Jun 22, 2010

Covering Covers: Out of the Dark - David Weber


Cover Artist: Unknown

David Weber is a name that anyone who frequents the SF&F section should be familiar with. Although mostly known for his bestselling Honor Harrington novels, Weber has written in almost every subgenre imaginiable. He also writes at an incredible rate, publishing at least 2 books a year. The problem is that with so many books and so many ongoing series, its hard to find a good jumping on point.

Look no further than Out of the Dark.

Weber's latest is due out this fall (Sept 28th to be exact) and while SF, it seems to have a decidedly different take on it than his other more miltary SF work. I'll let the summary speak for itself.

Earth is conquered. The Shongairi have arrived in force, and humanity’s cities lie in radioactive ruins. In mere minutes, over half the human race has died.



Now 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 the scattered survivors without getting killed.


His chances look bleak. The aliens have definitely underestimated human tenacity—but no amount of heroism can endlessly hold off overwhelming force.


Then, emerging from the mountains and forests of Eastern Europe, new allies present themselves to the ragtag human resistance. Predators, creatures of the night, human in form but inhumanly strong. Long Enemies of humanity…until now. Because now is the time to defend Earth.
That's right. Vampires. Aliens vs. Vampires to be exact. While that tagline sounds a bit cheesy, the concept has a lot of appeal, especially in the serious SF setting it's placed in. And I'm assuming that these aren't your little sister's vampires.

But what first caught my eye was that gorgeous cover. People familiar with Weber's work will also be familiar with the...ummm....let's say "unique" style of the Baen covers. Regardless of what you thought of those, it's hard to deny that this is an eye-catching cover. It's got a definite Hollywood blockbuster feel to it and I'm looking forward to reading it.

After all, what happens when you shoot a vampire with a ray gun?

2 comments:

  1. An excerpt/teaser/short story set in this world was part of the Martin/Dozois Warriors anthology. The story was one of my favorites in the anthology, so I'll definitely be picking up this book.

    Weber's Safehold series is a lot of fun, too. The series starts with Off Amrageddon Reef

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