Zero-G: Green Space

Samuel Lord #2

by William Shatner, Jeff Rovin

An exciting science fiction adventure from William Shatner—famous for his role as Captain Kirk on Star Trek —about the intrepid, eighty-year-old FBI deputy director Samuel Lord and his quest to stop the Chinese from using a weapon that (unknown to them) could destroy Earth.

In the year 2050, the United States sends the FBI to govern its space station, the Empyrean. Under the command of former fighter pilot and FBI field agent Samuel Lord, the space-based “Zero-G” men are in charge of investigating terrorism, crime, corruption, and espionage beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and of keeping an eye on the rival Chinese and Russian stations.

During the Zero-G team’s first days in space, a mysterious and beautiful scientist, Dr. May, shows up to the Empyrean claiming that important research has been stolen from her lab on the moon. Her arrival suspiciously coincides with timing of a tsunami that destroys part of the coast of Japan, and her unusual behavior makes Director Lord think that Dr. May might know more about the disaster than she’s letting on. Meanwhile, the Chinese space station has gone mysteriously silent.

In this “tightly paced blend of police procedural, military SF, and space opera, set in an intriguing near-future world” ( Publishers Weekly ), Director Lord must connect the dots to discover who or what has caused the tsunami as well as subsequent disasters, and how Dr. May and the Chinese might be involved.

Genres: Science Fiction

370 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 19, 2017

About the author

William Shatner is the author of nine Star Trek novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Ashes of Eden and The Return. He is also the author of several nonfiction books, including Get a Life! and I'm Working on That. In addition to his role as Captain James T. Kirk, he stars as Denny Crane in the hit television series from David E. Kelley, Boston Legal -- a role for which he has won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe.

Reviews

[Rina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so excited when I stumbled across Zero-G: Green Space by William Shatner. I have been a huge Star Trek fan since I was six years old and was instantaneously curious about this book coauthored by William Shatner. After reading a couple of chapters I found myself a little surprised at the complexity of the plot line. This book is definitely for fans of hard science fiction. After googling some things here and there though, I was able to keep up. I thoroughly enjoyed the main character, Samuel Lord, director of the Zero-G team, a specialized force of the FBI. Even though Lord is in his eighties, he has not become obsolete in his field. There needs to be more books that send out a positive message about aging.

This book will be released by Simon & Schuster this September. Thank you, Netgalley for the ARC.

[The Breakneck Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book two in the Zero G series and the book does a good job in bringing you up to speed with the events of the first book and who the main characters are without compromising on the pace of the book .Director Samuel Lord is the head of the FBI's Zero G unit based on the space station Empyrean. He is charged with investigating terrorism, corruption and espionage in space ,whilst also keeping an eye on the Chinese space station Jade Star, and The Red Giant (the former international space station) owned by the Russian's. It has a feel of the Cold War about it but in space. A Russian Spy meddling on the Empyrean endangers not only the station but also the neighbouring Red Giant Station. It becomes a race against time to save lives and to stop the spread of carnage being caused.
This book was an interesting read with some of the story keeping you reading to the end however the book didn't offer many exciting cliff hangers to keep you being pulled back to the book. Parts of the science fiction did border on the fantasy element to which could deter some sci fi fans. Brilliant as a holiday read but you don't get a sense of accomplishment finishing the book. I am going to try the first book to see if that helps to make the story more complete.
Thanks to netgalley, the publisher and authors for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an Advanced Reader Copy in return for an honest review.

I loved the first book in the series and was so excited when I saw that the second one was coming out. I was a bit disappointed.

The recap of the first book was clunky, and this book really hits the reader over the head with the gender politics. It was so much it was very off-putting, and I agree with the author's stance.

Putting those aside, it was as much of adventure as the first and an enjoyable read.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and overall an enjoyable book. However, there's not so much a plot as an idea to kick it off after which the characters lurch from crisis to crisis until the final resolution. Still, glad I hung in until the end.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review originallu published in . Rated 2.5 of 5

FBI Director Samuel Lord is back, this time working with NASA to uncover the mole sabotaging some top-secret NASA projects aboard the Empyrean. But there's an additional problem - some self-replicating nanites are proving volatile on-board and attempts to eradicate them are ineffective.

Octogenarian Sam Lord is given these outer reaches assignments by the FBI home office, and he and his team are thorough, dedicated, and completely committed to doing what's 'right.' Lord has the full support of the FBI on this case with NASA.

The nanites are set in motion by the spy and while the nanites are confined, there's great danger that they will burst from their container and destroy everyone in the ship as they reproduce on a massive scale. All the different Earth governments connected with the station have a plan they want to see implemented to contain or destroy the nanites, but Lord and his crew plan to go a different route, given their first-hand observation of the nanite behavior.

Just as with the first book, I went in with moderate to low expectations and came away slightly surprised.

Sam Lord is a well-crafted character and clearly a character for Shatner himself to play if this were to ever get picked up for film or television. In this volume, I felt that most of the other characters really fell into the background and were nothing more than extras in this story.

