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The Damned #1
A Call to Arms
For eons, the Amplitur had searched space for intelligent species, each of which was joyously welcomed to take part in the fulfillment of the Amplitur Purpose. Whether it wanted to or not. When the Amplitur and their allies stumbled upon the races called the Weave, the Purpose seemed poised for a great leap forward. But the Weave's surprising unity also gave it the ability to fight the Amplitur and their cause. And fight it did -- for thousands of years.
Will Dulac was a New Orleans composer who thought the tiny reef off Belize would be the perfect spot to drop anchor and finish his latest symphony in solitude. What he found instead was a group of alien visitors -- a scouting party for the Weave, looking. for allies among what they believed to be a uniquely warlike Humans.
Will tried to convince the aliens that Man was fundamentally peaceful, for he understood that Human involvement would destroy the race. But all too soon, it didn't matter. The Amplitur had discovered Earth...
First Time in Paperback
Will Dulac was a New Orleans composer who thought the tiny reef off Belize would be the perfect spot to drop anchor and finish his latest symphony in solitude. What he found instead was a group of alien visitors -- a scouting party for the Weave, looking. for allies among what they believed to be a uniquely warlike Humans.
Will tried to convince the aliens that Man was fundamentally peaceful, for he understood that Human involvement would destroy the race. But all too soon, it didn't matter. The Amplitur had discovered Earth...
First Time in Paperback
341 pages, Paperback
First published March 27, 1991
50 people are currently reading
3032 people want to read
About the author
Alan Dean Foster
497 books2,018 followersBestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
October 25, 2012
Will Dulac needs to be punched in the mouth, repeatedly. His petulant insistence that "Humans are peaceful. We don't want war any more, and we certainly don't want any part of an interstellar conflict!" can be boiled down rather simply to: "I am a music professor from New Orleans who is suffering from writer's block. Somehow I was lucky enough for advanced alien species to contact ME, and therefore I am going to interject my personal prejudices and bias into their perception of humanity, and potentially GET MY WHOLE FRIGGIN' PLANET DESTROYED BY THE AMPLITUR BECAUSE *I* DON'T LIKE VIOLENCE SO OBVIOUSLY NO ONE ELSE DOES, EITHER!"
I'm sure we can all agree that one pacifistic music professor-- currently not teaching and on sabbatical-- speaks for each of the six billion humans on earth, right?
Will Dulac has no right to make decisions for us as a species. Anyone without the monstrous ego of a college professor would consider the decision whether or not to get humanity involved in an interstellar war would be a LITTLE above their pay grade.
Not Will: "After all, he was a professor, an educated, sophisticated man. The so-called recruiters the aliens intended to use consisted of an old drunk, an ignorant fisherman, and some poor boys literally taken off the streets. The rest were little better. Whose influence was most likely to persuade, theirs or his?" (Chapter 15, electronic version)
Well, Willie, considering that the people in question actually went interstellar and participated in the conflict while you sat safely on earth writing music, I'd have to argue that they are a lot more likely to persuade people like me than you ivory-tower morons living in the theoretical.
While the book is well-written, particularly when it shifts to the point of view of the Amplitur, who really believe they are doing the right thing, Dulac's insufferable arrogance made wading through the rest of the book a chore. I found myself setting the book down for long stretches to avoid yelling at it, "Mankind has been fighting for the entirety of recorded history, you jacka$$!" or "Good grief, have you never seen a boxing match or watched a football game? Humanity LOVES violence! That's why action movies make ten times the money as art flicks! (or symphonies-- a fact of which you might expect a music professor writing one to be cogent.)
Does Will take his blinders off? Does humanity join the fight? Do we get wiped out because one college professor (who doesn't even friggin' TEACH!) can't keep his mouth shut when he's in over his head?
I recommend that you read it and discover for yourself.
Oh, and the Weave, if you're out there and need my help. I'll sign.
I'm sure we can all agree that one pacifistic music professor-- currently not teaching and on sabbatical-- speaks for each of the six billion humans on earth, right?
Will Dulac has no right to make decisions for us as a species. Anyone without the monstrous ego of a college professor would consider the decision whether or not to get humanity involved in an interstellar war would be a LITTLE above their pay grade.
Not Will: "After all, he was a professor, an educated, sophisticated man. The so-called recruiters the aliens intended to use consisted of an old drunk, an ignorant fisherman, and some poor boys literally taken off the streets. The rest were little better. Whose influence was most likely to persuade, theirs or his?" (Chapter 15, electronic version)
Well, Willie, considering that the people in question actually went interstellar and participated in the conflict while you sat safely on earth writing music, I'd have to argue that they are a lot more likely to persuade people like me than you ivory-tower morons living in the theoretical.
While the book is well-written, particularly when it shifts to the point of view of the Amplitur, who really believe they are doing the right thing, Dulac's insufferable arrogance made wading through the rest of the book a chore. I found myself setting the book down for long stretches to avoid yelling at it, "Mankind has been fighting for the entirety of recorded history, you jacka$$!" or "Good grief, have you never seen a boxing match or watched a football game? Humanity LOVES violence! That's why action movies make ten times the money as art flicks! (or symphonies-- a fact of which you might expect a music professor writing one to be cogent.)
Does Will take his blinders off? Does humanity join the fight? Do we get wiped out because one college professor (who doesn't even friggin' TEACH!) can't keep his mouth shut when he's in over his head?
I recommend that you read it and discover for yourself.
Oh, and the Weave, if you're out there and need my help. I'll sign.
July 21, 2021
This is the first book of Foster's Damned trilogy... which sounds funny to me when it's put that way. It is not part of his Humanx Commonwealth universe, and it seems he may have made an effort to make it as different in tone and character as he could. The protagonist, Will Dulac, is certainly one of his least sympathetic or likable characters. The alien Amplitur and Weave are excellently imagined and portrayed, and we see Dulac as the fulcrum representing humanity in the conflict between the two. There's some interesting religious and political satire, but it's primarily an introduction to the conflict and an entertaining narrative alll the way through.
January 30, 2016
Reviewed this a good while back...just correcting a typo.
This book combines an interesting take on "alien invasion", human nature, and the nature of war itself while telling a perfectly readable and accessible story. The book isn't a deep literary read, but it does what it does very well. I liked it and couldn't wait till the next one was available.
