The best part of the novel for me was, without a doubt, its characters. Cas is stubborn, impulsive, hot-headed, selfish and immoral, but also extremely intelligent. Her powerful personality, along with Huang’s passion for math that she shares with our heroine, make her one of the most interesting narrators I’ve read in a long time. And, despite having superpowers in a world where it’s not common to have them, she isn’t invincible, which makes her even more human.

As a negative thing, I’ll say the ending was a bit disappointing because it was too open and left lots of questions unresolved, but there are more books in the series and I hope to enjoy them as much as this one.

I love the premise of this book—a mathematical genius who can get out of scrapes by solving real world physics problems on the fly. I thought it would be similar to the TV show Chuck, which I LOOOVED. A nerd getting out of scrapes by using his big (downloaded) brain. I didn’t enjoy the writing, scenarios, or characters. I didn’t find it very engaging.

However, I do appreciate NetGalley for a free preview in exchange for my opinion.

Review of Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang
Reviewed by Samuel Lubell

The heroine and narrator of Zero Sum Game is really good at math. While this is a useful ability for a
mathematician or accountant, it may seem less than useful for a violent criminal and retriever for hire.
Not so. Cas has the ability to understand angles and lines of force and momentum so she knows exactly
where to throw something, when to duck, and how to kill. So when she is hired to rescue a client’s drug
smuggling sister from a Columbian gang, she is able to kill 19 of them before being stopped by the only
person she trusts. Courtney, the rescued girl calls her a “freaky weird feng shui killer.”

But it turns out the client is even weirder, a telepath with the ability to cause people to agree with her.
And the whole rescue was a test, not of Cas but of her best friend Rio. Cas teams up with Arthur
Tresting, a private detective who has been investigating the telepath’s organization and together (after a
lot of friction) they resolve to bring it down. But there’s another secret organization created in
opposition to the first who are worried that Cas’ efforts will expose them.

The book is mostly all plot, like a summer action adventure. There is some friction between Tresting and
Cas, mainly around Cas’ tendency to use violence and kill everyone who gets in her way. Several times
he tries to end their relationship but she keeps saving his life. In fairness, she does try to tone down her
violence but this just goes from killing to extreme mayhem. And Rio, Cas’ friend, may seem like a
sociopathic thug, but he recognizes his lack of a conscience and has adopted Christianity as his moral
compass and became an instrument of God’s vengeance which allows him to continue hurting people.

Fans of action movies and adventure stories will have a lot of fun with this. Those who like
superpowered antiheroes will too. People who want deep philosophy will need to find something else to
read.

This sounded like an incredibly original plot with a unique heroine who I really wanted to like. Sadly, I found it a bit predictable and will not be purchasing this for my school library. I really wanted to like this because the description was so captivating. The book, overall, had grand ambitions, but fell flat.

Zero Sum Game is a fast paced action story featuring Cas a math genius who uses her math knowledge combined with her training to be deadly. I had to be in a very specific mood for Zero Sum Game because it's mostly an action story about government conspiracies. The story is fast paced, quickly taking us from fight scene to fight scene. It's an entertaining read and while the end began to introduce some interesting ideas, I recommend as easy reading you can pick up and put down again. I'm not saying all stories have to be these deeper mysteries or tons of themes, but I wish we knew more about the characters in this book. There were a lot of conflicts introduced for Cas where I wish they were developed more. I had no idea this was a series though since I first saw it on Netgalley a while ago, but I think I would pick up the next one.

I liked parts of it, but others kind of blurred together. I am not really a math person and so I don't know what I was expecting reading a book about probability and math. But I think that no matter my own personal opinion this has a place in any collection because someone will love it.

Zero Sum Game by S. L. Huang started off feeling like a heist or organized crime plot but soon was giving me feelings of the X-Men, not in a “filed off serial numbers” way but in concept. I would like to read more of that latter story, and find out if there are more people with interesting superpowers and mysterious organizations with ambiguous goals. I loved that the first-person narrator is not always reliable but does not know that she is not reliable, for plot reasons which I will not disclose here; that kept the plot twisting along. Cas Russell’s superpower is mathematics, as in calculating odds and angles and physics in order to pull off seemingly-magical feats of derring-do; I could see in my mind exactly how that would be portrayed in a movie or tv show. It was a fun book. Trigger warning for one offscreen child death, fairly early on.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review, which has not altered my opinion of this book.

