Title: Hull Zero Three
Author: Greg Bear
Narrator: Dan John Miller
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Duration: 8 hours, 38 minutes
Copyright: 2010
Genres: science fiction, space ark
Filed in: Audiobook reviews
Review copy provided by Brilliance Audio.
SUMMARY: Ship is the ultimate achievement of human technology. Actually consisting of three colossal vessels, each one twelve kilometers long, and each tethered to a central moon-sized chunk of ice and rock to provide the elemental materials necessary for a long space voyage, Ship is the human race’s attempt to reach, and colonize, far distant planets. But somewhere during the centuries long voyage, something went terribly wrong.
The story begins with a fully grown man being literally birthed from a placental sack. The man, known only as Teacher, emerges from his cocoon into utter chaos. The ship is dark and freezing cold and there are dead bodies all around him. He has only the vaguest memory of who he is and what he is supposed to be doing, but he knows right away that this is not right. Teacher is only saved from freezing to death by a little girl who seems to know what she is doing as she leads him to a warmer compartment.
And so Teacher’s journey begins. He soon learns that Ship has been badly damaged,although he does not know how or why. He knows that he was not supposed to come out of hibernation until Ship reached its destination, but his first view out of an observation port tells him that this has not happened. When he catches a glimpse of the ice rock Ship is tethered too, he can see that the planetoid is much too large; most of it would have been used up by the time the journey was complete. Teacher is also discovering that each new thing he sees, and each new situation he experiences unlocks more memories from his confused mind.
As Teacher and his young companion make their way through the damaged Ship, they meet up with other passengers, some friendly, some not, and none quite human. They are all suffering from fragmented memories, just like Teacher, but little by little they begin to piece together what happened. They learn that Destination Guidance, the crew responsible for locating a suitable planet for colonization, suffered a schism within its ranks. The schism erupted into all-out war, with one faction trying to complete the mission, and the other trying to abort. Teacher and his new companions must fight to stay alive as they piece together what caused the split. Then they will face a monumental decision as they unravel the secrets behind Ship’s true mission.
MY TAKE ON IT: “Hull Zero Three” is Greg Bear’s entry to the generation-spanning, space-ark branch of science-fiction, and it’s a doozy! Imagine three twelve kilometer long ships and a moon of ice, all rocketing through the universe at twenty percent light speed. Greg Bear throws a nice little twist into this one, answering the moral question: What if the planet selected for colonization is already inhabited? Greg Bear never does anything small does he?
The story is told entirely from the perspective of Teacher, who is unable to access much of his memory. This allows the reader to figure things out right along with the main character, which really makes you feel like you’re part of the story. I may be showing my age here, but watching the characters wander through the ship, finding objects which were not always immediately useful, and gathering clues as they go, made the book feel like a game of dungeons and dragons.
The only drawback I found in “Hull Zero Three” was that I sometimes had trouble picturing what Bear was trying to describe. He has such a powerful imagination, that sometimes I couldn’t keep up. I still enjoyed the audiobook, though. It has interesting characters who are placed in interesting situations. I even liked the ending, which is something that I think a lot of authors struggle with..
NARRATOR: Dan John Miller is primarily known as a musician, he played Johnny Cash’s guitarist in “Walk the Line.” He is also an award winning narrator, however, and in 2009 was nominated for two Audie awards.
This was my first experience with Dan John Miller, and I thought he did a decent job with “Hull Zero Three.” He used different voices for the characters, and read with a lot of enthusiasm.
FINAL WORD: Overall, “Hull Zero Three” is a good piece of science fiction from one of the genres heavy-hitters. I’ve never read anything by Greg Bear that I didn’t like.
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS:
Dead Lines by Greg Bear (Audiobook Review)
Time for the Stars by Robert Heinlein (Audiobook Review)
The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert(Audiobook Review)
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If you liked this audiobook review, you can purchase the audiobook here:
Get "Hull Zero Three" by Greg Bear (Unabridged Audiobook) from Amazon.com.
This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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