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Darkness #6
Out of the Darkness
Harry Turtledove's rousing saga of a fantastic world at war, which began in Into the Darkness and continued through Darkness Descending, Through the Darkness, Rulers of the Darkness, and Jaws of Darkness, draws to its climactic conclusion in Out of the Darkness.As the Derlavaian War rages into its last and greatest battles, allied nations maneuver for positions against each other in a postwar world. But before that time can come, the forces of Algarve, Unkerlant, and their allies must clash a final time, countering army with army and battle magic with ever-more-powerful battle magic. In the midst of it all, the people the war has battered and reshaped must struggle to face their greatest individual challenges, as loves are shattered and found, terrible crimes avenged . . . and some journeys end forever.And the end of the war may not bring peace...At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
528 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
502 people want to read
About the author
Harry Turtledove
566 books1,977 followersDr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.
Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.
Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.
Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.
Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 20, 2022
I have never read a harry turtledove book before and was quickly absorbed into his plethora of complex characters which he has no qualms of doing a way with. Another first for me was the genre - alternative history - and again i enjoy the parallels and parodies turtledove plays with this fantasy version of WWII. I find myself flipping more and more to the map at the front of the book as the series progresses. Overall I would highly recommend this series to anyone. I would not label this book as a continual cliff hanger novel but Turtledove sure does know how to grab you a pull you through a hundred pages before you realise that anytime at all has passed, just based off of the readers connections with his well developed (believable) characters.
July 14, 2016
Out of the Darkness is a worthy final of an epic series of alternative history novels. Is it worth five stars, compared to the other episodes? Maybe not, but I would like to give some extra appreciation for the entire series, which I enjoyed tremendously.
The Derlavaian War is coming to an end and people are trying to find their way in the new world, with the threat of a “cold war” looming over their heads. Most of the characters I have come to know over the duration of the previous novels are still alive. For some it is easier to start anew, others must deal with the consequences of their actions. I still enjoyed the diversity of the many characters, which to me has been the strong point of the series all along.
The Derlavaian War is coming to an end and people are trying to find their way in the new world, with the threat of a “cold war” looming over their heads. Most of the characters I have come to know over the duration of the previous novels are still alive. For some it is easier to start anew, others must deal with the consequences of their actions. I still enjoyed the diversity of the many characters, which to me has been the strong point of the series all along.
June 1, 2022
Harry Turtledove has taken the Second World War and masterfully translated it into a fantasy world of dragons and behemoths; of ley lines and magic; of sticks and eggs which release sorcerous energy….
In the sixth and final book of the Darkness series, we’re at the point where we know it’s going to end. The question is how the sixteen different viewpoint characters we’ve been following throughout the series will fare. Several of the characters come together as the Kuusaman mage Pekka must use all of her connections and influence to help save Talsu, a young tailor wrongly accused of collaboration in the nation of Jelgava.
Turtledove keeps up the action with some magnificent battles as the Algarvians (his equivalence to the Germans) fight for their existence. If defeated, they know the price their enemies will exact on them will be high for their slaughtering of people of the Kaunian race in order to unleash a terrible and destructive magic.
To read my full review, please visit: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...
In the sixth and final book of the Darkness series, we’re at the point where we know it’s going to end. The question is how the sixteen different viewpoint characters we’ve been following throughout the series will fare. Several of the characters come together as the Kuusaman mage Pekka must use all of her connections and influence to help save Talsu, a young tailor wrongly accused of collaboration in the nation of Jelgava.
Turtledove keeps up the action with some magnificent battles as the Algarvians (his equivalence to the Germans) fight for their existence. If defeated, they know the price their enemies will exact on them will be high for their slaughtering of people of the Kaunian race in order to unleash a terrible and destructive magic.
To read my full review, please visit: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...
January 14, 2019
I will start off this review with one warning, reading these books out of order is not recommended. It wasn't until half way or a little more through the book I was able to get a slight grasp on to who was fighting who and why they were. Part of this I believe is the sheer amount of characters that I had to keep track of.
In total there were 11 different viewpoints that you have to follow.
11 different people in various countries and on different sides of the war is an immense challenge for readers to follow. This made me curious if reading the books in order will help with trying to follow what is going on. Help follow along with everything actually.
It's a shame that it turned out this way as the setting and world building seemed interesting, engaging and I wanted to get close to the characters and understand what their motives were and why the felt they way that they did, but it was so hard.
When I manage to track down the other books I might come back and update this if my opinion or thoughts change.