I was super excited to read this book because of the summary. The idea of it was so captivating and so interesting, our main character, Cas, is a girl who basically has a superpower for understanding math, which is awesome! I love that her superpower can seem completely random but has proven to be very useful in so many ways. I think that my favorite part of this book is her nearly genius-level understanding of math.

Going on with things that worked in this book, there was non-stop action and that really made the book a quick read. That being said the plot itself seemed to be sorely lacking. I understood some parts of this book before I started reading it, but then these parts were almost supposed to be implied or realized at the end of the story which confused me a bit.

Cas was an interesting character, but it felt as though we had to take how she normally acted as a given, meaning we were told that this is how she was and that we just had to take it as a given that she was acting out of character. It didn’t really work for me. I prefer to be shown how a character acts rather than told.

The world also needed to be explained a bit better in my opinion. It was not particularily memorable, I know that it wasn’t a fantasy world, but it still wasn’t something that I will be remembering later on.

I did appreciate the rep that was put throughout this book, and I really hope that said character is a romantic interest later on, but I have a feeling he will be put into sidekick area. That being said, I really enjoyed the tech talk and the different ways that we were shown how intelligent the characters were and how well they knew their stuff.

Overall, I was quite dissatisfied with this book and I really had my hopes set higher. I think that the action scenes were very well done and the intelligence of the characters was shown well, however the plot left quite a bit to be desired and I don’t think I will be continuing with this series, unfortunately. This gets 2.5 out of 5 from me.

This was crazy cool. The descriptions of using math and physics for purposes of violence and mayhem (and self-defense) are both accessible and fascinating. Cas is an extremely engaging character, flawed and difficult and tough. There's action, high-concept scary sci-fi stuff, nuanced and terrifying villains, and hard-boiled banter. I will absolutely look out for the next book in the series.

What a wonderful read this was! Cas Russell is a fantastic character with a well developed arc. I couldn't put this book down and finished it in one sitting. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great science fiction adventure.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book. I enjoyed it.

Zero Sum Game is a great take on the thriller genre that takes the idea of "killer math skills" literally. It's a fast, edge-of-your seat read, and I finished it in a single (several-hour) sitting because its dynamism kept pulling me forward. While I generally prefer to read more "standard" sci-fi, the pacing and clever sequences kept me more than entertained. The ending just starts to hint at more depth to Cas's math skills, and I'm eager to see what comes next!

“It’s a zero sum game. We take out one monster, the other rises up” (274)

This debut science fiction thriller features a protagonist whose super ability is being a math genius.

Yup, take a moment to absorb that.

Cas Russell is a math genius, loner, and retriever-for-hire. She is especially good at violence since she can see and calculate with computer-like speed the trajectory, velocity, distances, and things numbers-related to figure the expected outcomes and then applying that to determine what she needs to do to overcome it, such as dodging bullets and other attacks. It is also useful in car chases, fights, escapes, and action scenes. On her most recent retrieval job, a simple job becomes much more complicated when she discovers there is a secret organization working in the shadows who have telepaths that can manipulate and control anyone. Her path crosses with others who are also investigating this shadow organization. She finds herself sort of working with Arthur (a personal investigator), Checker (computer hacker), and Rio (a sociopathic one-man army on a mission).

Huang’s debut is a fast-paced and well-written work. There is no magic, and even the telepathy is an uncanny ability to read people’s littlest nuances and words and then figure out how to manipulate them into making key decisions--imagine taking that on a larger scale with leaders, politicians, and figures of power. The use of math in action is fascinating, and Huang brings it to life with Matrix-like, reality-defying visuals. It is like an extra sense Cas perceives the world with and is constant throughout the book. Not only is she savvy, her skills with numbers and patterns help their sort-of team figure out key pieces of information. Huang drops readers into the middle of the action, with no origin or background into the characters, which turns out to be deliberate. Cas does not trust, and Rio is the closest thing to a friend, so readers will see her learn to connect and trust others. This story features a diverse cast with plenty of flaws and differences that add color and nuance to their interactions and to the action. Readers can enjoy the book as a sci-fi thriller, but it is not only the action that propels the story forward. There are parts that make readers question and think, gray areas, and not-quite villains (or good guys).