The "invaders" you see aren't invaders, noooooo. They just want to "offer" everyone the "opportunity" to be part of their "plan". Of course all races have freedom of choice. You can choose to join up...or be conquered. Of course, it usually isn't too much of a problem if the Amplitur can meet with the planet's top "ruler-types" as they not only came up with (had the vision of) the "plan", but have the power to "suggest"(which amounts to a mental command)things directly into the mind of new species they meet. They had been able to "suggest" to each new species they had come in contact with...till they met humans.
One of my few 5 star reads...based blatantly on personal enjoyment. I was in the mood for a book like this when I came across it.
This book combines an interesting take on "alien invasion", human nature, and the nature of war itself while telling a perfectly readable and accessible story. The book isn't a deep literary read, but it does what it does very well. I liked it and couldn't wait till the next one was available.
The "invaders" you see aren't invaders, noooooo. They just want to "offer" everyone the "opportunity" to be part of their "plan". Of course all races have freedom of choice. You can choose to join up...or be conquered. Of course, it usually isn't too much of a problem if the Amplitur can meet with the planet's top "ruler-types" as they not only came up with (had the vision of) the "plan", but have the power to "suggest"(which amounts to a mental command)things directly into the mind of new species they meet. They had been able to "suggest" to each new species they had come in contact with...till they met humans.
One of my few 5 star reads...based blatantly on personal enjoyment. I was in the mood for a book like this when I came across it.
November 9, 2017
I liked many things about this novel, but I despised the main character Will Dulac. He was arrogant, classist, stubborn in the worst way, and all around miserable to read about.
Will is the first contact a group of advanced aliens have with mankind on Earth. In summary, the aliens are part of an alliance called the Weave, that are fighting a separate group of aliens controlled by the Amplitur. There were a lot of things to like about this plot, like the aliens' confusion with multiple land masses, and the variety of language and culture on our planet. Also the unique way different characters reacted to other species, those they had known for long and those they had just met.
But dealing with Will's point of view was the worst. He is told the aliens are looking for allies and immediately tries to convince them that his species is far too peace loving for such a thing. This is written as though Will actually believes what he is saying, but honestly I think even a pacifist would disagree - not that people aren't capable of peace, but war is something that has been continuous for the entirety of humanity and to pretend it hasn't just makes Will come across as extremely idiotic.
Nothing was more irritating than Will deciding that the 'drunks, idiots, and poor people' he recruited for the aliens at first were doomed to fail at fighting, and then afterwards that the only reason they were good at it was because they weren't good at anything else; and that educated, civilised people would react differently. At several points he (and the aliens!) seem to think that poor people fighting for money is just so abhorent, as though trying to keep yourself and your family fed and financially secure is the worst possible reason to join an army.
Despite ripping on it, I did like the storyline, I just wish it could be rewritten with a main character who isn't an obnoxious troll.
Will is the first contact a group of advanced aliens have with mankind on Earth. In summary, the aliens are part of an alliance called the Weave, that are fighting a separate group of aliens controlled by the Amplitur. There were a lot of things to like about this plot, like the aliens' confusion with multiple land masses, and the variety of language and culture on our planet. Also the unique way different characters reacted to other species, those they had known for long and those they had just met.
But dealing with Will's point of view was the worst. He is told the aliens are looking for allies and immediately tries to convince them that his species is far too peace loving for such a thing. This is written as though Will actually believes what he is saying, but honestly I think even a pacifist would disagree - not that people aren't capable of peace, but war is something that has been continuous for the entirety of humanity and to pretend it hasn't just makes Will come across as extremely idiotic.
Nothing was more irritating than Will deciding that the 'drunks, idiots, and poor people' he recruited for the aliens at first were doomed to fail at fighting, and then afterwards that the only reason they were good at it was because they weren't good at anything else; and that educated, civilised people would react differently. At several points he (and the aliens!) seem to think that poor people fighting for money is just so abhorent, as though trying to keep yourself and your family fed and financially secure is the worst possible reason to join an army.
Despite ripping on it, I did like the storyline, I just wish it could be rewritten with a main character who isn't an obnoxious troll.
May 22, 2010
3.0 to 3.5 stars. Good, light hearted SCF-FI story with the novel concept that humans (usually portrayed as physically weak in the face of monstrous aliens) are shown to be significantly stronger and more durable than the other races in the galaxy and are recruited as "super soldiers" to help fight an interstellar war. A fun fast read that was very enjoyable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2013
Great idea, fantastic world, terrible protagonist.
I'd give this book a solid four stars if it wasn't for the character of Will Dulac. He doesn't act like any human I've ever known and continually denies human history. He's technically a hippie, but I live in a neighborhood full of hippies and not one of them would continually try to convince an alien race that humans were anything but violent. Sure, we're trying to overcome it, but our history is undeniable -- as the aliens keep insisting to him.
That said, I love this idea that humans are uniquely designed in the universe to fight and kill better than anything else. We only seem sane because it's what we're used to.
I'd give this book a solid four stars if it wasn't for the character of Will Dulac. He doesn't act like any human I've ever known and continually denies human history. He's technically a hippie, but I live in a neighborhood full of hippies and not one of them would continually try to convince an alien race that humans were anything but violent. Sure, we're trying to overcome it, but our history is undeniable -- as the aliens keep insisting to him.
That said, I love this idea that humans are uniquely designed in the universe to fight and kill better than anything else. We only seem sane because it's what we're used to.
May 7, 2018
First, let me say I enjoy the premise of the book of humans being special and unusual among galactic intelligent species, and that's why this book doesn't get one star.
Now that the redeeming stuff is out of the way, on to the bad stuff: heaps and heaps of endless exposition. Characters monologue on and ooon and oooooon about this and that, and I get that some of it is unavoidable when setting up the world and discussing ideas, but holy crap. Every other scene is a couple of characters sitting somewhere taking turns monologing for pages on end. More show, less tell. Much less tell. Does anyone know if mr. Foster has a book about a couple of species of mute aliens going on adventures? I'd read that. And only that.
Now that the redeeming stuff is out of the way, on to the bad stuff: heaps and heaps of endless exposition. Characters monologue on and ooon and oooooon about this and that, and I get that some of it is unavoidable when setting up the world and discussing ideas, but holy crap. Every other scene is a couple of characters sitting somewhere taking turns monologing for pages on end. More show, less tell. Much less tell. Does anyone know if mr. Foster has a book about a couple of species of mute aliens going on adventures? I'd read that. And only that.
