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The Zero Blessing (The Zero Enigma Book 1) by [Christopher G. Nuttall, Brad Fraunfelter]

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Christopher G. Nuttall

The Zero Blessing (The Zero Enigma Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Christopher G. Nuttall (Author), Brad Fraunfelter (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition

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Caitlyn Aguirre should have been a magician. Her family certainly expected her to be a magician. But by the time she reached her twelfth birthday, Caitlyn hadn't even managed to cast a single spell! In desperation, her parents send her - and her magical sisters - to Jude’s Sorcerous Academy, her last best chance to discover her powers.

But as she struggles to survive her classes without a single spell to her name, Caitlyn starts to uncover an ancient mystery that may prove the key to her true powers ...

... If she lives long enough to find it.

Reading age

10 - 18 years
Print length

377 pages
Language

English
Publication date

16 March 2017
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B06XPXGHKV
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1443 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 377 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 93,805 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 1,440 in Coming of Age Fantasy
- 1,665 in Children's Science Fiction & Fantasy
- 1,972 in Fantasy & Magic for Children

Customer Reviews:
532 ratings

About the author

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Christopher G. Nuttall

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Christopher Nuttall has been planning sci-fi books since he learned to read. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Chris created an alternate history website and eventually graduated to writing full-sized novels. Studying history independently allowed him to develop worlds that hung together and provided a base for storytelling. After graduating from university, Chris started writing full-time. As an indie author, he has published fifty novels and one novella (so far) through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

Professionally, he has published The Royal Sorceress, Bookworm, A Life Less Ordinary, Sufficiently Advanced Technology, The Royal Sorceress II: The Great Game and Bookworm II: The Very Ugly Duckling with Elsewhen Press, and Schooled in Magic through Twilight Times Books.

As a matter of principle, all of Chris's self-published Kindle books are DRM-free.

Chris has a blog where he published updates, snippets and world-building notes at http://chrishanger.wordpress.com/ and a website at http://www.chrishanger.net.

Chris is currently living in Edinburgh with his partner, muse, and critic Aisha.

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Customer reviews

5 star		67%
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3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from Australia

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This is an excellently written book, however...

Reviewed in Australia on 29 May 2017

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... I have a serious problem with the society it presents. As is normal human behaviour, Power = Wealth and Privelege. Power, in this case, being magical ability. Those with minor magic are dismissed as less worthy and treated accordingly. Unpleasant, but again, realistic behaviour. My isssue is that the adults (parents/teachers) and senior students, don't just ignore the casual cruelty of the kids' pranks, they actively encourage aggressive and malicious behaviour as a learning tool. They may give out detentions, but not for bullying, and then they harp on about not going over to the dark side. What is difference between light magic and dark magic? Intent. Ummm, anyone else see the problem here?
As a result, the only likeable characters are Rose and Akin. Caitlyn, the heroine, is bitter (with good reason, admittedly - I wanted to rage at her parents myself) and somewhat selfish, having been raised in a priveleged household. Luckily, she has a good friend in Rose, who repays her help with loyalty and support, showing her what true worth is about. Caitlyn struggles to cope with having zero magic, in a world where it is valued above all else. She learns to use what talents she does have, to compensate for her lack of magical prowess, with amazing results - thereby, finally winning her father's approval (what a jerk).
The storyline is intriguing and definately worth following in the sequel. It will be interesting to see how the various characters develop.

3 people found this helpful

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W. J. Porter

The Zero Blessing

Reviewed in Australia on 3 August 2017

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At first the reader is going to think this is another take on the Hogwarts/Generic Magic Academy theme. But there is more than enough originality to make it stand out from the pack. As the heroine Caitlyn Aguirre discovers the magic in her world has rules, some of them hidden from magicians.
In addition we have both a coming of age story and a heroine who at the outset is flawed. Caitlyn is an outcast in her own family who know her secret, she is a zero who has no inherent magic. Her father at least still has hopes that her magic with emerge after enrollment at Judes, a magic academy.
Once at Jude she makes at least one good friend, Rose and the two have many adventures as Caitlyn discovers secrets of the world she lives in.At Judes she makes enemies as well and has to work hard to foil their attacks on her. Rose helps her with this as well as helping her out of the bitter shell she had built because of her magical handicap.

