Zero Gravity

Rating:
Summary: Three and a half stars, rounding up
Review: This book is an absolute paradox - the story is shockingly lame, but the writing is so unbelievably good that the book is tough to put down.

The plot begins at the Defense Language Institute and centers around a teacher of the Russian language. As a Russian graduate of DLI, I and my classmates were quick to buy this one. The author clearly has good knowledge of DLI (and perhaps Russian), but if so it's outdated - his description of the infamous "Chapter 13 trap" must have come from a course from many years ago.

The fact that so many pages could be dedicated to the "climax" of two drunken poets on the moon defecting to each other's country and that so few could be dedicated to unraveling the mess is really, really disturbing - but this author wrote so well that you almost don't notice.

In short, this is the only novel I've ever read where I can honestly say "The plot is as boring as it gets, and I heartily recommend it anyway." If I can give the book four stars just on writing skill alone (particularly because of the author's sense of humor), it says a lot - you'll shake your head wondering how the author sold the story to his publisher, but you'll laugh that same head off reading the book.