Starship captain detonates world killing weapon. Ringing bells?

[possum]

So I am trying to remember the title of this book I read 5 years ago and would be very grateful for any suggestions.

This is what I remember:

It was a stand - alone space opera type story about 500 pages long featuring a middle-aged experienced male space captain on a smallish ship who takes a job to investigate some huge and mysterious object that has appeared and some (human?) organisation is worried about. I remember it is a geometric shape and has a smooth surface.

The huge thing turns out to be a weapon capable of destroying a civilisation and at the end of the book he decides to use it against an alien world in a sort of preemptive strike because he thinks they are going to destroy some other civilisation (maybe humans?) if he does not get them first. He aims it at the alien planet/s and all matter is annihilated. At the end he has to live with being one man who has annihilated billions of souls even if they were the enemy.

I've done the usual searches for planet busting weapons but not come across this story.
Does it ring any bells for anyone?

Any ideas would be gratefully received!

 

[C. J. Watterson]

...basically the plot line for one of the books I have planned, so quite a few bells ringing. But you'll have to wait a few years. Are you from the future? Or maybe I have read it too and I'm subconsciously rehashing the plot. Sorry for being completely unhelpful...

 

[possum]

Hi C.J., Thanks for the reply. Even if it did not end my suspense it did make me laugh. When we find out what the book is maybe you might consider writing the sequel, I remember wishing the story would continue ;0

 

[C. J. Watterson]

I might even read it, if I haven't already. Hopefully someone comes up with an answer for you.

 

[tinkerdan]

This is very similar to James Tiptree's
Brightness Falls From the Air

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J90BWYU/?tag=brite-21

Only if I remember correctly they find the enemies world with what appears to be a doomsday device and they destroy it and the bulk of the civilization they are fighting; but there is some issue about the war ending prior to their actions.

The story itself is after the war and it more or less misleads the reader into a separate moral tale that collides with the past.

Much shorter story also than the one you are looking for.

 

[martin321]

Sounds somewhat like The Ethos Effect by L.E. Modesitt, Jr, which is a fairly decent book as far as I remember.

 

[possum]

OMG Martin 321, you found it from my dodgy description, well done! You have made my week!!
And looking it up there is a prequil too, called The Parafaith War (1996).

So So happy!

Thank you to everyone who responded to my plea.

 

[C. J. Watterson]

Nice one, the folks here are good. I've added to my to read list, make sure I don't accidentally plagiarize

 

[K. Riehl]

There is another very good trilogy written by Laura E. Reeve that has a central story line about the woman who used a weapon to make a sun unstable and has to live under an assumed military identity while everyone waits to see if she killed billions on the target planet. Really good aliens, action and adventure.

It's called The Major Ariane Kedros series:
Peacekeeper
Vigilante
Pathfinder

Per her website, due to low sales, ROC dropped her and told her she couldn't write any more in this series if she moved to another publisher. She may get around this by writing some prequels.

 

[possum]

That sounds great K Riehl, I'll add it to my reading list!