Zero Point

Richard Baker demonstrates he is a proficient, capable writer in this action SciFi story. In some ways he reminds me of Roger Zelazny in that he can write what is actually an implausible story with shallow characters, but written well enough, and sufficiently fast-moving that one doesn't notice, or doesn't care until after the book has ended. Seriously, I write that as a complement. Zelazny is still one of my favorite science fiction writers. Baker focuses on action and he is working in a fictional universe that has been designed to support action, if not close inspection by the reader. His characters did things that caused me to pause, on occasion, and ask myself "now, why did he (or she) do or say that? Must be because the author needed it to carry through the plot!" Implicit in this answer is that perhaps the author should have revised the plot. But there's no telling how many times the author revised the plot, and finally settled on this one, anyway. But ultimately, the hitches aren't enough to prevent me from finishing the book, which is why it earns four stars, instead of three or only two. This could make an entertaining action shoot-em-up movie if they followed the book sufficiently closely.

Zero Point has all the elements a grand science fiction thriller should have. A scoundrel who is capable and maybe not as bad as he thinks he is, a heroine who isn't just another pretty face, suspense, mystery, ACTION, and an Artificial Intelligence driven ship with personality plus! This is a well written book that grabs you right from the start. The action doesn't stop until the ending which seemed rather abrupt and sudden. Zero Point would be the great start of a series with unlimited possiblities. The author takes one turn that, should this turn into a series, needs to be corrected regarding main character's ship. All in all this was an excellent book and great read!!!

Strong characters, suspense, betrayal and intrigue set against a backdrop of alien races, human star colonies and incredible technology. I couldn't put this one down, and hope it's just the first of many!

I greatly enjoyed Zero Point. Great characters and plotline, with an excellent beginning and middle. The ending isn't really an ending. It's like the author ran out of space. Still an excellent book however.

In the vein of Star Wars, space opera at it's finest... Richard Baker's novelization about the new TSR Sci-Fi setting Star*Drive, based in part on the Alternity game system, is a must to fans of RolePlaying novelizations or space opera fans alike... A bounty hunter is hired to take a woman back to her employer, but she has other ideas.. Until a pursuing ship forces the bounty hunter to pull a blind Starfall, or enter a type of hyperspace...And they find something... Excellent characterization, although a little bit more background on both the main characters would have been appreciated. Great book, though.