Dark World

Undying Mercenaries, Book 9

By: B. V. Larson

Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

Two expanding interstellar powers are about to meet in battle. After the collapse of the Cephalopod Kingdom, Humanity claimed the 300 rebellious worlds it left behind. But many light years away on the far side of a disputed region, a rival power has begun to move. They're stealing our planets, one at a time. Earth Command decides to invade the center of the frontier to set up an advanced base. 

The mission to DARK WORLD is highly classified and deadly. Legion Varus spearheads the effort, and James McGill journeys to the stars again. How many ships do they have? How advanced is their tech? 

No one knows, but the campaign takes an unexpected turn immediately. What was supposed to be a snatch-and-grab turns into a bloodbath. McGill dies over and over again, but some battles must be won, even if it means perma-death.

©2018 Iron Tower Press, Inc. (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

The “Juice Box” Gambit

You’ll have to listen to the book to appreciate what James McGill does with a juice box, it’s comical. As for the rest of “Dark World,” this is one of the better books of the series.
I like the changes that have come about after Earths’ defeat of the Cephalopod kingdom, earth is no longer the door-mat of the universe and the “Squids,” have a new role within the Legions that I found very satisfying. There is a shakeup of ranks which causes some bitter feelings, and a cat fight. As crazy as it sounds, some of the people who once scowled in contempt at McGill’s actions are now looking to him to solve their problems the way he usually does with manipulation and underhanded tactics but always with his customary southern charm; and yes, he still has his misogynistic ways.
The ending is eye-opening revealing a plan that might change the fate of the universe; and anyone following this series should never forget about “Claver.”
Of course, Mark Boyett, is James McGill and I wouldn’t listen to this series without him as the narrator.

you always know what you're getting.

a smirking hillbilly bumbles and bullshits his way through a couple of disjointed plot segments, beds a couple of one dimensional prop female characters, and then everyone's rank shifts.

BV Larson's writing is ... problematic at times. I wish he would give up on writing about sex because he isn't good at it. But there enough creative and humorous ideas here to keep me reading. So, I dont know. Mission accomplished?

Wow... the deck just got reshuffled

Looks like the plotline just took a new heading.
Just when the series appeared to be steering into a comfortable rut...

a little samey

Feels like a rehash of earlier books at this point. James seems to be in a holding pattern for most of the novel. Story is still fun and the voice work is great as it always is.

I've been a fan of this series since book 1

Another adventure in the life of an undying mercenary.
Great book and narrated by one of the best I've ever experienced. Read all of them!

A glorious return to the first of the series.

A fantastic listen that kept me riveted. As good as the first book in the series.

Another masterpiece

This is one of my favorite series. When looking for another book, Undying Mercenaries is one of the first I look at to see if there is any new one out or on its way. This edition is another great one by BV Larson. And any audio book person knows that Mark Boyett is one of the top 6 or so narrators out there.

If he keeps putting out 2 a year I will

be twice as earliterate. Honestly though this is not a series anyone should skip. The characters are all broken in interesting and diverse ways, but they are also quite charming. This newest edition made me laugh and craft theories about what would come next just like all the rest. I don't try to finish these books as soon as they come out, but it has worked out that way so far. As for themes, for the people that orbit The McGill, girls are smart and sciency and boys make things dead but they take turns sometimes.

[not a review going forward but this is the 9th book]
My only sort of gripe, is I wish there was an authors note at the end. I used to like those when I was a big Orson Scott Card fan. I don't really follow people on social media but after 115+ hours of listening to what "some guy" wrote I get a bit curious about what they have to say about other stuff, like in the cyberwarbooks interview. I have seen a picture of him with sunglasses, so I know he went out at least once.

Another great book in the series.

Really loved this book and the entire series. Missed reading them in between publishing. Lots of fun and following the exploits of "The McGill". LOL

story did not really move the overall plot much.

typical book in the series and though enjoyable, did not do much for the overall plot and seemed to be a book written to just keep writing more books. most of the main parts of this book could easily have been a few chapters in another book.

Larson Does It Again!

