Call to Arms

Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 2

De: Joshua Dalzelle

Narrado por: Mark Boyett

From Joshua Dalzelle comes the follow-up to the number-one best seller Warship. Captain Jackson Wolfe survived the initial incursion of a vicious alien species into human space...barely. He had assumed the juggernaut that had devastated three Terran systems was the herald for a full invasion, but for the last few years it has been eerily quiet along the Frontier. Jackson now struggles to convince the Confederate leadership the threat is still imminent and needs to be taken seriously. While powerful factions make backroom deals, he is desperate to find irrefutable proof that the invaders are coming, and if humanity expects to survive they must marshal their forces and make a stand before it's too late.

©2016 Joshua Dalzelle (P)2016 Podium Audio

A solid middle book in the series

Sci-fi authors do love their tropes, especially when they write a series focused on the discovery of an overwhelming alien threat, which has been done many times before. Invariably, after it becomes obvious that humanity is not prepared and faces a real possibility of being wiped out, the story turns inward and the human infighting commences. This is also where I sigh as the story goes on a tangent from the storyline that has my attention; however, much like he did in book one,  Joshua Dalzelle embraces this typical trope and finds a way to deliver a compelling story anyway. This means that Call to Arms is more about human interactions than it is about the alien threat looming in the distance, but it is still worthy of your attention and it does set things up nicely for the series finale.

Humanity has no answers for the threat coming its way from the aliens now known as the Phage but they do have Captain Jackson Wolfe and he better be enough. Unfortunately, Captain Wolfe is sent on a mission to deal with a conflict between human factions, and that means the Phage are free to do as they will. While trying to carry out his mission as quickly as possible Wolfe comes across some information that leads him to distrust his leadership even more than he already does and he plans to get to the bottom of it. Once again he teams up with CIS Operative Pike to get to the truth of matters while everyone hopes that the Phage continue to stall their advance for an unknown reason.

Luckily, things do finally turn to the Phage towards the end of the book and the story picks up momentum towards a final desperate confrontation. This is where Dalzelle both disappointed and intrigued me. After a Deus Ex Machina moment that left me thinking the series had taken a turn for the worse there was once again an epilogue that piqued my interest for the third and final book in the series. With the context that I now have after completing the entire series I can look back on the event that caused me to doubt the author and know that it fits into the story better than it initially seemed.

Mark Boyett does another excellent job on the narration, and without a doubt his reading makes this one a worthy listen.

Still good

Again, superior narration of a good story. Almost calls to mind the fabulous "Master and Commander" series of British naval adventures. Same concept, anyway. Very much the space navy culture, so you have to like that genre. The author plays a bit fast and loose with the laws of astrophysics, but this doesn't damage the general plausibility of plot, politics, tactics, technology or future history. Looking forward to the next in series.

Cinematic start was awkward, got way beater

The beginning of the book was awkward and overly action-packed - which was not what I expected and I almost gave up on it all together. I stuck it out though, and after the first chapter or two, the author started letting me in on what the heck was going on. I will definitely be looking forward to the 3rd book of this series.

read the first and will read the last!

still loving the story and the world the author created. the main thing that is great about this series to me is how ship life and combat is described. feels very authentic and real. the action in the space battles are frantic and I can emphasize with the characters as they struggle to pull put a win.
the reason I gave a little lower score for the story was because of the ending.

SPOILER ALERT!

The timely arrival of the mysterious and powerful ships felt like a deux ex machina. very out of nowhere for me but I think it may be tied with the authors earlier books. this series is my introduction to the universe. so I will be reading the other ones to get more context. but I did like how the author turned the "win" into a more devastating loss for humanity.

This is a great continuiation of the series.

Loved it and would fully recommend this book as the story keeps you coming back for more.

passionnant

ce que jaime le plus dans cette serie c'est que la description des batailles me font penser a des batailles entre sous-marins. la description me permet de créer une séquence visuelle dans mon esprit qui semble se derouler en temps réel.

Hunt for Red October - in space!

fun continuation of the series. Lots of "tactical speak" which I love. Looking forward to next book.

It's so good!!

I love space exploration war books, movies and TV. This one Does the characters justice, has incredible descriptions and I dare to say a new story. I love Black Fleet!! Hurry up book 3.

Scifi at its Best!!!!

The plot thickens like a good rue lol. The fleet action only gets better.

A primer on military strategy in space

Loved this book. The space battles are epic and the interpersonal stories are grounded in reality. Already have Book 3 queued up!