Out of the Dark

By: David Weber

Narrated by: Charles Keating

Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2010 David Weber (P)2010 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Weber pulls off this conceit in audacious style with a focus on military-powered action that will thrill fans of his Honor Harrington series, and he keeps the pedal to the metal right up to the almost unbelievable conclusion." ( Publishers Weekly)

great ending

What a twist I did not see it coming. Great endinng caught me completely by suprise.

Another good book.

What did you love best about Out of the Dark?

The outcome was unexpected.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the way it was written.

Have you listened to any of Charles Keating’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was the first one I've listen to.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The way they treated the kids the most.

Would pay full price or more for a sequel!!

Where does Out of the Dark rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have listened to several thousand audiobooks so that is a hard question to answer without spending a lot of time listing and rating all of them. Hazarding a guess id say it ranks in the top 50. I have listened to it 3 times or more.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Out of the Dark?

Hard to choose one, off hand I can recall at least 5 and its been at least 2 months since my last listen. I also do not wish to give anything away, spoilers suck.

Which character – as performed by Charles Keating – was your favorite?

Another hard question. As I recall, they where all well performed and there are many different characters in this book, so precluding several more books and subsequent character development I really can't say.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this book. It is the only book blending Science Fiction and Fantasy about which I am willing to say that.

Mispronouncing words is a killer when the story is

You would think that there would be a proof listener or someone to verify pronunciation!

It's not a war story if it's 90% talking.

I'm less fussed than some of the readers by the turn towards fantasy part way through the book. In my case, what really made me struggle is all the time the characters spend either describing things that are happening somewhere else, discussing what they should do next, or driving their inner monologue roughshod through their entire backstory. Reminder for the author: "Show, don't tell".

Good book

A really good book, strange ending, but a good book none the less. Waiting for the second!

unknown Hero

Love this book you do not know who the real hero is till the end have read it 3 times

The twist was unexpected…

I did not like the extra spec talk. APCs, NPCs, KEVs… Ugh. I did enjoy how the story flowed and then slowly bam, it changes from sci fi to horror. Fascinating storytelling.

Story line and narration.

The fact that yall are forcing me to write something negative whin I don't have anything negative to say about this book. Which means I will not be leaving feedback again.

A strong start, a WTF ending.

The book is fairly strong throughout the majority, with plenty of interesting tactics on both parts. However within the last hour of the book it goes steadily down hill. I've never said WTF out loud at an audio book, but this definitely caused it. I'd say if you go into it with full knowledge of the ending being screwy, it's not a bad purchase.