April 24, 2020
Notes:
Good Narration, Great Characters, Simple Plot
The reason why it's a 3 vs 4 is due to the fact that I didn't feel like I'm reading about aliens + humans. They all come across as some form of human. Otherwise, a cool SF story.
Good Narration, Great Characters, Simple Plot
The reason why it's a 3 vs 4 is due to the fact that I didn't feel like I'm reading about aliens + humans. They all come across as some form of human. Otherwise, a cool SF story.
November 1, 2017
terrible writing but fun idea
January 26, 2021
Can't understand why folks are so "tough" on this book. It is like 30 years old and times (and tastes) change. I bought the paperbacks when they first came out and have read them countless times. I can open at any (underlined) page and find something enjoyable or thought provoking. Is the book "stale"? Come on it was written 30 YEARS AGO! It's older than most of the reviewers! I keep these worn out, well read paperbacks on my book shelf and they are like having a conversation with an old friend that I have not seen in a while.
January 22, 2021
I mean, it wasn't a bad book. But it really wasn't a good book. The alien dialog just roughened my ability to read this to an astounding degree. It had some interesting introspection about human nature in it but suffered pretty badly from worldbuilder's disease. I wanted to punch the main human character in the face. There were HINTS of stuff that was really enjoyable that kept me going rather than walking away and it was enough I wouldn't say I regret it but...overall this book felt about three times longer than it was in actuality and in the end I guess that's why I'm going to give it 2 stars.
August 17, 2024
Enjoyable story with a less traveled take on integrating with a galactic war.
April 13, 2014
I friend from work recommended this book and even got it for me. When I saw it I was very worried with this cover, quite tacky, very 80s, and a bit gay in a funny way.
But once I went beyond that I was hooked by the idea of the Amplitur, this species, so consumed by their "Purpose" that they have to make sure every being embraces it, even when their "gentle suggestions" don't work and they have to resort to force.
The ancient war between the Amplitur and their slaves (pardon, they are equal within the Purpose) and the Weave, a loose alliance of species which resist them still rages, and the fanatic certainty of the Amplitur is slowly gaining ground.
Is in this context were Humanity is found, and, it turns out, we are supreme, vicious, semi-civilized warriors who can change the course of the interstellar conflict.
So far so good, interesting and well written. However, the human who makes first contact happens to be a pacifist who wants us out of the war, and is willing to lie and try to manipulate the aliens into thinking we are useless and we don't like fighting. This Will Dulac is an annoying, deluded, supremely arrogant musician who thinks he is qualified to decide on the fate of humanity. I found this very irritating.
Also, there is a section about a woman from Mexico City that also annoyed me, since it was full of stereotypes. Must have been the same case with the Rastafarian guy.
A good idea, but with an insufferable main character.
But once I went beyond that I was hooked by the idea of the Amplitur, this species, so consumed by their "Purpose" that they have to make sure every being embraces it, even when their "gentle suggestions" don't work and they have to resort to force.
The ancient war between the Amplitur and their slaves (pardon, they are equal within the Purpose) and the Weave, a loose alliance of species which resist them still rages, and the fanatic certainty of the Amplitur is slowly gaining ground.
Is in this context were Humanity is found, and, it turns out, we are supreme, vicious, semi-civilized warriors who can change the course of the interstellar conflict.
So far so good, interesting and well written. However, the human who makes first contact happens to be a pacifist who wants us out of the war, and is willing to lie and try to manipulate the aliens into thinking we are useless and we don't like fighting. This Will Dulac is an annoying, deluded, supremely arrogant musician who thinks he is qualified to decide on the fate of humanity. I found this very irritating.
Also, there is a section about a woman from Mexico City that also annoyed me, since it was full of stereotypes. Must have been the same case with the Rastafarian guy.
A good idea, but with an insufferable main character.
August 16, 2018
This book was okay, the parts from the alien viewpoints were really good, but good god did Will get on my nerves. Are you even from this planet? Did you not think humans would instinctively rebel against gene manipulation into "The Purpose". Half the book is him railing about how peaceful humans are as a species....on what planet????
I also found it really hard to believe that out of the hundreds of species in the Weave/Ampilur humans are some of the fastest/strongest and most willing to get violent. We aren't even the fastest or strongest being on our own planet, what are the odds that all other species are physically inferior to us.
Don't plan on finishing the series though a TLDR would be nice :)
I also found it really hard to believe that out of the hundreds of species in the Weave/Ampilur humans are some of the fastest/strongest and most willing to get violent. We aren't even the fastest or strongest being on our own planet, what are the odds that all other species are physically inferior to us.
Don't plan on finishing the series though a TLDR would be nice :)
February 9, 2008
This is one of those books I'd like to read again, and then read the other books in the series. I wasn't crazy about it the first time, but I find myself thinking about it and some of the characters that were in it. Any book that makes me think about it years and years after I read it, should definitely get a second read.
December 17, 2022
Like other reviews: cool! fun! concept! but please Will is insufferable as a protagonist (I think he’s actually really well written as a guy with his head up his own butt but that does make good chunks of this book a slog to read cause his characterization as a crappy person is too well done)
January 24, 2023
The first of a trilogy - The Damned Trilogy - A Call to Arms introduces us to an intergalactic war that has been going on for a millennium between the Weave and the Amplitur. The Amplitur wish for nothing other than to bring all intelligent species into their "Purpose" which is guiding them to an end which not even they know. Their goal is not to destroy the people they come across, but to unite them in the Purpose and to spread across the universe. Any self-aware life-forms who join them become a part of them, a part of their unit, losing all individuality. The Weave is a united group of individually thinking peoples who resist the Amplitur and desire to keep all self-aware beings free to be whatever they wish, even if it means fighting. Few people of the galaxy are properly suited to warfare, and thus the war goes slowly. Warfare in space primarily means outwitting and outmaneuvering with minimal bloodshed, for a willingness to kill another intelligent being is truly unthinkable. And then they found Humans and Earth.
Things I Like about this Book: This early-90s hardcore sci-fi book is actually a massive philosophical discussion between multiple viewpoints. Much of the book does not fall too much into the trap of putting way too much "science" into the story and drowning the plot. The antagonists are not cookie-cutter evil baddies, and their rationale for what they do is actually really solid. If I was a lot younger and had not already seen how this type of story ended, I might not have immediately understood why they were so bad.
Things I did Not Like about this Book: As with many books of this genre and particularly of this time period, it starts out with the motherload of exposition dumps over a couple of chapters to the point that I nearly didn't keep going. The human main character seemed strangely optimistic and idealistic about his view of humans and how he portrayed them to the alien visitors and incredibly stubborn in sticking to it. Occasionally, I had difficulty following who was what species.
