
The Chaplain’s War by Brad R. Torgersen
Harrison Barlow was a chaplain’s assistant in the first of humanity’s wars against a technologically advanced conqueror race. Harrison and thousands of other soldiers were rounded up by the insect-like enemy, who humans call the mantis race (mantes is the plural) and held in a prison camp on a planet called Purgatory. Harrison, carrying out a promise to the chaplain who died, built a chapel that was open to everyone. That action intrigued the scholar class of the mantes and led to a cease-fire. As The Chaplain’s War, Brad Torgersen’s novel based on his original novella, progresses, that cease-fire breaks down. The book questions whether humans and mantes can ever co-exist.
There was a lot to like in this book, and there were definite weaknesses that affected my enjoyment. Ultimately, Harrison, the likeable main character, kept me reading, ... Read More