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Zero Sight (Zero Sight Series, Book 1) [Kindle Edition]

B. Justin Shier
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (220 customer reviews)

Digital List Price: $3.99 What's this?
Kindle Price: $3.99 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet

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Book Description


Meet Dieter Resnick. Dieter is the sole child of an abusive single father, a perennial schoolyard brawler, and Ted Binion High's number one academic prospect. Dieter is terrified of staying poor. He has few friends and is absolutely obsessed with earning a college scholarship. He's also a latent mage--one of the few humans left that can bend the manaflows to their will.

Too bad no one told him. Now a boy is dead.

Meet Rei Acerba Bathory. Rei is a second year student at Elliot College, the premiere magical training academy in North America. She's also on an all-liquid diet. Rei acquired her odd speech and mannerisms living among her centuries-old kin--strange vampiric creatures that have carved out the Midwest as their playground. She can kill a man without blinking, but has a serious weakness for puppies. Thanks to a childhood spent living cloistered from the public, Rei knows little of modern society. She'd do well to make some friends, but her fellow trainees despise her. Rei is the first of her kind to be admitted, and many hope to make her the last.

Dieter was raised in the grimy outskirts of Las Vegas. Rei was homeschooled in a Chicago mansion. Both are on their way to Elliot College. Both believe the other is a creature of idle fantasy. In ten hours, they're going to be at the center of a war fought by shadow actors. In eleven hours, they're going to become a weft-pair, bound together by the most sacred spell in the magic canon. And in twelve hours? Well, in twelve hours, they've got to get to class...

Zero Sight is a full-length contemporary fantasy novel, 107,000 words or about 350 pages. The entire novel is provided DRM-free based on reader requests. Because of foul mouths and graphic situations, Zero Sight is only recommended for readers 16 years and older.


Editorial Reviews

Review

Top 5 in Kindle Contemporary Fantasy Ratings
--Based on Amazon reader reviews (September, 2011)

Top 10 in Hot New Contemporary Fantasy Releases for the Kindle

--Amazon (June, 2011)

About the Author

B. Justin Shier is a medical student suturing somewhere in Southern California. Zero Sight is his first novel.

Product Details

  • File Size: 570 KB
  • Print Length: 236 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Publisher: Astraeus Press; 1 edition (March 28, 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B004UB2WME
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,581 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Good story, good writing, great characters. feldegast  |  77 reviewers made a similar statement
I look forward to the next book in this series. Amber M. Rice  |  34 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
42 of 43 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Debut May 22, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Amazing. This was by far one of the best books that I have read this year, or perhaps the past two years. One of my pet peeves of modern urban fantasy, and maybe just fantasy in general, is that the authors always have to force their main characters to train, or enhance their abilities, and very rarely do these characters even question why their world works the way it does. In Zero Sight, I'm glad to have finally found a character that isn't afraid of learning, isn't afraid of asking "Why?", and doesn't want to shut his eyes to the world even when given the chance.

Everything about this book was well done, from the unique post depression America, to how magic works. Very few details were left not talked about. I even enjoyed the minute details that the author included in Dieter's internal dialogue.

One thing I did regret not seeing in the books was a bit more of how things normally were at Elliot College, and a bit more interaction between Dieter and Rei.

All and all, I think this is an amazing debut for a promising author and I will definitely be keeping track of his work as the years go by. Can't wait for the sequel of this one either, supposedly due out fall of this year. I definitely recommend this book to any fan of Butcher, and similar authors.
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51 of 55 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing debut October 24, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I absolutely loved this debut novel as it's very rare that you discover a book which makes the story come alive, have a great narrative voice and inspite of the obvious tropes utilized, still manages to make the reader oblivious to them. Zero Sight does all of this and then goes on to end in a way that makes you covet the next volume essentially. For me this book was a complete winner and here's why: The story begins with a rush and Dieter manages to convey his intelligence, charm and spunk all in the very first chapter. The narrative voice is a youthful one and the energy which is abundantly presently in the main character comes across and touches the reader as well. We share his enthusiasm, feel his pain and marvel at his antics. The book's humor quotient is one which will have readers frequently chuckling along and to add to it Dieter seems like a junior version of Harry Dresden with his geeky references and snappy monologues.

Thus by having the reader root for the protagonist, the author moves onto his next hook namely the location and the plot twists, the story opens up in Las Vegas, then through a bus journey moves cross country and ends in Elliott College, New Haven. The story never slackens and pulls the reader constantly forward and with the plot twists that keep the reader entertained. There is an infectious charm to this story which is inexplicably alluring and adding to its effect is the fact that it was the author's debut.

The story utilizes some common fantasy tropes but due to the author's writing, effectively manages to not hinder the reader and gives them a story which will make them engrossed in figuring out what's going on and at the same time having quite a bit of fun along with and at Dieter's expense. The addition of the magical college settings which are very reminiscent of Hogwarts as well as Kvothe's University are a definite plus however the author does his best to differentiate Elliott College from the aforementioned places in many small but significant ways. The magic system is a bit generic but then once the rules are laid out it does make sense, in its pattern and schematics.

