Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Zero World
    Zero World
    Zero World
    Audiobook15 hours

    Zero World

    Written by Jason M. Hough

    Narrated by Gideon Emery

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Published in rapid succession, Jason M. Hough's first three novels, The Darwin Elevator, The Exodus Towers, and The Plague Forge, earned mountains of praise and comparisons to such authors as James S. A. Corey and John Scalzi. Now Hough returns with a riveting near-future spy thriller that combines the adrenaline of a high-octane James Bond adventure with mind-blowing sci-fi speculations worthy of Christopher Nolan's Inception. Technologically enhanced superspy Peter Caswell has been dispatched on a top-secret assignment unlike any he's ever faced. A spaceship that vanished years ago has been found, along with the bodies of its murdered crew-save one. Peter's mission is to find the missing crew member, who fled through what appears to be a tear in the fabric of space. Beyond this mysterious doorway lies an even more confounding reality: a world that seems to be Earth's twin. Peter discovers that this mirrored world is indeed different from his home, and far more dangerous. Cut off from all support, and with only days to complete his operation, Peter must track his quarry alone on an alien world. But he's unprepared for what awaits on the planet's surface, where his skills will be put to the ultimate test-and everything he knows about the universe will be challenged in ways he never could have imagined. Praise for Jason M. Hough's The Darwin Elevator "A hell of a fun book."-James S. A. Corey, New York Times bestselling author of Abaddon's Gate "Hough's first novel combines the rapid-fire action and memorable characters associated with Joss Whedon's short-lived Firefly TV series with the accessibility and scientific acumen of [James S. A.] Corey's 'Expanse' series."-Library Journal (starred review) "The story unfolds with just the right balance of high adventure, espionage, humor, and emotional truth. . . . As soon as you finish, you'll want more."-Analog "A debut novel unlike any other . . . This is something special. Something iconic. The Darwin Elevator is full of majesty and wonder, mystery and mayhem, colorful characters and insidious schemes."-SF Signal "Full of compelling characters and thick with tension, The Darwin Elevator delivers both despair and hope along with a gigantic dose of wonder. It's a brilliant debut, and from now on Hough can take my money whenever he writes anything."-Kevin Hearne, New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateAug 18, 2015
    ISBN9781501901232
    Zero World
    Author

    Jason M. Hough

    Jason M. Hough is the New York Times bestselling author of The Dire Earth Cycle and the near-future spy thriller Zero World and is a proud member of SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) and ITW (International Thriller Writers). When not writing, reading, or playing with his kids, he spends his time exploring virtual reality or trying to coax his 3D printer into doing something useful. He lives near Seattle, Washington, with his wife, two sons, and a dog named Missbuster.

    Related to Zero World

    Related audiobooks

    Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Inhibitor Phase

      Aug 11, 2021

      Inhibitor Phase
      2 min read

    • Article

      Take A Walk On The Wilder Side Of Death With 'Reincarnation Blues'

      Aug 26, 2017

      Michael Poore's new novel is surprisingly goofy for a book about dying. It's the story fishing guide Milo, who's just been eaten by a shark. Oh, and he's in love with Death, who's also named Suzie.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Prohibition

      Sep 10, 2021

      It had been ten days since my last fix. I knew what I was going to do was wrong, but unless you knew the yearning that your body exerts, the internal pull which strangles your very soul into submission, then you cannot judge me. Yes, it was wrong. Ye

      15 min read

    • Article

      A Rear Old Time

      May 9, 2021

      A Rear Old Time
      7 min read

    • Article

      Excerpt

      Dec 12, 2019

      He was an angry man, and he was an ugly man, and he was tall, and he was pacing. Not much space for it in the new home, just a few rooms lined up in a row, underneath a series of slow-moving ceiling fans, an array of antique clocks ticking on one wal

      4 min read

    • Article

      Dancing

      Sep 1, 2022

      Dancing
      14 min read

    • Article

      How to Stop Crying

      Nov 7, 2019

      How to Stop Crying
      7 min read

    • Article

      Ice Blue

      Dec 5, 2023

      Even inside the plane the cold had registered, along with a deadening of all sound. But the glacial silence that awaits him outside is something else entirely. No attempt to imagine it could have prepared him. It occurs to him that he’s done well to

      15 min read

    • Article

      Notes From A Nothing

      Feb 14, 2020

      Notes From A Nothing
      13 min read

    • Article

      When Life Bites

      Sep 14, 2020

      When Life Bites
      6 min read

    • Article

      On Metaphors and Snow Boots

      May 23, 2022

      On Metaphors and Snow Boots
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Leather Coat

      Apr 4, 2024

      The Leather Coat
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Narrow Room

