Cas Russell will do any job for pay, because it’s better than being alone in her own head. Her superpower is not casual violence (though there’s plenty of that) but sheer mathematical ability; she calculates vectors of people and bullets, and plots her way through fights, until she’s the only one left standing. (Huang has a math background, so the math is actually readable and not just gibberish.) A standard rescue starts to go wrong when Cas is suddenly being pursued by an enemy too big to handle; on top of that, her thoughts and emotions no longer seem like they are her own. Cas is a prickly, untrusting person who is nevertheless fiercely loyal to a certain few, and it’s a joy to watch her gradually opening up her circle. Between dodging bullets, of course. I thought that there was a bit too much new plot being introduced near the end, but then I found out it was the first of a series. What a delight! Bring on more Cas, I am looking forward to seeing where she’s going.
One thought on “Zero Sum Game, by S.L. Huang”