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 good - but the cover and title are deceptive

This is NOT a book about war, or fighting in space, or action of any kind. You should NOT judge the book by it's cover or title or you will be disappointed (as several reviewers were), but if you know going in that it is more of a detective story (where the detective is a librarian type) you will like it. I would actually compare it to "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" or the other George Smiley spy books - there is very little action currently happening (but past action is discovered and discussed by the protagonist). That is not a bad thing (John La Carrie sold millions of those books, and they are great), but if you are expecting the protagonist to have a "talent for war" (he doesn't) or men in spacesuits (the cover depicts a man dead for a hundred years) you will be disappointed. If you want an interesting future mystery with some science fiction (it is the future, but that future is 90% like the present) and several very interesting "twists", give this a try.

Adventures of a reference librarian

This book was a strange experience. It was, in large part, the story of a story. We follow a very dry, and somewhat dim hero unearthing dusty histories, reading over his shoulder snippets describing vast adventures as if through smoked glass. Minutes are devoted to characters we never see again, and events that deserve far more explication are lovingly set up and then casually abondoned. On the plus side, if you are patient, the ending suddenly rouses to slam-bang action and poignancy that ties the whole effort together at long last.
One more odd plus is that you can make a drinking game out of counting the times the verbally dyslexic narrator mispronounces and misreads fairly basic vocabulary. You will wince at first and then laugh.

Good but rest of series is better!

I had listened to the 2nd-4th books of this series (which can be read in pretty much any order) and came to this one last mostly because it did not have the same reader. This book is OK- a good mystery with interesting back story. The subsequent books, however, are much better. They are told from the perspective of Chase (the "sidekick") and the reader of those is great. They all involve search for historical artifacts, adventures, and a bit of sleuthing so there is a lot of information on the fictional history of their (future) society as they go about their investigations. Fun SF.

The Book is Good, But...

I enjoyed the story, but the narrator detracted from it due to many mispronunciations. I don't know how many times I yelled NUCLEAR NOT NUCULAR and DE-MOS-THE-NES NOT DE-MOS-THENES! It became very annoying.

Please Read..

If you have enjoyed any of the Alex Bennidict or Chase stories that Mr. Mcdevitt has written you are going to hate this book. Alex meets Chase for the first time and she sounds like a 500lb sailor, not like the sweet girl we have come to love. I would highly recommend the rest of the Alex / Chase stories. Also, the narrator is horrible, all the voices sound the same, and its very monotone. Very boring and the only reason I finished it is that I wasted a credit on it.
As for space battles, I highly recommend the Lost Fleet Series, now that collection of books kept me glued to my Ipod.

A masterpiece by a grandmaster

This is probably my most favored science fiction novel and the first in the series starring an intergalactic antiquarian. For students of history, this book will evoke parallels with ancient Greece and its empire, and the threat from an alien race. The story concerns the legendary Christopher Sim, the hero of the Confederacy; the man who defeated the alien race by fighting them to a standstill. But there is much more to this tale than battles in space, politics and history, the characters are finely drawn and first-class. Jack McDevitt did not win a Hugo for this work (The Hercules Text which preceded it did) but all the books he has written, this one has a compelling majesty and richness to savor.

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.

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.

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.

Great book, flawed narration.

This is a great story. The narration is marred by glaring mispronunciations of important words. Other than cringing at a reader who has obviously never heard of Greek philosophy and history, and butchers names like Demosthenes, I enjoyed the general pace and tone of the narration. Why don't they edit these things?

An absorbing tale

This is the first of the Alex Bennidict series of books, the only one of the three currently available that is narrated as the main protaginist instead of his associate Chase.

Unfortunatly due to the release order on Audible, i have listened to the books in reverse order, but this has not dimmed my enjoyment of these novels.

Set in a distant but utterly belevable future of a human race spread across the stars with the lessons of 14000 years of recorded history behind them, and yet still vunerable to the same faults that exist today.

This book is placed in a time of political unrest and tension, the story line weaves through worlds filled with belivable charactors, places and events.
It is not a story full of violence and inconsistancies, but the story of a detailed search for a something hidden, which during the finding takes the listener into the worlds of the Confederacy, and in my case left me wanting more.

Mystery in space

The best start for the Benedict book series. Those who like solving mysteries, it is a very great read. Take it as a detective novel in a sci-fi setting.

Too many irrelevant details slow down the story

Aborted before finishing the book.
Much too deep indulgence in details that seem irrelevant for the story slows down the reading to a drag.