The Dark Ascent [Hardcover]

Walter H. Hunt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2004

Walter Hunt's debut novel The Dark Wing was favorably compared to Ender's Game, Babylon 5, Honor Harrington, and C.S. Forester. The publication of the second volume The Dark Path was heralded by Analog as "a quest that may well prove science fiction's version of The Lord of the Rings."

The war with the zor is long over, and Admiral Marais, the legendary "Dark Wing" is long dead, though some of his companions on that campaign of xenocide still remain, and in the alien philosophies of the past their might exist man's hope for salvation in the very near future.

The Dark Path introduced a new alien force into the delicate balance of power ... one that was the actual puppetmaster of the human-zor war and now wishes to bring both worlds under its madness inducing shadow.

But the same ancient philosophy of the zor race that prophesized "the Dark Wing" has also foreseen a hero that will meet the new menace - a hero now mystically embodied in a rebellious space commodore by the name of Jackie Lappierre.

As armadas clash and outposts fall, the overly confident alien menace is forced to confront a zor human alliance that has been warned, their covert and insidious plans of infiltration now exposed. ... though victory is hardly ascertained for either side in The Dark Ascent.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With its complexities of plot and character, Hunt’s fast-paced space adventure, the third book in his Dark Wing series (after 2003’s The Dark Path), rises above the humdrum repetitions typical of this SF subgenre. In exploring the universe in the far future, humans have fought a war with the zor race, birdlike aliens whose mental communication entails an intricate religious devotion to the legends of their hero, Qu’u, and to a lost magic sword, the gyaryu. That war is now long past. Human and zor, along with the noncombatant raskh, work together to battle a race of implacable mind-controllers, the vuhl, who can also take on other shapes and infiltrate space stations and ships as well as entire cultures, bending all to their will. Jackie Lappierre, a human who’s been connected to the hsi of her dead zor friends, finds herself appointed to retrieve their sword and use its powers to confront the vuhl. Keeping track of the players—the heroes and the villains, alive and dead—is a delightful challenge. So is distinguishing the manipulated from the manipulators. The many borrowings from Zen Buddhism and Taoist philosophy, not to mention the resemblance of the zor language to the old style of transliterated Chinese, add depth and interest.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The human-zor war (see The Dark Wing, 2001) is long over, and the now-allied former foes face the shape-changing vuhl, who enjoy their share of devastating victories. Still, the zor and humans were warned and don't entirely lack resources. But something is going on that isn't quite right. The power behind the vuhl, which was also behind the human-zor conflict, has motives that are only hinted at here. Suffice it to say that the history of the zor does not match its legend. Ex-commodore Jackie Lapierre, forced into playing out a zor legend in The Dark Passage (2002), can choose among different courses this time, and the vuhl are finally thrown into confusion when roundly defeated. They react with a regime change, but the wars' mysterious backers continue playing strange games, occasionally seeming to help human forces, more often supporting the vuhl--always pursuing goals that may not coincide with those of ostensible allies. This surprisingly thoughtful space opera, lacking neither adventure nor battles, considers issues of genocide and enmity in surprising depth. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076531116X
• ISBN-13: 978-0765311160
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,707,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent science fiction fantasy thriller, August 28, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dark Ascent (Hardcover)

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

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tries hard to be a mystical Science Fiction story, August 9, 2005

By 

Henry Cate III (CA. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dark Ascent (Hardcover)

"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.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Joint Review of Dark Wing Series; Solid - 3.5, January 24, 2006

By 

R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dark Ascent (Mass Market Paperback)

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.