Zero G: A Novel

Shatner and Rovin have created a tightly paced blend of police procedural, military SF, and space opera, set in an intriguing near-future world. Unfortunately, it is populated by predictable character types—whose racial and gender diversity, though welcome, is presented in a self-satisfied manner and uses a number of unfortunate tropes—and narrated in hackneyed, heavily expository prose. In the year 2050, humans live in space stations, everyone accesses information and communicates through “Individual Clouds,” and pan-gender individuals can switch between male and female aspects at will. On the American space station Empyrean, the head of Zero-G, the space branch of the FBI, is Sam Lord: 80 years old, former pilot, and notorious maverick. The presence of his Cherokee pan-gender second-in-command, Adsila Waters, primarily serves to emphasize Lord’s embodiment of the classic white male SF protagonist. Lord’s newest challenge is to ensure the safety of Dr. Saranya May, a beautiful scientist who approaches the FBI for protection after an unprecedented tsunami strikes the coast of Japan. When links emerge among the tsunami, May’s work, and a mysterious Chinese weapon, Lord, Waters, and May must race against time to stop another disaster. SF readers have sampled this fare before, and it doesn’t improve with reheating. Agent: Ian Klienert, Objective Entertainment. (Oct.)