Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Story...Interesting Backdrop, May 31, 2005
A Talent for War presents an enjoyable trek through a future history...a history with it's own figure-heads and heroes, and shows us how those people actually were. McDevitt gives us the science fiction equivalent of taking us back to the American Revolution and putting us into the heads of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. McDevitt exquisitely executes this future history through the backdrop of the protagonist, Alex Benedict, and his search for the truth about what happened to the longterm exploratory ship Tenandrome. What did the crew find that they thought they had to erase all public records of the journey, and essentially swear themselves to silence about that journey.
McDevitt's only flaw in this book is that he seems to get sidetracked a bit with minutae...who said what at this meeting or that, who did what, where...etc. Some of this was clearly needed...but he goes overboard just a bit. This detracts from the story only a little though. Mostly, I just desperately wanted to find out the answers to the mysteries McDevitt poses. A Talent for War is a really good read, McDevitt's character analyses are dead-on and consequently he does a wonderful job of making you feel what the characters feel. As long as you enjoy good storytelling this book is highly recommended to anyone, period.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic to read and reread., October 8, 2003
My personal experience of this novel has been similar to that expressed in 'Hrinwar's review. I can across it in a remainders bin in '94, one of my most fortunate finds ever. Since then I have read it pretty much every year, sometimes more. This is not from lack of other material to spend my time on but the levels that unravel as the story progresses, the sheer thrill of watching the clues come together, the intrigue built up around the historic mysteries, never fail to hold me entranced. I love this book and only wish others by the same author, or anyone else for that matter, could ignite my interest in the same way. However it would be an irrelevance to make comparisons with other works - put simply it is one of my most deeply held personal favourites and has stood the test of nine years repeated reading. A supreme example of a deeply satisfying reading experience.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Man of War, September 7, 2006
A Talent For War (1989) is the first SF novel in the Alex/Chase series. It has been two hundred years since the war between the Confederacy and the Ashiyyur and hostilities have begun once more. At home, the Capella failed to appear at Saraglia Station and is presumed lost without any survivors; while other liners have been lost in the past, the Capella is one of the largest and best equipped ships in the merchant fleet.
In this novel, Alex Benedict hears about the official loss while haggling over a collection of four thousand year old ceramic pots. About ten days afterward, Alex learns that Gabe Benedict, his uncle and foster father, was lost with the Capella. Alex receives two sponders from the law firm of Brimbury & Conn; playing the devices, he learns that Gabe had been investigating an incident that caused the Survey ship Tenandrome to return early from a voyage into the Veiled Lady nebula. Gabe had apparently talked with Hugh Scott from the Tenandrome. He also mentions Leisha Tanner and Ludik Talino.
Returning to Rimway, Alex contacts Brimbury & Conn to let them know that he is back in Andiquar, then takes a skimmer to Gabe's house, where Jacob -- a sophisticated data response network -- admits him. After a while, Jacob informs Alex that he doesn't directly remember their interactions since a breakin had resulted in the erasure of all his memories. Later Jacob provides Alex with information off the network on Leisha Tanner, who had served as intelligence chief for Christopher Sims during the Confederacy/Ashiyyur War.
Checking with Survey, Alex finds that the Tenandrome had a quick turnaround back to the field and that there is still an unusual amount of secrecy about the voyage within the organization. Survey refuses to provide any information on the crew, including Hugh Scott. During further attempts to locate Scott, Alex finds that he has vanished.
Alex meets Chase Kolpath when she approaches him with a bill for services rendered to his uncle. Gabe had hired her to accompany him into the Veiled Lady from Saraglia. This is rather unusual since Gabe himself is a licensed starship pilot. Alex later finds that Gabe was traveling with John Khyber, a security consultant and a member of the Talino Society. When Alex investigates the Society, he discovers that it is a group of Confederacy/Ashiyyur War fans who profess to believe that Talino did not betray Christopher Sims.
In this story, the many connections to the Confederacy/Ashiyyur War lead Alex to study it in earnest. He has Jacob compile information on various aspects of the war. He talks to avatars and observes battle simulations. He travels to various sites associated with Christopher or Tarien Sims or where the Sims fought the Ashiyyur. He even contacts the Maracaibo Caucus, an association of retired senior officers from both Human and Ashiyyur services.
Alex learns that, while other Human worlds had dithered and debated, Dellaconda had fought the Ashiyyur virtually alone for an extended period. Volunteers from other worlds fought alongside the Dellacondans and some worlds provided urgently need ships, but Dellaconda was always faced with overwhelming odds. Only Christopher Sims's talent for war and Tarien Sims's talent for oratory had kept all Human Space from being overrun, yet the Dellacondans had slowly lost ground. The Ashiyyur had been taking system after system. But even after Dellaconda fell to the enemy, the Sims managed to resist long enough for Human Space to join together in the Compact.
This story is a jigsaw puzzle, with the pieces hidden among the trivial facts of ordinary life. Alex gathers the significant pieces one by one, in jumbled order, and then puts them together to reconstruct Gabe's information and motivation. Alex and Chase then go to claim the prize, but also find an unpleasant surprise.
The author provides an engaging look at historical research, albeit in a future society. Moreover, it is research about a war. The fog of war is overlaid by the decay of history, a combination guaranteed to produce disinformation and confusion.
Highly recommended for McDevitt fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of high adventure and historical puzzles.
-Arthur W. Jordin
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