A Talent for War

An Alex Benedict Novel

By: Jack McDevitt

Narrated by: Gregory Abbey, Jack McDevitt

Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Everyone knew the legend of Christopher Sim. Fighter. Leader. An interstellar hero with a rare talent for war, Sim changed mankind's history forever when he forged a ragtag group of misfits into the weapon that broke the back of the alien Ashiyyur. But now, Alex Benedict has found a startling bit of information, long buried in an ancient computer file. If it is true, then Christopher Sim was a fraud.

For his own sake, for the sake of history, Alex Benedict must follow the dark track of a legend, into the very heart of the alien galaxy - where he will confront a truth far stranger than any fiction imaginable.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an exclusive introduction by author Jack McDevitt.

©2004 Jack McDevitt (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"In his ability to absolutely rivet the reader, it seems to me that McDevitt is the logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke." (Stephen King)

Very enjoyable mystery

Interesting characters and setting. I admit that I'm a sucker for science-fiction mystery stories. The space battles for opera fans are all accomplished in a simulation. I enjoyed the introduction of Alex and Chase but readers should be reassured the pair will be better developed in the next volume of the series. And I don't know that I fully understood all the motivations of some characters.

A note: I was put off by the terrible pronunciation of Greek and other foreign names and terms. Even ordinary words. This really is a problem with the producers. Shameful.

No care taken with this narration

What did you like best about A Talent for War? What did you like least?

I found the story interesting, but was totally distracted by the ineptitude of the narrator. How an adult human being can not know how to pronounce, "emeritus," "Aeneid," "islet," and "Demosthenes," especially if you are going to be pronouncing these words as part of a paid narration, shows a complete lack of attention by the actor reading and the producers. It was disappointing.

Would you be willing to try another one of Gregory Abbey and Jack McDevitt ’s performances?

Doubtful. My enjoyment was interrupted constantly by my disbelief at the illiteracy of the narrator.

Could you see A Talent for War being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No.

great book! Great narrator!

Loved it!!!!
had a hard time putting it down. it's great when a book is good but it's even better when a narrator can make it awesome.

Promising, but Terrible

So much promise, but this book is like listening to a history text. If you want an exciting scifi book, this is NOT it.

just skip it, narration is dull, story is bad

narrator dull
story forgettable just skip this amd go for anything else
boring and unoriginal

Info dump

This book was very disappointing. The few highlights of technology were interesting, but the constant barrage of information dumping and telling made it a snooze. I got through the first 3 hours of this, and decided to stop wasting my time with the book. Perhaps it get's better later on, but the author lost me after the first 30 minutes. Definitely would not recommend this to any of my friends.

Over rated.

Apart from the epilogue, this novel is a bore and Alex Benedict himself is terrible. Not going to read the next book.

A houseguest that stayed too long!

Had I been asked at the halfway point what I thought my rating would be I would have said 5 out of 5. Unfortunately, that did not hold up the entire way through. After the halfway point, it just dragged for an ungodly amount of time. Info dump after info dump with little to no regards given to the pacing. There was so many needless info dumps that they telegraphed the supposed twists that should have been surprising. Also for some strange reason the lead character getting dumber, not smarter, as the story progressed. The secondary lead Chase just got more timid as the story progresses. Instead of progressing and growing with the story these characters regressed. I didn’t really like either of the main characters and have no interest in their future adventures.

While the author provided vast amounts of information on the world he created, it was very shallow. This resulted in a world that felt lifeless and uninspiring. I have no desire to explore more of this world or its history.

Finally the narrator. He voiced lead character decently but the other characters sounded pretty much the same. The only exception to that was Chase. She was described as a young attractive women and voiced as a 500lbs chain smoking man. Not sure what happened with her or how whoever reviews the narration let this slip but it was truly ridiculous.

Overall, I liked the premise of an antiques dealer and his pilot solving mysteries in a futuristic sci-fi world but the execution was poorly done. I did read these get better as the series goes but I can’t recommend this first one.

not impressed

Would you ever listen to anything by Jack McDevitt again?

Possibly

Would you be willing to try another one of Gregory Abbey and Jack McDevitt ’s performances?

Possibly

What character would you cut from A Talent for War?

The main character

Any additional comments?

I had listened to" seeker". The main character was Chase not Alex. It was much more interesting and the reason I got this story. The story was interesting but they drained on and on about mans flaw of war blah blah blah. It could have been reduced to 5 hrs instead of 9 easily.if you like alit of narration and pointing out of all of mans flaws constantly then this book is for you

Boring

Making it through 7 of the 12 hours, I kept thinking it will get better, sooner or later. Well, I got tired of later! Never really got interesting or suspenseful, I never felt one thing either pro or con regarding the characters, they were so flat. I'm returning the book......