Fight the Good Fight is a military science fiction novel set in a universe where humans have colonized many nearby star systems in a religion-driven exodus from the Sol system. At the opening of the novel, a war between the deeply spiritual, democratic Terran Coalition of the colonized planets and the atheist, socialist League of Sol from the earth has been ravaging both territories for years. The story follows the career of David Cohen, an orthodox Jewish naval officer, as he rises through the ranks of the military and battles with the conflicts of faith and war. The world-building is impressive, particularly the way religion shapes the social and military structures of the societies, but atheists (or socialists) may find this book defamatory, as the League of Sol is vilified for their lack of religious beliefs and portrayed much like a stereotype Soviet-era Russia. Even the title is a reference to a bible verse (“Fight the good fight of the faith,” 1 Timothy 6:12).
For a military science fiction story, Fight the Good Fight is a decent representative of the genre with a really fascinating sociopolitical system as a backdrop for the military action and political maneuvering. As far as action goes, I think the book was slightly lacking; though there were some exciting battles, much of the story either skips non-critical engagements as time was fast-forwarded or gets bogged down in dry dialog outlining the religious or bureaucratic systems of the setting. While I can appreciate the detail that went into the setting, sometimes I really wanted battles and explosions.
I’ve noticed that lack of deep character development is a flaw for many military science fiction novels, and Fight the Good Fight is no exception. The characters are very one dimensional — generally, they are all business and very serious. Every character is driven by a strong sense of duty and little else: duty to the military, duty to their nation, duty to God, and duty to family. Though there’s an occasional reference to friendships or other interests (David’s “best friend,” for example), there’s not much interaction in the actual dialog that shows these social dynamics. If characters are social outside of work or worship, it’s not something the reader gets to see happening. I missed this insight into the dynamics of the personal relationships of the characters and as a result, I didn’t feel very invested in the characters or their fate as the plot moved along.
All-in-all, it’s a solidly good book in the genre, but not a great one. I feel like the plot could have been improved with more character development and better story pacing with great focus on the action for a military science fiction novel set in the middle of a decades-old, constant conflict. All that said, I was good enough that I would give the next book in the sequel a shot to see if these small issues are resolved.
Thank you to Aethon Books who provided me this book free of charge at my request.