The Dark Ascent

by Walter H. Hunt

Book Overview

In the future, man will take to the stars and in doing so place his existence in jeopardy-for not all of space's inhabitants will welcome us with open arms. The war with the zor is long over, and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 076531116X
• ISBN13: 9780765311160
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Joint Review of Dark Wing Series; Solid - 3.5

These 4 books - The Dark Wing, The Dark Path, The Dark Ascent, and The Dark Crusade - exhibit many of the standard space opera devices. There are the winged and in many ways admirable aliens, the remorseless insectoid alien adversaries, the hidden powers attempting to manipulate human fates, and the sprawling and somewhat corrupt space empire. There is also more than a touch of mysticism with events mirroring myths of the winged alien species. Nor can it be said that Hunt has done anything particularly novel with these devices. Nonetheless, Hunt is a more than competent practictioner and these books are a decent read. Hunt does quite well with reasonably tight plotting and characterization. His integration of the mythic elements is better than average. These books are better, for example, than David Weber's very popular books.

Tries hard to be a mystical Science Fiction story

"The Dark Ascent" is the third book in a series. In the future mankind has expanded out to the stars, they have colonized many planets, and they meet the zor. The zor is an alien race with wings. They have a long history of developing powers of the mind. Those with strong mental powers are called sensitives. The first book, "The Dark Wing," told the story of how a war between humans and zor ended. We had hints that another alien race was trying to get the humans to destroy the zor. Our heroes are able to work out a peace. The second book, "The Dark Path," sets the stage for the next struggle with a new alien race. In the second book we meet Jackie Kearny who is put on a quest for a special zor sword, the gyaryu. In some ways these books feel like "The Fellowship of the Ring." There is a quest for a special item which provides great power. There is a struggle between good and evil, and the struggle occurs on several levels. There are many, many characters, and lots happens. In "The Dark Ascent" Jackie gets the special sword. The new alien race, the vuhl, is able to take over both human and zor minds. In the first part of the book the vuhl takes several key systems from the human empire. Jackie, and others, work to find ways to protect themselves from the vuhl. There was heavy emphasis on mystical events. The story often bounces between what is happening in the "real world" and what is happening in a spirit world, and what happened in myth. Often the main characters were portrayed as having little control over their lives, and they were often manipulated. I like my science fiction to be more about the heroes making good choices in hard situations, rather than being tricked because the "zor's god" wanted certain things to happen. Walter Hunt is still a relatively new Science Fiction writer. He has only written the three books. He writes well. The book moves along well. All in all it is a pleasant story. If another book is written in this series I'll probably read it. If you like mystical science fiction, gives this book a try.

excellent science fiction fantasy thriller

The insectoid vuhls have changed the dynamics of the galaxy forcing former enemies, humans and the aviary-like zor, to need one another to survive the hypnotic illusion assaults of this new antagonist. Neither human nor zor is pleased with this new arrangement, but both know the vuhls are very determined and powerful adversaries, who are precise killing machine. However, on Mother Earth, most people see conspiracy behind this latest war and the abrupt switching from deadly opponent to needed ally as just another sham to gain extra funding, support is weak and lessoning. Meanwhile former Commodore Jackie Laperriere is expected to fulfill a zor prophecy by taking possession of the ancient sacred sword possessed by legendary zor warriors and upon climbing Perilous Stair will become an Ou'u avatar; this will enable her to communicate with the heroic souls that make up the sword. Allegedly deceased Captain Thomas Stone lives and warns Jackie that puppeteers are manipulating the three species into constant warfare, but she wonders what she can do to stop this and who is this Machiavellian race? This latest "Dark" tale runs on two story lines with the confrontations between species very exciting military science fiction and Jackie's ascension as a fantasy quest. The story line moves along both dark paths at a fast pace, but the switching between the two slows down both subplots as readers need to adjust from macro war to micro quest and visa versa. The cast remains powerful regardless of species although at times it is difficult to peruse the "vernacular, but that also adds to the feel of a cross science fiction fantasy thriller that will please Walter H. Hunt's fans. Harriet Klausner