Hull Zero Three Paperback – October 7, 2011

Hull Zero Three is the kind of book that throws the reader into a spin dryer set on turbo. It has a somewhat random, disjointed style that tends to kick your mind in the gut. This is not a bad thing; It makes for a fast paced read.That said, this is not fluff. There is a great deal of character development. (easy to do when the main character not only does not know who he is, but has no idea of what he is.) The book contains a bit of moral exploration, however, it is not preachy.If you are looking for a nice little casual read, drop this book. If you are looking for an experimentally structured book that is not afraid to strike a bit of fear into the reader or get the reader to think, Hull Zero Three is for you.

I believe this is a much stronger book than many writing here have understood or credited.In fact it remains in memory for more than a year, and the reference which most often comes to mind is Kafka -- yet with much more charitably accurate human insight, and with much more beauty.Many seem to want to be told what's happened before, or is going to happen after. But the person you are traveling with can't know these things, and that is the basis of his problem as you accompany him, which is filled with moments of danger that will make you fully awake, along with a very natural sense of its frustration.Teacher learns, and becomes more and more aware, then insightful, thus saving his life, and gaining the truth of the mystery.Hiding in plain sight, but only once you arrive to seeing it, is a very full and fresh view of the extent of human power -- and of its ethical dimensions.As we arrive closer to this truth, more and more amazing beauty shines out of the writing and the story; in visual imagination, in character of those traveling together, in acts of openhearted courage, and in unexpected reward for accomplishment and bravery.A beautiful book, then, with such rewards; delivered so in the respect fully shown to each reader.

Decent enough seed ship journey through space and internal moralistic challenges. I enjoyed traveling with the bio-engineered humanoids through Ship discovering the purpose of their creation and effects of their success. I found this book reminiscent of Heinlein works. So much has been done with this genera that I had a familiar feeling with many parts of this novel. As others are commented the ending is underwhelming, but the journey worth the read.

The premise of a disparate group of beings on an Earth-descended colony ship is interesting. However, the author in my opinion has sequenced the story badly - It's almost like two stores - one of the wanderings and encounters of the odd collection of life-forms - and one of the focus on colonization after the group finds the last of the guidance crew. Perhaps it's just setting up a sequel, but to me the whole topic of the "war" within Ship was always laying there in the background, but never explored. No explanation of who started it (although hinting that it was a faction that wanted to colonize the planet with intelligent life that would have to be eradicated to "clear the decks" for landing. No explanation of how it was settled, and how Ship managed to restructure itself - all of which would have been (and may be the sequel) good stories. In short, some interesting events, but lots of area for more.

If "Blood Music" was Bear's end-of-the-universe masterpiece, "Hull Zero Three" is the deep-space-colonization-disaster be-all-end-all. Bear can rightfully drop the mic with this one -- from the first page you are right next to the bewildered protagonist, known only as Teacher. He has no clue, you have no clue. Bear ramps up the bewildering action while dropping hints jut often enough to keep the pressure on the reader to figure out what's going on. This is one of the very few Sci Fi books I intend to re-read to try to figure out how he pulled it off.

A man is awoken by a young girl. "Don't just lie there -- get up." The girl's voice implores...begs..."Hurry! The air's going to freeze!" And so begins the tale of Teacher. But who is he supposed to teach? And what information is he supposed to pass on? Teacher soon discovers he is on Ship and that Ship appears to be falling apart, barely functional enough to maintain life-support in many places. But that does not appear to stop either Ship or something on Ship from trying to kill Teacher and others that he meets along the way. Can Teacher and his companions solve the mystery of what happened to Ship and stop it or something aboard it from killing him and his friends? Or will Teacher's journey be fatal to not only himself and his friends, but to Ship's mission as well?Hull Zero Three is told from a starkly first person point-of-view. Everything that Teacher sees and experiences, the reader does as well. Everything that is beyond Teacher's purview is, also, beyond the reader's. This method for telling Teacher's story works...mostly. It allows the reader to come as near to entering the character's head as possible. The storytelling device, however, does not allow for the reader to really get invested in any character beyond Teacher. Teacher is well-fleshed...his companions rarely adopt this quality.Despite some flaws, Hull Zero Three does proud generation ship themed scifi, as it is reminiscent -- at least in form, if not flesh -- books like Frank M. Robinson's The Dark Beyond the Stars and Kevin O'Donnell's Mayflies. For those that enjoy this vein of science fiction, Hull Zero Three is recommended and worth reading.

