Review: Holy cow, this was great!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 18, 2011
The premise sounds like a typical intrepid-hero-attends-a-magic-academy that clutters YA.  But it's YA in the same way that Ender's Game is - which is to say that it magnificently transcends the age of the protagonist.  And the voice is a lot more Harry Dresden than Harry Potter.  I can't recommend it enough.Zero Sight is the first in the Zero Sight Series and is Shier's debut novel.  It's set in a broken-down, near-future America.  Dieter Resnick, the protagonist, is a young man with a single purpose - getting the hell out of his current life and into something better.  His master plan involves keeping his head down, getting an academic scholarship to an Ivy, and living happily ever after somewhere far away from the gangs and poverty and abuse of his current life.The first part of his plan hits a snag when he gets in a fight with higher stakes than he hoped for, and things take an unexpected turn.  If you've read much in the genre, you have some idea where things are headed, but you won't care because the journey is fantastic.It's a book that doesn't condescend.  He's telling the story of a brilliant, honorable, and driven young man in a richly detailed world and emotionally complex circumstances.  This first person POV gives us the chance to be inside one of my new favorite minds, but you can't sleepwalk through it. Not that you want to - it's a gripping read.My only quibble is that it doesn't stand alone - it feels like part one of a two part book.  Luckily, the second book is out and has an ending that feels like an ending, so as long as you're prepared to read them both in a row, you'll be fine.