June’s Book Club selection was Year Zero by Rob Reid. (Yes, I’m a little behind with my reviews.) After my epic 600-page space adventure, I looked forward to a light and short read. Particularly, a story about the music industry. 

The premise of the story was rather quirky. Quite simply, the author is the founder of the music streaming service, Rhapsody and an attorney. The story is a parody about copyright infringement laws, particularly as it relates to a period in time when peer-to-peer filing sharing was a new technology. Some of us remember the days when dirt-poor college students were threatened with $250,000 fines and felony convictions punishable by up to five years in prison for downloading music from the Internet. The first highly publicized case, Metallica v. Napster, Inc.

There are a ton of references to popular music like the protagonist’s name is Nick Carter as in the Backstreet Boy. A receptionist named Barbara Ann, a nod to the Beach Boys’ 1965 hit and recently revived by the Minions as the Banana Song. Aliens named Carly and Frampton. Some quips were wildly entertaining, but a little goes a long way.

Almost all Book Club readers lost interest in the story towards the middle. Also, some of the characters introduced weren’t fully developed. At first, it seemed like they were going to be an intricate part of the story, but trailed off and eventually disappeared. Finally, the author uses footnotes throughout the narrative. Small passages of explanation, which most readers felt took them out of the story. They distracted them.

Overall, a fun read especially if you are a music lover. Just know that it’s a satirical look at the music streaming industry, so don’t go into it thinking there’s going to be some profound theme. There’s no huge take-away from it other than how lucrative frivolous lawsuits can be. The take-away for me was how Metallica and other musicians lost in the end anyway since they make only pennies on the dollar from streaming services.

Up next for July is A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine:

Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn’t an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court.

Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan’s unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.

Until next time, happy reading!