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)

Invasion of the Dog Men

This book presents a story of the invasion of the Earth by an interstellar empire whose species is evolved from dog or wolf-like pack-oriented ancestors. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, the aliens are mean and grasping, and the human resistance is noble and clever. The ultimate game changer is a surprise, but a surprise that I found satisfying. Some (most, actually) reviews suggest that the reader should be disappointed with how Weber resolves the story. Come on, what is wrong with the ending? The entire story is as unlikely as most space/invasion opera, so what is wrong with a novel resolution that dips into western folklore? The battle scenes are engrossing and the touches of sentimentality mostly work. I think it is a fine book to which one can listen while walking or hiking with your favorite hound, or while trimming bushes and weeding, or any of the other tasks that fill long summer weekends and evenings. Recommended.

A lot of fun

Alien invasion stories are not new. Leave it to David Weber to put a fun spin on one. The narration by Charles Keating is excellent. In fact it makes the story work so well.

A mixed break

To begin with Charles Keating was entirely the wrong person to do the narrating for this particular Weber novel. There are books, by the author or in the genre, he is suited for, even excels at, but this is not it for a variety of reasons. Some of those are performance wise, but most are related to the specifics of the writing.

By comparison story wise some people have taken issue with the plot / genre twist ending. I didn't have a problem with that per se given the foreshadowing leading up to it. However the other major issue of common note does hold some merit. There is a deluge of technical gobbledygook and designations that coupled with Keating's delivery simply cause a break from the story. Out of the Dark is an interesting story, and I would read a sequel and given the events that occur in the story I feel there would be less issues in a sequel's political set up than some of the lesser trip ups that occurred in this book.

Aliens vs Earth, with a new twist

Memorable book. Shows signs of having been "upwritten" from a shorter work. Nasty aliens, heroic Earthlings, and a well-telegraphed surprise ending which is anticipated in the book's title. Not Weber's best, but even his second best is pretty good.

great book with a surprising finish

This was a really fun book to listen to and had some really interesting ideas of how complacent the invading aliens were. The ending was enjoyable however I definitely would have liked a little more information on how they became the second species on the planet because saying poof here they are without any explanation of how they came to be is kinda silly.

Wonderfully constructed story that grabs you

I really loved this. I wasn't sure what to expect but this is one of the best science fiction books I read/listened to in a long time. It's a fascinating and very different take on humanity finding out that we are not alone. I had a very hard time putting it down.

Great Book/Lousy Reader

I purchased the hard cover of this book and was looking forward to hearing it. Unfortunately the reader sounds like he's trying to lick the mike and gargle at the same time. The book, very detailed, delves in background at first and then hones in to the finish. Although some may think the finish isn't the best, I found it quite enjoyable. If you want to put up with a very, very, poor reader, this book is quite enjoyable.

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.

This was a fun story that kept me engaged

I saw some of the negative reviews about the ending of the story but it did not detract from the story at all for me. I actually quite enjoyed it. The performance was well done and the story was more than interesting enough to keep my attention.

great read with a fun twist

Would you listen to Out of the Dark again? Why?

Hells yeah i would! Other than it's a great story of us being the underdog and overcoming the odds blah blah, the twist at the end makes you want to re-read it just to see what clues you missed to the total blindside hit you recieved at the end!

What did you like best about this story?

the twist at the end

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

No i haven't, but he puts heart into it and would gladly listen to another of his. I had a trouble with the audio on my ipod and am not sure if it's the book or if it was my ipod. I did totally wipe my ipod afterwards but haven't reloaded this book to test it. My ipod froze up during this book but i've had the thing for years without reformatting it.

Any additional comments?

even if this is not your type of book, read it anyways because the end entails a whole nuther genre!