractured dream images which tell us nothing. Combine that with the deus ex machina ending where there's no resolution between Cas and the Psychic and I was left wanting some closure.
You know how at the end of Inception the final shot is one of the spinning top? At first glance that feels like a completely ambiguous ending which leaves the audience wondering if what we're seeing is real or imaginary. But when you stop to think about it, it's not vague at all; it is, in fact, complete misdirection. I would have enjoyed this type of ending just fine, but we're not given anything of substance to work with.
Even revealing that the people we thought were the good guys are actually the villains would have been preferable to the non-ending.
So, yeah, 2 stars. It misses the target.
So why the 2 stars? Because that's the high point, sadly.
This suffers from typical First Book Problems, like inconsistent narrative, uneven characters, repetitive and frequently obtuse dialogue, and, worst of all, a weak ending. I bought this book years ago and kept putting it down. In the meantime I've read numerous books that were two or three times longer with ease. Just in terms of pure "time spent with the story", it took me less time to read the 900-page Seveneves than it did to get through this book.
Which is a shame, because the idea here is solid. It's just that the execution is lacking. It feels like we're spinning our wheels and backtracking a lot when the main character is investigating the mystery at the core of the story, and there are tons of tedious action scenes which feel like they were included just because Huang thought they were cool. If that floats your boat, fine, but it feels gratuitous to me.
In the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, the first time Starlord, Rocket, Groot and Gamora meet, they engage in a particularly painful game of Keep-Away. They each want different things and those things are at odds with each other. It's a fun action scene. Later in the movie they are being chased by a bunch of goons in spaceships and Gamora almost dies and Peter chooses to sacrifice himself to save her, but it's boring because you know no one is going to actually die. Aside from the initial scene, the action sequences in Zero Sum Game feel like multiple versions of that second GotG scene.
The main character, Cas, is super-mathy and can instantly calculate trajectories and angles and such, which makes her especially dangerous. She knows just how to hit someone so they go flying across the room, she never wastes a bullet, she can do extreme parkour without hurting herself... it's literal applied math.
Sure, we've seen this exact skill dozens of times before. Cyclops demonstrated that he has this skill way back in the 1970s when the X-Men first encountered Murderworld and he took out multiple kill bots with one banked optic blast. It turns up in . Pretty much every superhero marksman with "eye" or "dead" in their name has this ability. Hawkeye, Bullseye, Deadshot, Deathlok, etc. Is there a "Deadeye"? If so, he probably has it double.
But it's cool to see it used, especially from an author who apparently has a degree in math. I just wish it were employed more engagingly. There's enough "been there done that" to the skillset that I suspect she hasn't read those other versions of characters with this ability.
Anyway, super-calculator Cas comes up against a psychic. And HERE is where it really should have gotten interesting: turns out the evil plot the psychic and her organization are engaging in is good for all mankind. Which makes the protagonist and her group of ne'er-do-wells the bad guys. How cool is that?
Not very, turns out.
They don't agonize much over this, which really should be the meat of the story. This is the heart of the conflict, after all. They spend time wondering whether or not they're doing the right thing by opposing Pythica, and they worry that this super-psychic may have messed with their minds so that they merely think this Hydra-like organization is actually doing good in the world. Then they decide, "Nah, burn it all down," and go from there. Except they have actual proof that Pythica is strangling drug cartels and crime syndicates!
I can imagine this story in the hands of a subtler, more imaginative writer would have offered up a decent "What would you do?" conundrum for readers, or at the very least been more ambiguous as to how the main characters responded. Even Philip K. Dick, who was not a great writer, managed to make this sort of concept thought-provoking, which is why his work has such staying power.
The only real uncertainty I was left with was why Huang didn't give us any answers -- or even any hints -- as to why Cas has this amazing calculation ability or why she has the protection of the world's most dangerous sociopath. We get fractured dream images which tell us nothing. Combine that with the deus ex machina ending where there's no resolution between Cas and the Psychic and I was left wanting some closure.
You know how at the end of Inception the final shot is one of the spinning top? At first glance that feels like a completely ambiguous ending which leaves the audience wondering if what we're seeing is real or imaginary. But when you stop to think about it, it's not vague at all; it is, in fact, complete misdirection. I would have enjoyed this type of ending just fine, but we're not given anything of substance to work with.
Even revealing that the people we thought were the good guys are actually the villains would have been preferable to the non-ending.
So, yeah, 2 stars. It misses the target.
July 24, 2023
I really liked this. It was a smart urban fantasy with a mask of science fiction. It's gritty, it's mathy, it's confronting social decline and disease in a telling way, and honestly, I think that's UF at its finest.
The star is removed because the central conceit was a bit thin, for me, compared to the world written. But I will (and have!) continue the series.
CONTENT WARNING:
The star is removed because the central conceit was a bit thin, for me, compared to the world written. But I will (and have!) continue the series.
CONTENT WARNING:
May 13, 2020
Reseña en español en
First of all, thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange of my honest opinion.
I’ve had my eye on this book, first self-published in 2014, for a while, so when I heard Tor was going to reprint it this year, I knew I had to read it. After all, a thriller in which the main character’s superpower is no less than math made me too curious to let it pass.
Even though Zero Sum Game turned out to be very different from what I expected, it pleasantly surprised me. To begin with, it has a quick pace from the beginning that doesn’t slow down at any point, and lots of plot twists that I didn’t expect at all. Also, as far as I know, the author worked as a stuntwoman in Hollywood, and that’s reflected in her frenetic action scenes that’d sure be perfect for a movie adaptation.
However, the best part of the novel for me was, without a doubt, its characters. Cas is stubborn, impulsive, hot-headed, selfish and immoral, but also extremely intelligent. Her powerful personality, along with Huang’s passion for math that she shares with our heroine, make her one of the most interesting narrators I’ve read in a long time. And, despite having superpowers in a world where it’s not common to have them, she isn’t invincible, which makes her even more human.
The rest of the characters don’t fall far behind: Rio is the only person Cas trusts and a psychopath with firm religious convictions who only attacks those who deserves God’s punishment. Arthur is a private detective with a good heart, but ready to break any rules to achieve his goal. And Checker is a brilliant, sassy hacker with a great sense of humour. The group dynamics is most curious and, although Cas makes it clear none of them is her friend, it’s impossible not to grow fond of them.
As a negative thing, I’ll say the ending was a bit disappointing because it was too open and left lots of questions unresolved, but there are more books in the series and I hope to enjoy them as much as this one.
All in all, if you’re looking for a fresh, original story, full of action (and math references) and that’ll surprise you, Zero Sum Game is a safe bet.
Trigger warnings:
Violence, ableism (called out), death, hallucinations, imprisonment, manipulation.
First of all, thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange of my honest opinion.
I’ve had my eye on this book, first self-published in 2014, for a while, so when I heard Tor was going to reprint it this year, I knew I had to read it. After all, a thriller in which the main character’s superpower is no less than math made me too curious to let it pass.
Even though Zero Sum Game turned out to be very different from what I expected, it pleasantly surprised me. To begin with, it has a quick pace from the beginning that doesn’t slow down at any point, and lots of plot twists that I didn’t expect at all. Also, as far as I know, the author worked as a stuntwoman in Hollywood, and that’s reflected in her frenetic action scenes that’d sure be perfect for a movie adaptation.
However, the best part of the novel for me was, without a doubt, its characters. Cas is stubborn, impulsive, hot-headed, selfish and immoral, but also extremely intelligent. Her powerful personality, along with Huang’s passion for math that she shares with our heroine, make her one of the most interesting narrators I’ve read in a long time. And, despite having superpowers in a world where it’s not common to have them, she isn’t invincible, which makes her even more human.
The rest of the characters don’t fall far behind: Rio is the only person Cas trusts and a psychopath with firm religious convictions who only attacks those who deserves God’s punishment. Arthur is a private detective with a good heart, but ready to break any rules to achieve his goal. And Checker is a brilliant, sassy hacker with a great sense of humour. The group dynamics is most curious and, although Cas makes it clear none of them is her friend, it’s impossible not to grow fond of them.
As a negative thing, I’ll say the ending was a bit disappointing because it was too open and left lots of questions unresolved, but there are more books in the series and I hope to enjoy them as much as this one.
