A Talent for War (Alex Benedict Series #1) Book

I have a very strange literary relationship with Jack McDevitt. While I love his novels, I don't regularly recommend them to friends, since I'm never too sure whether they will like them. And yet, his work is mostly highly rated.

His Science Fiction novels are so rooted in extrapolated reality you hardly have to suspend disbelief, even though they take place thousands of years in the future. I suppose I could make an argument that he is a "story teller", as opposed to simply being an "author". While there are certainly some grand ideas in his books, the Science Fiction elements are almost coincidental, because of the established feel of the future history he envisions. He also doesn't feel the need to hurry a good story, or stuff it full of redundant sub-plots.

So, A Talent For War. This is the first Alex Benedict novel, and it is one of the books readers more readily remember McDevitt for (it made a bit of a splash). However, while I liked it a lot (hence the 4-star rating) I feel that some of the later books in the series are actually stronger. The main concern that readers might have with this novel is the pacing, and yet there is no other way to tell this story. It's a good story too. A mystery, if you will, surrounding the events of a war with an Alien race and particularly how it was ended. A prominent figure in the war was a man named Christopher Sim, who is now remembered as a bit of a hero figure. However, when antiquities dealer / archaeologist Alex Benedict "inherits" a mysterious message on his uncle's passing, regarding a project the latter was involved with, he starts down a path of investigation and discovery that could change everything the human race believes. There are (obviously) forces at work that don't want Benedict to uncover the truth, and thus the stage is set for intrigue, suspense and wonder.

Now, as I have already hinted at, this isn't a fast read. If you expect a lot of big explosions, you're going to be disappointed. While this deals with a history of warfare, and there are some depictions of military engagements, it isn't a Military Science Fiction novel. A Talent For War reads more like a detective, or mystery, novel, albeit one that takes place on an interstellar canvas. What makes the story work is the build up of tension, the attention to detail, and the final reveal. I also appreciated the way that McDevitt presents the alien "Mutes"; they are an enigmatic part of the equation throughout, which adds a nice dimension to the mystery. We don't learn more than is ultimately necessary for this particular story. The world building is extraordinary, not in the spectacular sense, but in how comfortable everything feels, despite being spread out over a notable portion of the Orion arm of the galaxy. Of all the futures envisioned by all the authors, this one somehow feels very real.

In the end, it unfolds as a clever and rewarding story that, ultimately, convinced me to follow the rest of the series. That in itself says enough.

P.s. - I don't particularly like that cover much, though…