On a scale of 1-10, I give this book an 8! It was a fantastically thought-provoking story with strong stakes, but with a frustratingly annoying human main character. I do plan to eventually look up the other two in the series. I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone in the later young adult to adult reading level primarily because it is surprisingly heavy in theme and subject. Younger folk might just find it boring or frustrating, but I wouldn't really discourage them from trying.
Things I Like about this Book: This early-90s hardcore sci-fi book is actually a massive philosophical discussion between multiple viewpoints. Much of the book does not fall too much into the trap of putting way too much "science" into the story and drowning the plot. The antagonists are not cookie-cutter evil baddies, and their rationale for what they do is actually really solid. If I was a lot younger and had not already seen how this type of story ended, I might not have immediately understood why they were so bad.
Things I did Not Like about this Book: As with many books of this genre and particularly of this time period, it starts out with the motherload of exposition dumps over a couple of chapters to the point that I nearly didn't keep going. The human main character seemed strangely optimistic and idealistic about his view of humans and how he portrayed them to the alien visitors and incredibly stubborn in sticking to it. Occasionally, I had difficulty following who was what species.
On a scale of 1-10, I give this book an 8! It was a fantastically thought-provoking story with strong stakes, but with a frustratingly annoying human main character. I do plan to eventually look up the other two in the series. I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone in the later young adult to adult reading level primarily because it is surprisingly heavy in theme and subject. Younger folk might just find it boring or frustrating, but I wouldn't really discourage them from trying.
August 17, 2017
If you’re into world building, first contact, and novels told from the perspective of aliens, you will likely enjoy this novel. It’s not the most exciting novel in terms of action, it’s a great foray into alien cultures discovering us (as opposed to the other way around) and is accompanied by Foster’s wonderful ability to provide nuance and specificity to alien cultures in a way that feels unique and believable. If you’re also partial to the Tumblr threads about how humans are the “space orcs” of the universe, this novel is basically just that. I enjoyed the novel greatly, especially regarding how the aliens are confused by our geology, languages, and culture. What would our world have been like if we had one continent?
Yet, as many reviewers have noted, the main human character is an insufferable, whiny, pretentious, pedantic asshole. You basically want to punch him in the face repeatedly. No wonder he’s single (no seriously, he mentions it at one point and I laughed out loud because there are many many obvious reasons why). I wonder what Foster’s motive was for creating such a character as a protagonist. Perhaps he was trying to show that sometimes war is necessary for self-defense and trying to prevent it causes more harm than good? Perhaps he didn’t realize how annoying Will was? Anyway, Will is a douche.
But, luckily, there are other characters and if you try to ignore Will like you do that uncle you just can’t stand at family parties, it’s not so bad. In fact, I’d argue that the real main character is the Massood guy (ok, so I read this book a couple weeks ago and can’t remember his name), but he was likeable, relatable, and while he wasn’t entirely deep, I cared about him . While Foster never seems to have a female main character (except in Diuturnity’s Dawn) in his novels, women are featured as capable and intelligent, which I appreciated.
Overall, if you like Foster’s novels, this seems like the place where he’s put a lot of concepts he probably wanted to include in the Thranx/Flinx concept, but likely couldn’t fit in (or thought of later), but it also doesn’t just feel like a cheap spin-off of his main universe. I’ll definitely read the other two in the series (hopefully Will learns some humility).
Yet, as many reviewers have noted, the main human character is an insufferable, whiny, pretentious, pedantic asshole. You basically want to punch him in the face repeatedly. No wonder he’s single (no seriously, he mentions it at one point and I laughed out loud because there are many many obvious reasons why). I wonder what Foster’s motive was for creating such a character as a protagonist. Perhaps he was trying to show that sometimes war is necessary for self-defense and trying to prevent it causes more harm than good? Perhaps he didn’t realize how annoying Will was? Anyway, Will is a douche.
But, luckily, there are other characters and if you try to ignore Will like you do that uncle you just can’t stand at family parties, it’s not so bad. In fact, I’d argue that the real main character is the Massood guy (ok, so I read this book a couple weeks ago and can’t remember his name), but he was likeable, relatable, and while he wasn’t entirely deep, I cared about him . While Foster never seems to have a female main character (except in Diuturnity’s Dawn) in his novels, women are featured as capable and intelligent, which I appreciated.
Overall, if you like Foster’s novels, this seems like the place where he’s put a lot of concepts he probably wanted to include in the Thranx/Flinx concept, but likely couldn’t fit in (or thought of later), but it also doesn’t just feel like a cheap spin-off of his main universe. I’ll definitely read the other two in the series (hopefully Will learns some humility).
December 29, 2013
I read this book when I was in college and since those days
I've re-read this book several times. Each time I read it,
the book does not fail to entertain and I always finish the
book feeling that it was time well spent.
I own a copy and since it's Christmas break, I found time to
re-read this again :-) Just finished it yesterday after reading
on and off for 3 days.
Not to give anything away, but lots of sci-Fi fans will like
this book. I've always enjoyed reading Alan Dean Foster books,
because he writes with such a clear and enjoyable style. His
books always features lots of interactions and conversations
among the characters that move the story along. There are
no stale scenes and there are always events that are memorable
and are a joy to read.
I like this book because it's a different take. While aliens
have advanced technology they lack something that humans
have which is a propensity for violence and war making. While
this view is extreme, the idea has merits since even Darwin
has stated that human evolution is a result of "survival of the
fittest". And presently, humans have evolved to be at the
pinnacle of life on Earth.
It's an interesting twist because we always read of stories or
watched movies, where aliens are always advanced or out to eat
us and we just survive because of luck or some sort of ingenuity
on our part. But in this series, humans are at the top of the
food chain and other alien races want us in their camp because
we are good at warcraft and they're not (why this is so, is
explained in the book).
Anyways, I really enjoyed this book and like I said I've read
this and re-read several times already and I will probably go
on reading it a few more times in the future.
Really recommend this to all sci-Fi fans.
I've re-read this book several times. Each time I read it,
the book does not fail to entertain and I always finish the
book feeling that it was time well spent.
I own a copy and since it's Christmas break, I found time to
re-read this again :-) Just finished it yesterday after reading
on and off for 3 days.