All in all, if you’re looking for a fresh, original story, full of action (and math references) and that’ll surprise you, Zero Sum Game is a safe bet.
Trigger warnings:
Violence, ableism (called out), death, hallucinations, imprisonment, manipulation.
March 18, 2023
Zero Sum Game
By S.L. Huang
What an exciting ride! A gal that does fast computations in her head is also a kick a$$ at getting bad guys, or those she thinks are bad guys. But some powerful players after her for her brain but not for her math skills.
This is a fast paced, high action, mystery, with mind control psychics. Extremely believable. Loved it!
By S.L. Huang
What an exciting ride! A gal that does fast computations in her head is also a kick a$$ at getting bad guys, or those she thinks are bad guys. But some powerful players after her for her brain but not for her math skills.
This is a fast paced, high action, mystery, with mind control psychics. Extremely believable. Loved it!
March 30, 2014
Cas Russell is an extractor/assassin/weapons specialist. This woman has skills. She thinks and sees math, measuring distances and angles, using geometry and mathy type calculations to measure to the most precise degree. This makes her a total badass assassin: She never misses a target. A mercenary, anti-social, almost anti-hero, I found myself rooting for her despite her prickly nature, which is a tough balance for a writer. How do you create a character that’s not necessarily a “good� person and not turn off the reader? It’s a difficult balance, and one that SL Huang pulls off neatly in this intricately written, unique thriller.
When Russell’s hired to perform an extraction, she becomes drawn into a mystery involving a mysterious organization that uses mind control (telepaths), and whose goal, basically, is world control.
As Russell tells her story, the action is revealed to the reader as she figures things out. This is how a good story is told, and I appreciate that the author never dumbed things down for her audience.
Russell’s character develops as the story does, and by the end, the reader knows there's more to find out about her and her long-hidden past. The other characters were compelling and well developed. I wanted to learn more about the enigmatic avenging angel Rio--the only human alive Cas trusts but “not her friend.� Rio’s opposite, private eye, Alfred, a streetwise but ethical man, questions Russell and becomes sort of a moral compass. He helps to bring out her humanity. Some of the most fascinating passages involved the characters and their interplay with each other as they discussed philosophy, morality, and situational ethics--a cool juxtaposition to them blasting their way out of situations.
Well written and well paced, I look forward to the continuation of the story in Half Life.
When Russell’s hired to perform an extraction, she becomes drawn into a mystery involving a mysterious organization that uses mind control (telepaths), and whose goal, basically, is world control.
As Russell tells her story, the action is revealed to the reader as she figures things out. This is how a good story is told, and I appreciate that the author never dumbed things down for her audience.
Russell’s character develops as the story does, and by the end, the reader knows there's more to find out about her and her long-hidden past. The other characters were compelling and well developed. I wanted to learn more about the enigmatic avenging angel Rio--the only human alive Cas trusts but “not her friend.� Rio’s opposite, private eye, Alfred, a streetwise but ethical man, questions Russell and becomes sort of a moral compass. He helps to bring out her humanity. Some of the most fascinating passages involved the characters and their interplay with each other as they discussed philosophy, morality, and situational ethics--a cool juxtaposition to them blasting their way out of situations.
Well written and well paced, I look forward to the continuation of the story in Half Life.
January 15, 2019
I'll thank you to talk to me like the heavily armed person I am.
Galley provided by publisher
Rep: Latino side character
If, like me, you enjoy plenty of action (and I mean plenty) in your books, then Zero Sum Game is the book for you. From page one, it's busy and intense, and there were definitely no points where I thought there was too much of a lull. So, all in all, perfect for me and my short attention span.
You might think, therefore, that I'd rate this book a lot higher than I have. Mainly, I didn't because, for all that the plot never let up, I had a little trouble always feeling sympathetic towards some of the characters, in particular Cas and Rio. I liked Cas, but every time she blithely insisted on asserting how much she trusted Rio and couldn't work with anyone who wouldn't work with him too, I had to roll my eyes. Because Rio is described as being a mass-murdering sadist. He is a psychopath (although apparently calling him this is crossing a line for Cas. And mass murder isn't? Okay). But Cas trusting him is supposed to be enough for other people to trust him too. So yeah. I could definitely see more where Arthur and Checker were coming from with this. Additionally, the plot somewhat revolved around Rio and I just couldn't side with him and Cas enough to actually care.
Then there was the little problem of how Cas just seemed to kill everyone who got in her way. I wouldn't mind so much if they were all genuinely bad guys but they just seemed to be anyone she categorised as impeding her. There was a part in the middle, when Arthur calls her out on this, where I thought here we go, here's going to be some soul-searching and character development, but it seemed to get dropped fairly quickly.
But lack of sympathy for characters aside, I enjoyed this book. It was an action-packed ride and definitely one I'd recommend if you're looking for a quick thriller to read.
January 8, 2023
Re-read 1/8/2023. I listened to the audio version this time. The narrator added a lot of color to a great story. 5 stars for the audio version.
---------------
Thanks to a NetGalley ARC I've had this gorgeous piece of speculative fiction sitting in my tbr for long weeks. At the publisher's request, reviews shouldn't be posted more than two weeks before publishing date. My excitement and expectation levels were through the roof before I could finally dive into this amazing story.
This is a crime thriller with PNR elements.
🌟 Non-stop action
🌟 Utterly unique characters
🌟 Mind bending mystery
🌟 Great flow & pacing
I was so hungry for it that I literally inhaled this story. 5 stars for the cover and 5 stars for the title which are always the strongest selling points for me to pick up a book.
If there is any little thing I found lacking, it would be just a smattering of humor to lighten up the heavy plot. Other than that, it is perfect.
PS. for my romance loving reader friends --- there is no romance in this book. Sorry #notsorry ;-)
---------------
Thanks to a NetGalley ARC I've had this gorgeous piece of speculative fiction sitting in my tbr for long weeks. At the publisher's request, reviews shouldn't be posted more than two weeks before publishing date. My excitement and expectation levels were through the roof before I could finally dive into this amazing story.
This is a crime thriller with PNR elements.
🌟 Non-stop action
🌟 Utterly unique characters
🌟 Mind bending mystery
🌟 Great flow & pacing
I was so hungry for it that I literally inhaled this story. 5 stars for the cover and 5 stars for the title which are always the strongest selling points for me to pick up a book.
If there is any little thing I found lacking, it would be just a smattering of humor to lighten up the heavy plot. Other than that, it is perfect.
PS. for my romance loving reader friends --- there is no romance in this book. Sorry #notsorry ;-)
July 19, 2024
This was good, with some reservations. I enjoyed the near future world, most of the characters and some of the moral dilemmas set up. The three main protagonists were all a little bit over-powered. It was hard to reconcile the seemingly omnipotence of the bad "guy" when she made obvious mistakes. Cas was a tad bit too competent as well but the science geek in me tended to overlook that just in case the fantasy that I can do math that quickly actually comes true.
I will almost certainly read the next
I will almost certainly read the next
Read
November 26, 2014This is a fast-paced thriller with lots of action and fighting and a diverse cast and secret organizations and subterfuge and general sneakiness and ass-kicking. Cas is cold and efficient, but with just enough humanity to keep her somewhat sympathetic. Her two companions bookend her nature quite well: Rio is basically a serial killer channeling his violence toward the bad guys, while PI Arthur is the heart and morality of the group. The conflict between them is very well done, particularly Arthur’s horror when he realizes who Cas� friend is.
I’m also quite fond of computer guru Chester, a wheelchair-using geek who reminds me of Oracle. (With the caveat that I haven’t read Oracle in the comics; I’m just familiar with her character from talking to my fellow geeks.)
The overall conflict is perhaps familiar, but still engaging: a group with mental superpowers is manipulating the world to make it better, even if that means brainwashing and killing those who get in the way. It presents some good ethical dilemmas, since the antagonists have set things up in such a way that hurting them could actually help other villains.
The one problem I kept stumbling over was Cas� powers. I can buy that she’s a math supergenius, but instinctively seeing and understanding the math of the world around you is one thing. Being able to apply that math to put every bullet exactly where you want, to hit a kid with a tennis ball after three ricochets, to weave a motorcycle through traffic at insane speeds, these things kept snapping my suspension of disbelief. The physical aspect is a whole other superpowered skillset, one that’s never mentioned.
