Zero Sum Game

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 spacetoaster. This is a woman who would much rather kill people than have show more 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 telepath, 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. show less

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 show more 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! show less

Cas Russell is good at what she does: retrieval. She also just so happens to be able to see mathematical equations, which comes in handy for fights in which she can predict the trajectory of a bullet or the angle at which she needs to attack from. When Cas takes a job to retrieve Courtney Polk from a drug cartel and then Courtney disappears, she learns that Dawna, the woman calling herself Courtney's sister, is actually a telepath and manipulates Cas into doing her bidding. And, there's whispers of something called Pithica, a deeply hidden network that may be pulling the strings. Cas is determined to find out more, despite the fact that Rio - a psychopath who's still the closest Cas has to a friend - tells her to stay out of it.

A wild show more ride of a near-future science fiction thriller. To be honest, it's very light in the science fiction side of that and I probably wouldn't even mention it if it weren't published by Tor. Fast-paced and violent, with not a lot of character development but a compelling enough storyline that I wanted to know what would happen, even if the revelations (what there were of them, as there's clearly some left for sequels) were somewhat predictable. show less

Mathematical anti-superhero(ine), you had me at hello.

Kinda-sorta Equilibrium-ish, without the 1984 overtones, set now, with a super smart, morally ambiguous, math genius woman of color for a protagonist, a varied and interesting assortment of side-kicks, and a mind-controlling villain. I don't know how or why I resisted reading this for so long, but I am buying [b: Half Life |23965598|Half Life (Russell's Attic #2)|S.L. Huang|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1419038233s/23965598.jpg|43568472] and [b:A Neurological Study on the Effects of Canine Appeal on Psychopathy or RIO ADOPTS A PUPPY A Russell's Attic Interstitial|24808590|A Neurological Study on the Effects of Canine Appeal on Psychopathy, or, RIO ADOPTS A PUPPY A Russell's Attic show more Interstitial|S.L. Huang|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1422916293s/24808590.jpg|44447720] posthaste. show less

Well, that was awesome. Non-stop action, a hell of a ride, competence porn galore and, cherry on top, no pointless romance/sexual tension shoehorned in!

Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang is a fast-paced action/mystery/thriller of the highest order. A math whiz who uses her powers for personal gain, Cas Russell is a mercenary who gets hired to retrieve things. When one contract goes awry, she gets pulled suddenly and irresistibly into a world she never even suspected existed, and the twists don't stop there. Huang knows how to keep the plot tight but full of twists, making sure the reader never gets lost or confused without the plot becoming too straightforward. If you've read an action thriller before, you will probably not find the twists too surprising, but that does not detract from the enjoyment of following Cas's journey. The plot moves quickly without feeling rushed, allowing the show more tension to build to an exciting and well executed climax. All of the characters are enjoyable and unique, with clear motivations. Huang does a fantastic job of ensuring the characters always act with reason, keeping them anchored to their motivations and morals. Overall a fun read, Zero Sum Game feels great as a standalone book but is also clearly setting up for a series, hinting at mysterious back stories and the formation of a group of ongoing characters. For someone who enjoys action thrillers but is tired of dashing men winning the day and getting (then abandoning) the girl, Zero Sum Game is a refreshing new take on the genre. Easily a five star read. show less

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 show more 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. show less