This was… a bizarre book. I’ve read plenty of David Weber’s writing before and the premise of the book seemed pretty close to Harry Turtledove’s Worldwar series, so I thought I might enjoy it.

Te premise of the book is that Earth has been invaded by a species that is clearly superior in the grand scheme of things but comparable to human technology other than space travel, giving humanity somewhat of a fighting chance.

I was troubled by a couple things at first—the brutality with which the alien conquerers destroy large swaths of the human population, the fetishization of gun ownership and military power, and the difficult question of whether armed resistance to an invading extraterrestrial force would be justified—but I still hoped the book had some promise.

A bizarre twist ending involving vampires ruined the book for me, though. It felt out of nowhere and like the author didn’t want to engage with the main story.

• David Weber
• Out of the Dark
• gun violence
• Harry Turtledove
• Worldwar
• non-violence