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Call to Arms (The Damned, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

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  Hardcover, March 26, 1991 -- $4.74 $0.01
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  Mass Market Paperback, February 22, 1992 -- $0.01 $0.01

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Subtitled Book One of the Damned , Foster's ( Glory Lane ) latest novel never achieves credibility. The projectively telepathic race of Ampliturs has conceived of a Purpose, which will be revealed when all the sapient races of the galaxy are united. Using either logic, subversion or, reluctantly, force, they have recruited each new race they have encountered, then used mental persuasion and genetic engineering to turn those races into allies. The Weave, a coalition of peoples that do not want to be assimilated, has been fighting them for centuries when a Weave exploratory ship stumbles across the Earth. Humans are just beginning to learn to be peaceful; how will they react to a request by aliens to fight other aliens? In order to credit this scenario, readers must accept a very skewed future universe: of all the planets with intelligent life, only Earth is tectonically active, with violent weather and more than one land mass; only humans have more than one language, fight within their own species and are, for some reason, immune to the Amplitur telepathy. The writing is crisp, but cannot make up for the burden these contrivances place on the story.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


From School Library Journal

YA-- This promising new series depicts galactic warfare on a grand scale, encompassing untold numbers of races and worlds on both sides, and lasting hundreds of years. The Amplitur, a telepathically manipulative race, attempts to convert to its nebulous purpose all sentient life through the use of persuasion, threats, and genetic manipulation. The Weave, a not-always harmonious coalition of races, has taken up arms in an attempt to pursue its own destinies. Because of the basic aggressive nature of Earthlings, the Weave recruit individuals to use as warriors in their battle against the Amplitur. Will Dulac, New Orleans composer and teacher, is the first. As in Nor Crystal Tears (1985) and Midworld (1987, both Ballantine), Foster has created a believable universe and peopled it with exotic races and memorable characters. A readable, well-crafted science-fiction adventure.
- John Lawson, Fairfax County Public Library, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 30 pages
  • Publisher: Del Rey; 1st THUS edition (February 23, 1992)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345375742
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345375742
  • Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #448,106 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #61 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( F ) > Foster, Alan Dean

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Call to Arms (The Damned, Book 1)
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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Hooray for Humans!, May 25, 2006
I picked this book up off of a desk somewhere during a former job. It was late, I was bored and the cover looked interesting. The book was a bit slow to start, but interesting once the pace increased. I found myself disappointed when I reached the last page because the job's library didn't have books two or three.

What I liked:

The characters were engaging:
The Weave aliens behaved in an unexpected...but entirely understandable way to their new "Allies" the Humans. The "Bad Guys" in many ways mimic many of the loathesome qualities of many fictitious, and real life, antagonisitic forces all the while giving the overall impression of being beneficent.

The struggle was believable and understandable:
The "Bad Guys" seek to assimilate and redirect every species they encounter to the "Purpose". This is a common theme for a reason; humans are, by and large, fiercely individualistic. The Borg, the "Body Snatchers", Vampires, Zombies all have the underlying, if not primary, purpose of "Making you one of Them".

Humans were not portrayed as weak or inferior:
Though not superior in any given area, other than warfare and ferocity, humans were considered better than all of the allied and enemy races in that humans were exceptional, even the aged humans, in all of the desired areas (strength, reaction speed, endurance, eye sight, hearing etc). It was refreshing to not read about "Puny Humans".

What I did not like:

The Main Character:
Though this may seem like a fatal flaw, it really isn't. What I didn't like about the Main character were his seemingly endless crys that humanity wants peace...even when the evidence of our blood thirstiness is staring him in the face. Now, I am all for peace, don't get me wrong, but I accept a few basic things about my brothers and sisters; we only really do two things REALLY well, kill each other and make babies. Were I put in the position of the main character, faced with probable genocide because Humans just couldn't cope with the rest of the universe's outlook on civilized behavior, I am sure that I would cry that we COULD learn to be peaceful, too.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book, I have read it at least twice, and recommend it.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book in the trilogy, June 2, 2003
A very good book, one of my all time favorites. Although, I somewhat disagree with Fosters recurrent theme of humanity's violent tendencies (presented a bit simplistic or naive in a way) it didn't keep me from enjoying this book. It is a great start to the series, and by far the best of the trilogy.

There is also a little twist in the first contact theory. Humans carry some advantages that aren't often represented in most scifi stories. I also enjoyed the switching between POVs during the initial encounters, judgments that are made about each side.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Good despite its flaws, April 19, 2004
By Cliff Allred (Prescott, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I'll be honest. Some of the ideas in this book are silly, such as Earth being tectonically active alone among thousands of inhabited planets, like one reviewer already pointed out. Never mind how the aliens are completely ignorant of tectonics despite all of their other wonderful science.
The main reason I like the book is because it panders to biased view of humanity as princes among carbon-based lifeforms. I like the vision of humans being the strongest, fastest and most vicious species in the stars, and Foster did a good job of portraying the shock of the other races at this.
I see more and more flaws in the plot as the years go by, but I gave it four stars because it's kept me thinking about the subject for such a long time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not one of Foster's best.
Not bad, but sadly not really that good either. It isn't up to the standard that i've come to expect and have enjoyed from foster. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Christopher Lee

3.0 out of 5 stars Humans as the Deadliest Species in the Galaxy
My opinion of this book kept changing the more I read.

Pages 1-50 are really boring info-dumping sequences which introduce the nature of the Amplitur empire and their... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Judah

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining
A lot of pusillanimous yet funny and hilarious aliens. All the mental pictures I created made me laugh more than once (I do like the Turlog). An expected ending. Read more
Published on October 29, 2007 by Michel

3.0 out of 5 stars poorly written military science fiction
This is the first book in its trilogy, and the best written. However, best is really not that good, compared to works by other authors. Read more
Published on July 3, 2006 by W Boudville

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-paced, story-driven, natural language science fiction
The Amplitur are a race of four-legged, tentacles-on-the-head telepaths that are out to get humanity and everything and everybody in the galaxy to serve the Purpose. Read more
Published on March 12, 2006 by Taylor Rand

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent twist on a 'first contact' story
I'm truly surprised someone hasn't made a movie on this story. It's got everything an epic adventure needs.
It was a page turner from beginning to end. Read more
Published on November 4, 2002 by Drew Petersen

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read.
This was the first of Foster's books that I have read. I enjoyed it very much. Foster does a great job of illustrating the hypocrisy of modern man through the eyes of aliens... Read more
Published on August 2, 2000 by Aaron Sutton

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest sci-fi book out there
I must have read this book six times and I never tire of it, Alan dean Foster's best book by far and I still haven't read a book by him that I did not like. Read more
Published on May 14, 2000 by wyrminarrd

5.0 out of 5 stars W O W !!! T O T A L L Y E X C E L L E N T !!!
I thoroughly enjoyed this story the plot, the varied and interesting characters were well done, I think I enjoyed reading the Alien view on what humans truely were, to all the... Read more
Published on May 30, 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book that I couldn't put down until the end!
A very good book, one of my all time favorites. Although, I somewhat disagree with Fosters recurrent theme of humanity's violent tendencies it didn't keep me from enjoying this... Read more
Published on July 30, 1998

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