Zeroboxer

Recently I have become infatuated with professional wrestling. I know, its not very nerdy of me, what will be next, NASCAR? But ever since Max Landis dropped Wrestling Isn't Wrestling and introduced me to the idea of mass market comic book performance art, I haven't wanted to watch much else. It seemed appropriate then to pick up Zeroboxer, even though its based more off UFC than WWE (I'm a fan of mixed martial arts as well, but its often less accessible), but the point is that they are both stories of good and evil waged via contests of the human body. When we watch wrestling, or MMA, or baseball or tennis, we're looking for the story. Who is the villain and who is the hero, the favorite and the underdog. Professional wrestling just has the audacity to make those stories more elaborate, dramatic and, of course, scripted.

First, let me just get out of the way, the whole concept of zeroboxing is fucking amazing. I can imagine many a fighter reading this book and salivating at the idea of tumbling around in a zero gravity cube with a worthy opponent. Getting a grip on the action can be difficult though, in the same way a fighter has to develop his “ear” in the cube to understand there's no longer an up and down in a traditional sense, the reader has to as well. I've never been very good at understanding fight scenes that I read, bad spatial reasoning I guess, but that didn't take too much away from the story. Fonda Lee is good at making it clear what the stakes are, what the impact of a hit is, even if you don't understand the moves and the strategy that well.

I couldn't help but think all the way through that Zeroboxer was ticking off a list of all the right beats. The ascension of the hero, the love interest, the villain. Yet it all felt very stale. The love story is deeply unextraordinary, the villain a vague specter until he's proven to be flesh and blood like anyone else and that's when his power vanishes, and the hero of course is patient and even tempered while being beautifully physically capable. He was designed that way of course, and Carr often questions how much he can chalk up to his own resilience or the creativity of his makers, but still it left me feeling cold. He's supposed to be a figure that inspires a whole planet, and yet I could barely remember his name. It was all just a very neat sports story. The only moment that I felt like it transcended these confines was the ending, even if in a way that was predictable as well. It was when Carr's perfect body, perfect mind, perfect story were finally pushed to their limits.

Maybe I'm reading too much like a writer. In wrestling, that's called a smark. Someone who is so aware of the medium, of the mechanics of what goes into creating a story, that it conflicts with just sitting back and enjoying the show. Anyone who doesn't watch wrestling will be quick to tell you, “You know it isn't real, right?” And there's a beauty in knowing it isn't real, because when you know it isn't real, you suddenly know that it is in fact very real. You know how much work goes into it, you appreciate when a wrestler delivers an incredible promo, or sells a bump convincingly. But ultimately, all you really want is to forget. No matter what I did while reading Zeroboxer, I never forgot I was reading a book. A decent book, with passable characters and an interesting story (with a fantastic as hell premise and setting). But it was a puppet show with paper dolls, and I wanted something with a heartbeat.

Zeroboxer is largely a futuristic sports story with a crime/suspense element that touches on celebrity, genetic engineering, and marketing. Although I thought the sport of zeroboxing was interesting (despite not being a fan of boxing/fighting sports in general), I thought the book was an average read with its one dimensional characters and abrupt ending, plus it didn't deeply explore the aspects I found most compelling (marketing, genetic engineering, and the rift between Earth and Mars). It's not a book that I struggled to finish, but it also isn't a book that kept me eagerly turning the pages or one that I found especially memorable.

Review on My Website

Would you like an extremely quick breakdown of this book? I'll oblige. Zeroboxer is Rocky, in space. Oh yes, my friends. Complete with the craggy, but ultimately lovable coach, and all the related drama. That's not to say that this isn't a good book. I'm simply telling you exactly what to expect. This was most definitely a different kind of Science Fiction than I'm used to, and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it.

First off, credit where credit is due. The sport of zeroboxing is so well fleshed out in this story that it isn't even funny. You won't just be reading about Carr's matches, you'll live them. Fonda Lee has not only built a sport, she's built a sport that actually makes sense. I felt the tension, heard the cheers, and watched the blood float around in zero gravity. If nothing else, this book will get you for that very reason. It's hard not to be caught up with the sport, and everything that comes along with it.

Even the world itself is pretty solid, since it's essentially Toronto in the far flung future. Genetic enhancements are the norm. Tattoos are done with an animated liquid. Best of all, travel between Earth and Mars is something that's done often. The one downside here is that the reader is thrown directly into this future without a whole lot of hand holding. While I eventually found my footing, it took me a while to truly associate Carr's life with his futuristic home. If it wasn't for the references to zero gravity boxing, I'd have been much more lost.

Now here's where things get a bit hairy. First off, I wasn't always a huge fan of Carr Luka. Our main character felt a little too perfect. Thus, when things started to turn sour for him, I wasn't really empathetic. I actually wanted him to lose. If just once. It's no fun to root for someone who is nigh unbeatable. Nor is it easy to feel bad when they're injured. My other issue was with how casually the topic of people being genetically enhanced in the womb, and the fact that only bad parents didn't do that, was mentioned and then tossed aside. I understand this was part of the world building, but I needed more. That's a big subject to simply touch on.

Overall, I was fairly impressed with Zeroboxer. I'm not generally a big fan of sports related books or movies, but this one held my interest. The union between boxing and Sci Fi definitely made this a different read than I was expecting, and a rather happy surprise.