On the other hand, her superpower is math. How cool is that?
We do get hints about Cas� backstory toward the end, but we’ll have to wait until at least book two for the details. Overall, the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped, but again, I suspect that’s because Huang is setting the groundwork for future books.
Nitpicks aside, I devoured this book, and I’m very much looking forward to the sequel, Half Life, which should be out in January.
I’m also quite fond of computer guru Chester, a wheelchair-using geek who reminds me of Oracle. (With the caveat that I haven’t read Oracle in the comics; I’m just familiar with her character from talking to my fellow geeks.)
The overall conflict is perhaps familiar, but still engaging: a group with mental superpowers is manipulating the world to make it better, even if that means brainwashing and killing those who get in the way. It presents some good ethical dilemmas, since the antagonists have set things up in such a way that hurting them could actually help other villains.
The one problem I kept stumbling over was Cas� powers. I can buy that she’s a math supergenius, but instinctively seeing and understanding the math of the world around you is one thing. Being able to apply that math to put every bullet exactly where you want, to hit a kid with a tennis ball after three ricochets, to weave a motorcycle through traffic at insane speeds, these things kept snapping my suspension of disbelief. The physical aspect is a whole other superpowered skillset, one that’s never mentioned.
On the other hand, her superpower is math. How cool is that?
We do get hints about Cas� backstory toward the end, but we’ll have to wait until at least book two for the details. Overall, the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped, but again, I suspect that’s because Huang is setting the groundwork for future books.
Nitpicks aside, I devoured this book, and I’m very much looking forward to the sequel, Half Life, which should be out in January.
December 2, 2019
Total, popcorn fun. A protagonist whose normal reaction to situations is to shoot first (and probably second, too) and whose superpower is applied physics and geometry, or math, as she calls it.
Cas Russell does retrievals, and her latest case gets her into serious trouble, on the run with various shady types after her and the detective on the same case. There are lots of examples of Cas' amazing ability to figure out where something will be, based on computations, and a growing sense that there's something deeper and darker going on, with her ability and how she came about it. We're only given hints, and I'm on board for possibly more details, and more crazy Cas action, in book 2.
Cas Russell does retrievals, and her latest case gets her into serious trouble, on the run with various shady types after her and the detective on the same case. There are lots of examples of Cas' amazing ability to figure out where something will be, based on computations, and a growing sense that there's something deeper and darker going on, with her ability and how she came about it. We're only given hints, and I'm on board for possibly more details, and more crazy Cas action, in book 2.
October 30, 2018
An action-filled first novel, featuring Cas Russell, a female super(anti)hero who can calculate trajectories (etc.) on the fly, in her head. She’s well-armed, quick to shoot a (perceived) enemy, and her mentor and protector is a psychopathic killer. The setting is contemporary LA, and the action is largely gun battles and car chases. The supervillain, a poised beauty who has a library of first editions, specializes in telepathy and mind control, and her org, the mysterious Pithica, claims to be working for Whirled Peas -- but leaves a pretty awesome body-count of collateral damage behind their “philanthropy.� Note that there is a truly gruesome mass-murder crime scene, and a disturbing number of killings by the antihero.
But, wait, there are actually some hints of subtlety and character development between action scenes. Nice hooks for sequels, but no resolution whatever here � this is book 1 of at least 4. The author previously self-published four volumes of her “Russell’s Attic� series, Tor picked them up, and edited a revised vol. 1.
Mixed feelings on this one. The pages fly by, and the action is nonstop. The level of graphic violence is disturbing, and cost the book a star. But it’s pretty much superhero-cartoon level stuff, at the better end of that spectrum. So, strong 3 stars here, and I’ll likely read the next.
Love her tagline: “SL Huang � SpecFic author. Mathematician. Gunslinger.� She says that she started the series in frustration that her math skills weren’t making her a better softball player. She’s the first professional female armorer in the (film) Industry:
Here's the best review I saw here, by Charlotte: /review/show...
But, wait, there are actually some hints of subtlety and character development between action scenes. Nice hooks for sequels, but no resolution whatever here � this is book 1 of at least 4. The author previously self-published four volumes of her “Russell’s Attic� series, Tor picked them up, and edited a revised vol. 1.
Mixed feelings on this one. The pages fly by, and the action is nonstop. The level of graphic violence is disturbing, and cost the book a star. But it’s pretty much superhero-cartoon level stuff, at the better end of that spectrum. So, strong 3 stars here, and I’ll likely read the next.
Love her tagline: “SL Huang � SpecFic author. Mathematician. Gunslinger.� She says that she started the series in frustration that her math skills weren’t making her a better softball player. She’s the first professional female armorer in the (film) Industry:
Here's the best review I saw here, by Charlotte: /review/show...
Shelved as 'sample-but-no'
September 19, 2023It pains me, but I don't think this book is gonna work for me. I picked it up after very much enjoying S.L. Huang's and , but this is a very different beast, more of a sci-fi action book, heavy on the action.
I knew we were off to a rocky start when we are dropped into a scene with violent Colombian drug lords... Um, just sorry. I've worked in the drug policy field too long to accept this as anything other than Hollywood fiction 95% of the time. The story quickly takes a turn into conspiracy territory that could potentially make it more interesting...but 15% in and I'm already struggling with Cas, the main character. She's maybe 25 and has a world-weary sarcasm that feels both unearned and like an overused stereotype.
This was Huang's debut and I can confidently say from reading her later works she's improved LOADS in terms of character and story pacing. I think I will just wait to see what she offers us next, rather than delving into this early book / trilogy of hers.
I knew we were off to a rocky start when we are dropped into a scene with violent Colombian drug lords... Um, just sorry. I've worked in the drug policy field too long to accept this as anything other than Hollywood fiction 95% of the time. The story quickly takes a turn into conspiracy territory that could potentially make it more interesting...but 15% in and I'm already struggling with Cas, the main character. She's maybe 25 and has a world-weary sarcasm that feels both unearned and like an overused stereotype.
This was Huang's debut and I can confidently say from reading her later works she's improved LOADS in terms of character and story pacing. I think I will just wait to see what she offers us next, rather than delving into this early book / trilogy of hers.
March 6, 2022
Ridiculously fun sci-fi thriller, exactly what I needed to take my mind off the news this week. Ostensibly a book about a mathematically superpowered gunslinger for hire chasing a shadowy conspiracy, actually a character-driven thrill-ride centering not one but two delightful platonic male/female friendships. (Rating for language.)
August 7, 2019
Just one question now: WHERE ARE MY DAMN MATH SUPERPOWERS?
On to book two!
4.5 stars!
On to book two!
4.5 stars!
October 1, 2018
3.5 stars
Zero Sum Game is a sci-fi thriller and the first book in the Russell's Attic series. It follows Cas Russell, a mercenary whose superpower is based on mathematics.
I think this is the kind of story that would work perfectly as a movie. It's fast-paced and full of action, fight scenes and unpredictable twists - just the kind of thing I'd like to watch on a screen. Someone please adapt this, I need it.
As a book, it's not exactly my kind of thing, but I liked it anyway.
I'm not sure sci-fi thrillers are a genre that appeals to me, but I can't deny that I was really invested in the characters even when I wasn't finding the plot interesting. If you like this genre and you're interested in a story withmagical mathematics and a diverse cast, I really recommend this. I decided to read this story because I want to read most books in which the main characters are women who are in some way scientists - and I ended up really liking Cas and the descriptions of her mathematical abilities, but the main reason this book worked for me were the character dynamics.
I loved Cas Russell's narration. Hotheaded, antisocial, not as rational as she think she is, flawed, one-woman army Cas Russel. I love her. And she's not too powerful for the story (reading about a character who solves things only with their superpowers would be boring), since the villain's power ends up being literal mind control.
I also really liked the side characters:
� Rio was my favorite of the side characters. I never would have thought I would like a character who is basically a really religious psychopath, but he was a really entertaining one.
