The Ethos Effect — L.E. Modesitt Jr.

Commander Van C. Albert is a good officer with bad luck. It seems to have changed when he becomes a military attache on Scandya, and prevents an assassination, but he wakes from a coma to find himself decorated, promoted and summarily retired. Then the harmless-sounding Integrated Information Systems foundation of the Eco-Tech Coalition recruits him to fly a starship, and Van soon finds he is not just a pilot, but their point man in a conflict that will shake the worlds.

Modesitt uses a distinctive blend of space battles, political and economic intrigue, and issues of race and religion to address deep questions of good and evil, ethics and self-interest. Van Albert makes his decisions; it is for you to decide if he is a hero.