I read this to take part in the twitter #sfbookclub. I'm pretty surprised that I never got around to reading it earlier. Due to time dilation, our hero (a pacifist scientist) manages to participate in major conflicts across the span of a 1000 year interstellar war. Earth and humanity change out from under him in during each deployment. The novel loosely explores some science fictional themes but mainly establishes a strong allegory for the very real dissociation that all military people experience after combat.

I'd place this on ANY list of must read science fiction books as well as any must read books of military fiction.

There's a recurring theme of 2 person games in this series. The brother generals are the central example, but this installment presents an internal struggle. In one man, obsessive collecting wars with pragmatic morality. Both are fueled by an insatiable thirst for knowledge. This gets externalized as a perpetual mark with wealth and power confronts a potential con man, a familiar face returning to the story.

One of my favorite of the last few installments.

It's been a while since I read a book so deeply. I read each chapter and took notes to share in a weekly small group setting at church. Each session we all got a chance to share what we got from the chapter. It's hard to divorce my thoughts about the book from the experience of sharing it was the foundation for. Our minister led each of the small groups and preached on a related topic each Sunday. I grew close with the members of my group and had many interesting talks with members from other small groups.

The content of the book reminded me of confirmation class. Both mine 20+ years ago and the one I participated in a few years ago as an adult mentor. An important takeaway for me was a reiteration that the United Methodist Church is a spectacularly good fit for the way I practice Christianity.

In the final chapter on "witness" the joy of evangelism is compared with the excitement we experience when we show off all the features on our new smart phone. I love sharing about the books I read and I'll now be reminded every time I write a review that I should be just as excited to share the good news of Jesus Christ.