If Drush is a tool that has been around for many years, the Drupal Console (https://drupalconsole.com/) project is new to Drupal 8. Its purpose is similar to that of Drush, and in this way, it complements it, if at times even overlaps with it. However, one thing is clear--its scope is much broader, especially in its handy commands that generate boilerplate code, which can get quite lengthy.
Although in this book we won't be using this tool, it's recommended that you install it as you progress with learning Drupal 8 module development and start generating certain code structures faster. That being said, I advise caution in using it at the expense of actually understanding what the code it generates actually does. Always strive ...