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Out of the Dark

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Out of the Dark

By: David Weber
Narrated by: Charles Keating
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About this listen

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
Fantasy Fiction First Contact Science Fiction Space Opera Space Military

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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)
All stars
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Too many stereotypes and story bought to sudden unsatisfactory ending. Purchased the sequel hoping Author would redeem himself but same problems with that. Both returned.

Author appeared to run out of ideas.

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As a paperback it was a pickup and don’t put down as an audio book it’s a repeat listen.

Listen again and again.

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When i first started it was hard to get in to the story. But once past the first chapters and the history lesson it really gets good. But VAMPIRES the really was know need.

great story not so great ending

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A great story. Well performed. Very plausible. Vampires though? a point to ponder. A very deep dive into human nature and threat response. Enjoyable.

Engaging

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Yes, it's very different to the usual David Weber, but very enjoyable for all that. I really enjoyed all the little hints and subtle jokes in this book, and I guessed fairly early on what the deux ex machina was, the clues were all there if you pay attention. I found it very satisfying.

Loved it

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Dog like aliens invade Earth. Silly deus ex at the end saves them. The storyline is just the protagonists moving from one excessively technical description of combat to another, but if you like kick-a military sci-fi, then it ticks the boxes. The aliens are too stupid and the humans too wooden, but the story hangs together successfully.

The narration is excellent.

Exciting first contact story

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

Yes, decent sci fi story. If you like Footfall or World War In The Balance you'll like this. Basically David Weber read both these books then and combined them to come up with this...which is no bad thing.

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

That would be near the beginning when the fighter pilots run into the Aliens and chaos ensues.

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

The Leader of the Aliens.

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

The ending...you gotta feel sorry for the Aliens

Any additional comments?

The end is kind of...well silly really. Wont spoil it but...made me chuckle. You'd think if you were going to invade a Planet you'd do a bit more research though.

DOGS FROM OUTER SPACE

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Simple put this book is about an race called the Shongairi who have conquered the earth and killed millions of people and this book tells the stroy of the people who fight back the end is different and not what you expect but it is still a very good book.

Different but good

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The ending was just horrible, the entire story until the end was more or less hard scifi and it then with no build up a magic solution to everything popped up.

The ending is just flat out bad

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Loved the insights into human nature.
Loved the assumptions made by the alien invaders, assumptions based in their culture and evolution.
Also loved the idea that an advanced alien civilisation were spectators at the battle of Agincourt and from this judged the human race as too dangerous to exist.
But then the author seemed to think that the characters, races and worlds he had created weren’t interesting enough. So he threw in vampires and ....... I won’t be buying the second book

Failed at the final fence

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