Not to give anything away, but lots of sci-Fi fans will like
this book. I've always enjoyed reading Alan Dean Foster books,
because he writes with such a clear and enjoyable style. His
books always features lots of interactions and conversations
among the characters that move the story along. There are
no stale scenes and there are always events that are memorable
and are a joy to read.
I like this book because it's a different take. While aliens
have advanced technology they lack something that humans
have which is a propensity for violence and war making. While
this view is extreme, the idea has merits since even Darwin
has stated that human evolution is a result of "survival of the
fittest". And presently, humans have evolved to be at the
pinnacle of life on Earth.
It's an interesting twist because we always read of stories or
watched movies, where aliens are always advanced or out to eat
us and we just survive because of luck or some sort of ingenuity
on our part. But in this series, humans are at the top of the
food chain and other alien races want us in their camp because
we are good at warcraft and they're not (why this is so, is
explained in the book).
Anyways, I really enjoyed this book and like I said I've read
this and re-read several times already and I will probably go
on reading it a few more times in the future.
Really recommend this to all sci-Fi fans.
September 18, 2024
The author has concocted an entertaining story where humans are considered valuable allies in a war between a race who spout the ideation of The Purpose. This race, Tthe Amplitur, bioengineers the brains of their allies, brainwashing them so that they cannot see any truth but that of The Purpose.
Members of The Weave, on the other hand, look for allies to fight in the war between The Purpose and The Weave, but never insist on a race fighting.
Members of The Weave discover humans on Earth. They are able to manufacture gold, and with this gold, convince some humans to be trained to fight in their war against The Purpose. It turns out that humans are magnificent at fighting:
Chief-of-project hesitated briefly. 'conflict these creatures transforms in ways they themselves are unaware of. They take to combat as to a narcotic. Their endocrine and nervous systems function differently. The fact that for the first time in their racial history they were fighting creatures other than their own kind seemed only further to energize them.'
...
'They fight like machines.' the elderly hivistahm searched for the best way to convey her feelings. 'not out of control but not as we would fight, either. This is not a conscious choice they make but something with them instinctive, something in their racial psyche deeply ingrained. Out of the other mature species civilization has bred it. Even the massood must make themselves fight.' "
moreover, when members of The Weave merge their minds with humans, they are almost blasted in their brains. The same thing happens with the Amplitur, when they probe a human's brain. Their brains are blasted.
".. it was of Paramount importance to secure additional live specimens.
The rest would be up to the Amplitur's unsurpassed bioengineers. The nature of the creatures' defense mechanism could be isolated, then analyzed and overcome or otherwise rendered harmless. Only then could these beings provide fertile ground for propagation of the purpose. First it was vital to remove their lingering primitive characteristics, both mental and physical. the result would be a happy and content population."
These Amplitur can reach into a being's mind and cause the being to want to do something against its own instinct. However,
" 'you are convinced from your examination of the recordings executed during the interrogation procedure that the native had no understanding of what occurred when repeat-close-Looker's mind touched his?'
'there is nothing to indicate awareness. As you observed, it realized what repeat-close-looker was attempting, but it in no way indicated it had consciousness of a method of resistance.
'Something lies buried within the native nervous system; something they themselves are unaware of. A cerebral twist, a specific Gene: it is only a matter of isolating and identifying it. Given time we may even bend it to our advantage. It is nothing more than a chemical puzzle to be solved.' "
Thus, the Amplitur withdraw from our solar system. The Weave believe they've won the fight for Earth, but the fact that this is only the first book in the series lets me know this is only a temporary withdrawal.
" . . . ' they're pulling out; the Crigolit, Ashregan, Molitar, acaria, the Amplitur themselves. All of them, everywhere. Your Gobi and great plains, the Ukraine and Matto Grosso, even those bases they had managed to secure. Shuttles have been coming and going all morning. Our forces took several of them out before they could escape, and at least one warship that didn't slip back into Underspace quickly enough.' "
A mated couple of the Massood discuss why humans are not liked as a species, but individually:
" 'exactly.' Her gaze roved The Wide corridor, so unlike the cramped quarters of the original base. 'I like some of the humans we have met here, but I confess I can only make myself warm to them as individuals and not as a species. When they are brought together in numbers something happens to them. They change.'
'research continues,' he told her. 'some scientists believe it may have something to do with pheromones. Others delve among the esoteric and the outrageous in search of explanations. It is not something to trouble the massood. I gladly leave it to curse the sleepings of S'von and give hisvistahm. It is easier simply to go where we are told and fight until we have won or lost. There is no ambivalence in combat.' "
But,
"In the first part of his second year on Kantaria the planet they were sent to After Earth] Caldaq lost Jaruselka."
" it wasn't even a planned attack which had caught them. Jaruselka had been riding in another air car, supervising forward fire and safe from direct interdiction as her craft hugged the protective mountainside. The Crigolit floaters were as surprised as anyone when they stumbled unchallenged into the main part of the attacking force. They fired only to cover their retreat as they fled hastily toward the Canyon from which they had emerged.
An explosive projectile, fired wildly by a fleeing floater pilot who probably never sighted on his target, had struck the granite wall above jaruselta's air car, blasting a huge gouge in the sheer Cliff face. The car's pilot didn't have a chance to react and probably never knew what had happened. Countermeasures designed to defeat incoming projectiles and energy beams did not even react to the tons of Falling Rock which struck the vehicle and overwhelmed its stabilizers, sending it tumbling and crashing into the canyon below."
This is the female of the couple we have come to love. Caldaq, her "husband," was the first one to contact Will Dulac. he was the captain of the ship that made the Expedition to earth. This was very sad.
Caldaq continues to try to make his fellow Weave species understand that humans are dangerous and should not be part of the Weave. It falls on deaf ears because of humans' extraordinary fighting ability, and their ability to shun Amplitur mind probes. The physician whose mind was first injured by trying to probe a human's mind tells Caldaq:
" 'at least they cannot now themselves exterminate. By providing them with a common enemy we have given them Unity as a species, something they might otherwise never have achieved. Did you know that they were their own planet destroying? They were dying in the grip of their own perverted instincts. They spoke contradictory nonsense like "fighting for peace." We have them the outlet they needed given. We have given them time. And in time we will give them civilization.' "
Fun to pretend to be extraterrestrials talking about humans'faults . I Think this is very amusing. When an author makes humans valuable to extraterrestrials to fight in their Wars, because of their instinct for violence, it makes good reading.