In total there were 11 different viewpoints that you have to follow.
11 different people in various countries and on different sides of the war is an immense challenge for readers to follow. This made me curious if reading the books in order will help with trying to follow what is going on. Help follow along with everything actually.
It's a shame that it turned out this way as the setting and world building seemed interesting, engaging and I wanted to get close to the characters and understand what their motives were and why the felt they way that they did, but it was so hard.
When I manage to track down the other books I might come back and update this if my opinion or thoughts change.
May 21, 2017
I've enjoyed this series, despite it being rather wordy in places. Throughout the 6 books there have been frequent chapters which didn't move the story forwards, but served to keep us in touch with the characters, an unfortunate necessity when there are so many. In the final chapter of this epic war story there seems little pace and action. In fact, half way through there seems like a great place to end, but there's another 300 pages to ensure enerything is wrapped up. Gripes aside, it is good to get closure from a series which has for the most part been engaging and a grim reflection on human behaviour. Readers of the series will be glad to learn of the circumstances in which the characters find themselves in as war finally ends. There are no loose ends and the series is well wrapped up. Definitely read it if you've got his far, but don't expect the best book in the series, just the most conclusive.
September 17, 2023
3.5 rounded up. I refuse to say the world needed a fantasy retelling of WWII but, I did enjoy reading it. Seeing the wrap up on an ensamble cast the books have mostly been following for six books was a lot of fun and it's a criminal crime Ilmarinen was only a POV character in this book with how much fun he is.
December 29, 2016
This book makes a complete-feeling conclusion to the World At War saga. No loose ends, and very little story left to tell, Turtledove succeeds in closing this very long and complex series in a way that satisfies the reader. In order to do that however, this book was by necessity one of the longest of the series, and nearly the entire thing read like a conclusion. Throughout, you get the sense that Turtledove was trying to wrap things up as neatly and as efficiently (which Swemmel would have appreciated) as possible. No new plot elements were developed, nothing too unexpected happened, and the end of the series was accomplished without any hitches. In fact, this entire book was very predictable, with just about everything happening almost exactly like you'd expect it would, which is only exacerbated by this being a mirror-history to our own. Actually, in an effort to close out this series in a reasonable amount of space, Turtledove killed off a couple of characters that we had been following since the beginning right at the start of this book, all in all an effective strategy.
If you've enjoyed the rest of this series, this book should please you also. The general tone is similar and events sort of plod along their predetermined paths towards the predictable conclusion. Turtledove's writing in this book contains two noticeable differences from the rest of the series, one positive, one negative. On the positive side, the descriptions and character dialogue seem less repetitive here, something that all of the other books suffered greatly from. He finally stops (almost) pounding it into your head that Algarvians wear kilts and Forthwegians like mushrooms. Negatively, Turtledove seems to have become completely obsessed with sex while writing this one, even more so than in the previous books, and the constant references to it and descriptions of it here become distracting. One thing that having so many POV characters caused however, was that Turtledove had to spend a very large part of the book wrapping things up and telling the 'happily-ever-after' for each character. In effect, there was a separate conclusion for each character, and it seemed like the book could have closed just fine after any of the last 20 or so sections.
I would hesitate to recommend this series to anyone, especially considering how long it turned out to be. The main feeling I got from this one was "I'm Finally Done!!!", after finishing it. Nothing too memorable or inspirational here, overall a 3.8-star series. ((Into the Darkness 4-stars, Darkness Descending 5-stars, Through the Darkness 4-stars, Rulers of the Darkness 3-stars, Jaws of Darkness 4-stars, Out of the Darkness 3-stars)).
If you've enjoyed the rest of this series, this book should please you also. The general tone is similar and events sort of plod along their predetermined paths towards the predictable conclusion. Turtledove's writing in this book contains two noticeable differences from the rest of the series, one positive, one negative. On the positive side, the descriptions and character dialogue seem less repetitive here, something that all of the other books suffered greatly from. He finally stops (almost) pounding it into your head that Algarvians wear kilts and Forthwegians like mushrooms. Negatively, Turtledove seems to have become completely obsessed with sex while writing this one, even more so than in the previous books, and the constant references to it and descriptions of it here become distracting. One thing that having so many POV characters caused however, was that Turtledove had to spend a very large part of the book wrapping things up and telling the 'happily-ever-after' for each character. In effect, there was a separate conclusion for each character, and it seemed like the book could have closed just fine after any of the last 20 or so sections.
