Customer Reviews

Out of the Black

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

Sometimes you get more than you pay for. The $2.99 Kindle edition of Lee Doty's "Out of the Black" is a bargain. "Out of the Black" is an amalgam of cop thriller, science fiction and magical fantasy. The mix is highly entertaining. The plot is taut, fast moving, and original. The prose is solidly crafted. Characters are fully realized, engaging and likable. The plot lines of the two protagonists cleverly interweave to converge in a rousing climax. The dialog is delicious; I often found myself laughing out loud. Particularly enjoyable is the cop banter between protagonist Detective Ping Bannon and coworkers. On the funny meter "Out of the Black" compares well to, for example, "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.

My only nitpick with "Out of the Black" is the omnipresence of '80's pop cultural references. For instance, Blade Runner: The Director's Cut" is a cult classic for my generation, but perhaps of limited wider appeal. Such references make "Out of the Black" less accessible to a wider audience, and may ultimately detract from the book's ability to stand the test of time.

I suspect Lee Doty is the outcome of a secret genetic experiment combining DNA from Richard K. Morgan and Dean Koontz. If so, he's an experiment gone happily awry. Doty's work combines the best of Morgan and Koontz, and exhibits a refreshing optimism and faith in humanity lacking in either. "Out of the Black" does not fit neatly into any single genre; no doubt this makes selling books tough for Mr. Doty. But for jaded readers lucky enough to find him, the result is pure delight. I can't wait for more.

This book is certainly worth the price. Doty has several parts of the writing craft perfected: the characters are nicely drawn and pull you into the story. The plotting is strong and direct. The themes are clear, but don't whack you in the face. That said, the book didn't work for me in two ways. First, the pacing is off. Doty goes from 100 MPH to zero in one sentence. Character-building flashbacks happen inside of action sequences. It's not that the characters don't get built, it's just severely jarring to change gears so fast. Second, the novel rides along on an extended reality of magical stuff that is never explained, not even in a hand-waving sort of way. I'm willing to believe that there is a "Loom" at the core of our reality that can be worked by the very skilled to give themselves extraordinary abilities, but the author needs to meet me half-way by explaining what's going on, how it works and its limitations.

Buy the book and see a new writer in proto form. I think Doty is going to be good - possibly even great - once he works out a couple of kinks. At this price, you can't hardly go wrong.

Like the guy who watches his lawn grow, I am more a fan of science fiction than fantasy and almost didn't buy this book. Unlike lawnmower man, I thought it was worth every penny - and more. The dialogue between the characters had me laughing out loud, the characters were interesting, the language was textured without being blatantly borrowed from other classic novels and the action was nonstop. Notably, the fantasy wasn't the unicorn frolicking type, but the what-if-hyperdimensional-physics-and-virtual-realities-could-explain-mystical-experiences type...more like The Matrix than Merlin the Magician. And when I say mystical, it is more along the lines of Obi Wan talking to Luke when he was dropping the torpedo down the gopher hole and not a pedestrian morality tale of how a genocidal, all loving, omniscient god wants you to love your brother. There are numerous references to pop culture which I ate up...but then not everyone is both a fan of BladeRunner and man enough to quote Vanilla Ice when the groaning gets tough.

Oh, and for those who liked the soundtrack to The Matrix: on the last page, the author writes his idea of the musicians who would do the soundtrack to a movie version of the book. I discovered Etnica and have been listening to them while I program. The Etnica Pandora channel is better then the Deep House, Drum&Bass, Juno Reactor, Crystal Method, or Psy Trance channels I've been listening to. So, I got a twofer with this book.

This is one of the oddest books I have ever read. I'm pretty sure I did't follow a good portion of this book. With that said...what a read! This author has crafted an amazing book. Without realizing it, you fall in live with his characters and can't put the book down. And talk about fast paced. The dialog bounces so fast you get dizzy. This guy is talented...I mean really, really talented. After I finished, I immediately starting looking for more. I searched and can't find another book. He needs to give us another fix...there has to be more. This book needs a sequel badly. Give us another.

I read the prologue and immediately emailed my wife and told her to buy this book! I could tell just in those few pages that this was a very gifted writer. I'm only half way through the book and I don't give a damn how it ends. It's just great writing! His powers of description, wit, and timing are phenomenal. This book is soooooo refreshing! I don't know where this guy came from but I hope he writes more.
What a sense of humor!
Read it. You'll love it!

the 1st half of the book was great. it was well written and intelligent. the characters are great with believable interations and personalities. it pulls you in and gets you hooked. the futuristic world is not unbelievable and the magic is mysterious and makes you curious for answers. then somewhere about halfway through the book the view points get confusing. more characters that you wont care about are added and the plot and writing seem to dumd down. the writing about the magic seems to get too involved and complex and is reminiscant of a junior high fantasy game. the plot and interactions between characters start to feel less authentic and more sitcomy. but overall it was a good read and much better than a lot of other sci fi books.

This book is fun and well crafted. Plotting is top notch, the characters well developed, and the scenario quite interesting. Our main protagonist, Ping Bannon, is very likable, tough and talented, but does not take himself too seriously and neither does the author. Nor can Ping, once his more than human co-stars join him in the story!

Craft also matters to me. Are the plot elements internally consistent? Are cause and effect presented in a sensible framework, even when the "science" is beyond what is known today? Do the characters have realistic and varied emotional responses that fit the character as developed and yet deepen our knowledge of and connection with them? Do we discover the characters more through their action and dialog than through the author's narrative? Doty gets most of this right.

Does Out of the Black stand at the very top of the genre, e.g., for me, with Asher's Polity, or with Richard K. Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs novels? No, hence the four stars on my scale, but it is still very good, and has, perhaps, a kinder heart than either of those two examples, an important characteristic in an often too-cold universe.

Nicely done, and fun to boot. I enjoyed this enough to say I'd be interested in other Doty material in the future.

Finally, it's an absolute steal as a Kindle download!

i enjoyed this book more than any other in the past few months. the internal and external dialogue was very clever and enjoyable, and his descriptions of emotions were interesting and accurate. his concept had just the right mix of mystery and explanation. i was invested in it the whole time. loved it.

For $2.99 I was not expecting much but wow was I wrong. This is a must have for the Kindle and any science fiction reader.

A spectacular, witty, well rounded, action packed, original, edge of your seat,funny(did I say that already?), inspiring, gritty, non derivative, roller coaster ride of a novel. This is one of those books that, if you had paid $24.00 for the hardcover or $20 for the trade paperback, you would still think you had received your money's worth. I found the kindle edition after much sifting through a sea of crap and I have to say that, as a particularly picky reader, This is one of the best first novels I have read in years. Quit messing around and BUY THIS BOOK!