I’m still a big fan of Gunpowder Moon, Pedreira’s novel from 2018, so I was very keen to read more of his worldbuilding. The Never Wars, though, is more space opera and military SF—still a subgenre I’ll read every time.

With a plot that’s reminiscent of Haldeman’s The Forever War (and that appears to be kind of hinted at in the title), The Never Wars takes a bunch of disgraced soldiers, and a disgraced AI, and puts them on a ship that uses a black hole to travel forward in time to fight in future battles—and meaning they’ll never again see the Earth they knew. This plot device allows Pedreira to explore the psychological effects on the soldiers of a never-ending and meaningless war, and also to write a commentary on the links between capital and war, with a rebellion thrown into the mix.

It’s really nice to have a strong and well-written female character who is true to the country she’s from!! (that is, Botswana); and, of course, a sentient ship!!. (I have feels for sentient ships.) Pedreira also writes in lots of physics, which makes this a hard sci-fi read (of which I’m also a fan).

Given the above, you’ll know if this is your thing; it definitely was mine. If you like interesting characters and far-future hard sci-fi—like Lostetter, and Peter F. Hamilton—then you’ll enjoy this. If you’re new to the genre: this may still be interesting if you might like thinking about space, physics, and the toll of war from a soldier’s perspective.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and to NetGalley for the ARC.

Blurb:
In The Never Wars --a mind-bending mix of Interstellar and The Expanse --a group of disgraced Special Forces are given one chance to redeem themselves. The question is whether they'll survive long enough for it to matter. Special Forces are used to crazy ops, but orbiting a black hole to slow down time and fight Earth's dirty battles in the future? That's new, even for them. But that's the mission for Owen Quarry, Anaya Pretorius, and the rest of COG, a company of elite, disgraced , soldiers from around the globe. They join a defrocked company commander, an AI warship with self-confidence issues, and a crew of misfit troupers on a dizzying time-quest: prove the concept of stationing armies in spacetime. And if they complete ten missions, they'll be redeemed as citizens in good standing. But the cost will be heavy--in time and in souls. And as one of their own hunts them down and another rises from the past with a key to freedom, Quarry and Pretorius find that redemption and survival are two very different things.

This book ihas a unique concept and is heavy on the science but not too much to make the average reader overwhelmed. There's plenty of action throughout the story but it did get a little slow in the middle. I was invested enough in the story to want to find out what ultimately happened to the characters.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Blackstone Publishing for an advance copy of this science fiction novel of the future, where corporations vie for power and a chance to start over means fighting from the shadows and the passing of time.

Being a powerful corporation, one that is fighting for territory, brand recognition, and sometimes for its own corporate survival takes a lot of work, a lot of money and a lot of time. Organizations need workers, people to do the dirty little things that need to be done, but just as one gets them trained and ready, time passes and those skills start to suffer or degrade. Or they want to leave, which means hiring people, competing with other corporations and again, watching these tools lose their sharpness. Until one day an opportunity it presented by that Artificial Intelligence project that has also cost a lot of money, but is paying dividends. Using math, and science, a ship can be placed near a black hole, loaded with people who have particular skills, but will not be missed. Close enough that time passes differently, years for the real world would be weeks for them. Nothing could go wrong, until it days. That is the premise of The Never Wars by David Pedreira, a military science fiction novel about a future not that far away, where humans have gone to space, and yet taken many of their issues with them.

Owen Quarry has fought in many places under many United States names in the country that used to be America. A man who has killed for pay, until the day he shoots the wrong person, and finds himself in a prison among the stars. Quarry is offered a deal. A corporation is starting a program, using trained men and woman, to help keep Earth from falling into the hands of outside planets, planets that have been settled by Earth, but not friendly to it. Quarry along with others who are either imprisoned, set for death or otherwise disgraced are given a choice. Work for the corporation, do a select level of missions, and get a pass and a new life somewhere. Or die in prison. Quarry takes the offer, but finds there is always a catch. The team is based in orbit around a black hole, where time passes slower the closer one gets. These missions could take decades, as they remain off the grid and off of time. And than things start to go wrong.

A military science fiction novel with a lot of hard science, and a lot of speculation. And a lot of great ideas. The book throws one right in, building what the world looks like through the characters experiences, but not overwhelming with facts. The writing is good, the action is plenty and also well written, with some interesting ideas in tactics and weaponry. There is a Dirty Dozen aspect, but that is fine as the story moves so well, with a lot of twists an surprises. I really liked the idea of hiding an army near a black hole, the idea is pretty novel, and makes for a good story, especially for fans of the genre.

Recommended for readers of Marko Kloos and Jerry Pournelle whose writing Pedreira reminds me of quite a bit.

The Never Wars by David Pedreira is a very interesting concept for a book. A group of soldiers employed by an organization to be used on missions when needed. When not needed, they are kept essentially in stasis by having their ship hide close to the event horizon of a black hole.
Great concept. Excellent way to begin a novel.
Unfortunately for me, about midway through the book, something changed and I stopped caring about the characters. I was still interested enough in the story that the book moved along well enough, but that connection was gone.
It was a good book that started strong and ended well, it just sort of meandered in the middle for me.

This follows a group as they fight over time. This is a suicidal run even with the special ship and advanced weapons. I found it a little slow. Too much that just took up space. Military fans will probably like it

Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review