Members of The Weave, on the other hand, look for allies to fight in the war between The Purpose and The Weave, but never insist on a race fighting.
Members of The Weave discover humans on Earth. They are able to manufacture gold, and with this gold, convince some humans to be trained to fight in their war against The Purpose. It turns out that humans are magnificent at fighting:
Chief-of-project hesitated briefly. 'conflict these creatures transforms in ways they themselves are unaware of. They take to combat as to a narcotic. Their endocrine and nervous systems function differently. The fact that for the first time in their racial history they were fighting creatures other than their own kind seemed only further to energize them.'
...
'They fight like machines.' the elderly hivistahm searched for the best way to convey her feelings. 'not out of control but not as we would fight, either. This is not a conscious choice they make but something with them instinctive, something in their racial psyche deeply ingrained. Out of the other mature species civilization has bred it. Even the massood must make themselves fight.' "
moreover, when members of The Weave merge their minds with humans, they are almost blasted in their brains. The same thing happens with the Amplitur, when they probe a human's brain. Their brains are blasted.
".. it was of Paramount importance to secure additional live specimens.
The rest would be up to the Amplitur's unsurpassed bioengineers. The nature of the creatures' defense mechanism could be isolated, then analyzed and overcome or otherwise rendered harmless. Only then could these beings provide fertile ground for propagation of the purpose. First it was vital to remove their lingering primitive characteristics, both mental and physical. the result would be a happy and content population."
These Amplitur can reach into a being's mind and cause the being to want to do something against its own instinct. However,
" 'you are convinced from your examination of the recordings executed during the interrogation procedure that the native had no understanding of what occurred when repeat-close-Looker's mind touched his?'
'there is nothing to indicate awareness. As you observed, it realized what repeat-close-looker was attempting, but it in no way indicated it had consciousness of a method of resistance.
'Something lies buried within the native nervous system; something they themselves are unaware of. A cerebral twist, a specific Gene: it is only a matter of isolating and identifying it. Given time we may even bend it to our advantage. It is nothing more than a chemical puzzle to be solved.' "
Thus, the Amplitur withdraw from our solar system. The Weave believe they've won the fight for Earth, but the fact that this is only the first book in the series lets me know this is only a temporary withdrawal.
" . . . ' they're pulling out; the Crigolit, Ashregan, Molitar, acaria, the Amplitur themselves. All of them, everywhere. Your Gobi and great plains, the Ukraine and Matto Grosso, even those bases they had managed to secure. Shuttles have been coming and going all morning. Our forces took several of them out before they could escape, and at least one warship that didn't slip back into Underspace quickly enough.' "
A mated couple of the Massood discuss why humans are not liked as a species, but individually:
" 'exactly.' Her gaze roved The Wide corridor, so unlike the cramped quarters of the original base. 'I like some of the humans we have met here, but I confess I can only make myself warm to them as individuals and not as a species. When they are brought together in numbers something happens to them. They change.'
'research continues,' he told her. 'some scientists believe it may have something to do with pheromones. Others delve among the esoteric and the outrageous in search of explanations. It is not something to trouble the massood. I gladly leave it to curse the sleepings of S'von and give hisvistahm. It is easier simply to go where we are told and fight until we have won or lost. There is no ambivalence in combat.' "
But,
"In the first part of his second year on Kantaria the planet they were sent to After Earth] Caldaq lost Jaruselka."
" it wasn't even a planned attack which had caught them. Jaruselka had been riding in another air car, supervising forward fire and safe from direct interdiction as her craft hugged the protective mountainside. The Crigolit floaters were as surprised as anyone when they stumbled unchallenged into the main part of the attacking force. They fired only to cover their retreat as they fled hastily toward the Canyon from which they had emerged.
An explosive projectile, fired wildly by a fleeing floater pilot who probably never sighted on his target, had struck the granite wall above jaruselta's air car, blasting a huge gouge in the sheer Cliff face. The car's pilot didn't have a chance to react and probably never knew what had happened. Countermeasures designed to defeat incoming projectiles and energy beams did not even react to the tons of Falling Rock which struck the vehicle and overwhelmed its stabilizers, sending it tumbling and crashing into the canyon below."
This is the female of the couple we have come to love. Caldaq, her "husband," was the first one to contact Will Dulac. he was the captain of the ship that made the Expedition to earth. This was very sad.
Caldaq continues to try to make his fellow Weave species understand that humans are dangerous and should not be part of the Weave. It falls on deaf ears because of humans' extraordinary fighting ability, and their ability to shun Amplitur mind probes. The physician whose mind was first injured by trying to probe a human's mind tells Caldaq:
" 'at least they cannot now themselves exterminate. By providing them with a common enemy we have given them Unity as a species, something they might otherwise never have achieved. Did you know that they were their own planet destroying? They were dying in the grip of their own perverted instincts. They spoke contradictory nonsense like "fighting for peace." We have them the outlet they needed given. We have given them time. And in time we will give them civilization.' "
Fun to pretend to be extraterrestrials talking about humans'faults . I Think this is very amusing. When an author makes humans valuable to extraterrestrials to fight in their Wars, because of their instinct for violence, it makes good reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2020
The novel has a very interesting premise, and who doesn't like the idea of humans as the most badass species in the galaxy?
But the narrative suffers from two main problems. Firstly, way too much exposition. Even though that universe is interesting, it's just unashamedly explained by the narrator like some fan wiki page. I'm surprised that Foster didn't apply the main rule for exposition, which is to let the universe he created progressively explain itself throughout the novel with events and conversations delivering hints of information, rather than what this book does, which is simply laying it all out in endless paragraphs like some Codex.
Secondly, and this is the worst problem here, the author constantly reminds the reader of the same points, over, and over, and over again. If I got a dollar for every time it's said that humans are irrational and uncivilized, and if I had a potato for each time the insufferable main character Will Dulac says humans are striving for peace, I'd probably have 50 dollars and enough to make a potato salad for 30 people.
So this alliance of alien species discover Earth and humanity, and try to integrate them in their alliance system because they need military help to fight another alien empire, but for some reason the author had the friendly aliens focus on the most insignificant, average nobodies as "ambassadors" for humanity. We never really get much geopolitical drama for such a wondrous first contact event.
Given the admittedly quite imaginative premise, the end result was highly unsatisfying in my opinion.
