As Harmony's Oversoul grows weaker, a great warrior has arisen to challenge its bans. His name is Moozh, and he has won control of an army using forbidden technology. Now he is aiming his soldiers at the city of Basilica, that strong fortress above the Plain.

Basilica remains in turmoil. Wetchik and his sons are not strong enough to stop a army. Can Rasa and her allies defeat him through intrigue, or will Moozh take the city and all who are in it?

Nafai and his family have been prepared by the Oversoul to make the long journey back to earth, but first they need to clear up a few things in Basilica. They need to gather their wives and supplies. With General Moozh angling for a bloodless capture of the city and Nafai's family entrenched in his plans, they must obey the Oversoul and divert Moozh's schemes.
This "bridge" book could have been rather boring, but Card's skill in bringing tension to every machination is its saving grace. The suspense continues and the plans of the Oversoul are revealed at an excellent pace. The characters are flawed and genuine; even if the reader doesn't like them most of the time, one is still interested to know what happens to them. Looking forward to The Ships of Earth so we can get this show on the road! ( )

"...Overall, I like The Call of Earth much better than its predecessor, not only because the pacing of events is more to my liking, but because of the characters as well. There is much more of Luet in this book, as I was hoping. She was easily my favorite character, and she still is, though there is a lot of her older sister, the raveler Hushidh, in this one as well, and she's equally interesting to me...As for the ending, I liked how things wrap up. Card leaves off with enough tension to make me very curious about what happens next, but without it being an actual cliffhanger; we do get a resolution first to other events, and even though I ended up correctly guessing the outcome, I was still pretty satisfied with it..."

For full review, please visit me at Here Be Bookwyrms on Blogger:

http://herebebookwyrms.blogspot.com/2012/07/call-of-earth.html ( )

The sons of Volemak have escaped the temptations of their former home, Basilica, at the behest of the all-knowing Oversoul. However, in order to prepare them for their eventual journey back to Earth, the Oversoul requires that these expatriates retrieve something else from Basilica - the women that are or will become their wives. Unbeknownst to them, however, a rogue military mastermind has Basilica in his sights and without the intervention of the Oversoul, the city will fall.

I enjoyed this book more than the first. For one, Nafai begins to grow up. For another, Moozsh is really compelling antagonist. His methods for combating the Oversoul are ingenious. His ability to plan and to predict are (of course - this is fiction) amazing. The scene where Moozsh manages to convince the Basilican Gate Guard to allow Moozsh to kill him for the good of Basilica when Moozsh is planning to conquer the city shows both his ruthlessness and his charisma. It's a scary thing.

I know that in some other reviews, people have related that this series is Card's retelling of either the Bible or the Book of Mormon. I can't really comment on that - but it certainly did sound to me like a retelling of the story of Noah. Especially with the addition of Shedemai and her 12 cases of seeds and embryos. It's not two of each species, but it encompasses the essence of the story. Additionally when you think of the 40 days and 40 nights of flood versus the 40 million years of existence on Harmony... Well, I think the parallels are too close for it to be accidental. On the other hand, nothing is ever explicitly stated. It feels almost like those pop culture references that litter the Shrek movies or the Simpsons... ( )

The Call of Earth is the second book in the series by Orson Scott Card. It continues the eventual return to Earth of a people living on a planet called Harmony. The main characters are guided by the Oversoul, a computer satellite that guides them as their god.
The plot of this book is nearly non-existent, but Card is a master of characterization. There really isn't much that actually happens beyond talking amongst the characters, but because he does it so well, the book is very intriguing. I can't say there was really any time that I was ever bored, despite the lack of action. I look forward to the third book in the series. 4/5 stars ( )