And the story itself...? It was moderately interesting. The character of the nanites was not particularly new or innovative, but Shatner/Rovin built up their traits slowly and kept the reader engaged. However, I was about 3/4 of the way through the book and I made a note in my edition that reads "We're still dealing with these nanites?!" While they danger was not insignificant, I did feel that we'd spent way too much time in one, confined space looking for a solution to one problem, given the number of characters and settings in which this book takes place.

There is a small surprise regarding the nanites, but it isn't really set up particularly well and it's resolved a little too easily, once the discovery is made.

For this book, I enjoyed the characters, but felt that the story these characters were working in was not really worth the effort. This was a real middle-of-the-road read for me.

Looking for a good book? William Shatner and Jeff Rovin's Zero-G: Green Space is the sequel to Zero-G, with the same cast of delightful characters, but in a story that didn't really capture my interest.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this much. I spent pretty much the entire first half trying to figure out if this was even the right book: the series info is poorly notated and the storytelling doesn't help. (It turns out, no, this isn't the book I wanted-- I wanted Zero-G.) Both of the two books in the series have the same title, but this one has a unique subtitle. They're both labeled as "a Sam Lord novel" instead of the order number. I was especially confused by the writing-- it refers heavily back to the events of the first book (which could have read like dropping the reader into a deep universe) while also obviously introducing for the first time over a dozen characters plus new technology-- complete with new abbreviations and acronyms.

There's a useless amount of detail. Everything is minutely described. Instead of adding depth, this creates a lack of focus. This story would be best for a reader who is highly visual and prefers a detailed universe (even if that's at the expense of pacing).

[Elissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a full-bore, full-bodied SciFi Technothriller with solid character development and a clear understanding of the Cold War and present political climate. At its heart is the debate on the dangers of AI--artificial intelligence--and the potential directions of evolution. A different approach from, say, Kubrick's "2001 A Space Odyssey," much the same concerns are expressed as those posited by Asimov's First Law of Robotics. Book 2 continues from Book 1 but also stands alone, with a better definition of characters and an even more compelling plot. As has been the hallmark of most science fiction, individual action within and against the context of bureaucracy, politics, and chain of command becomes the thin barrier against annihilation threatened by the overwhelming challenges. Authors Shatner and Rovin clearly have a great deal of fun with this and you will, too.

NOTE: As a long-time fan of William Shatner, when I saw Netgalley was offering this book I jumped at the opportunity to read it and am delighted to provide this review.

[Arkrayder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book free from Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for a fair and honest review. Thank you!!

I enjoyed this second Zero G novel a lot more than the first one. The story was interesting and the characters felt a bit more fleshed out. Adsila Waters returns with a bit more story here but again I feel that her segment could have been edited out and the book would have been enjoyable. But I like the Adsila character so I’m glad that she’s in there. Again much better than the first book. If there is a third book in the series I hope it keeps the trend of improvement going! 😀

[Cynde · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in a fabulous new series!!! This story is even better than the first book. While the first book handled the characterization and the setting plus a great adventure, book#2 continues on the dangerous and life-threatening pursuits of a career in space exploration. The science in these books is up to the minute science fact and the stories are excellent. I will gladly read many more in this series!!!

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not good. There's a lot that's not good.

Dumb acronyms.
Dumb explanations for the aforementioned acronyms.
Mary Sue.
Defective hadrons.
More acronyms.
Like I've seriously gotta wonder if there was a word count minimum and creating, defining, and explaining acronyms was the only way to get there.
There's a subtle "Oh, our Mary Sue can do this because he's older and predates the Correctness Purge of 2019" thing that accompanies the not so subtle nationalism.

Bah.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!! What an outstanding sequel. For those who love hard science this book has it in spades. A truly awesome, original story taking place at breath-taking speed. Very thought-provoking. I absolutely loved it. And I can't wait for the next one in the series.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.

[Dirk Wickenden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is better than the first Zero-G novel and wasn't as narratively confusing. It still had the pangender rubbish but overall it was a good read.

[Artemiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel of The Samuel Lord Series is just and interesting as the first book was.

This time the problem is with a vine, that was suppose to grow slow and steady, but all of a sudden it starts to grow through walls and feeds on organic matter. Something has gone wrong somewhere and Lord's team must find a way to go around NASA, to find the culprit and also stop the vine, before it destroys the space station.

In first book Lord goes to moon and to Chinese's space station, and this time his investigation takes him to Russian space station and to another neighbor planet. The story is full of surprises and gore, and it's so good. In a way, it all reminded me the movie Life, just more members of the stations are left alive :).

The story is interesting and fascinating and I'm looking forward to the next stories.

[Sarai Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! This book is jam packed full of science jargon and situations. I was a little lost in the beginning and I think that had something to do with my lack of world knowledge. I should have probably read the first book. With that being said, the story was interesting and unique. The story line moved along at a quick pace and the characters were well written and had depth. This was a good scifi read and I think I'll go back and read the first book.