Out of the Dark-David Weber

Out of the Dark
David Weber
Tor, Sep 28 2010, $25.99
ISBN: 9780765324122

Having learned of the existence of hostile humans, The Galactic Hegemony Empire is coming to conquer and colonize Earth. An advanced scouting team witnessed the massacre at Agincourt when King Henry V and his English Army used the longbow to slaughter the French. The Hegemony scout leadership concludes the bloody barbarians are a bunch of "lunatic local sentients". Earthlings are so bellicose they make the bloody Shongairi warriors look docile and thus deserve extinction.

The Hegemony sends their Shongairi warriors to conquer Earth. The military invaders are stunned by the resistance to their assaults. Even more shocking to those who have defeated forces throughout the galaxy is something out of horror novels rises from the grave to unite with the native humans in a counter insurgency.

Faster than the speed of light or an Honor Harrington military science fiction, Out of the Dark is an action-packed thriller that fans of David Weber will enjoy. Over the top of Olympus Mons and with a resistance theme that has been used in many books and movies (for instance, The Puppet Masters), the novel is refreshed with an element from the horror genre. Mr. Weber provides an entertaining tale that requires seat belts with the speed of acceleration from start to finish.

Harriet Klausner