Call To Arms By Joshua Dalzelle: An Analysis

Call to Arms is the second part of the Black Fleet Trilogy by Joshua Dalzelle, a revered science fiction author with a penchant for space opera.

Captain Jackson Wolfe's life did not get any easier after he successfully evaded the alien threat known as the Phage in Warship, the first part of the trilogy. His efforts to convince the Confederacy that the invasion is well on its way are thwarted by the fact that the past few years along the Frontier have been strangely quiet. As Wolfe learns more about the shadow deals between the powerful factions supposed to protect the human society, he starts taking the matters into his own hands and looking for irrefutable proof that the alien invasion is still a very real danger.

We've seen this kind of story done many times before, but Dalzelle's writing elevates the book well beyond this well-threaded territory. Jackson Wolfe and the rest of his ragtag crew are painted in an interesting light, and their struggle to warn the authority figures of the alien threat is exhilarating to read and a page-turner in the best sense of that word. The captain himself proves to be a compelling character, and his uphill battle is sure to evoke the readers' sympathy for his cause.
Dalzelle takes a lot of time to explain even the smallest details behind the ships traveling in and out of solar systems, while at the same time paying attention to the descriptions of the ships themselves. Writers of science fiction often get lost in these minutiae details, but Dalzelle thankfully never loses sight of the plot or his