      Sep 12, 2023

      She shakes out the blanket, wraps it around her middle, and sits down. The room is cold and dim and full of quiet. She takes the top book from the stack, and her marker out of the book: Sonnet 49. Against that time (if ever that time come). Against t

      34 min read

    • Article

      Faery Land

      Mar 24, 2020

      Faery Land
      8 min read

    • Article

      Good Bones

      Mar 19, 2020

      Good Bones
      18 min read

    • Article

      KILL A STRANGER Chapter 2

      Dec 31, 2020

      If you’ve never been in a situation like this before, you just can’t understand it. I’ll be blunt. It was absolutely terrifying. The nightmare started just like that. Bang. I literally woke with a start, and realised that I was being flung around in

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Zero World

    4/5

    75 ratings12 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      I received an ARC for free from the the publisher, Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey Spectra, in exchange for a review through NetGalley.com.

      This was a bit of a hard read for me. Usually I am not into the science part of Sci-Fi, and books that tend to deal with space, or traveling between worlds by starship, etc, just do not interest me. However, the synopsis above captured my attention, as I do like stories dealing with parallel/alternate/mirrored earths. I know, weird, right?

      That all being said, I will admit that I was a bit let-down, and yet, not surprised with this story. The start was very good, opening with our main character Peter, finishing a mission for the IA. We find out what he does for a living, and the basics of how it works, why there are time frames to a mission. From there how he gets called back immediately for a new mission. This is where it got too "starshippy" for me, though I found it interesting in how he arrived to the "mirror world".

      The adventure continues with Peter working to achieve his mission goals, and his interaction with one of the natives from this world, an actual spy that has similar goals to Peter's. Most of the book is the mission over a period of time ... I think it was like a week in Earth time. The ending was a nice twist to what I was expecting, though I wonder how would Hough write a second book to this one (not saying he plans to do so, but didn't have much interest if it continued from where it left off).

      I have good and bad things about the book. I will admit to skimming through many pages at a time through most of the middle of the story. It just felt over detail-oriented and needless to me, and I would jump ahead to the next section of action, or dialogue. I could understand there being a difficulty in writing about a mirror world and working out how the similarities are there, yet different, not only in language, but technology. Hough did a good job with the science of how they talk a very nearly English as good as our planet (I don't want to give out spoilers). The book art was good - the character shown was the mental image I had of Peter. World description was done well, as noted maybe too much detail at times. For both being a spy/assassin types, I felt they were too trusting with each other, but then, one was a novice, and the other on a strange new world, so doing what they felt they needed to do would make sense I guess.
    • 4/5
      Peter Caswell, cybernetically-enhanced secret agent and assassin, works for a clandestine organization. He does not remember the jobs assigned to him by his handler, Monique, because his memories of each assignment are erased once completed. His latest assignment requires him to go undercover on a space mission to investigate a derelict spaceship presumed lost for decades but which has recently appeared in the solar system. When they arrive, the crew discovers all aboard have been murdered, apparently by a remaining crew member named Alice, who has abandoned the ship in a small space craft. Caswell is ordered to kill the current crew members and to follow Alice on a trajectory navigated by Monique. Once he travels through a wormhole, he learns of his new mission from a pre-programmed message from Monique. Alice previously traveled through the wormhole to a Earth-like planet in another galaxy where English is also spoken. This planet's technology is similar to Earth; however, a 1950s Earth. Using knowledge of future technology, Alice has set herself up like a God enhancing this planet's applied science. His assignment is to assassinate Alice and try to "put the technology back in the box."However, Caswell is curious about why this planet looks so similar to Earth where English is spoken. Answers to these questions could get him killed.This Jason Bourne meets Buck Rogers science fiction novel was a fun read. Although science fiction since it occurs primarily on a foreign world, it is essentially a thriller-suspense story, which includes a indigenous agent named Melni whom Caswell meets on this parallel world.
    • 4/5
      I liked the concept of this novel but would have enjoyed it a lot more without all the detailed descriptions of fighting. Felt like it was written for a movie. Skipped many paragraph/pages to move the story along.
    • 5/5
      Zero World is pretty much the ultimate sci-fi/spy intrigue novel hybrid. In a technologically advanced future, Peter Caswell is an assassin for hire... with a twist. After each job is complete, his mind is reset to before the job even took place, leaving him with no recollection or memories of the assassination or the events surrounding (although plenty of scars to show for it). Living in a plush apartment in Hyde Park, Caswell is not really close with anyone, living a pretty isolated life of solitude. Caswells next mission must be high priority because he is offered triple pay and four weeks vacation if he signs on. A previously thought lost spaceship has been found adrift in space, crew dead, except one. Caswell is to find and dispose the missing rouge crew member. This mission takes him through a rip in space and time to what appears to be Earths twin. With the help of a native, Melni, Caswell must make his way undetected in this world to complete his mission and along the way makes frightening and life changing discoveries about the corporation for which he works, and the universe as a whole. I can't sing the praises of this book enough. Not only was the whole concept so well thought out and interesting, but the writing was intense and the plot action packed. There was seriously not one dull moment. Everything had me tense and my mind was blown by more than one revelation throughout the course of the book. I love Hough's attention to detail in his writing, the futuristic world he brings to the reader is so alive and believable I was almost taken aback when I set the book down and came back to my reality and realized I wasn't inside that universe. He's that good people. I really enjoyed how Caswell and Melnis stories intertwined and I was left absolutely wanting more at the end of the novel. I hope this is one of a planned series, I need more!
    • 3/5
      I received this from Netgalley (a LONG time ago!) in exchange for an honest review.

