Jack McDevitt 
Talent for War (Alex Benedict – Book 1) 

Jack Mc Devitt’s A TALENT FOR WAR takes Alex Benedict into the heart of an alien galaxy in a thrilling interstellar adventure. ‘A real writer has entered our ranks, and his name is Jack Mc Devitt’ Michael Bishop, Nebula-winning author Everyone knows the legend of Christopher Sim. An interstellar hero with a rare talent for war, he changedmankind’s history forever when he forged a rag-tag group of misfits into the weapon that broke the alien Ashiyyur. But now, in a forgotten file, Alex Benedict has found a startling piece of information. If it is true, then Christopher Sim was a fraud. If he is to see it through, Alex Benedict will have to follow the dark track of a legend, into the heart of an alien galaxy, where he will confront a truth far stranger than anything he could have imagined…