� Arthur Tresting is a black PI, probably the most normal person in the group and would ordinarily be the sanest person in the room. Since sane people are easier to manipulate for the villain, that isn't always true.
� Checker is the hacker. He collaborates with Arthur, is very good as disappearing, and has a sense of humor that often includes annoying others.I loved the humor in this book (another aspect that, again, would translate really well on a screen). Checker uses a wheelchair.
I loved them individually, but I loved them even more as a group. Powerful people working together against someone who's worse and reluctant friendships are some of my favorite things to read about.
Another thing I really liked were the questions this book raised about ethics and free will. I would have liked to see more of that.
While I did really like the characters and their interactions, I wasn't always invested in the plot. I think mind control makes the plot less interesting - when the villain can make everyone act like they want, there's an excuse for really unwise decisions that isn't only "because we needed a plot", but it doesn't make those decisions any wiser. It doesn't leave that much space for interesting character growth. Mind control also seems to make for a somewhat unsatisfying ending, but I can't explain without spoilers.
Zero Sum Game is a sci-fi thriller and the first book in the Russell's Attic series. It follows Cas Russell, a mercenary whose superpower is based on mathematics.
I think this is the kind of story that would work perfectly as a movie. It's fast-paced and full of action, fight scenes and unpredictable twists - just the kind of thing I'd like to watch on a screen. Someone please adapt this, I need it.
As a book, it's not exactly my kind of thing, but I liked it anyway.
I'm not sure sci-fi thrillers are a genre that appeals to me, but I can't deny that I was really invested in the characters even when I wasn't finding the plot interesting. If you like this genre and you're interested in a story withmagical mathematics and a diverse cast, I really recommend this. I decided to read this story because I want to read most books in which the main characters are women who are in some way scientists - and I ended up really liking Cas and the descriptions of her mathematical abilities, but the main reason this book worked for me were the character dynamics.
I loved Cas Russell's narration. Hotheaded, antisocial, not as rational as she think she is, flawed, one-woman army Cas Russel. I love her. And she's not too powerful for the story (reading about a character who solves things only with their superpowers would be boring), since the villain's power ends up being literal mind control.
I also really liked the side characters:
� Rio was my favorite of the side characters. I never would have thought I would like a character who is basically a really religious psychopath, but he was a really entertaining one.
� Arthur Tresting is a black PI, probably the most normal person in the group and would ordinarily be the sanest person in the room. Since sane people are easier to manipulate for the villain, that isn't always true.
� Checker is the hacker. He collaborates with Arthur, is very good as disappearing, and has a sense of humor that often includes annoying others.I loved the humor in this book (another aspect that, again, would translate really well on a screen). Checker uses a wheelchair.
I loved them individually, but I loved them even more as a group. Powerful people working together against someone who's worse and reluctant friendships are some of my favorite things to read about.
Another thing I really liked were the questions this book raised about ethics and free will. I would have liked to see more of that.
While I did really like the characters and their interactions, I wasn't always invested in the plot. I think mind control makes the plot less interesting - when the villain can make everyone act like they want, there's an excuse for really unwise decisions that isn't only "because we needed a plot", but it doesn't make those decisions any wiser. It doesn't leave that much space for interesting character growth. Mind control also seems to make for a somewhat unsatisfying ending, but I can't explain without spoilers.
July 14, 2015
I honestly can't tell you how good this book is; it could be objectively terrible and I'd still love it, since it was apparently written to my exact specifications by an extremely willing and able party. Like. Wow, could this be any closer to precisely what I want from my fiction? Only if someone fell in love with a robot or built a spaceship out of spare parts, pretty much.
Our hero (ish) is Cas Russell, applied mathematical genius -- she's not finding her Erdos number or proving the Riemann hypothesis, she's using vector calculus to win gunfights. Which, fine, whatever. That's fun and excellently robotic, but not JUST FOR ME or anything. But she is also a . This is a woman who would much rather kill people than have feelings about them, who can identify the physical symptoms of emotions without figuring out that she is even having a feeling (let alone what the feeling might actually be), who is completely apart from and weird to everyone around her. I love her unreservedly, and this character alone would be enough to make me love the novel.
But wait! There's more. Much of this novel covers Cas's attempts to build a team. And when the spacetoaster is the person who is trying the hardest to build a team, well, you've got trouble, my friends. I love that the characters working together feels necessary for most of the book but only actually possible in the last half. (It never really gets to probable, let alone functional, but they do get all their guns pointed in sort of the same direction eventually.) Yes! People who exist on the fringes and struggle with feelings and morals and ethics and whether or not they are even actually human SHOULD have trouble making a team, especially with somewhat more normal types.
And then there's the Ominous Background that you only get glimpses of in this novel, and the fact that the major enemy of this book is a , and the way most of the book is set in an instantly-recognizable Los Angeles, and and and. Just bonuses upon bonuses for me, all of this.
And then there's the cleverness of the writing itself. It's hard to explain this one without spoiling the book, but -- you know how sometimes you're reading and you KNOW the character is going to do a thing, even though they wouldn't, because the plot needs them to? In this story, either the character doesn't do the thing (because they wouldn't), or if they do the thing, that, in itself, is important and relevant. This book never lets its characters read ahead, and it never lets the plot control the characters. I love that.
Basically, I read this entire book with increasing wonderment. It wasn't even my birthday! And I don't know this author! But they apparently wrote a book for me anyway, and I think that's swell.
I love this book to bits.
Our hero (ish) is Cas Russell, applied mathematical genius -- she's not finding her Erdos number or proving the Riemann hypothesis, she's using vector calculus to win gunfights. Which, fine, whatever. That's fun and excellently robotic, but not JUST FOR ME or anything. But she is also a . This is a woman who would much rather kill people than have feelings about them, who can identify the physical symptoms of emotions without figuring out that she is even having a feeling (let alone what the feeling might actually be), who is completely apart from and weird to everyone around her. I love her unreservedly, and this character alone would be enough to make me love the novel.
But wait! There's more. Much of this novel covers Cas's attempts to build a team. And when the spacetoaster is the person who is trying the hardest to build a team, well, you've got trouble, my friends. I love that the characters working together feels necessary for most of the book but only actually possible in the last half. (It never really gets to probable, let alone functional, but they do get all their guns pointed in sort of the same direction eventually.) Yes! People who exist on the fringes and struggle with feelings and morals and ethics and whether or not they are even actually human SHOULD have trouble making a team, especially with somewhat more normal types.
And then there's the Ominous Background that you only get glimpses of in this novel, and the fact that the major enemy of this book is a , and the way most of the book is set in an instantly-recognizable Los Angeles, and and and. Just bonuses upon bonuses for me, all of this.
And then there's the cleverness of the writing itself. It's hard to explain this one without spoiling the book, but -- you know how sometimes you're reading and you KNOW the character is going to do a thing, even though they wouldn't, because the plot needs them to? In this story, either the character doesn't do the thing (because they wouldn't), or if they do the thing, that, in itself, is important and relevant. This book never lets its characters read ahead, and it never lets the plot control the characters. I love that.
Basically, I read this entire book with increasing wonderment. It wasn't even my birthday! And I don't know this author! But they apparently wrote a book for me anyway, and I think that's swell.
I love this book to bits.
May 8, 2024
This was not a good book for me. The bodycount is much too high and the casual way in which life is ended just makes me sad. There wasn't even that much gore when put in relation to the number of killings. In my opinion, Cas might be the most unpleasant main character I've come across in my last ten or so years of reading.
Gosh, and this was a BotM that I suggested. What a fail. I will not continue the series, but I still want to check out a more recent book by S.L. Huang to get a grasp on if her writing changed.
Gosh, and this was a BotM that I suggested. What a fail. I will not continue the series, but I still want to check out a more recent book by S.L. Huang to get a grasp on if her writing changed.
November 28, 2018
Actual rating: 4.5/5
Thanks to good teachers I fell in love with mathematics and geometry early in my life. There are art and thrill in reasoning, imagination and finding the truth.
Zero Sum Game’s protagonist - Cas Russell is a weaponizedmathematics genius and a kick-ass heroine with mild psychopathic tendencies. She literally equates her way out of impossible situations and devastates her opponents with preternatural ease and speed. It seems I have a new crush.
