Review: Out of the Dark by David Weber

Out of the Dark is the first book of a new series by David Weber. Set in a near-future earth, Out of the Dark is a glimpse at an apocalypse brought on by alien invaders.

One of the qualities that helps to make Out of the Dark stand out is the use of the Alien invaders as viewpoint characters. I loved how the cultural differences between the aliens and humanity colors the interactions.

As much as I loved the Alien viewpoints, I had a hard time connecting with many of the human viewpoints. Until the end when all the viewpoint characters came together it was was to keep them straight and that made it difficult to care about what they were doing.

Despite the difficulty I had with some of the points of view, I had trouble putting Out of the Dark down. I loved how Weber treated the invasion and the destruction of civilization. It definitely made me think about how I would survive (or not) in the situation presented. Would the city I live in/near be one of the ones destroyed in the first waves of attacks on major population and technology centers or would it be one of the ones destroyed for resisting?

Despite the generally dark atmosphere of the novel, it ended with hope for the human race and the promise of more books to come as the human race speeds to rebuild and catch up to the rest of the populated universe.

I don't think this was one of Weber's better books but I did enjoy reading it and will definitely catch the next book in the series. I see a lot of potential for this new series.

The Book Habits Meme

I spotted this on Floor to Ceiling Books and the original post is on The World in the Satin Bag.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack:

I sometimes snack and when I do my favorite snack is probably Starburst Jelly beans.

What is your favorite drink while reading?

I love to drink hot chocolate while I read but usually just drink water.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

I never mark in books that I read for fun. When I was still a student I sometimes wrote in books.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?

I go back and forth between dog-ears and laying the book flat open. It depends on whether the book is staying home or coming with me. I occasionally try to use bookmarks but I either lose them or they fall out of my book and make me cranky.

Fiction, nonfiction, or both?

Definitely Fiction! I occasionally read some non-fiction but my primary reading interests are fiction.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?

I prefer to read to the end of a chapter or at least a POV change. This gets me in trouble because I often get so involved in the book that I miss the start of a chapter and just have to keep reading.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?

I throw books occasionally but mostly I stick to snarking at the book/author in my head.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?

I usually try to figure it out based on sentence context, though if it bothers me a lot that I'm not sure I may look it up but that's pretty rare.

What are you currently reading?

Outlaw Mountain by JA Jance - one of her Joanna Brady mysteries. I've been speeding through mysteries now that I've finished the giant David Weber book!

What is the last book you bought?

Skeleton Canyon by JA Jance and To the Nines by Janet Evanovich.

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?

I mostly read one book at a time but if the one book is a large hardcover book, I often have a paperback that travels around with me in my purse.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?

I really like to read before bed, all snuggled up in my blankets.

Do you prefer series books or standalones?

Both have their charms. I often read series books because my favorite authors do tend to be prolific and write in series but I enjoy standalones just as much.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?

In general, I recommend David Weber often but lately I've also been pushing Gail Carriger and her books (Soulless and Changeless).

How do you organize your books?(by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)

The books that I've owned longer are sorted by Author's Last name. New and unread books are often in piles or random locations around the house.

Review: A Mighty Fortress by David Weber

A Mighty Fortress is the fourth book in David Weber's Safehold series. The premise for the series in definitely intriguing: after a devastating space battle with an alien race, the last vestiges of human civilization form a colony and their leaders alter memories to create devotion to a religion that glorifies those leaders, demonizes their political enemies, and holds the colony at a low technological level. Nine hundred years later, an android body containing the mind of one of the original crew "wakes up" and starts a chain of events leading to innovation and change, and a religious reform movement that leads to a split in the church and the beginnings of Holy War.

This book is lighter on physical action than its predecessors but makes up for it with a high volume of political intrigue. Once again Weber has created a multitude of sub plots each with their own various political subtleties. At first some of the side plots seem unconnected to the main action but eventually everything falls into place.

One of the things that make David Weber's books so stunning is their epic battle scenes and even though he's switched from space battles to wet navy battles the battle scenes are still exquisitely detailed and realistic. The descriptions of the production process and the science behind the naval technology can get to be too much but the actual implementation of the technology makes it worth the heavy descriptions.

One of the things that is beginning to bother me about this series is the naming of the characters. The character names are often spelled in the most complicated rendition of the phonetic spelling possible. At first it was an interesting novelty but as time passed it just became distracting because every time a new character was introduced I had to pause to figure out what the standard equivalent of the name was. It definitely lead to interruptions in the flow of reading, especially since there are so very many characters involved.

Overall, I really did enjoy A Mighty Fortress. I love the political intrigue that features so strongly and the explorations of how religion molds the way people think and how the church acts as a political machine. I do feel that with the large number of character and political plots, some of the deeper character relationships get lost in the shuffle and that is unfortunate because it makes it harder to connect with the characters in this book. This book is a solid addition to the series (though not as good as the other three books) and leaves us set-up for a more action heavy fifth book.

Reading Updates and Writing Tidbits

I'm still plugging along reading A Mighty Fortress by David Weber. I'm three-quarters of the way through and finding this book to be an excellent addition to the series and a fantastic reminder of everything I love about David Weber's writing. I'll miss the book when I'm done reading it but I'm also looking forward to doing some lighter reading.

Here's some tidbits from a couple of my new favorite authors:

In this post, Gail Carriger discusses the characters Lord Akeldama and Madam Lefoux from Soulless and Changeless and the influences that inspired her to include such delightful queer characters and why she feels that they work in her Alt-History Victorian setting.

http://gailcarriger.livejournal.com/134641.html

Here's a link to a lovely Interview with Blake Charlton that covers his struggles with dyslexia, his inspirations for Spellwright, and a little bit about his next book Spellbound.

http://www.fantasyliterature.com/author-interviews/blake-charlton/

Food Revolution

No Review today since I'm busy working my way through David Weber's A Mighty Fortress; giant, intricate and mind-blowingly detailed latest book.

However, an interesting thing came my way via the Twitterverse:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition

It's a petition to improve school food and the general health of children at school. (Given the quality and offerings of school food, it could use the help!)

The site itself contains recipes, 12 Food Values that should be easy to adopt, and a whole list of links to support the cause. All this is being organized by Jamie Oliver of the UK's The Naked Chef, a cooking show that lasted three seasons.

A Look at My Books

Here's a glimpse of my "to read" pile for you:

I will definitely admit to cleaning it up quite a bit before taking a picture since it used to be an undignified heap.

Represented here are a variety of genres:

• Science Fiction
• Fantasy
• Mystery
• Religious Fiction
• Religious Non-Fiction
• Classic Literature
• Philosophy

Currently Reading:

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

Up Next:

A Mighty Fortress by David Weber

For Dinner:

Ham and Asparagus Casserole