I've enjoyed reading the story a great deal and look forward to a possible sequel in the future.

One person found this helpful

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Idul

Much better than half a loaf!

Reviewed in Australia on 20 August 2018

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The solecism runs:
Half a loaf is better than nothing.
Nothing is better than God.
Therefore, half a loaf of bread is better than God.
Chris has found something better than Magic, and has then let it be so! Yes a school for gifted children has to have its internal politics with bullies and friends. Oh are those friends of the bullies or friends of our downtrodden central character?

One person found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

An excellent book. Hoping for a sequel.

Reviewed in Australia on 23 April 2017

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I tend to give critical reviews, focusing on the flaws or areas that could be improved or that annoyed me while reading. A novel I have nothing against is rare. I have nothing bad to say about this book, provided there is a sequel.

The only possible complaint is that now the author has ANOTHER series to write which will slow down the pace for schooled in magic. This vexes me in the most pleasant of ways.

Please keep up the good work.

2 people found this helpful

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Steve Ainley

Something after SIM

Reviewed in Australia on 6 July 2017

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Interesting storyline will be interested in how the characters Caitlyn and her friend Rose pursue the next phase of this series and just how Zero's can improve the world, will we see more challenge for Caitlyn as more become aware of this Zero's abilities. Cannot wait for the next part

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Keep Them Coming

Reviewed in Australia on 29 March 2017

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A brilliant first novel in what I hope will be a new series. I liked the magic system, logical and well thought out. Explores what it would be like to live in a society of magic when you have no magical ability. Set in the traditional magical school. Good characters, it will be interesting to see how Cait's sisters react after the duel.

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Greg Spencer

Great Story

Reviewed in Australia on 11 April 2017

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Another great story from Christopher Nuttall. There are some similarities to the Schooled in Magic series, but the author has changed a significant premise in this magic world which opens new horizons. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

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Arti

Good

Reviewed in Australia on 19 March 2017

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I really like the magic system I think it works well, a good coming of age story. The only criticism would be that I believe Cat is too young for her skill set.
Otherwise hurry up with the next book.

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Top reviews from other countries

sjhigbee

Imagine being at Hogwarts as a squib...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 September 2018

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Caitlyn is an endearing protagonist. She comes from a magical talented family and is one of triplets. In magical circles, this is regarded as a boon because twins and triplets often have complimentary powers, making them an especially powerful unit – a necessary advantage if the Aguirre family are to keep their position as one of the leading magical families. But while both sisters are extremely gifted, Caitlyn cannot summon a single thing. Not that her parents are prepared to give up and accept the situation. Magic is part of everyday life. Everyone has some sort of magical ability – even the servants and lower orders use magic in their everyday lives. Except Caitlyn.

It means she is at the mercy of her sisters’ pranks and while her parents occasionally step in to prevent her being killed, from the time she is seven, Caitlyn is routinely turned into frogs, dogs and mice, hexed so she behaves in stupid ways, magically frozen, stuck to the floor and even blinded… Of course, it all eventually wears off. But she, with her zero ability, has nothing to fight back with.

Her only recourse is to study as hard as she can, in the hope that eventually, she will grow into her magic, as her father keeps promising. But by the time she is twelve, she has all but given up. Which is when she receives the worst news of all. She will be accompanying her sisters to the magical academy, St Jude’s. She is half convinced that she won’t survive the first term – because students are mostly supervised by older prefects, who are desperately studying for their magical finals. So it’s left to the juniors to sort themselves out – it’s no good Caitlyn running to sharp-tongued Sandy for help when one of the girls in her dorm targets her.