      This one started out strong, but fell off after the halfway point for me, and I struggled to finish it.

      Peter Caswell is an assassin sent to a planet in an alternate dubbed "Duplo" because of its similarities to our Earth. Traveling in a spaceship with pre-programmed destination and return routes, Caswell is only told what his handler thinks he needs to know to carry out his mission: who the target is and a general idea of the potential difficulties and challenges. Caswell's body has been enhanced with sophisticated technological devices: implants that can temporarily increase his hearing and fighting capabilities or make him forget anything connected to a previous mission, including the number of people he has killed.

      In the first encounter with his target, Caswell meets a woman named Melni. These two central characters learn things that make them wary of each other, but the knowledge acquired about Earth and Duplo drives the novel’s world-building and introduces a major plot twist later on in the book. I did like Melni, a strong female character and an outstanding undercover operative, but I didn’t think it very realistic in the way she immediately trusted Caswell, which seemed really out of character for her. Speaking of Caswell, I was completely indifferent to his character. I just didn’t connect with him at all.

      Just like the books to which is has been compared (The Bourne Series, James Bond, etc.), it is fast-paced and packed with violent scenes. There are a few shocking surprises that propel the plot in twists that didn’t really work, leading to a messy ending that left me quite dissatisfied.
    • 3/5
      A sci-fi spy thriller with the feel of an action movie.

      'Zero World' starts off strong, introducing us to Peter Caswell, a spy and assassin. To do his job, he relies on an implant which allows his handler to 'erase' all the memories of his missions, assuring that guilt and doubt never catch up with him. He approaches each assignment as a freshly trained, gung-ho agent, confident that he'll never have to ask questions or face the moral consequences of his actions. All he knows is that so far, he's killed 206 people.

      It's not a surprise to the reader that this mission might up that body count significantly. This assignment, Caswell is sent out into space to investigate a derelict spacecraft. He doesn't find out until he's there that his assignment is to track down the sole surviving crewmember, Alice Vale, who has somehow traveled through a 'Conduit' and discovered another world. Not all goes as expected, and soon Caswell finds himself having to reassess and improvise, teaming up with a local spy/agent, Melni, and getting involved with a whole new set of politics.

      The book is primarily action-adventure, but it does a nice job setting out layers of plots and revelations in a way which gradually increases the scope of events and the increasing ramifications of what's at stake.

      My biggest complaint is that the worldbuilding seemed a little lazy. There was no convincing explanation beyond some brief handwaving for the strange similarities between Earth and the newly-discovered world, and the differences don't make cultural sense [in that we never see how the society we're shown developed in the way it did through its history]. The differences amount to a few random vocabulary words and 'reversals' (Long hair is 'masculine', women are expected to take the social lead, the discriminated-against refugees are blonde and pale.)

      There's also a character who shows up solely to give a big, long, important speech about critical background and events, before being eliminated from the book. The section feels extremely forced; like the author just couldn't think of any other way to reveal this information to the characters.

      As a whole, though, I still found the book highly entertaining. There's room for a sequel - but it ends at a satisfying, conclusive juncture.

      Many thanks to NetGalley and DelRey for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.