Cas is a loner and an outcast leaving off the grid as a retrieval expert. Human life doesn’t mean much to her, and she rarely hesitates to pull the trigger. She trusts only one person, Rio, an absolute and ruthless psychopath whose ability to be effective borders on the unrealistic.
Her latest job goes wrong. It turns a seemingly naïve drug mule Cas rescued from Colombians is part of a secret and well-connected organisation, called Pithica. Despite the evident danger, Cas can’t help digging deeper into the case. Supported by Rio, irritatingly moral PI investigator and a brilliant computer-whiz she faces opponents with augmented psychic skills (telepathy).
I have a soft spot for unlikable heroes with psychopathic tendencies. Add genius mind to the mix and I’m sold. Cas and Rio are a lethal, terrifying duo.Cas’s mind-bending math skills allowher to dodge bullets, eavesdrop through closed doors thanks to in-depth understanding of sound waves properties, or jump from building to building through armed window. People don’t understand her and she doesn’t function well in society.
Rio is an unstoppable killing machine. He’s unable to experience normal human emotions. For unknown reasons the two trust each other on a visceral level. I hope SL Huang will explore their non-romantic, intriguing relationship in the sequels.
Secondary characters felt entertaining and well rounded. That said,remember we’re talking about explosive, fast and over-the-top pulp read. Don’t expect these characters to be realistic. Unless you live in a much more interesting world than I.
I loved this book. It has it all. Kick-ass heroine with mild psychopathic tendencies and genius mind. Mathematics. Preternatural skills. Conspiracies. Breakneck speed. Guns, mines and grenades.
I choose toturn a blind eyeto its flaws - small inconsistencies, open ending, a ton of unanswered questions, cheesy moments directly out of an action B-movie. If such things irritate you Cas’s story will tire and disappoint you. If, however, you love explosive, hard-hitting and straightforward crime fiction with a supernatural twisttry it.
Interesting fact Originally, the Cas Russell series (formerly the Russell’s Attic series) was self-published by the author and consisted of four books and two short stories. Because of upcoming Tor re-release of the series only book 1 is available for purchase at the moment. Some happy people still have older ebooks, for example books 1-3 bundle published in 2016. The question remains if the quality of the re-release improves the story enough to justify long wait for next instalments.
There is something beautiful about the high-speed math of a gunfight. I’ve heard other people opine that gunfights are confusing and disorienting, but to me,they always happen with perfect clarity: every bullet impact leads back to its source, every barrel sweeping through with its own exact trajectory.
Thanks to good teachers I fell in love with mathematics and geometry early in my life. There are art and thrill in reasoning, imagination and finding the truth.
Zero Sum Game’s protagonist - Cas Russell is a weaponizedmathematics genius and a kick-ass heroine with mild psychopathic tendencies. She literally equates her way out of impossible situations and devastates her opponents with preternatural ease and speed. It seems I have a new crush.
Cas is a loner and an outcast leaving off the grid as a retrieval expert. Human life doesn’t mean much to her, and she rarely hesitates to pull the trigger. She trusts only one person, Rio, an absolute and ruthless psychopath whose ability to be effective borders on the unrealistic.
Her latest job goes wrong. It turns a seemingly naïve drug mule Cas rescued from Colombians is part of a secret and well-connected organisation, called Pithica. Despite the evident danger, Cas can’t help digging deeper into the case. Supported by Rio, irritatingly moral PI investigator and a brilliant computer-whiz she faces opponents with augmented psychic skills (telepathy).
I have a soft spot for unlikable heroes with psychopathic tendencies. Add genius mind to the mix and I’m sold. Cas and Rio are a lethal, terrifying duo.Cas’s mind-bending math skills allowher to dodge bullets, eavesdrop through closed doors thanks to in-depth understanding of sound waves properties, or jump from building to building through armed window. People don’t understand her and she doesn’t function well in society.
Rio is an unstoppable killing machine. He’s unable to experience normal human emotions. For unknown reasons the two trust each other on a visceral level. I hope SL Huang will explore their non-romantic, intriguing relationship in the sequels.
Secondary characters felt entertaining and well rounded. That said,remember we’re talking about explosive, fast and over-the-top pulp read. Don’t expect these characters to be realistic. Unless you live in a much more interesting world than I.
I loved this book. It has it all. Kick-ass heroine with mild psychopathic tendencies and genius mind. Mathematics. Preternatural skills. Conspiracies. Breakneck speed. Guns, mines and grenades.
I choose toturn a blind eyeto its flaws - small inconsistencies, open ending, a ton of unanswered questions, cheesy moments directly out of an action B-movie. If such things irritate you Cas’s story will tire and disappoint you. If, however, you love explosive, hard-hitting and straightforward crime fiction with a supernatural twisttry it.
Interesting fact Originally, the Cas Russell series (formerly the Russell’s Attic series) was self-published by the author and consisted of four books and two short stories. Because of upcoming Tor re-release of the series only book 1 is available for purchase at the moment. Some happy people still have older ebooks, for example books 1-3 bundle published in 2016. The question remains if the quality of the re-release improves the story enough to justify long wait for next instalments.
July 30, 2020
Loved the lead, Cas, the action/adventure, the math, and I would watch the hell out of a movie about her. And the short feature on weapons training with the author and the lead. The plot moved along at a brisk pace. Just the thing between naps on a sick day.
Library copy
Library copy
September 1, 2020
Das Debüt der Hollywood-Stuntfrau, Schusswaffen-Expertin („Battlestar Galactica� und „Raising Hope�) und MIT Absolventin in Mathematik, S.L. Huang (Shi Lian Huang) ist ein ebenso rasantes wie abwechslungsreiches Thriller-Garn, das mit einem Schuss paranormalen Effekten hantiert. Die (Roman-)Heldin Cas Russell ist eine professionelle Wiederbeschafferin. Diesmal hat sie den telefonischen Auftrag einer gewissen Dawna Polk aus L.A. angenommen, ihre kleine Schwester Courtney aus den Fängen eines Drogenkartells zu befreien. Der Grund, warum Cas den Auftrag überhaupt angenommen hat, ist der, dass sich Dawna auf Cas� einzigen Freund, den mysteriösen Auftragskiller Rio, berufen hat. Cas gelingt es, Courtney mit Hilfe ihrer eigenen ܱäڳٱ (sie ist ein Mathematikgenie und kann ihre Umgebung als eine Sammlung aus Gleichungen und Vektoren wahrzunehmen, damit verwandelt sie Alltagsgegenstände in tödliche Waffen) aus den Fängen der Drogenmafia zu befreien und zu einem sicheren Ort zu bringen. Gleichzeitig mischt ein Privatermittler sich in die Sache ein und findet die beiden in einem Motelzimmer, Cas fragt sich, wie er sie orten konnte und geht direkt zum Angriff über. Er hat sie nach �Pithica� gefragt, aber der Name sagt Cas nichts. Kaum hat sie ihn entwaffnet, düst sie mit einem geklauten Wagen ab�
Im Laufe des Romans trifft Cas, unsere Superheldin, auf Dawna Polk, die nichts anderes als eine Superschurkin ist. Cas hat bereits am eigenen Leib erfahren, wozu sie fähig ist: Sie kann Gedanken lesen. Als wäre das nicht schon schlimm genug: Dawna kann einem auch einreden, was man denken und fühlen soll. Sie dreht Menschen um und macht sie zu ihren Sklaven. Selbst eine mentale Mauer aus mathematischen Aufgaben, die Cas gegen diesen Einfluss errichtet, kann sie nicht vollständig schützen.
