A Talent For War by Jack McDevitt
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Book Reviews of A Talent For War
Book Review: Interesting
Summary: 4 Stars
Good character development. Interesting technical concepts, but not overwhelming. Has a few good plot twists on the way to an exciting conclusion.Book Review: A Taste of Things to Come
Summary: 4 Stars
An early outing from an underrated author. Worth checking out as the author's two latest books uses characters from this book.Book Review: A Talent for War: a good-but-not-great talent for writing
Summary: 3 Stars
Despite the title, this story is a mystery, not a war story, with normal human being Alex Benedict trying to unravel the truth behind the legend of interstellar war hero (hence the title) Christopher Sim. Were the stories about him true, or too good to be true? With the death of his uncle, Alex inherits some clues that lead him hither and yon, meeting up with other mysterious people until the puzzle pieces slowly start to fall into place, but not without great adventure and peril. In the end the mystery is revealed.
Author Jack McDevitt does a pretty good job in writing. He describes the people and places in sufficient detail that forming a mental picture is quite easily done. However, my big beef with this book is two-fold.
First, the pacing for the big storyline is slow. Frankly, when you get the end of the book, you'll wonder whether the "revelation" was worth reading 310 pages. For that kind of length, you'll wish Mr. McDevitt could've had come up with something a little more "meaty" or unusual. (Don't worry, I won't spoil the ending for you.) The great secret was, to me, rather mundane. There were many sections of action and excitement, but they were for supporting plot points, whereas the main storyline doubled back on itself several times dragging things out.
On a side note, points to Mr. McDevitt for using a prologue and epilogue. He used this literary technique quite well setting up what at first appears to be a completely irrelevant scene, and then tying it in with the epilogue.
Second, I generally love books that don't beat you over the head with things, but instead allow you to draw conclusions from separate pieces that you fit together in your mind, resulting in a "wow, now I understand" moment. If anything, the great secret of this book was too esoteric and could've used a little more guidance from the author. Yeah, I figured it out when I was supposed to, but it seemed like there were still several pieces of the puzzle that were missing, or could've been explained better.
In this book you can tell that Mr. McDevitt has the skills to be a great science fiction writer, I just don't think he pulled it off with this particular book.
In general I give this book a "B". You could do far worse with your reading, but there are quite a few books out there that are knock-your- socks-off better. Try Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton for example.
Book Review: A Not-So-Good Mystery
Summary: 3 Stars
The back of this book outlines the story of a certain Alex finding clues that indicate that a interstellar hero, Christopher Sim, might not actually be what everyone thinks he is. Sounds great. I'd love to read about some of the socio-political ramifications of having someone running around trying to rewrite history based on new evidence. There might even be some cloak-and-dagger elements as Alex crosses whoever propped Sim up as a war hero.
Why was two-thirds of the book dedicated to Alex's search for this information that might prove that Sim was something other than an interstellar hero? I had already assumed he was. There's nothing really remarkable about those 200 pages. The last third of the book isn't much better. Alex eventually stumbles across the right person who tells him where is late-uncle was headed before he died (was murdered? -- it's never addressed) and the rest of the book recounts the "real" Christopher Sim.
I really wish there was something for me to sink my teeth into here. I spent a long time waiting for something to happen and I don't feel that much ever did. What's the point of a mediocre mystery novel if you've already given away the major plot point on the book jacket?
Book Review: Please welcome, Alex Benedict!
Summary: 3 Stars
In A Talent For War, author Jack McDevitt introduces antiquities dealer Alex Benedict. Alex loses a favorite relative, but inherits a mystery, a mystery that affects none other than Christopher Sims, the hero of humanity.
McDevitt continues the Alex Benedict series in Polaris (2004) and Seeker (2005). I enjoyed both Polaris and Seeker more than A Talent For War, probably because McDevitt didn't put so much attention into developing (I'd say, overdeveloping) the Benedict character. In fact, I read all of these backwards: Seeker, Polaris, and now A Talent For War. Perhaps that taints my perceptions. On a positive note, Seeker was exciting enough that I sought out the other two books, and I understand a fourth novel (The Devil's Eye) is now out. The first three are stand-alone novels, and I assume the fourth will be as well.
If you were new to this series, I'd recommend you start with this one or with Polaris, and if Polaris shows up in your library first... make it so, number one!