Year Zero

by Jeff Long

Book Overview

In Jerusalem, an American archaeologist working on Project Year Zero -- the search for the historical Jesus -- crosses the line between science and theft when he helps plunder an old Roman landfill... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743406117
• ISBN13: 9780743406116
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Swept away!

Here it is, the ultimate Survivor episode, a thinking person's adventure tale. The writing hooked me with the first sentence, "The wound was their path", and what a path it becomes, full of twists and surprises and Nathan Lee's heart full of hope. I've never seen a book like this, with such wild premises that seem to have no connection, but by the end are woven together so perfectly. On the one hand Year Zero is a novel about the virus from hell, the big extinction event that we think can't happen to us. Then there's the cloning of human lab rats that has echoes of Frankenstein and Brave New World. Nathan's escape through the Himalayas is almost a story in itself, but Long keeps on spinning his web, and somehow, amazingly ties it all together in the end. I started telling the story to a friend, then just stopped and gave her the book to read for herself. This one defies simple description. All I can say is, dive in, and get swept away.

swept away!

Here it is, the ultimate Survivor episode, a thinking person's adventure tale. The writing hooked me with the very first sentence, "The wound was their path", and what a path it becomes, full of twists and surprises and Nathan Lee's heart full of hope. I've never seen a book like this, with such wild premises that seem to have no connection, but which by the end are woven into a single thread. On the one hand Year Zero is a novel about the virus from hell, the big extinction event that we humans think can't happen to us. Then there's the cloning of human lab rats that has echoes of Frankenstein and Brave New World. Nathan Lee's escape through the Himalayas is almost a story in itself, but Long keeps on spinning his web, and somehow, amazingly ties it all together in the end. I started describing the story to a friend, then just stopped and gave her the book to read for herself. This one defies simple description. All I can say is, dive in and get swept away.

Long hits another one over the fence

I devoured "The Descent" in a two-day span, and couldn't wait for Jeff Long's follow-up. I'm glad that it wasn't a sequel: Long is far too mindbendingly original to tread the same ground again. In "Year Zero", Long dons the mantle of all science fiction writers, and plumbs the scientific and moral question of his day: cloning. Faced with an extinction event that stirs from a 2000-year-old contagion, what will be our response?Long constructs his tale with his use of dichotomies, some starkly drawn (Ochs and Nathan Lee, Paul and Miranda Abbott, Ben and Eesho), some mirror image (Cavandish and Adam). I've read some criticism concerning Long's pacing and continuity, but have to disagree. The development of each disparate plot line, setting, and set of characters illuminates what has been foreshadowed, and casts shadows across the rest of the novel.Long is unflinching in his examinations of the brutality with which man savages his savages, in "The Descent", the hadals, and here, in "Year Zero", the dehumanized clones. Yet while some descriptions might disgust and dismay, others delight: all of the passages with the Appaloosa, the passages with Tara, the ancient child of the future, and the passages about the storybook Nathan Lee wrote for Grace are heartfelt and beautiful.When you buy this book, be prepared for a couple of sleepless nights because you'll be drawn in and catapulted through this story. Like its predecessor, "The Descent", "Year Zero" has it all going for it: Long's winningly literary style, a dizzyingly suspenseful story, and a fictitious construct of complex issues which remain with you long after the final chapter.

Jeff Long Scores Again!

This is a taut, epic tale that you will read almost in one sitting. For a review of the plot line, check out the Booklist review or Harriet's review. I'll confine my remarks to Long's skill as a writer.I have been reading Long's books for years -- he simply doesn't put out enough of them!I first discovered Jeff Long by accident. He has written two truly brilliant histories of Texas. The first of these is "Duel of Eagles: The Mexican and U.S. Fight for the Alamo". And the second is "Empire of Bones" (which deals with the events leading up to the defeat of Santa Anna's army at the battle of San Jacinto). These were brilliantly conceived, researched and executed books.After these two books, Long appears to have transformed himself first into a writer of climbing-based fiction, and then action-based fiction. His book "Angels of Light" was his first tentative foray - Stalone's entirely forgettable movie, Cliffhanger, is based on this book. Read the book - forget the movie.I think Jeff Long came of age as a fiction writer with The Ascent. I am a climber myself - and so I love good climbing fiction. And despite quibbles I have seen over this point of accuracy or that point of accuracy, this book remains a climbing CLASSIC.I can recommend ALL of these books.With Year Zero, Long debuts in the so-called "speculative fiction" world. And he is peculiarly adapted to thrive here. Long has a great talent for drawing believable characters. But more importantly, he has an uncanny ability to make wild plot lines seems entirely plausible. Long is also not without a sense of humour - he invites us, I think NOT to take everything so seriously. The outlandish appearance, for example, of rock bands, ballet dancers and symphony orchestras at Los Alamos - well, that's just plain funny.But such is the deftness of his story-telling ability that you are prepared to willingly suspend your belief with every new surprising twist and turn.Long's writing is also smart - he has done his research - there is always a foundation for his speculations. And for a classical history buff such as myself, there is a delightfully erudite turn to this book. We find clever, non-pretentious references to Homer and Thucydides among others.