Dawna Polk rekrutiert Menschen für ihre Organisation „Pithica�. Dieses Netzwerk hat bereits Regierungsbehörden unterwandert und errichtet allmählich eine auf Gedankenkontrolle basierende Herrschaft. Cas findet irgendwann heraus, dass „Pithica� nicht davor zurückschreckt, jedes notwendige Opfer zu bringen, das nötig ist, um die eigene Existenz verborgen zu halten. Dazu gehört auch das Eliminieren von lästigen Mitwissern. Müßig ist es noch zu erwähnen, dass der Knoten zum Schluß zu Cas Wohlgefallen aufgelöst wird, nicht ohne daß sie sich fragt, ob ein Mensch wie Cas Freunde haben kann�
Ich muss gestehen, dass ich den Roman in erster Linie deshalb gelesen habe, weil ich die Autorin mit der chinesisch-amerikanischen Autorin R.F. Kuang verwechselt habe. Das hat aber dem Lesegenuss keinen Abbruch getan, ich habe nur etwas anderes bekommen als erwartet. Wie gesagt, der Roman ist spannend und ein Pageturner, er demonstriert nicht nur eine doppelbödige Handlung, bei der sich die Protagonisten sich selbst nicht trauen können. Für die leicht autistische Cas bedeutet es, dass sie (am Ende) beginnt Vertrauen zu schenken und auch Vertrauen annimmt. So machen das Freunde eben und aber es fällt ihr schwer�
Es wäre für mich ein sympathisches Buch geworden, wenn die Autorin (und Cas) nicht so eine Waffenfetischistin gewesen wäre, bei fast jeder sich bietenden Möglichkeiten erwähnt sie, die Vorzüge und Nachteile der jeweiligen Tötungsmaschinen und als ausgemachte Soziopathin benützt sie sie auch. Sie wird als ein Nerd geschildert, die keine Freunde hat und diese auch nicht braucht. Tatsächlich aber reagiert sie ständig hochemotional. Wobei sie im Wesentlichen die Grundemotionen Wut und Ärger bedient. Und da sie auch noch eine extrem geringe Frustrationstoleranz hat, zu der sich eine extrem hohe Gewaltbereitschaft gesellt, ist es kein Wunder, dass es an jeder Ecke knallt. Ich kann mit dem amerikanischen Waffenfetischismus, den diese Autorin voll im Sinne der NRA praktiziert, weder etwas anfangen noch ertragen, deshalb einen Punkt Abzug bei einem insgesamt guten Debüt...
Im Laufe des Romans trifft Cas, unsere Superheldin, auf Dawna Polk, die nichts anderes als eine Superschurkin ist. Cas hat bereits am eigenen Leib erfahren, wozu sie fähig ist: Sie kann Gedanken lesen. Als wäre das nicht schon schlimm genug: Dawna kann einem auch einreden, was man denken und fühlen soll. Sie dreht Menschen um und macht sie zu ihren Sklaven. Selbst eine mentale Mauer aus mathematischen Aufgaben, die Cas gegen diesen Einfluss errichtet, kann sie nicht vollständig schützen.
Dawna Polk rekrutiert Menschen für ihre Organisation „Pithica�. Dieses Netzwerk hat bereits Regierungsbehörden unterwandert und errichtet allmählich eine auf Gedankenkontrolle basierende Herrschaft. Cas findet irgendwann heraus, dass „Pithica� nicht davor zurückschreckt, jedes notwendige Opfer zu bringen, das nötig ist, um die eigene Existenz verborgen zu halten. Dazu gehört auch das Eliminieren von lästigen Mitwissern. Müßig ist es noch zu erwähnen, dass der Knoten zum Schluß zu Cas Wohlgefallen aufgelöst wird, nicht ohne daß sie sich fragt, ob ein Mensch wie Cas Freunde haben kann�
Ich muss gestehen, dass ich den Roman in erster Linie deshalb gelesen habe, weil ich die Autorin mit der chinesisch-amerikanischen Autorin R.F. Kuang verwechselt habe. Das hat aber dem Lesegenuss keinen Abbruch getan, ich habe nur etwas anderes bekommen als erwartet. Wie gesagt, der Roman ist spannend und ein Pageturner, er demonstriert nicht nur eine doppelbödige Handlung, bei der sich die Protagonisten sich selbst nicht trauen können. Für die leicht autistische Cas bedeutet es, dass sie (am Ende) beginnt Vertrauen zu schenken und auch Vertrauen annimmt. So machen das Freunde eben und aber es fällt ihr schwer�
Es wäre für mich ein sympathisches Buch geworden, wenn die Autorin (und Cas) nicht so eine Waffenfetischistin gewesen wäre, bei fast jeder sich bietenden Möglichkeiten erwähnt sie, die Vorzüge und Nachteile der jeweiligen Tötungsmaschinen und als ausgemachte Soziopathin benützt sie sie auch. Sie wird als ein Nerd geschildert, die keine Freunde hat und diese auch nicht braucht. Tatsächlich aber reagiert sie ständig hochemotional. Wobei sie im Wesentlichen die Grundemotionen Wut und Ärger bedient. Und da sie auch noch eine extrem geringe Frustrationstoleranz hat, zu der sich eine extrem hohe Gewaltbereitschaft gesellt, ist es kein Wunder, dass es an jeder Ecke knallt. Ich kann mit dem amerikanischen Waffenfetischismus, den diese Autorin voll im Sinne der NRA praktiziert, weder etwas anfangen noch ertragen, deshalb einen Punkt Abzug bei einem insgesamt guten Debüt...
April 16, 2021
Review to come!
February 18, 2022
4/5
Il y a des moments où on a très envie de lire un genre précis et où il est vraiment très satisfaisant d’avoir trouvé LE livre qui tombe tellement bien. Ici je venais de visionner la première saison de série TV Reacher et j’avais fortement envie de rester dans une ambiance de thriller d’action. Zero Sum Game était le livre parfait pour cela, j’ai donc passé un excellent moment.
On est sur un thriller qui commence comme un thriller action contemporain classique, mais auquel s’ajoute un twist SF qui arrive plus tard.
Ce livre c’est un peu comme le principe de tout les séries policières américaines qui inondent notre TV depuis des années : on a un protagoniste qui a « un truc » en plus et qui utilise ce truc pour chasser les méchants ou faire son travail (genre Mentalist, Elementary, Numb3rs �)
Bon ici on n’est pas dans un contexte policier du tout, mais on a le protagoniste qui a un truc que les autres n’ont pas ce qui l’aide à faire son boulot.
Et ce truc pour Cas Russell c’est une obsession pour les calculs, par exemple les calculs de vecteurs de trajectoire, l’optimisation de chaque geste � A tel point que son cerveau est en permanence en train de calculer tout ce qui se passe autours d’elle. Plus même qu’un obsession, c’est une obligation pour elle. Elle ne peux pas s’en empêcher sinon elle a l’impression de devenir folle, son cerveau tournant en boucle.
Cette particularité l’a toujours maintenu éloignée des autres, surtout parce que pour elle la logique est toujours plus importante que l’émotionnel. Elle est trop bizarre pour l’humain moyen. Mais elle n’a pas de problème avec ça, elle considère même sa particularité un peu comme un super pouvoir et elle en joue du mieux qu’elle peut.
Son seul « ami » d’ailleurs est un sociopathe (je précise : pas un tueur en série), le genre de personne dont la vie est une mission mais qui plait à Cas parce qu’elle peut le « calculer ». Il lui est compréhensible car comme elle il n’est pas entièrement régit par ses émotions et elle n’a pas de surprise avec lui, contrairement aux autres humains.
Cas a trouvé un équilibre en devenant mercenaire. Elle utilise ses calculs pour se sortir de situations très dangereuses et cet exercice forcé apaise ses pulsions. En plus le fait de devoir calculer tout en permanence l’aide pour ses missions car du coup elle reste calme et concentrée quoi qu’il arrive. La peur, elle ne connait pas ou peu, du moins pendant l’action car elle n’a pas le temps d’y penser en tout cas.
Bien sur elle s’assure toujours d’être du bon coté de la morale quand elle prend une mission, elle n’a pas envie de se retrouver recherchée par toutes les polices. Elle compte bien reste inconnue et mise sa réputation sur sa discrétion.
L’intrigue de ce tome commence alors que Cas a été payé pour sauver une jeune femme qui a été capturé par un gang. C’est la sœur de la jeune femme qui l’a contacté via une connaissance commune.