A confusing, intricate, engaging story of a generation ship gone wrong with eerie overtones and plenty of surprises.A wonderful jigsaw puzzle put together in a most interesting way.

Was soll ich sagen… Bear schreibt toll (ich beziehe mich auf den original englischen Text) … der Stil, die Kunst Worte zu Sätzen zu verbinden die geschliffen scharf sind und sprachlich einfach *Freude* machen, für sich genommen schon, lockt mich immer wieder an. Zugleich sind viele von Bears Büchern mit oft zu düster gewesen. Ich startete also sich hier mit der gleichen Erwartung und ward sehr positiv überrascht: Düster ja, aber so menschlich so viel Hoffnung in aller Not und durch alle Abgründe durch die die Protagonisten sich schlagen müssen… Geheimnisse, intelligent und mit Wendungen die einfach fesseln und geradezu dazu *zwingen* weiter zu lesen, Charaktere die sich echt anfühlen, lakonisch, hilflos, verletzlich und gerade darin und dadurch stark… ich bin zutiefst beeindruckt und kann nur sagen: Nicht lange überlegen, einfach lesen.

Strange, at the beginning difficult to follow, intriguing. Then, with the developing of the plot (for what there is of a plot, very little) you understand it and are motivated to read on. I am happy to have read it just because it is different but, even considered that the first book leaves you in the middle of the story, I didn't buy the second one of the series. I have had enough.

When this book first came out I looked at it and passed.I have now read it after buying it at a reduced rate and my first instincts were right. Not really one of Bears stronger books.It was not as enjoyable to read as many of his other books I have read. It's a story that starts out with a fully grown man popping out of a birthing chamber with very little of his memory in place. He the meets varied people/creatures that help him reach Hull Zero Three.He finds he is on a heavily damaged triple hull space ship that has sustained significant damage and the ship is now systematically killing everything aboard.He runs into other inhabitants that are trying to stay alive and tags along with them.The main problem I had with the book was that there was not a good link for me to the character , so that I didn't really care whether they made it or not. Also the story was scattered and confusing at times

The Ship is on a one way trip to a new planet, a place to build a new Utopia. Unfortunately something has gone awry, and Teacher awakens from the Dreamtime of hypersleep into a living nightmare.Teacher is thrust into a hostile environment where death lurks around every corner. His only option is to struggle through the hostile environs of the ship to try to restore order to his waking nightmare... but with no identity, no memories, no allies and no clothes the odds are against him from the start.Hull Zero Three is the latest novel from Greg Bear, but rather than produce another epic tome he has stripped this story down to the bare minimum to produce something quite extraordinary. Whilst the story has a lot in common with the film Pandorum, it deals with the material in a much more thought-provoking way.The story starts hard and fast, the fragmented and disjointed opening successfully conveying the mental state of Teacher as he is thrust from the womb-like serenity of the Dreamtime into the harsh and hostile reality of the Ship, hunted by the violent bio-engineered monstrosities designed by the ships gene-pool.As he slowly comes to understand the nature of the ship, gain some insight into what has gone wrong and discovered the chilling implications of its mission capabilities, Teacher and his companions becomes the focus of power struggle between the divided forces of Ship Control, Destination Guidance and the seemingly benevolent Mother.Some of the questions raised are extremely thought-provoking. If we did expend huge sums in a massive generation ship, or if that ship was the last ark of the human race and all that stood between us and extinction, how far would we expect to go to ensure its survival? What exactly are we doing out there?Hull Zero Three (****) is a tautly written thriller pared right back to the bone. It raises questions of identity, ethics and morality that remain long after the story has finished, but the disjointed opener may be off-putting to some.

An Interesting story line with plenty of intriguing twists and turns. Well written and holding up to Bear's usual standard.