Virtues of War (The Astral Saga)
By: Bennett R. Coles
Rating: 5 of 5
“Virtues of War” by Bennett R Coles is an excellent futuristic war novel centering around the crew of the fast-attack craft Rapier.
As the events of the book unfold, you learn that in the future, Earth has colonized many worlds. The book follows the crew of the Terran Ship Rapier through their various missions in what turns out to become a war between the Terran forces, who see Earth as the mother planet, and Centauri Forces whose allegiance is to some of the colonies that were started from the Terran colonization effort.
This book is one of the best Sci-Fi books I have read in years. The descriptiveness of the behaviors and actions of the characters, who they are, and how they interact with others is very believable. Early in the book, I had the sense that the author must have military experience because everything simply made sense. I had the distinct impression that the author was drawing from actual experiences and/or historical knowledge and translating them into a fast paced futuristic Sci-Fi novel.
Later, while reading Mr Cole’s biography, I was not surprised to learn that he is a veteran Naval officer with 15 years of experience. That explains why this book feels so authentic in its portrayal of the characters and events that unfold. It also did not surprise me to learn that this book has already won a Cygnus Award in the SciFi military category.
I enjoyed everything about this book, I am looking forward to reading the second book of this trilogy, “Ghosts of War”, as soon as it becomes available and I also eagerly await the final book of the trilogy as soon as it is completed.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via the publisher.
“Virtues of War” by Bennett R Coles is an excellent futuristic war novel centering around the crew of the fast-attack craft Rapier.