Mais c’est la que les choses semblent devenir de plus en plus bizarre. Un ancien policier, devenu détective privé, est aussi sur l’affaire et recherche la même jeune femme. Apparemment celle ci n’est pas aussi propre sur elle que tout semblait l’indiquer dans les recherches que Cas a fait avant d’accepter l’affaire. Elle est même la principale suspecte dans une série de meurtres de journalistes dans un autre état, ainsi que livreuse de drogue pour le gang �
Cas va vite comprendre qu’on l’a totalement dupé depuis le début et que rien dans toute cette affaire n’est ce qu’il semble être au premier abord � Evidemment elle n’a pas l’intention de laisser ceux qui l’ont forcée à se mettre en danger et se dévoiler s’en sortir indemne. Elle compte bien les retrouver et se venger � Mais ça ne va pas être simple �
Pour ceux qui ont un peu peur du coté mathématique je vous rassure. Il n’y a aucune équation ni chiffres dans le livres, tout est raconté de façon simple et compréhensible. Pour Cas tout est instinctif, elle ne se mets pas devant un papier pour calculer son prochain saut xD
Du coup c’est bien moins « geek » (si on veut) que Numb3rs par exemple, on n’a pas de passages d’explications des théories et autre � C’est vraiment un livre qui peut être lu par tout le monde.
Après je c’est vrai que c’est le genre de principe qui peut avoir du mal à passer au début. C’est un peu gros quand même. J’étais un peu dans ce cas sur le début, pas super convaincue.
Mais je dois dire que si on aime le genre du thriller d’action avec moult retournements de situation, et si on arrive à ne pas trop se questionner sur le réalisme de l’ensemble, c’était une lecture vraiment très sympa et immersive.
Un bon page-turner en fait.
J’ai bien aimé le fait que Cas se remette en cause petit à petit. Cette situation étrange dans laquelle elle se trouve la pousse au delà de ses habitudes et lui fait rencontrer d’autres personnes. D’autres personnes qui éclairent des pans de ce qu’elle est devenu avec le temps sous une nouvelle lumière. Et elle n’aime pas trop qu’on lui ouvre les yeux sur ses priorités et les choix qu’elle a progressivement pris et qui l’ont enfermé dans une espèce de bulle sans personne pour la conseiller ou remettre en cause ses choix de vie extrêmes.
Du coup en plus d’être très porté sur l’action, l’enquête pour découvrir qui est derrière tout ça et les retournements de situation, on peut dire qu’on est aussi sur un roman très centré sur les personnages et leur évolution. Ce qui rajoute un gros plus.
Dans l’ensemble j’ai passé un bon moment, je l’ai lu quasiment d’une traite et c’était exactement ce que je recherchais dans un livre à ce moment la !
Je lirai la suite avec plaisir.
Il y a des moments où on a très envie de lire un genre précis et où il est vraiment très satisfaisant d’avoir trouvé LE livre qui tombe tellement bien. Ici je venais de visionner la première saison de série TV Reacher et j’avais fortement envie de rester dans une ambiance de thriller d’action. Zero Sum Game était le livre parfait pour cela, j’ai donc passé un excellent moment.
On est sur un thriller qui commence comme un thriller action contemporain classique, mais auquel s’ajoute un twist SF qui arrive plus tard.
Ce livre c’est un peu comme le principe de tout les séries policières américaines qui inondent notre TV depuis des années : on a un protagoniste qui a « un truc » en plus et qui utilise ce truc pour chasser les méchants ou faire son travail (genre Mentalist, Elementary, Numb3rs �)
Bon ici on n’est pas dans un contexte policier du tout, mais on a le protagoniste qui a un truc que les autres n’ont pas ce qui l’aide à faire son boulot.
Et ce truc pour Cas Russell c’est une obsession pour les calculs, par exemple les calculs de vecteurs de trajectoire, l’optimisation de chaque geste � A tel point que son cerveau est en permanence en train de calculer tout ce qui se passe autours d’elle. Plus même qu’un obsession, c’est une obligation pour elle. Elle ne peux pas s’en empêcher sinon elle a l’impression de devenir folle, son cerveau tournant en boucle.
Cette particularité l’a toujours maintenu éloignée des autres, surtout parce que pour elle la logique est toujours plus importante que l’émotionnel. Elle est trop bizarre pour l’humain moyen. Mais elle n’a pas de problème avec ça, elle considère même sa particularité un peu comme un super pouvoir et elle en joue du mieux qu’elle peut.
Son seul « ami » d’ailleurs est un sociopathe (je précise : pas un tueur en série), le genre de personne dont la vie est une mission mais qui plait à Cas parce qu’elle peut le « calculer ». Il lui est compréhensible car comme elle il n’est pas entièrement régit par ses émotions et elle n’a pas de surprise avec lui, contrairement aux autres humains.
Cas a trouvé un équilibre en devenant mercenaire. Elle utilise ses calculs pour se sortir de situations très dangereuses et cet exercice forcé apaise ses pulsions. En plus le fait de devoir calculer tout en permanence l’aide pour ses missions car du coup elle reste calme et concentrée quoi qu’il arrive. La peur, elle ne connait pas ou peu, du moins pendant l’action car elle n’a pas le temps d’y penser en tout cas.
Bien sur elle s’assure toujours d’être du bon coté de la morale quand elle prend une mission, elle n’a pas envie de se retrouver recherchée par toutes les polices. Elle compte bien reste inconnue et mise sa réputation sur sa discrétion.
L’intrigue de ce tome commence alors que Cas a été payé pour sauver une jeune femme qui a été capturé par un gang. C’est la sœur de la jeune femme qui l’a contacté via une connaissance commune.
Mais c’est la que les choses semblent devenir de plus en plus bizarre. Un ancien policier, devenu détective privé, est aussi sur l’affaire et recherche la même jeune femme. Apparemment celle ci n’est pas aussi propre sur elle que tout semblait l’indiquer dans les recherches que Cas a fait avant d’accepter l’affaire. Elle est même la principale suspecte dans une série de meurtres de journalistes dans un autre état, ainsi que livreuse de drogue pour le gang �
Cas va vite comprendre qu’on l’a totalement dupé depuis le début et que rien dans toute cette affaire n’est ce qu’il semble être au premier abord � Evidemment elle n’a pas l’intention de laisser ceux qui l’ont forcée à se mettre en danger et se dévoiler s’en sortir indemne. Elle compte bien les retrouver et se venger � Mais ça ne va pas être simple �
Pour ceux qui ont un peu peur du coté mathématique je vous rassure. Il n’y a aucune équation ni chiffres dans le livres, tout est raconté de façon simple et compréhensible. Pour Cas tout est instinctif, elle ne se mets pas devant un papier pour calculer son prochain saut xD
Du coup c’est bien moins « geek » (si on veut) que Numb3rs par exemple, on n’a pas de passages d’explications des théories et autre � C’est vraiment un livre qui peut être lu par tout le monde.
Après je c’est vrai que c’est le genre de principe qui peut avoir du mal à passer au début. C’est un peu gros quand même. J’étais un peu dans ce cas sur le début, pas super convaincue.
Mais je dois dire que si on aime le genre du thriller d’action avec moult retournements de situation, et si on arrive à ne pas trop se questionner sur le réalisme de l’ensemble, c’était une lecture vraiment très sympa et immersive.
Un bon page-turner en fait.
J’ai bien aimé le fait que Cas se remette en cause petit à petit. Cette situation étrange dans laquelle elle se trouve la pousse au delà de ses habitudes et lui fait rencontrer d’autres personnes. D’autres personnes qui éclairent des pans de ce qu’elle est devenu avec le temps sous une nouvelle lumière. Et elle n’aime pas trop qu’on lui ouvre les yeux sur ses priorités et les choix qu’elle a progressivement pris et qui l’ont enfermé dans une espèce de bulle sans personne pour la conseiller ou remettre en cause ses choix de vie extrêmes.
Du coup en plus d’être très porté sur l’action, l’enquête pour découvrir qui est derrière tout ça et les retournements de situation, on peut dire qu’on est aussi sur un roman très centré sur les personnages et leur évolution. Ce qui rajoute un gros plus.
Dans l’ensemble j’ai passé un bon moment, je l’ai lu quasiment d’une traite et c’était exactement ce que je recherchais dans un livre à ce moment la !
Je lirai la suite avec plaisir.
February 11, 2020
Кас Ръсъл е много добра в откриването на изгубени вещи или хора, благодарение на това, че е аналитична и страхотен математик. Когато обаче я наемат да спаси младо момиче от лапите на мафията, осъзнава, че ситуацията в която се е забъркала е много по-опасна отколкото е подозирала.
