Out of the Dark
By David Weber
- Release Date: 2010-09-28
- Genre: Science Fiction
Description
The launch of a new science fiction adventure series--by the New York Times-best selling author of the Safehold series and the Honor Harrington series
The Galactic Hegemony has been around a long time, and it likes stability--the kind of stability that member species like the aggressive, carnivorous Shongairi tend to disturb. So when the Hegemony Survey Force encountered a world whose so-called "sentients"--"humans," they called themselves--were almost as bad as the Shongairi themselves, it seemed reasonable to use the Shongairi to neutralize them before they could become a second threat to galactic peace. And if the Shongairi took a few knocks in the process, all the better.
Now, Earth is conquered. The Shongairi have arrived in force, and humanity's cities lie in radioactive ruins. In mere minutes, more than half the human race has died.
Master Sergeant Stephen Buchevsky, who thought he was being rotated home from his latest tour in Afghanistan, finds himself instead prowling the back country of the Balkans, dodging alien patrols and trying to organize scattered survivors without getting killed. And in the southeastern US, firearms instructor and former Marine Dave Dvorak finds himself at the center of a growing network of resistance--putting his extended family at lethal risk, but what else can you do?
On the face of it, Buchevsky's and Dvorak's chances look bleak, as do prospects for the rest of the surviving human race. But it may well be that Shongairi and the Hegemony alike have underestimated the inhabitants of that strange planet called Earth... in David Weber's Out of the Dark.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Reviews
Sponsored by the NRA
1By LooplessThe obsessive discussions and analysis of guns is pretty weird. Apparently the only people who can defend the good old USA from hopelessly incompetent alien invaders are gun toting rednecks. And yeah, the vampire twist is lazy writing.Droning encyclopedia
1By EyescratcherRemember when David Weber actually had memorable characters, and a plot instead of long rambling diatribes and exposition of details that no one but him is apparently interested in? Halfway through the book I I realized I couldn’t tell you the name of any one of the characters what their motivation was or why they were doing what they’re doing and that’s when I decided I would be stupid if I continued reading this trash.Dissapointing
1By babultowerOut of 650 some pages, It felt like I read a 150 page plot. Lot of unneeded verbose, unrealistic dialogue and unimaginative scenes/execution. High drama moments were given less words than descriptions about the amenities of a cabin. Reading the wikipedia summary got me exited for nothing. I don’t think there anything to make me re-read this in the future.Worst Weber book ever
1By billy bob bodean bayou bistroThis is the worst Weber book ever. There is a twist in the book that just makes you feel like the author gave up In the middle of writing and threw something in just complete it for publicationGreat up until the end
4By Urchin11Great right until the end.Great read
4By RuncowToo many reviews on this short story are stuck on the surprise ending. It is sci fi/ fantasy. Enjoy the surprise! I laugh at the outrage of the twist. The idea of carnivore aliens is ok but the twist is unthinkable... I loved it! It is like hating the movie " the usual suspects" because of that twist. Shut up you uppity sci fi snobs! It is entertainment and fun!Horrible
1By TheFroodWas truly enjoying this read right up to the end when vampires show up to save the day... You can rationalize it to the worlds end, but it took a good sci-fi story and turned it into garbage... The vampire, savior of the world, was not even one of the protagonists!Magical Ending Sucked
1By Shepard13Very rarely do I ever give bad reviews. I always try to be somewhat positive when reviewing even bad stories. However, I beg Mr. Weber never to write in this world again. This book started out great. The Author then wrote himself into a hole in which the characters had no chance of ever escaping. They were on a downward spiral in which they would be unable to overcome their superior enemy without some kind of magic. Then comes the magical ending in which Vampires come out of the woodwork to save humanity in the end. Pure Crap.David Weber is a great author, just not this time.
2By EchoMirageEWow. That was not a good ending. That's what I get for buying a book before checking the reviews. Hopefully David Weber doesn't choose this particular kind of plot line when writing his terrific Honor Harrington series.An Incredible Read
5By Ace911This is more than just a science fiction novel, that's to be sure. It's a deeper analysis of what it truly means to be human, as well as seeing the few subtle differences between being an angel, and being a demon. Both are powerful and immortal, the only difference is where their hearts lie.Oh come on!
1By epsilon2Good writing, interesting plot with lots of potential and then came the end. I suspect the author was told to wrap it up and came up with somethin akin to ..."and they magically lived happily ever after. The end." How we went from Science Fiction to the supernatural is beyond me -- and it does not work. Really, really bad ending.Out of the dark
1By Swear jThe end was awful.Great book
5By Maddoc8021Another book along the lines of Independence Day! Good read! You will have to read it twice to catch all the details and interconnectionsWorst David Weber novel in years
1By sgulieStarts great, military SF with well-developed characters and civilizations, believable, consistent technology, good plotting. Bogs down under the inevitable weight of present-day earth trying to fend off star faring enemies using guerilla warfare--if they decide we're too much trouble, they can always pull back and drop rocks on us. Instead of coming up with a credible way out, Weber decides, with little foreshadowing and no logical or scientific explanation, to have the vampires save us. Yup. Vampires. They can turn into mist, cling to the skin of space shuttle through takeoff, vacuum, and reentry, are impervious to weapons of any kind. Why haven't they taken over earth long since? Because deep down they're too good, even though they're monsters. Absolutely awful deus ex machina, not to mention a sudden change of genre from SF to anything-goes fantasy. And no, I didn't just spoil the ending; Weber did that.Fantastic book
5By endtvSuch a great idea for a story... I never saw it coming until the end. The last book that surprised me this much was Enders Game. Buy this book and read it right now.Disappointing
2By JackBurton76David Weber introduced me to the wonderful world of personal reading with the great book "Mutineers Moon". This latest book is well planned but poorly executed.Darkness
4By RoadshadowwwAll I can say is, this is a he'll of a fun read..... Wasn't what I expected, but excellent!Ends too fast
4By MytockI enjoyed this very much, but I think it finished up too quickly, never mind how it ended! I would have been ok with how the author choose to wrap things up if it hadn't been so light on details. I read Weber for the great battles, and this book had plenty of them, I wish he had chosen to end the story with a crushing battle.Oh David what have you done?
5By NixiJQthe first three quarters of this book are enjoyable military scifi - not to par with Mr Webers other works but still entertaining, however the end of this book made me regret spending money on it - to find it in the itunes years best list is dubious to say the least.
