A Talent For War
by Jack McDevitt
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Book Reviews of A Talent For War
Book Review: A timely tale
Summary: 4 Stars
In this combination space opera/mystery novel Jack McDevitt has created a tale that is both timeless and yet incredibly relevant to today's society. The basic premise and concept of this novel centers around Christopher Sim, an interstellar hero of the past who, according to legend, changed history forever with his suicidal stand against the alien Ashiyur. At least ACCORDING to legend.
However Alex Benedict discovers, almost by accident, that the truth about history is usually told by the victors (in this case, Human Space). The REAL truth usually is somewhat different. Alex becomes involved in trying to find out the truth when his uncle, Gabe Benedict, perishes under somewhat mysterious circumstances while in the pursuit of some recently uncovered information about Christopher Sim and the Human/Ashiyur War.
McDevitt's slow and deliberate revelations about the truth behind the Human/Ashiyur war move the novel along and as the pieces of the puzzle slowly come together Alex realizes the magnitude of the deception involved. As with most mystery tales getting there is half the fun of reading this novel.
The relevance of this tale comes with McDevitt's assertion of how a democratic society's main purpose is to prepare and focus for war and that a democratic society will go to almost any length (and deception) to mobilize its war machine. (Gee-kinda sounds like the Iraq conflict maybe?)
McDevitt's portrayal of the war heroes and human nature in general are what make this novel truly work and worth reading.
Book Review: Thought Provoking and Suddenly Timely
Summary: 4 Stars
One thing about Jack McDevitt is you know you are always going to get a solid sci-fi story. This is one of his earlier works, and therefore like most authors shorter and more concise.
The backdrop of the story focuses on Christopher Sim, the hero of the last great war of the books generation. Through the story, the book asks a central question of any society, what do we really know about our heroes? What is the official story, what is the true history, and are we better off for knowing the truth, or should we let myths stand?
The story itself, the unfolding and search for the truth of how Sim really defeated humanity's enemy and Sim's weariness of war are the strongest points of the book. The two main characters, Alex and Chase, who do the historical digging are interesting, but sometimes a little annoying to read the adventures of someone like Alex who has so much free time and money on his hands. However, those two characters are also a good counterpoint to the freedom that was won, their freedom to live in such a good life.
Whether McDevitt meant to make that analogy is an unknown, but there certainly is the same feeling of a new generation that lives a life of luxury off the forgotten horrors of an earlier war. And should history be spared the truth, because of it? Although some have made the correlation to how information is dispensed now in the Iraq War, I prefer the WWII and the relative peace of the 90's. However, I wouldn't argue the Iraq point.
Book Review: McDevitt's best book, written 17+ years ago.
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this when it was reprinted a few years ago, presumably due to the planned publishing of the sequel, Polaris. At the time I noted the 1989 copyright, but didn't think much of it. Having recently re-read it as well as having read all of McDevitt's other published works, I do think this is his best book overall.
This is essentially detective science fiction, following 2 characters as they initially try to unravel a mystery left by a dead uncle, then find themselves embroiled in increasingly dangerous events dealing with a major historic military figure and the strong indications that known items of his and his followers' stories are in serious conflict with each other and/or the truth. Eventually this becomes a major discovery of previously undisclosed information with major political ramifications among other things, and Alec Benedict becomes the target of more than one adversarial party with motives to disrupt his investigation.
McDevitt used a couple of plot devices from this book almost verbatim in Polaris - aircar sabotage and a break-in to his house to find a specific item pertinent to the plot, but that counts against the sequel, not this story. I do think this is the best of the Benedict/Chase stories as well.
It is a great story, the protagonists are far from perfect, the clues didn't hook up for me easily the first time (major plot revelations were indeed surprises), and I wish the author still wrote books like this.
Book Review: Great archaeological/historical mystery in hard sci-fi setting
Summary: 5 Stars
The uncle of a dealer of antiquities, Alex Benedict, dies and leaves him his fortune. The uncle was a prominent, if controversial, amateur archaeologist and was working on a project that could have Galactic repercussions. Benedict slowly becomes entangled in his uncle's work after he travels to his uncle's planet to resolve his affairs. Benedict first trys to figure out what his uncle was working on, and subsequently trys to finish the project. This is a hard sci-fi mystery in which the protagonist ultimately attempts to resolve a 200 year old enigma. McDevitt created an intricate, detailed, and believable history surrounding his characters. In fact, the history is so complex that it is sometimes hard to keep track of who did what. One thing that I really liked about this story was that the main character, Alex Benedict, was not some super brilliant, almost superhuman, scientist/soldier/poet/chef/entrepreneur. He has some human imperfections, and associates with many less than perfect people. In fact, he sells archaeological artifacts to private collectors. Almost certainly unethical, if not illegal, in our modern world. This story reminded me of Larry Niven's `Flatlander' stories about Gil `The Arm' Hamilton, although it is superior in my opinion. In spite of the title and cover art, this is definitely not in the `military sci-fi' genre, it is an archaeological mystery in a sci-fi setting. Intelligent, well-written sci-fi, highly recommended.Book Review: Smart and engaging science fiction.
Summary: 4 Stars
I only recently started reading McDevitt, beginning with The Engines of God. I liked that book enough to go looking for another. Most of the reviews that I read suggested that A Talent for War was his best book, so that is what I bought.
I cannot speak as to whether it is his best book or not, but it is a pretty darned good book. In The Engines of God I had some issues with the plotting (ending) and the characters. I had neither of those concerns with A Talent for War. Essentially a detective story, Alex Benedict looks into a long-dead mystery only to discover that the past is closer than it appears. McDevitt uses this device to explore the nature of peace, truth, history and war. Worthy subjects, and ideally suited for this blend of science fiction and detective fiction.
I have used the word "engaging" to describe both of the McDevitt books. I often use that word when I found something entertaining, but not particularly moving. And it is true that neither is likely to enter my various top 10 lists anytime soon. Still, I will be adding another McDevitt to my wish list once I stop writing this review.
Any suggestions?