Dark Theory

By: Wick Welker

Narrated by: Elizabeth Phillips

A robot yearns to remember. A thief struggles to forget. A galaxy on the verge of collapse.

On the fringe of a broken civilization, a robot awakens with no memories and only one directive: find his creator. But in the village of Korthe, Beetro finds only radioactive pestilence, famine, and Miree—a tormented thief with dreams of retiring after her final score.

Meanwhile, the fiefdom is plunged further into chaos when a new warlord seizes control, recasting serfs as refugees and leaving derelict robot peasants in his wake. With a shared interest in survival, Beetro and Miree team up to pull off an impossible castle heist: steal a single flake of dark matter, the world’s most valuable and mysterious ore.

But as they trek through the feudal wasteland in search of answers, they realize the true extent of the chaos surrounding them. The stars are disappearing from the sky, and the entire galaxy is unraveling. As he uncovers his origin, Beetro discovers he may be the key to the salvation of the cosmos—or its destruction. Time, space, and loyalty become relative as he learns the real reason he was created.

A mind-bending science fiction epic with the bones of a fantasy traveling quest, Dark Theory unfolds through a journey of betrayal, identity, and unlikely friendships in a world of darkness set at the edge of space and time

©2022 Wick Welker (P)2023 Wick Welker

Outstanding SciFi with many twists & turns

I really enjoyed this romp through a dystopian earths future. Hard science intermixed with personal pathos and power politics. Very well written and an excellent narration too!

Hard scifi + fantasy

This book is everything i love in scifi and then throws in fantasy elements. It discusses physics topics but also features characters with powers. Entertaining and unique. The all in one novel.

Rich, detailed world

Pros: Rich, detailed, fully realized world. Beautifully interwoven plots. Excellent characterization. Good voice actor in the audio version. Quite a bit of action and suspense.

cons: Scenes of strong violence and torture. Sometimes it meanders. Got a little long.

Frustrating, really tried to enjoy

Not a positive review, sorry. Couldn’t finish, got within striking distance to the end but I just couldn’t cope with any more outpourings of heart felt introspection. The conversations between the protagonists completely destroyed any hope to stay immersed in this interesting setting… cool ideas seem constantly and bewilderingly beset with overly simplistic emotional exposition (from the characters themselves) as they seem to take on the role of autobiographical narrators in some painful teen drama. Sadly quite predictable too, and the characters keep on running into each other — all too conveniently — making the world seem about the scale of a gated community. I tried to finish listening at 1.7 x but couldn’t stomach it. I am not super particular, but this was just too flawed, and despite some truly interesting concepts — there is not a chance of me picking up the sequel.

Entertaining Sci-Fantasy

The cover of this book is what piqued my interest. This is a science fantasy book, appealing to fanatsy readers with tropes such as heist, journey, unlikely crew of companions relying on each other, with rich worldbuilding. It is a long book but well paced, the reveals and twists were strategically placed and kept me engaged.
The strong suit of the novel is the characters, I didn't absolutely love every one of them, but I think they have great dynamic between them and are very distinct from one another.

I have only minor complaints, a few situations that were a bit too convenient and the repetitive explanations surrounding the main plot of the novel.

I really enjoyed the concept this book explored and would like to read the sequel once it comes out.