I would hesitate to recommend this series to anyone, especially considering how long it turned out to be. The main feeling I got from this one was "I'm Finally Done!!!", after finishing it. Nothing too memorable or inspirational here, overall a 3.8-star series. ((Into the Darkness 4-stars, Darkness Descending 5-stars, Through the Darkness 4-stars, Rulers of the Darkness 3-stars, Jaws of Darkness 4-stars, Out of the Darkness 3-stars)).
September 20, 2020
Good god.
For the better part of a year now, I dove back into the long-ago-started but too-soon-aborted Darkness series about the Derlavaian War. I’m ever so glad I did.
Turtledove’s a good writer, with wit enough to make me save countless funny or apropos lines for future use—a good writer, though, with a dangerously-close-to-crippling vice of repetition throughout his work; the same phrases, the same ideas, are constantly used to reinforce characters’ chapters, even for characters that’ve been around as viewpoints since the start of the series. Get a more thorough editor, man.
But, wow! In this book, everything managed to be more or less satisfactorily wrapped up in the chaotically neat, gradually-then-all-at-once way I imagine globe-spanning conflicts end. The bastardly characters got more or less what they deserved, and the better ones their due too.
I’ll miss the characters, I really will—Fernao and Pekka, Hajjaj, Rathar, Ealstan and Vanai, and even the corpulent constable Bembo all struck a chord with me.
So, while tired and weary from the six books’ worth of slog closely mirroring the six years’ worth of suffering Derlavai endured, I am—unlike the poor Derlavaians—very glad of the experience.
For the better part of a year now, I dove back into the long-ago-started but too-soon-aborted Darkness series about the Derlavaian War. I’m ever so glad I did.
Turtledove’s a good writer, with wit enough to make me save countless funny or apropos lines for future use—a good writer, though, with a dangerously-close-to-crippling vice of repetition throughout his work; the same phrases, the same ideas, are constantly used to reinforce characters’ chapters, even for characters that’ve been around as viewpoints since the start of the series. Get a more thorough editor, man.
But, wow! In this book, everything managed to be more or less satisfactorily wrapped up in the chaotically neat, gradually-then-all-at-once way I imagine globe-spanning conflicts end. The bastardly characters got more or less what they deserved, and the better ones their due too.
I’ll miss the characters, I really will—Fernao and Pekka, Hajjaj, Rathar, Ealstan and Vanai, and even the corpulent constable Bembo all struck a chord with me.
So, while tired and weary from the six books’ worth of slog closely mirroring the six years’ worth of suffering Derlavai endured, I am—unlike the poor Derlavaians—very glad of the experience.
November 14, 2009
"1945" and the end of the war and the start of the cold war; Trapani and Algarve in ruins (Berlin and Germany), meeting on the river ... (Elbe) and the division of Algarve with two kings here..
no sugar coating as characters adapt or not, some die, some new children are born..
devastating magic ends the war against Gyongos (aka nuclear bombs ends the war against Japan)
war crimes tribunals, corrupt official returning to power, spying continues
All main characters stories stop at good points (of course as before not all survive...)
A pregnancy, an execution and a wedding end the series
Overall just a great series
no sugar coating as characters adapt or not, some die, some new children are born..
devastating magic ends the war against Gyongos (aka nuclear bombs ends the war against Japan)
war crimes tribunals, corrupt official returning to power, spying continues
All main characters stories stop at good points (of course as before not all survive...)
A pregnancy, an execution and a wedding end the series
Overall just a great series
August 4, 2010
The end of war is almost always anti-climatic, and this end was as well. It could possibly be a setup for a cold-war-era thing, but I hope this ends the series. It’s a good end, even if I wasn’t overwhelmed by it. Too many decent people make it trough, and not enough bastards survive and prosper to be truly realistic. Oh well, it was a fun ride – I enjoyed it immensely.
December 4, 2013
I love Turtledove's long series because he takes the time to develop good characters. You want to see them survive and miss them when they die. You can see elements of WWII in this series and the parallel is quite interesting. I enjoyed this series.
February 28, 2009
By the time you reach book six of an fantasy version of World War Two and the Holocaust you just want the series to end.
May 11, 2009
Boy travels to "future" of cavemen. Falls in love and starts to make a life there, then ripped back to the future. Never tells boys thoughts, which I thought was annoying.
May 12, 2013
Sesto ed ultimo volume della Guerra dei Regni. Da leggere come gli altri.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews