The Man Who Never Missed

The Man Who Never Missed is the first book in the Matador series, by Steve Perry. It was first published in August 1985.

Plot

The Man Who Never Missed concerns an ex-soldier, Emile Khadaji, formerly in the service of the Confed, a generic star-spanning empire (formally a confederacy, hence the name) of star systems. The Confed has grown large and old, and to maintain its fading grip on power, uses its powerful military to brutally suppress any resistance and to colonialize further worlds. During one such campaign which results in the slaughter of three-quarters of a million people in a single pitched battle, Khadaji snaps and deserts while experiencing a religious epiphany which instills in him the belief that taking the lives of sapient beings is wrong and that the Confed must be overthrown. He escapes and is believed dead by his military superiors.

While wandering in the nearby city and pondering his experience, the young Khadaji runs into the mysterious priest "Pen" (Pen being not his real name but rather his title; as the current Pen, Pen goes about enshrouded so that his flesh cannot be seen), of the order of the Siblings of the Shroud. Pen takes Khadaji in as a student, training him in Pen's martial art sumito ("The 97 steps"; based on the martial art silat). Pen also teaches Khadaji the surprisingly complex craft of bartending to the many worlds of the Confed.

While working as a bartender on the world of Rim, Khadaji falls in love with an albino "exotic" (a descendant of humans genetically engineered to be sexually attractive, exude sex pheromones, and have an extremely high libido).