Going Dark by Linda Nagata
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Like the title suggests, but it doesn't quite spell out, it's a novel of going dark and silent as well as a right-hand turn going straight into the darkness.

I mean, we already knew that Shelly was going to leave the side of the angels and go deep into black-ops for the sake of a "god" that he can't trust, but at least he's able to rely on his idealism to salve his conscience. Right?

Right. And so we have black-ops military events that continually get fucked-up beyond belief and and it's now time to fully start questioning why he should allow himself to be controlled by others, be it the Red or anyone else. It's good to question, to get a little skeptical, and it keeps the story plodding away between action and misgivings.

As a straight techno-thriller, it's pretty decent, but there's one thing that disturbs me. The ending of this book, much like the rest of the books in the trilogy, has a vaguely unsatisfying ending. Maybe it's the ambiguity. I'm never quite sure who are the good guys in the novel, although I have the feeling that I *should* be rooting for Shelly. After all, he's still King David going in against an enemy of giant reputation.

Still, the book has a lot of open questions and it looks like we're going to have to pick things up in new instalments. We kind of have to at this point. Things may not be up in the air so much for Shelly, anymore, since he's been locked-down, but it looks like there are too many players on the board for anyone to be sleeping soundly, anymore, despite the respite.

This is a pretty fun series, and should be a must-read for you folks who love military SF only slightly futuristic from where we are now. AIs and cybernetic implants, hooya!

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