Out of the Dark: Cool idea falls short of expectations

Out of the Dark by David Weber

CLASSIFICATION: For the most part, Out of the Dark is a military science fiction novel set on contemporary Earth, but the book also contains some historical fiction and cyber warfare in the prologue and beginning chapters.

FORMAT/INFO: Out of the Dark is 384 pages long divided over thirty-nine Roman numbered chapters, and a Prologue and Epilogue. Narration is in the third persion via many different perspectives, both humans and Shongairi. Main characters include Thikair, the Shongairi Fleet Commander; Dave Dvorak, an NRA-certified firearms instructor; Master Sergeant Stephen Buchevsky of the Marines; Captain Pieter Stefanovich, combat engineer for the Ukrainian army; and Major Dan “Longbow” Torino, an Air Force fighter pilot. Out of the Dark can be read as a standalone novel, but is the first volume in what is being described as a “new military-SF series.” September 28, 2010 marks the North American Hardcover publication of Out of the Dark via Tor.

ANALYSIS: I’ve known of David Weber for a while now, but hadn’t actually read anything by the author until last year’s Warriors anthology (Reviewed HERE), which included Weber’s short story, “Out of the Dark.” One of my favorite stories in the book, I was super-excited to hear that “Out of the Dark” would be expanded into a full-length novel, launching a new military science fiction series. Unfortunately, the novel did not work nearly as well for me as the short story did.

What I loved most about the short story was the surprise twist involving — SPOILER ALERT! — vampires. I thought the idea of vampires battling aliens was an incredibly cool concept and couldn’t wait to see the idea executed in a full-length novel. What I didn’t expect was that the vampires wouldn’t make an appearance until 200 pages in, but then just as Romanians living in the “heart of Wallachia”. The vampires aren’t even revealed as such until around 330 pages in, towards the end of the novel. To make matters worse, all of the cool parts involving the vampires against the Shongairi were skimmed over in comparison to the rest of the novel. So instead of vampires battling aliens — what could have been something really cool and original — Out of the Dark focuses mainly on surviving pockets of humans resisting the Shongairi invasion, a much more common science fiction theme.

In addition to the novel’s surprising lack of action involving vampires vs. aliens, I was also disappointed by the Shongairi themselves. For one, the aliens aren’t very ‘alien.’ Physically, the creatures are described as “doglike,” or referred to as “puppies” by the humans, while psychologically the Shongairi are like dogs or wolves, possessing a submission mechanism and pack mentality. In short, the aliens are not very alien-like. Secondly, the Shongairi, despite their interstellar space travel capabilities and orbital kinetic strikes which can level a city, are surprisingly inept. Perhaps it was Weber’s intention to make the Shongairi this way, but I just think the book would have worked better if the aliens were fearsome and dangerous, rather than incompetent. I do admit though, that I was amused by the Shongairi’s various opinions and reactions to KU-197-20’s (Earth) inhabitants…

On the positive side, Out of the Dark is written by a very skilled and experienced author in David Weber. I was particularly impressed by Weber’s versatility to write science fiction (Hegemony, Shongairi, Barthoni), historical fiction (Battle of Agincourt), cyber warfare, dry humor (Shongairi), and military fiction with equal proficiency, although fans of military fiction have the most to rejoice about. On top of that, the pacing is exciting, the dialogue is crisp and led by some excellent banter, and I really liked how Weber developed characters and the way he was able to juggle numerous viewpoints. Sadly, I never really connected with any of the book’s main characters and felt the way Weber switched narratives was sometimes a bit disjointed.

Overall, Out of the Dark is a novel that fell way short of my expectations, much like other cool ideas have done in the past including Aliens vs. Predator, Freddy vs. Jason, and Star Wars: Death Troopers. Fortunately, the book has its moments, and I think anyone who likes military fiction mixed with some SF would really enjoy Out of the Dark. Personally, I wish David Weber had concentrated more on the vampires vs. aliens angle than he did, but the way he ended the novel offers a number of promising ideas for future volumes. I just hope the next book in the series can deliver on the offered potential.