Science fiction is a wonderful medium for satire. The use of aliens as outsiders to poke fun at our foibles are a wonderful mechanism to satirize our world. Rob Reid tried to do this in his novel, Year Zero. The aliens come in to help poke fun at music piracy and its punishments. But Reid’s novel just doesn’t work. His aliens are silly and the premise is weak. It’s a decent idea with very flawed execution and I just couldn’t finish it. Let’s check it out.