I loved the dynamic – it was all too plausible that this would go on in a magical establishment. I also liked the fact that Caitlyn’s only friend is a peasant girl on a scholarship who is naturally extremely magically giftedbut with no grounding in theory or how to mix with the higher orders. Nuttall’s magical system is also interestingly complex and the rules are well covered within the story as Caitlyn struggles through some magical lessons and manages to cope better in others by virtue of her constant studying.
Her plight is both believable and engrossing, so that I gobbled up this book in two sittings. I’m delighted to see there are other books in this series, which I’ll definitely be tracking down. Recommended for fans of magical school stories.
9/10

2 people found this helpful

Paprika

A good start, though some bits may seem familiar

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 May 2017

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I do like Chris' books - probably got all of them on the kindle, so I'm probably a touch biased ^_^

Our heroine stirs up some quite uncomfortable feelings from the start as she appears talentless in an age that only recognises talent. Poor girl has some pretty strong feelings of inadequacy which aren't helped by pushy parents. It does make you feel more sympathetic to her though.... which is probably the point.

Anyway, without doing a full book review it makes for a good read. There are elements that would fit well with his other magic series as well as elements that handle magic in a totally different way. There are also plot devices that come straight from said other series (cough prissyvengefulstudentwithmultiplechipsonshoulder cough) so sometimes you do get the feeling you've read it before.

You have to wonder about the students in this school, as 90% are utter b'stards, then you remember they're 12 and you remember that most 12 year olds are (plus Chris mentions he's seen boarding schools first-hand). Fair enough it's a way of setting things up and getting an empathy for the lead character but it does get tiring - what's wrong with having people actually being nice to each other, it would make a change.

All in all it's a good read and a good start to a series which I hope will spawn many more books.
Hopefully our heroine will mature well, she showed a lot more self restraint and maturity in the final chapter than I'd have shown in her position !

4 people found this helpful

LBatik

The only bad part is, the wait for further books

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 June 2017

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A girl without talent, hope or prospects is forced into a situation she honestly doesn't think she will survive, and carves out a position of power....

I don't want to hash over the same ground as other reviews, but there are a few things worth mentioning:

It is a very well realised world.
Nuttall understands how thoroughly vicious kids can be. (Undoubtedly his own background gives him that. I applaud how he uses that experience.)
He portrays friendship and betrayal and forgiving without forgetting, and all the attendant awkwardness, in my opinion very well.
He has villains with just the right touch of humanity, which you cannot help but feel real sympathy for...and they are still genuinely villains.

This ought to be the start of an excellent series. This book is just the start, the situation calls for a great deal more exploration.

2 people found this helpful

John Prigent

The satrt of a great story!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 February 2019

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I thought last week that I’d give The Zero Enigma a try, just as a break from the same author's The Empire’s Corps, and to my delight I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, of course I’ll be buying the rest of the series and exploring his other magic-based series.

I’ll admit to a bit of uncertainty before I started reading Cat’s story – about magicians at school. Would it be a bit Harry Potter-ish? No! This is very definitely not a Potter imitation. In fact it’s far better, with more believable characters and more believable actions and interactions. Not to mention a denouement that’s not to be spoilt by skipping ahead to the end. Alas, on my pension I can’t afford to buy all the series at once, but I’ll definitely be doing so as soon as I can.

This is such a splendid change from my disappointment when other good storytellers have switched into new genres. No names, no pack drill, but I’ve been very unhappy when some authors of historical novels have chosen to abandon the ground that they know so well in favour of new settings, different countries and completely new plot ideas.

PaulDG

Magical Boarding School where the holes are in the fence, not the plot.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 November 2019

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OK, so we all know how the tropr goes, right? Protagonist is different somehow in a world of magic, is bullied because of the difference and wins out in the end.

But this has been done very well, with some clever world building and avoiding many of the inconsistencies and plot holes in similar works.

I very much enjoyed this, enjoyed the solutions to those common plot holes that I went on to read all six books in a few days. I'm very much hoping there will be more

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