Review: Well written and entertaining
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 2, 2011
Zero Sum is everything an "indie" sci-fi or fantasy novel should be.  The writing's solid, the magical system fairly well implemented, the dialogue scans well and the characters are entertaining and three dimensional.  In other words, Zero Sum continues to live up to the author's skill as a writer, which was first demonstrated in the prequel, Zero Sight.Zero Sum starts off where Zero Sight left off, with the students recovering from Talmax's attack and preparing for combat of their own.  The protagonist's (Dieter's) team is tasked with an infiltration into Talmax's headquarters, a casino in Vegas.  Mini-plots and twists abound; Dieter's past is also explored somewhat more deeply.  The ending is satisfying, but still sets up the possible issues for next novels.My one issue is that I feel that Dieter is too weak compared to his sheer magical muscle.  I look forward to his powers increasing in later installments.Overall, a good and entertaining read which continues Shier's previous quality as an author.  I will keep an eye out for the sequel, and would recommend this to fantasy readers in general, urban fantasy readers in particular.