Well, here is a new addition to the Zero epic. I stayed up late 3 nights in a row to finish it fast. The story held my attention and kept me reading. Like the others in the series, I know this book is not for everyone. The Zero books require a long review to give clues to potential readers. Some readers will love this book and others, not so much.The writing takes you to another world. As in the previous books in the stories, we are taken to a strange world. The name of the dangerous, doomed planet we come to is called Earth. You might not like this planet. The story is full of death and destruction. The inter-galactic Congress has placed a punishment on the species known as humans, and the hammer has been dropped on Earth. Because the story takes place on Earth after a ban and isolation, we mainly read about humans, kinda. All the characters are humans, kinda, except for fierce killing dragon-like monsters dropped on the planet to punish the humans and help return humanity to the dark ages. We can recognize Earth, it is a ravaged version of our planet maybe 100 years in the future. There are characters in the book that are not your average folk. Every character brings a special talent or quirk to the test of survival that is life on the banned planet. The world of this story asks a lot of the reader and keeps raising questions about what is important in life, and why do we struggle, instead of just giving up.This is a violent survival story. The first book in the series was military fiction. The second book was a series of mysteries and slow reveals. This book is about what each character must do to survive and either help others, or eliminate the competition. There are several bands of survivors we follow, and their adventures and movement through the dangerous towns and countryside is an ongoing drama. We readers journey along with the characters to find out what is going to happen next, and who is going to help who, and who might not be trustworthy. With each page we are immersed in the path to life and death that each character travels. If you enjoy survival challenge type fiction this book will probably work for you.There are many interesting characters. We know Zero from the first two books. Zero is not a happy camper. Talk about having a bad year. Most of his friends have died in violent battles against the enemies of the Congress. He is burned out and miserable. Then the Congress drops the hammer on humanity. His alien friends could protect him, but he decides to return to Earth. We want to cheer for Zero, but he is not even sure there is anything worth living for. We see Rat, who is a bad ass female soldier who barely remembers her home world of Earth. She last saw Zero as somewhat of a friend in the second book, but you get the impression that if her superiors ordered her to kill Zero, she would regretfully do it. She is sent to the dying planet on a special mission. We don't spend much time with any other characters from the previous books, except for Zero's brother. For most of this book I wasn't sure if he is villain or hero. I guess Zero's brother is a complicated character. The new characters introduced in this book are special. I will let you discover them for yourself. I will just say, they are human, kinda. The relationship between characters is complex and multi-layered. People are not just friends or enemies. The relationships are complicated. I had to keep reading to see what was going to happen next with relationships or frenemies.There are important questions for characters in the book and for readers. Don't pick up this book if you want mindless enjoyment. My criticism of the Zero series, it makes you think. I thought about identity, survival, friendship, loyalty, the value of humanity, punishment, mercy and how we live our lives. The characters in the story ask themselves if humanity is worth saving. We see the worst of human behavior and some less horrible things that humans do. Since the characters were asking the questions, I starting asking those questions of myself. What do I see in humanity that is good, and what do I see that is bad. Most of the book shows the balance on the negative side. I probably would not continue the series if I was not hopeful in an ultimate redemption for Zero and his friends. I am a happy-slappy kind of reader, mostly. There are definitely adult situations and consequences in this book. If you are a parental unit judging if your youngster should read it, check it out first for yourself. I enjoyed it and recommend it for others. I think it is good to think. We see individuals grow and develop, enemies becoming partners and strangers becoming friends. This story has interesting sub-stories embedded in it which hold the reader's attention.I am waiting for what comes next. The book is the first part of a two part book. In the series "The Legend of ZERO" this book with its sequel will be the third book in the series. Because it is book 1 of a 2 part book, the ending is somewhat of a cliffhanger. I did not mind, while the last page snuck up on me, most storylines at least felt stable enough to wait for future resolution. I complement the author on pausing the stories in places that do not feel unsatisfying. I want to continue reading the story. I want to know what happens to Zero, Rat and Zero's brother. I want to know what the future holds for the new characters. I am curious if humanity has a future, or is Earth just doomed. I enjoyed this book and am happily awaiting the next book in the series. I would say the most likely audience is people who can enjoy complex character driven stories instead of just tech or military driven stories. This book has fighting, death and destruction, but is more focused on the characters and their interactions. I would recommend reading the previous books in the series first, especially the second book in the series. Each of the three books have a different feel, storylines and flow. Give it a try, I think you will like it, although it will mess up your sleep as you stay awake late into the night trying to finish it! I loved the first two books and was patiently yet eagerly waiting for the 3rd book... once I read the 3rd book I wish I had a time machine to go back and tell myself to not read it...Basically the hero of the first two books is emasculated in the 3rd book... I wish there was a better way to describe it but that is what jumps out at me...I actually waited until last week to re-read the first two books again and I was so happy with them and so excited to re-read the 3rd book... then I remembered what it was about and i couldn’t even start it knowing how it goes...I gave this two starts instead of one because it was written very well, I just did not like the story at all.. if you liked Zero (Joe) and who he was in the first two books then you wont like the 3rd bookI will get the next book in the hopes that the story gets back to normal... and of course closure... but if the 4th is anything like the 3rd then I know I won’t be getting the 5th book.. closure be damned
What do You think about Zero's Return (2014)?
The book dragged on a bit after about 70% in, otherwise it would be a 5-star book.
—Morganlee132
Sara reminds me of Margaret Weis, you really invest in her characters.
—Pettrys
Good science fiction but not as good as the first period
—Jill