Амииии, тази книга определено не е мой тип. Не ми допадна, четох я на инат, заради книжно предизвикателство и определено, не мисля да чета друго от този сорт. Да кажа, че не ми беше приятно да съм "в главата" на главната героиня, ще е прекалено меко казано. И преди са ме дразнили героини или герои, но тук положението беше плачевно. Ръсъл ми беше антипатична. Държанието и мислите й не можеха да задържат вниманието ми. Непрестанните пресмятаници на ум ме изкарваха извън нерви... просто не ми се четеше това отново и отново, макар че се подразбираше от името, корицата и резюмето, че ще бъдем заровени в математика... Героинята имаше проблясъци тип Макгайвър, които също ме дразнеха... никога не съм харесвала Макгайвър. Като добавим и факта, че героите в книгата си говориха ту на фамилия, ту на малко име.... СУПЕР ДРАЗНЕЩО... да му се не знае автора не може ли да избере или малко име или фамилия... непрестанно ту едното ту другото, в началото на книгата чак се обърквах ту Кортни, ту Полк... все едно са две различни личности. В добавка към всичко това, не можех да си изградя ясна представа как изглеждат героите. И това ме ПОБЪРКВАШЕ. Свикнала съм при първата ни среща с героите автора да ни даде описание.
Единствено харесах Рио. Допадаше ми това как всички се гипсираха щом разберяха кой е. Беше здраво, яко копеле. Сцените с него донесоха на тази книга от мен 2 звезди. Иначе щеше да е 1.
Амииии, тази книга определено не е мой тип. Не ми допадна, четох я на инат, заради книжно предизвикателство и определено, не мисля да чета друго от този сорт. Да кажа, че не ми беше приятно да съм "в главата" на главната героиня, ще е прекалено меко казано. И преди са ме дразнили героини или герои, но тук положението беше плачевно. Ръсъл ми беше антипатична. Държанието и мислите й не можеха да задържат вниманието ми. Непрестанните пресмятаници на ум ме изкарваха извън нерви... просто не ми се четеше това отново и отново, макар че се подразбираше от името, корицата и резюмето, че ще бъдем заровени в математика... Героинята имаше проблясъци тип Макгайвър, които също ме дразнеха... никога не съм харесвала Макгайвър. Като добавим и факта, че героите в книгата си говориха ту на фамилия, ту на малко име.... СУПЕР ДРАЗНЕЩО... да му се не знае автора не може ли да избере или малко име или фамилия... непрестанно ту едното ту другото, в началото на книгата чак се обърквах ту Кортни, ту Полк... все едно са две различни личности. В добавка към всичко това, не можех да си изградя ясна представа как изглеждат героите. И това ме ПОБЪРКВАШЕ. Свикнала съм при първата ни среща с героите автора да ни даде описание.
Единствено харесах Рио. Допадаше ми това как всички се гипсираха щом разберяха кой е. Беше здраво, яко копеле. Сцените с него донесоха на тази книга от мен 2 звезди. Иначе щеше да е 1.
March 16, 2019
'Note to self: To avoid being vulnerable to telepathy, become a psychopath.
No, bad plan, Cas.'
CAS RUSSELL CAN STEP ON ME ANY DAY
I mean the sass, the asshole demeanor, the character development, the Kate Daniels style kinda sorta found family arc? I'M WEAK. She's definitely remorseless about killing in a way that Kate isn't at all, but that's also something that improves as the story progresses so no complaints, really.
Cas has dark skin and looks Middle Eastern so points for a non-white heroine, Rio AKA closest-thing-to-a-friend is Asian and she gets involved with a Black PI who's tech guy is disabled and uses a wheel chair so not your usual run-of-the-mill sci-fi thriller with an all-white cast. What's more, the main antagonist is Asian and female so points for that, too. Oh and there's no romance.
Having said all that, I'll admit that I'm conflicted about my rating because while I think that the plot is a solid 3 stars, I loved the main character too much (and okay, the rest of the characters, too) to not give the book 4 stars so ¯\_(�)_/¯
Favorite quotes: 'In fact, I'll be so unamused I'll put a bullet in you.'
'I was never quite clear on where the gray ended and the black and white began.'
'So I'll thank you to talk to me like the heavily armed person I am.'
'You look up ‘problem� in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of me putting a gun to your head, which is what I’m considering doing in about three seconds.'
No, bad plan, Cas.'
CAS RUSSELL CAN STEP ON ME ANY DAY
I mean the sass, the asshole demeanor, the character development, the Kate Daniels style kinda sorta found family arc? I'M WEAK. She's definitely remorseless about killing in a way that Kate isn't at all, but that's also something that improves as the story progresses so no complaints, really.
Cas has dark skin and looks Middle Eastern so points for a non-white heroine, Rio AKA closest-thing-to-a-friend is Asian and she gets involved with a Black PI who's tech guy is disabled and uses a wheel chair so not your usual run-of-the-mill sci-fi thriller with an all-white cast. What's more, the main antagonist is Asian and female so points for that, too. Oh and there's no romance.
Having said all that, I'll admit that I'm conflicted about my rating because while I think that the plot is a solid 3 stars, I loved the main character too much (and okay, the rest of the characters, too) to not give the book 4 stars so ¯\_(�)_/¯
Favorite quotes: 'In fact, I'll be so unamused I'll put a bullet in you.'
'I was never quite clear on where the gray ended and the black and white began.'
'So I'll thank you to talk to me like the heavily armed person I am.'
'You look up ‘problem� in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of me putting a gun to your head, which is what I’m considering doing in about three seconds.'
September 29, 2018
I received this book through the publisher via Netgalley.
I've read a lot of urban fantasies--somewhere over 130--and it's hard for me to get into a new series at this point. I feel like I've seen it all. While Zero Sum Game does utilize some familiar tropes, Huang twists them around in inventive, fun ways. Straight up, Cas Russell comes across as many urban fantasy heroines do: almost friendless, ruthless, profane, and good at killing, and in the course of the book, she does make some genuine friends and allies. However, Cas's power is pretty darn unique: MATH. She algorithms her way into being the ultimate killing machine. Her battles are especially fun because you never know how she's going to scrape through.
And oh yeah, there are a lot of battles because Cas has caught the attention of some pretty bad folks. When people with kinda-sorta-superpowers clash, the action is fast and intense. Huang explores the greater Los Angeles area and creates some serious collateral damage in the process. I tend to be good at predicting endings, but I was genuinely surprised at where this book went.
This is a very promising start to a new series, and I'm thankful I had the chance to read an early galley!
I've read a lot of urban fantasies--somewhere over 130--and it's hard for me to get into a new series at this point. I feel like I've seen it all. While Zero Sum Game does utilize some familiar tropes, Huang twists them around in inventive, fun ways. Straight up, Cas Russell comes across as many urban fantasy heroines do: almost friendless, ruthless, profane, and good at killing, and in the course of the book, she does make some genuine friends and allies. However, Cas's power is pretty darn unique: MATH. She algorithms her way into being the ultimate killing machine. Her battles are especially fun because you never know how she's going to scrape through.
And oh yeah, there are a lot of battles because Cas has caught the attention of some pretty bad folks. When people with kinda-sorta-superpowers clash, the action is fast and intense. Huang explores the greater Los Angeles area and creates some serious collateral damage in the process. I tend to be good at predicting endings, but I was genuinely surprised at where this book went.
This is a very promising start to a new series, and I'm thankful I had the chance to read an early galley!
June 11, 2019
Reminds me a little of Fringe (tv show) + a tiny bit of Middlegame + rip-roaring action movies = AKA an incredible combination because there's scifi (ish) and action and grand conspiracies and moral dilemmas and Y.E.S. Ugh it was so good. Cas is amazing and brutal and wonderful and I like seeing her evolve over this book with regards to her relationships to other people. Checker was probably my fav - who doesn't love the funny computer whiz?? I need more of him. I like that there are more mysteries to be unraveled in the future books but I also don't like that because I want to know now!!!! haha. There were two characters in the beginning that I wish we had gotten more of though, that's really my only complaint.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 611 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.