Hull Zero Three [Hardcover]

I was predisposed to liking this novel. I am a fan of the sci-fi tropes of the "big dumb object exploration" (see: "Rama" series) as well as the who multi-century interstellar exploration idea (too many to mention). "Hull Zero Three" is a combination of these themes, and starts out very fast, with a man awakened from a dreaming bliss and rudely injected into a freezing, semi-derelict giant starship, beset by confusion and danger at every turn, and basically trying to survive first, and figure out what is going on and what he is doing later.

The overall theme of "Hull Zero Three" may remind readers last year's (very underrated) film "Pandorum," but Bear, to his credit, writes with a bit more complexity and depth then what you might find in a movie. The themes of "Hull Zero Three" include some meditation on what it means to be human - genetically and morally, and whether we can overcome our genetic 'programming', as well as what humanity as a species may or may not be willing to do in order to survive.

Bear doesn't skimp on pure action, and while he avoids the standard "infodump" we do learn enough of the design and function of the inconceivably vast starship to really engage the reader's sense of wonder and awe. The book was not perfect - there were some scenes towards the middle where it dragged a bit, and the end seemed a bit too rushed and confusing. However, these are minor flaws. Overall, "Hull Zero Three" is one of 2010's better sci-fi offerings and showcases an author that is still near the top of his game.

I really wanted to like this book. After all, the basic plot (character awakes in strange circumstances on a vast starship, and must undertake a long journey with many challenges in order to discover why) is a classic. I doubt that I'm the only reader of space fiction who has dreamed about such a quest, and even thought about writing it.... But I digress. Just because a story is based on a timeless theme doesn't mean it's no good, does it?

So the narrative arc is familiar, the characters equally so, the vaguely horrific quest works well, and the overall resolution is nicely judged. So why Do I give this book only three stars? Other reviewers have already identified the book's fatal weakness: the descriptions. Descriptions of characters and of monsters, both human and monstrous. Descriptions of the ship: its processes, systems, structures, spaces and spatial elements. Descriptions of the forces that act upon the characters, including sounds, accelerations, temperatures... The author insists on painting a detailed picture of every move, every event, every spin-up and chill-down, and then finds himself running out of adjectives. The result is often repetitive, and unfortunately flat.

As I said, I've read many science fiction stories in which the writers strove to describe huge alien forms and to hint at experiences beyond human ken. And generally they succeeded. I have a feeling that what's happening here is that the author has watched too many science fiction moves. When computer graphics can casually fill the screen with aliens, or a starship the size of a small planet, or an attack by thousands of robots, two things can happen to a writer. First, s/he may believe that anything less will not satisfy the reader, and s/he will strive to compete with the visual medium. Second, s/he may hope that the book can become the basis for a successful movie, and drifts into writing not a novel but a screenplay with detailed instructions to the special effects team.

How close does Greg Bear come to these tendencies - the Scylla and Charybdis of CGI envy? A bit too close for comfort, I'm afraid.

Hull Zero Three is an uneven, uneasy marriage of the "amnesiac protagonist" plot (made popular mostly in mystery and suspense fiction, such as "The Bourne Identity") and the "explore the big dumb object" plot (made popular in science fiction, such as "Rendezvous with Rama," "Event Horizon," etc.). Unfortunately, the combination of these plots makes for a muddled read, since a character who doesn't know who or where he is wanders through something he can't adequately describe (because he's also forgotten a lot of words, so he really wouldn't be able to adequately describe his surroundings if he woke up somewhere really mundane) being threatened (or not...he's not really sure) by things he doesn't know the names of and again can't adequately describe.

It is pretty obvious from the outset that the character is on a generation ship and that things have gone HORRIBLY WRONG (as things always seem to do on generation ships...it's a wonder anyone builds them, really...don't those people read science fiction?). So the suspense really all revolves around what has gone wrong and will the characters be able to set it right. It's too bad that Bear chose such an annoying way to tell this story, because I thought the situation (when it is finally revealed very late in the novel) was actually pretty interesting and if he'd made the story about THAT instead of about an amnesiac character slowly making this discovery, it would have been a much better novel.