Look for Zero Sum Game in the VBPL Catalog. The sequel, Null Set, comes out July 2019. For another tough, diverse female lead, try Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning and Robert Jackson Bennett’s Foundryside (see review). For more math in science fiction, try Yoon Ha Lee’s Machineries of Empire trilogy (see review).

Review by Tracy

I loved this novel. The plot has a few shaky elements that maybe don't hold up under scrutiny. In that regard, I think of this novel the way I might think about an action movie: a few little holes are forgivable if the action is fun enough. And it is. The action is very fun in this novel. The action writing is clear and fast, appropriately peppered with internal monologue and snark.

But what really sells this novel is the characters. The narrator is a surly, violent, drunken mercenary who in general is wholly unlikable. But Huang makes her sympathetic by giving her something we have all experienced and worried about: she navigates her new friendships with a charming and relatable awkwardness. It becomes quite touching, honestly.

Highly recommended. Rip-roaring fun. I will be reading any other novels by Huang publishes.

Really enjoyed this one. Liked the main character and how good she is at math. Also liked the story, even though I wasn't really impressed with the bad guys. Looking forward to more in this series.

A female outlaw who is really good at math...who would believe it? After this unbelievable start, I started to believe and enjoy it as well. I truly enjoyed the scene where she created a long distance listening device out of common items auch as an umbrella and a birdhouse. So yeah, she is part McGuvyer as well.

To say this novel grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go is putting it mildly. It’s as much a thriller as a science fictional tale. I absolutely adored that the heroine’s superpower is her mathematical ability, and how that ability allows her to use normal human physical attributes in an extraordinary way. The plot hits the ground running when Cas Russell takes a job that seems innocuous enough on the surface: rescuing a young woman who’s gotten in trouble with a drug-running gang. The client is the older sister, referred to Cas by the notoriously violent, psychopathic Rio, who uses his devout Catholic faith to guide his conscience. Oddly enough, he considers Cas a friend, although neither of them trusts the other. From there, things go pear-shaped in a hurry, since Rio never made the referral and Cas keeps stumbling upon references to a mysterious name, “Pithia.” Before long she’s battling a telepath capable of not only reading minds but changing them in ways that make it impossible for the victim to break free.

Verdict: a hell of a ride, juicy mathematics-geek neepery, twists and turns and ambiguities, with nary a stumble. A bit on the gory side for those sensitive to it.

The usual disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but no one bribed me to praise it.

The essence of a bounty hunter revolves around knowing who to rescue and who to hunt. With “Zero Sum Game” [S.L. Huang/Tor/329pgs] it is a little bit of both. Cas Russell is a lady with a plan and she sees her fights and life within a sense of math. When she fights she can see the geometry of the room ahead of time. This serves her well and make her a little cocky overall but she cannot quiet her mind in the off times. Her mentor is somewhat of a psychopath but has almost a Zen quality about him despite the undeniably vicious things he does. The aspect of a Big Brother corporation run by a woman who can almost reach into minds does not adqequately structure the scope of what the book does which adds to the surprise of its trajectory. The book plays more like a 40s noir where everybody is a bit bad but also a bit good. The characters don’t apologize for who or what they are. Much of the action takes place on the outskirts of LA: the East Side, EL Segundo, etc. Cas doesn’t question her brazen nature but does second guess its intention after the fact. Another character that becomes involved is Arthur Tresting, a down on his luck former cop turned PI. The job both Tresting and Cas are hired on are part of a larger plan to ensnare others. The Overlord scenario plays a big part in what is being shown. Cas is just smart enough to be a nuisance to her employers but even the people who pursue her at times don’t know who is pulling their strings. Certain sequences like a hit on the end of a mountain hill road or the destruction of Cas’ hacker warehouse carry particular resonance. The book plays to the element of control within chaos. The introduction of a second hacker in the form of Checker provides a small basis of humor that isn’t purely gallows. Checker knows they might die in their mission but also knows that he is surrounded by killers (save for Tresting) no matter which way they might justify it. The ending is interesting and definitely ventures into Kubrick or Wachowski territory using the aspect of mind influence. The subject really brings into mind the aspect of what psy warfare would be based on but the narrative stretches the character of Dawna a little bit too far. It could have been pulled back slightly at the end and been more believable but the reasoning and the psychological nature of it seems sound even if it is a little too neat. That said “Zero Sum Game” has a gum shoe quality with the balance of a revenge picture and modern techno thriller that gives it a nice edge.

