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)

Still One of My Favorites

The only negative I have for this was the performance. But that's it! Jack has an awesome mind for world building. It's the first mystery novel in space that I've ever read and I thoroughly enjoyed it, again.
I've read it before and I needed to kill time between books and I'm happy I revisited A Talent for War. The AI always sound too robotic in the performer's voice but other than that he did a good job... if it wasn't for the AI's accent haha.

The blend of History and mystery is what I love, but the fact this is all in our universe just 10,000 years in the future is such a beautiful idea and believably written it caught my imagination and held it.
The story can be slow at times, but you go through the mind and process of an investigator so don't get too frustrated haha.
I've read every book in this series thus far (last one that came out was Coming Home) and have only been disappointed only twice but even those have not deterred me from reading the rest and won't when another comes out.
Remember, it's history-mystery, in space! 😁

Ponderous

I have a number of Jack mcdevitt's books and have generally enjoyed them. This one is a departure. The plot meandered, and unless I totally spaced out for the length of the book, most of the reveals at the end of the book seemed almost disembodied. I may keep it, and maybe do a reread. I doubt it though.

The narrator was bad, and the story read like a history lesson.

I probably would have enjoyed the book a lot more if not for the narrator. He had a really….odd cadence where he would….pause at random times between….words. It was like listening to William Shatner read. He also mispronounced a lot of words.
The story itself was not that bad, but there was a lot of following the main character around while he researched the events and characters of a war that too place 200 years ago. It was a rather dry story at times.

Speed Demon

The story is good. But the narrator is on speed. I think if this was rerecorded at a medium pace I would give it another star.

Not his best, but still good

Would you consider the audio edition of A Talent for War to be better than the print version?

I'd have to read it, and then listen to it to answer the question.

What did you like best about this story?

The story was okay. I had read Firebird before this. That was much better.

What about Gregory Abbey and Jack McDevitt ’s performance did you like?

Nothing sticks out.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

The Start of a Great Series

Where does A Talent for War rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have always enjoyed this author's ability to write a great mystery and keep you guessing until the very end of the book

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.

Awesome Audiobook. great narration.

super story! great purchase. already ordered the second book. looking forward to it. just great

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.

Narrator needs work

He didn’t sweat the details. 10-15 words mispronounced, two repeatedly (Rigel; Demosthenes). Occasionally he hadn’t read ahead, e.g. speaking softly what a character says, then concluding, …, she screamed.”
The story is quite good, however.