But the narrative suffers from two main problems. Firstly, way too much exposition. Even though that universe is interesting, it's just unashamedly explained by the narrator like some fan wiki page. I'm surprised that Foster didn't apply the main rule for exposition, which is to let the universe he created progressively explain itself throughout the novel with events and conversations delivering hints of information, rather than what this book does, which is simply laying it all out in endless paragraphs like some Codex.
Secondly, and this is the worst problem here, the author constantly reminds the reader of the same points, over, and over, and over again. If I got a dollar for every time it's said that humans are irrational and uncivilized, and if I had a potato for each time the insufferable main character Will Dulac says humans are striving for peace, I'd probably have 50 dollars and enough to make a potato salad for 30 people.
So this alliance of alien species discover Earth and humanity, and try to integrate them in their alliance system because they need military help to fight another alien empire, but for some reason the author had the friendly aliens focus on the most insignificant, average nobodies as "ambassadors" for humanity. We never really get much geopolitical drama for such a wondrous first contact event.
Given the admittedly quite imaginative premise, the end result was highly unsatisfying in my opinion.
May 13, 2016
This book stands out from typical sci-fi in that the human race is not really the focus of the story, which begins and ends with aliens that will encounter humans. It also has a human protagonist who is almost a caricature of a pacifist to the point that I couldn't really enjoy his sections. I understand pacifism as a reasoned approach, but there's a point where it is ridiculous. Or maybe that's me; I sympathized with the willingness to blow away the bad aliens. I believe that's built into us genetically, which is why you don't see all those cousins of homo sapiens around any more. Mission accomplished. Suck on that Bilbo Baggins.
May 8, 2017
A good read for those liking alien contact stories. If you're fascinated by interactions of other cultures, especially those that don't exist, you'll enjoy this and the entire series. If you want to see mankind from the outside in, yep - this is a good one.
I always enjoy Alan Dean Foster's take on things. His outside of the box, not taking something for granted way of thinking has always been inspiring.
He's a tireless writer, and I've read most of his books. My picky brain doesn't like most other fantasy/sci-fi authors.
I always enjoy Alan Dean Foster's take on things. His outside of the box, not taking something for granted way of thinking has always been inspiring.
He's a tireless writer, and I've read most of his books. My picky brain doesn't like most other fantasy/sci-fi authors.
February 4, 2017
I would consider this one of the greatest easy-to-read science fiction books about humanity's reason for exploring space ever. There are so many stories about aliens visiting Earth and destroying us, so many more about us overtaking aliens, but in this case it is the aliens that come for our help... to fight other aliens in a massive galactic war - a war where humanity has a unique edge.
May 21, 2019
I really like Earth as space Australia. I first read this as a kid, and re read after I tripped across Humans are space-orcs meme.
I still really like the book and the themes it explores. Though the main human characters myopic lack of self awareness gets really annoying at times. It's like he's authorially incapable of self reflection. Otherwise really good.
I still really like the book and the themes it explores. Though the main human characters myopic lack of self awareness gets really annoying at times. It's like he's authorially incapable of self reflection. Otherwise really good.
September 13, 2012
This book is amazing as an absolutely unique take on violence and war in humanity. It was never the most popular or successful, but the underlying theme, combined with a truly stunning reveal at the end, make it quite memorable. Definitely worth the time.
October 2, 2019
I love this Book!
This is one of Alan Dean Fosters best!
This is one of Alan Dean Fosters best!
September 28, 2020
As a thought experiment and premise for a story, I give this book four stars. For execution and delivery on the potential of that premise, my overall rating drops to two stars. The gulf between what could have been, or perhaps what the author thought the reader's experience would be at his amazing and brilliant prose, is hard to understate.
I can get over the ridiculously one-note and flat alien characters, mostly because I have a very soft spot for aliens of any kind and love to see interesting depictions that are more than green skin or bumpy foreheads. I can also excuse the occasional use of "fancy" words that seem to be included purely to impress the reader with the author's stupendous vocabulary as a stylistic choice to represent an "alien" perspective. If I'm being even more generous, I can even allow for one of the alien races speaking in a way that randomly puts some verbs at the end of the sentence (even though those sentences are coming through an advanced translator that presumably has to deal with much more difficult grammatical translation challenges).
But you know what really grinds my gears? The complete and utter non-surprise that was all of the supposed Big Reveals throughout the story. First, every single one is easy to see coming long ahead of time. Worse, the climactic setup for what is apparently leading into the central conflict for the rest of the series is talked about THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE BOOK. It's front-and-center as a primary philosophical argument from multiple characters, then dropped at the end as if we're supposed to be shocked with the insight of the speaker.
The only reason I'm leaving this at two stars and not one is because I reserve the latter for books that are poorly edited, overly sexist (because let's face it, being a sci-fi fan means SOME amount of misogyny is unavoidable), racist, ignorant or in some other way blatantly offensive.
Oh, and if I could do half stars, we'd get to 2.5 stars out of 5 because I'm also a big sucker for any kind of "fish out of water" reflection on human society/technology. That's always fun, but it's not enough to save this book from all its myriad flaws and disappointing ability to deliver on the potential of, and I'll say this again, a truly great and interesting setup.
I can get over the ridiculously one-note and flat alien characters, mostly because I have a very soft spot for aliens of any kind and love to see interesting depictions that are more than green skin or bumpy foreheads. I can also excuse the occasional use of "fancy" words that seem to be included purely to impress the reader with the author's stupendous vocabulary as a stylistic choice to represent an "alien" perspective. If I'm being even more generous, I can even allow for one of the alien races speaking in a way that randomly puts some verbs at the end of the sentence (even though those sentences are coming through an advanced translator that presumably has to deal with much more difficult grammatical translation challenges).
But you know what really grinds my gears? The complete and utter non-surprise that was all of the supposed Big Reveals throughout the story. First, every single one is easy to see coming long ahead of time. Worse, the climactic setup for what is apparently leading into the central conflict for the rest of the series is talked about THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE BOOK. It's front-and-center as a primary philosophical argument from multiple characters, then dropped at the end as if we're supposed to be shocked with the insight of the speaker.
The only reason I'm leaving this at two stars and not one is because I reserve the latter for books that are poorly edited, overly sexist (because let's face it, being a sci-fi fan means SOME amount of misogyny is unavoidable), racist, ignorant or in some other way blatantly offensive.
Oh, and if I could do half stars, we'd get to 2.5 stars out of 5 because I'm also a big sucker for any kind of "fish out of water" reflection on human society/technology. That's always fun, but it's not enough to save this book from all its myriad flaws and disappointing ability to deliver on the potential of, and I'll say this again, a truly great and interesting setup.