    • 4/5
      First science fiction I have read in about 30 years! Interesting story about an assassin who gets his memories wiped after every kill so that he does not have to deal with the memories of his kills that he does for a futuristic corporation. The main focus of the novel is on one particular case, and it's hard to say more without giving away the very complicated plot. Enjoyable, but a bit long and drawn out.
    • 4/5
      Good plot. Interesting universe.Bonus was "The Dire Earth" a prequel to the Dire Earth Cycle.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the Darwin Elevator; so I thought I'd give this a try, and I'm glad I did. In Zero Worlds, as in his other works, the author draws characters admirably and in a non-stereotypical manner, also there's plenty of action all resulting in a book that reads quickly and is difficult to put down. My only complaint, if one can consider it as such, is that this story, like the Darwin Elevator, is clearly the first of a series; so it leaves you hanging, waiting for the next installment. Not a fatal flaw by any means but if you're easily annoyed by that sort of thing, wait until you can get at least the second installment before beginning. In any case I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy reading Zero Worlds or the author's other works.
    • 5/5
      How do I know when a book has got its hooks in me? I read the digital ARC of Zero World from NetGalley which actually ends at 78% with the rest of it being bonus material. Of course, I had no idea of this going in and didn’t find out until I hit the Acknowledgements page. Having expected this unbelievably gripping story to go on for about a hundred more pages – then having that expectation cruelly ripped away from me – my resounding wail of “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” probably could have been heard from all the way down the street. As you can imagine. Seriously, what can I say about this book that would do the sheer ingenuity of its premise justice? It’s like James Bond meets Memento meets an episode of Star Trek. Let’s just say the tagline of Zero World – “This will be the most interesting mission you’ll ever forget” – serves its story well, a promise of adventure and thrilling action packed into those ten simple words.The story follows biologically enhanced secret agent Peter Caswell, who undertakes every single operation he gets with a clean conscience – literally. With the help of an implant surgically melded into his brain, he never remembers his missions; everything from dossier details to the number of people killed while he is in the field always gets thoroughly wiped from his mind upon completion. In many ways, he is the perfect superspy. And now he’s embarking on his most dangerous and secretive assignment yet, one that will take him beyond reality into another world entirely. After passing through what appears to be a tear in the fabric of space, Caswell finds himself on an Earth eerily like his own. A lot of is the same but so much more is different, and in this alien yet familiar world, our protagonist must track and kill his quarry before irreparable damage can be done. To his surprise, Caswell receives help from an unexpected source in the form of Melni, an undercover agent on this mirror world who is also seeking the same target, but for very different reasons than his own.If you enjoyed Jason M. Hough’s Dire Earth Cycle, picking up this book is a no-brainer. This is without a doubt his most exciting and ambitious work yet. The author’s penchant for rich world building and writing about incredibly innovative tech has always impressed me, but what I love about his science fiction is the fact that it’s also so accessible. Zero World blends futuristic elements with the best parts of the spy thriller genre to great success; the story captured my attention from the get go and it never relented with its nail-biting suspense. There were some pretty huge twists around the midway point too, leading to staggering implications for the plot and the characters. Add the seemingly insurmountable obstacles for our protagonists into the equation, and you can see why this novel kept me reading well into the wee hours of the night.The team of Caswell and Melni is also a very unique and enjoyable partnership, one in which each of their participation is refreshingly equal. It’s always interesting to read about characters from different worlds meeting for the first time and their eventual teaming up, and I had a very good time following their exploits and watching the interplay between their personalities. Melni fascinated me with her loyalty to her organization and their cause, despite being looking down upon and treated like a foreigner by her own people. Caswell is an even bigger enigma, given how integrated he is with his implants. I have to wonder, can his attitude towards the morality of his actions be simply chalked up to denial, or might it be tied up in something much bigger? Hough’s subtle probing into the complexities of the human psyche surprised me a bit here, but I liked the depth it gave to his characters.There’s actually some irony in the fact that Peter Caswell can’t remember his missions, because I think his adventures in Zero World are sure to stick with me for a long time. Needless to say, I really enjoyed this book and didn’t want it to end, and I believe I’ve already made those feelings glaringly clear in my opening paragraph. I despaired when I turned the page and realized the book was over. Can you tell I’m desperate for the sequel? Be sure to check out this novel if you enjoy your sci-fi thrillers filled with adrenaline rushes and high-energy action sequences; I promise you won’t be disappointed.
    • 4/5
      I have never heard of this author. I picked up this book due to the words "James Bond" and "Inception". Two movies that I really liked. So I took a chance on this book. So glad that I did. I flew through it like candy. Peter is a complex character. The world that the author built for this book was amazing. It was like I could see all of this playing out as a movie on the big screen. There was plenty of action and intrigue to be found in this book. I would agree that it was like a cross between James Bond and Inception. Now that I am familiar with Mr. Hough's work, I will be checking out more books by him.
    • 4/5
      Digital ARC from EdelweissCaswell is an assassin whose memory is wiped after every mission. Each mission is his first, and he is free from the burdens of conscience. But the latest mission, to accompany and observe the investigation of an accident on a space station, changes the rules.Why I picked it up: In the mood for a spy thriller with a quirky, fantasy or supernatural edge. Why I finished it: Entertaining blend of SF and spy/assassin genres. We get dropped into the plot a little too quickly for my tastes (not spending time to establish setting and style). I found some of the sci-fi markers a little too twee and heavy-handed, but they do help keep the reader grounded in the setting.Fans of William Gibson and Neil Stephenson will find something to enjoy here.