Dark of the Woods by Dean Koontz

In a universe ruled mostly by humans, man rules supreme. This guiding principle honors the sacrifices of the Alliance of mankind. Subjugated alien peoples ranked lower than humans and therefore treating them as equals, much more friends, is taboo. Among those conquered are the Demosians, winged creatures whose population is reduced to a few females.

Writer Stauffer Davis meets one of them when he goes to Demos to do research. In the course of his dealings with a Demosian named Leah he began to question the system imposed by the Alliance in his relations with non-human creatures. According to the Alliance, each man as part of the system has to keep in mind its laws, the taboos, and the will of the council. Man was only a part of it and to question it is to challenge the very foundations on which it was built.

Predictably Davis and Leah became more than just acquaintances and soon the Alliance was on their trail. The characters were trapped in an impossible situation where the only escape possible was a grandiose solution. Admittedly I was disappointed with the ending, but the way Koontz handled the characters up to that point was excellent. He was also able to come up with a formidable antagonist in the form of one of the Alliance agents. Too formidable in fact that Davis and Leah had to come up with an even more fantastical solution. The book has plenty of good points and Koontz fans will still enjoy this. I enjoyed reading David's musings in particular because it's similar to his current novels.

Rating: 6 out of 10