October 25, 2024
Having finished and loved the entire Humanx collection and 1/2 of Pip/Flinx (will finish all of them), I wanted to venture out into other ADFs stuff. Not sure I should have started with this - it only comes as the trilogy for Kindle...so, I have two more of this series to attempt. In a word - this sorta sucked big chunks. Sorry Alan, I dig you - Book#1 isn't up to what I consider to be your standards.
Like nearly everyone has mentioned....Will (aka: White Dudes for Harris) Dulac is the worst protag I think I've ever encountered. I'm cool with a anti-hero or a weakling with an exceptional arch into badass - but this cat is just annoying AF.
You can be anti-war - everyone is to varying degrees...this bung keeps having the same wimpy convos over and over and over. Didn't ADF read this and say - um, yeah...it's a bit repetitive?
Every new person he encounters it's the same crap. I hate guns, humans are peaceful...blah blah blah, the jerk thinks he speaks for the entire planet. Not me, jack. I'll fight with the Weave to save my planet. Equally, when Will isn't whining, the Weave Allies are all moaning about how much humans love war and are super duper good at fighting. Hell, even a bunch of schleprocks that Will recruited off the dirty streets in Belize turned out to be capable fighters...I didn't buy for one bit that a bunch of weed-smoking near homeless goofballs could be trained to be heroic slayers of an advanced alien force. Mr. Foster - that's dumb.
Amusingly, Will (Soy Latte ) Dulac eventually gets red-pilled. Nice turn events. Next, he's gonna buy a Rubicon, smoke sticks & drink single malt (and be like me, a true hero).
My other beef is that events happen suddenly. It's hard to keep up & it really kept me from getting into any groove and getting into the story. Aliens meet the press and two pages later...the whole world is aware of the Amplitur and willing to fight.
On a positive note, when the POV shifts to the Amplitur it gets a little better.
I've read Will isn't in Book 2 - so, that's a win...and I'll get to it eventually.
Like nearly everyone has mentioned....Will (aka: White Dudes for Harris) Dulac is the worst protag I think I've ever encountered. I'm cool with a anti-hero or a weakling with an exceptional arch into badass - but this cat is just annoying AF.
You can be anti-war - everyone is to varying degrees...this bung keeps having the same wimpy convos over and over and over. Didn't ADF read this and say - um, yeah...it's a bit repetitive?
Every new person he encounters it's the same crap. I hate guns, humans are peaceful...blah blah blah, the jerk thinks he speaks for the entire planet. Not me, jack. I'll fight with the Weave to save my planet. Equally, when Will isn't whining, the Weave Allies are all moaning about how much humans love war and are super duper good at fighting. Hell, even a bunch of schleprocks that Will recruited off the dirty streets in Belize turned out to be capable fighters...I didn't buy for one bit that a bunch of weed-smoking near homeless goofballs could be trained to be heroic slayers of an advanced alien force. Mr. Foster - that's dumb.
Amusingly, Will (Soy Latte ) Dulac eventually gets red-pilled. Nice turn events. Next, he's gonna buy a Rubicon, smoke sticks & drink single malt (and be like me, a true hero).
My other beef is that events happen suddenly. It's hard to keep up & it really kept me from getting into any groove and getting into the story. Aliens meet the press and two pages later...the whole world is aware of the Amplitur and willing to fight.
On a positive note, when the POV shifts to the Amplitur it gets a little better.
I've read Will isn't in Book 2 - so, that's a win...and I'll get to it eventually.
January 2, 2024
Overall it’s a decent book though predictable which would give it 4 stars but the human main protagonist alone is so frustrating and frankly delusional it brings the enjoyment significantly down.
“ "After all, he was a professor, an educated, sophisticated man. The so-called recruiters the aliens intended to use consisted of an old drunk, an ignorant fisherman, and some poor boys literally taken off the streets. The rest were little better. Whose influence was most likely to persuade, theirs or his?"”
He’s like the epitome of an ivory tower professor making up BS excuses to maintain his idiotic beliefs. First he purposefully takes an unrepresentative sample despite promising otherwise explicitly to lie and delude the aliens then claims that sample actually wasn’t representative and keeps claiming it’s a minority when objectively as any normal human could tell you, he’s a crazy abnormality and that it’s not our fight… so we should let them take on the rest of the universe and fight them alone, in ww2 he’d probably be arguing for the US to not get involved in Europe as it’s not their fight. He would rather the rest of the universe die because god forbid his meaningless life is impacted. He also believes people only fight due to a lack of meaning but given his life lacks any meaning too, it’s ironic and somehow thinks he speaks for the species when he says we hate fighting. Who’s he kidding: like does he know anything? And even when the other aliens are about to invade and completely committed to their ideology, he believes we shouldn’t prepare to fight but reason with them, You would have as much chance reasoning with the Nazis. And because he lacks any will to fight and his life lacks meaning, he believes you’d only ever fight for money and when the planet unites to fight, he’s still very sour over this.
On the plus side, the rest of the cast isn’t this frustrating.
“ "After all, he was a professor, an educated, sophisticated man. The so-called recruiters the aliens intended to use consisted of an old drunk, an ignorant fisherman, and some poor boys literally taken off the streets. The rest were little better. Whose influence was most likely to persuade, theirs or his?"”
He’s like the epitome of an ivory tower professor making up BS excuses to maintain his idiotic beliefs. First he purposefully takes an unrepresentative sample despite promising otherwise explicitly to lie and delude the aliens then claims that sample actually wasn’t representative and keeps claiming it’s a minority when objectively as any normal human could tell you, he’s a crazy abnormality and that it’s not our fight… so we should let them take on the rest of the universe and fight them alone, in ww2 he’d probably be arguing for the US to not get involved in Europe as it’s not their fight. He would rather the rest of the universe die because god forbid his meaningless life is impacted. He also believes people only fight due to a lack of meaning but given his life lacks any meaning too, it’s ironic and somehow thinks he speaks for the species when he says we hate fighting. Who’s he kidding: like does he know anything? And even when the other aliens are about to invade and completely committed to their ideology, he believes we shouldn’t prepare to fight but reason with them, You would have as much chance reasoning with the Nazis. And because he lacks any will to fight and his life lacks meaning, he believes you’d only ever fight for money and when the planet unites to fight, he’s still very sour over this.
On the plus side, the rest of the cast isn’t this frustrating.
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