I always look forward to a new release by B.V Larson and especially so when it's an Undying Mercenaries one. This has been my favourite series of books by Larson with his Star Force saga coming a close second. I have to say that I like writers that can produce a long series like this and keep the quality high. It seems to me that many authors in the sci-fi genre do engage in sagas that run over a number of books but I know of only a few that run to 9, 10 or more. Rather, they tend to produce mammoth works and limit them to perhaps three or four. This is fine but I think I prefer the shorter, more pacey stories such as those in this series as you get more in the long run.

There was a considerable gap between the previous in this series, Blood World and the book before. Usually Larson can crank out these quicker and I think work on his various other projects slowed him down. I felt that Blood World wasn't the best work he has done and got the feeling that it was perhaps a stop-gap story. I am very pleased to say that Dark World is a much better book and is right back up there with his best in this series.

When Larson is on form, as he is here, I find that I lose myself in the world Larson has created. James McGill is once more our hapless hero that thinks on his feet, is a ladies man and the sort of likeable rogue we'd all like to know. Larson doesn't over complicate his characters and thus never gets bogged down with unnecessary plot excursions. His stories are simple and yet compelling and his brand of sci-fi is highly accessible. One has to wonder when Hollywood has clearly run out of ideas as to why they don't mine the vast potential in these and other Larson stories rather than giving us abysmal movies that are totally forgettable.

I was hooked from the get go and my interest was maintained throughout. Larson's efficient and unpretentious prose pulls the reader right into his vivid worlds and he has the ability to come up with interesting and imaginative aliens.

It's a pleasure and a relief to see Mark Boyett narrating again and his consistency in his character voices over the series is fantastic. He is the voice of McGill and company and let this always be the case.

A couple of observations that I noted were that Adjunct Thompson was referred to by McGill early on in the book as Specialist in one scene. Other than that, the only odd thing I felt with the story as a whole was the lack of heavy weapons being used. There were hoards of small flying aliens in a couple of scenes that could've been dispatched easily with a dozen Beltchers set to wide aperture. This powerful weapon was totally lacking on the battlefield which puzzled me as so much more damage to the enemy could have been wrought with far fewer human casualties. Additionally, what ever happened to the "Dragons" or powered exo-skeletons seen used to good effect in Machine World? With more armour like that along with the heavy weapons mentioned, I think the assault on Dark World would have been far more effective. I suppose that might make the story much less interesting and so I sort of understand where the author was coming from. Still, it's a glaring issue.

All very minor observations aside, I enjoyed Dark World immensely and would thoroughly recommend this book.

Once again James McGill rampages through the universe

A different world, some new aliens, and a whole mess of trouble as the hero once again saves the day. This is space opera at its best. It’s well written, well read and thoroughly engaging. If you enjoyed the previous books in the series, rest assisted this is another winner.

entertaining but average

Same formula as previous books in the series. James sets into trouble, acts dumbfounded, lies his way out, gets send to alien planet, mission goes south, pulls a stunt and has sex in-between this all.

it's entertaining when in traffic but didn't really grip me. also as the series progresses it seems that Mr Larson is encountering more and more timeline issues.

Love this series

the narrator is great, the story good fun. I love the fact McGill is flawed and a bit of an prat at times. Love the way things have gone so far I have a sneaky suspicion where the next one will go but can't bloody wait for it to come out. brilliant series an easy listen.

another good read

still a good read. some of the events are being a little stretched but it's still a good read.

Brilliant

Another enjoyable chapter! Some say this is getting repetitive, I disagree! I’m loving every book and this is another great one. Mark Boyett is also a fantastic narrator 👍

Usual top knotch storyline.

Narration great as usual. Development of storyline well up to usual standard. Some interesting twists. To get the most out of the story you really need to have read pevious books.

love this line of books, brought down by audible.

Fantastic run of interesting and entertaining books. struggled with this one as audible is poor at downloading books to memory cards.

I will still like to listen to more of this line. but it would be better if it had different platform.

A Gripping series.

It keeps getting better and better. A thoroughly gripping series. Where will we go next? Keep them coming!

Superb!

I thought this was a fantastic story and well written book - thoroughly enjoyed it. Narration excellent