Audiobook Review – Zero G (The Zero Chronicles, Book 1) by Dan Wells, Narrated by Various (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 4 hours and 8 minutes
Publisher: Audible Originals
Release Date: December 06, 2018
ASIN: B07K3S19NG
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in The Zero Chronicles
Source: Borrowed audiobook through Audible Plus
Rating: 3/5 stars
“Zero is just one of 20,000 people aboard a spaceship bound for a new planet set to be colonized. The journey is over a century long but luckily, everyone is in stasis, so they’ll be safe and sound asleep during the trip. Everyone that is, except for Zero, whose pod has malfunctioned, waking him up a hundred years early.
His initial excitement in roaming the ship alone quickly turns to a heart-stopping interstellar adventure when a family of space pirates show up, trying to hijack the ship and take the colonizers hostage. With everyone he knows fast asleep, it’s up to Zero to think fast and find a way to stop them–all on his own.”
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in The Zero Chronicles. I borrowed this audiobook from Audible Plus.
Audiobook Quality (4/5): This is a full performance audiobook which I am normally not a fan of. However, here it was done really well and it fit the tone of the story perfectly.
Story (3/5): This was fine, it is written for younger kids (I think ages 5-10 might enjoy it) but is a bit too silly and simple for adults. I thought it was okay but won’t be picking up any other books in the series. If I had a younger kid (rather than a teenager, I might listen to this with them. It’s basically a sci-fi story about a young boy saving the day on a spaceship. All of the situations and characters are very over characterized and silly.
Characters (3/5): I enjoyed Zero, he acts pretty much like a kid in his situation would probably act. I thought all of the adult characters were fairly poorly done. They are all overly characterized, untrustworthy and a bit stupid. As I said, younger kids will get a kick out of this but it doesn’t work well for adults.
Setting (3/5): The spaceship setting was well done and interesting. Although I would have liked to learn a bit more about how the spaceship worked and its environment.
Writing Style (3/5): The writing style is fine and aimed at a younger audience. The plot is simple and predictable, the language used throughout is also simple. It’s all fine but wasn’t really something I enjoyed all that much.
My Summary (3/5): Overall the performance of the audiobook was very well done and I think a group of elementary kids would find this hilarious, I just thought it was so-so. This is aimed at a younger audience that enjoys stupid, over-charaterized adults and lots of “potty” humor. It wasn’t something I enjoyed listening to and I won’t be reading future books in the series.