B

By Tim Wassberg

I originally gave up on this maybe a quarter of the way through, but as I had requested a copy for review on Netgalley, I felt guilty about abandoning it and decided to return and try to power through. It ended up being a really fun read and a couple of the issues I had at the start turned out to have plot-related explanations, so color me shocked! 

If you're struggling with Courtney and Dawna Polk, give the book a chance. I found them completely irritating and a waste of page space, but as the story continued, the author redeemed their characters. But if you're wondering whether Cas's math abilities ever become more realistic instead of largely coming off as magic, well, that part doesn't improve. I enjoy fantasy, so magic isn't a problem for me, but it's a little disappointing that the book tries to ground her extraordinary abilities in something down-to-earth like being a math savant, but doesn't commit to it. I just ignored that and chose to see Cas as having superhero powers which made a lot more sense. 

I enjoyed Cas, the anti-hero protagonist, because I'm always looking for morally grey female characters who are allowed to be arrogant and borderline sociopathic without being punished for it (there's no shortage of male protagonists who are celebrated for this very archetype). If that appeals to you, then definitely pick up 'Zero Sum Game' because Cas is delightfully cynical and snarky and quite an entertaining jerk at many points. Her casual acts of violence won't be for everyone, but I thought it was interesting to see a woman who did a lot of harm for the greater good, which we don't get very often. 

Cas starts out with the psychopath Rio as her only ally, and by about the mid-point of the book, we're introduced to a private investigator and a hacker who also (reluctantly) join forces with Cas, and this really lifted the enjoyment factor as we had different viewpoints and ethical dilemmas tossed around instead of Cas just bulldozing her way through every situation. The team dynamic was a highlight of the story for me and again made me glad that I picked this up and gave it another go.

First off, let's start with what a total badass S.L. Huang is. She has math degree from MIT (whoa, ok), she's a weapons expert (what??), and she's a professional stuntwoman (SERIOUSLY???). And in this case, she's channeled her own badassery into Cas Russell, the protagonist I feel like I've been waiting my whole life to read about. Cas doesn't have a superpower, she's just really good at math. Like, predicting the trajectory of bullets and using physics to run up walls good at math. When she encounters a secret organization with the ability to control minds, though, it gets a lot harder to keep her numbers straight.

Full of amazing characters and edge-of-your-seat moments, Zero Sum Game had me hooked. If I had any amount of math skills beyond like a fourth grade level, I don't know that I would have been able to suspend my disbelief enough to get behind a lot of plot points, but I was happy to be like, "Ah, whatever, sounds cool." I love the complex discussion about mind control and ethics, and how much moral gray area exists for both the good guys and the bad guys. The door was definitely left open for a sequel, and I hope it happens!

"Zero Sum Game" is an inventive and often clever take on the "math genius who solves crimes" trope (thanks, 'Numb3rs', for that one week-long marathon in college), only in this case, the detective in question teams up with a morally grey math genius instead of combining all of those characteristics into one, well, character. But that's par for the course here, as Huang steadfastly refuses to abide by genre expectations—any genre, any expectations—and rounds out the cast with a sociopathic vigilante whose neurodivergence complicates his strict adherence to Christian scripture and ideas of right and wrong. One damaged character, one morally grey character, and one black and white character who's compass is off ... and a conspiracy to influence government, the environment, and pretty much every social structure on earth by way of certain ... talents. The world Huang conjures up is a strange one and full of sharp edges, just like her characters.

Fittingly, Huang's is not always a comfortable world to inhabit, the plot and pacing are not always even and polished, and the characters are usually quite difficult to like, but the book's gestures toward the diversification and complication of science fantasy are meaningful and worth celebrating. I look forward to seeing what comes next from Huang, an author whose path to publication has been as winding and complicated as the plot of one of her books. "Zero Sum Game" is a re-release in that it was first self-published in 2014 and has now been picked up by Tor and republished in an expanded and edited form (or so I gather from the book's end matter). Huang therefore belongs to an ever-expanding stable of authors whose publishing experience includes both traditional and indie aspects, marking a welcome seachange for those of us who are always on the lookout for unique and uncompromising voices—and authors who insist on retaining theirs, and finding the publishing path which best allows them to be heard.