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)

Entertaining & Exciting

Great book with exciting characters. Weber does a great job at describing the situations and building his characters without over doing it and losing the reader. Action packed throughout then entire story.

Deserves more praise!

This book has been one of my favorite gems for years. I have listened to over 500 audio books and most being scifi and this book is one I always like to talk about.

The action and detail are top tier. The characters and story are really enjoyable however most people who leave a negative review complain about the ending.

Yes it is a big surprise, sure there could have been some more lead up, but fact of the matter is out of all the books I have listened to over the years this books ending is the most surprising and something I throughly enjoyed after getting over the shock.

Very excited to learn that this book is getting a sequel because it has chance to do something original in my favorite category of books.

Betty White wouldn’t the voice of a Young Disney Princess

Betty White would not be picked to do the voice of Ariel in a Disney movie. Just like this narrator shouldn’t be doing the character voices sounding like a shaky old man. Hearing a cat like alien speak in a shaky British accent is annoying. Listening to an American Marine Sergeant talk in a shaky old man British accent is infuriating. And listening to the word “simultaneously “ pronounced with a soft I makes me shutter every time I hear it. Love the story can’t wait for the sequel, David Weber is the man just for the love of God don’t use the same narrator on the sequel.

A lot of fun.

I loved it, but it's a bit slow in spots. If you like the Bobiverse books, you'll like this.

Good (not great) until ending

The ending was one of the worst I can remember of any book that I made it through.
I don't want to spoil it, but then again nothing can.
I won't be continuing the series.

Deus ex machina

SPOILER COMMING



This book starts and goes 95% as a good sifi space invasion but ends fairly abruptly deus ex machina with vampires saving the human race.
WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT

Outstanding! More please!

Enjoyed thinking my way through this one. The story is well done and offers a range of development opportunities that has you guessing. David Weber is one of my favorite authors so I looked forward to the "listen". I thought the narrator did a poor job with the characters. Every character was performed with this sense of exaggerated urgency and excitement. That's not how people really talk. There needs to be some variation. Also there are times when the narrator would drop off at the end of a sentence and you'd have to go back 30 seconds and turn your volume up then down real quick before he started with the next role. Just a rookie narrator really.

Awesome storyline worst narration ever

Normally I can easily follow David Weber’s stories without having to concentrate. In this story the narrator is very hard to follow and is also somewhat monotonal with no variation during dialogue or with different characters. This is probably the only time I ever would say to read the book instead of listening to it.

Too Much Spec Talk, Could Have Been > Just Okay

Sure it was important to introduce the various characters to get the audience to care… but the story went on too long. There was too much specs talk… The analysis of the human spirit compared to the enemy was interesting. The ending was where thing became more interesting… that is where the book should have peeked. The performance was adequate. The finale felt like it was supposed to make up putting the reader through the labor of passing from one end of the story to the other.

Love this book!

Aside from to much techno gun babble an amazing story. Write a sequel now please.