Another aspect which I want to highlight is that it doesn't shy away from violence or the darkness of its characters and thereby makes this story score some points over the Harry Potter & Kingkiller Chronicles. There are quite some scenes of gore and violence, their presence is justifiable in relation to the plot. This story though having a teenage protagonist as well as many young characters is far away from being a YA book and that was another point which I thought should be highlighted as many readers might assume so from its blurb. There's also the character cast which begins with Rei and she's the second most developed character behind Dieter, however the rest of the cast gets very less presence however since it's the first book, the author had very less time and space to do justice to them. I expect this to be rectified in the future volumes and more to be revealed about the rest of the characters as well the world they inhabit.

The sole point which kind of detracted a bit of awesomeness from this book was its ending and in this it coincidentally shares this quirk with Patrick Rothfuss's amazing debut. The ending is a bit ambiguous in the sense it just ends and leaves the story hanging. The Name of the Wind also faced a similar complaint from its fans that the story just ended instead of having a strong climax. Some might disagree with me on this point but I felt with the aces that the story delivered, it faltered a bit in the ending. This was the only drawback experienced by me.

CONCLUSION: An excellent Urban Fantasy debut which will amaze readers with it narrative voice, plot energy and fun twists. This book is definitely one of the best debuts and will possibly herald Brian J. Shier's ascent into future authorial stardom. This is a book heavily recommended for all fans of Jim Butcher and Kevin Hearne, give it a try and find out why I think Zero Sight deserves to be counted as one of the best urban fantasy debuts of the year and possibly of this decade as well.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars This would have been 5 stars if it wasn't for the ending. September 6, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This was a very nicely written, compelling book. I was surprised by how graphic some of the earlier scenes were, but it didn't disturb me at all, in fact I found it interesting and well done.

The story progresses strongly, in classic hero fashion.The characters were well drawn and dialogue was clean, sometimes funny. I enjoyed the structure he made to support the magical universe, and I had no problems with the logic. Until I got to the end.

--POSSIBLE SPOILER- (maybe?)-

I'm just not OK with the ending. I thought it was abrupt and illogical. It seemed basically to simply be a set up for a complete change of pace in the next book. I also dislike the fact that this is not a stand-alone book. Books in a series wrap up their individual storylines, then work together as parts of a whole universe. This is the first half of a book, not part one of a series. It should have been marketed as a serial, not a series. There is a difference.

I will read the next part. This DID have good points, and before I got to 90% or so I was quite taken by the book. I have a lot of hope for the next one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Great plot and well written!
This novel has not only a great plot but a level of wit and writing that sets it apart from many other run-of-the-mill fantasies. Read more
Published 16 days ago by Colin
4.0 out of 5 stars A great start to a series
I started reading this as a suggestion from a friend. Boy did he give me a good read. It held my attention from start to end. Of course I had to read the next book as well. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Houdari Freeman
5.0 out of 5 stars Zero Sight - my new favorite series
The Zero Sight Series kind of just fell into my lap one day when I was surfing amazon kindle looking for something new to read. I instantly fell in love. Read more
Published 27 days ago by Pen Name
4.0 out of 5 stars nice book with a unique vision of the magic
nice and readable, even for an italian :)

interesting new approach to the magic world and good setting inside the real "normal" world. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Tommaso Fauli
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book
I had a great time reading this novel, and the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is so I can give the next book in the series, Zero Sum, 5 stars to show it was even... Read more
Published 1 month ago by flamespriest
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book
I really enjoyed reading this book. Actually more than I expected to. If you like Urban fantasy it is worth a read.
Published 1 month ago by Roy Stringer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
I loved the sense of humor and the story flowed beautifully. At first I felt like I'm expecting too much out if it, but the book exceeded my expectations!
Published 1 month ago by ajjjsjjj
4.0 out of 5 stars Stars above!
I found this book while searching for something that I hoped would be well written even if it was under $5.00. All I can say is I scored on this one! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Alphalaydie
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome introduction to a great series
In my opinion Mr. Sheir has written one of the best books I've ever read and I read a lot of em. I read probably 3 or 4 books per week. I love fantasy and especially urban fantasy. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I have read in a long time.
This book was a wonderful start to a very intriguing story. I can not wait to read the third book in this series. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Buckeyepuppy
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More About the Author

B. Justin Shier grew up on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Nevada. His hobbies growing up included lighting multi-stage model rockets and riding dirt bikes through the desert. After cashing in his winnings, he went to study at Washington University in St. Louis. There, he learned that all restaurants are not open 24 hours a day and buildings could be constructed of materials other than stucco and red barrel tiles.

After finishing college, B. spent a few years conducting research into cancer biology before deciding on a career in medicine. He is currently pursuing his MD somewhere in Southern California.

B. loves scuba diving, taco trucks, and suppressing pheochromcytomas. He maintains an eclectic online journal at http://www.bjustinshier.com where many topics are discussed, including future releases.

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