Love all of Orson Scott Card books. He is a fantastic writer, pulling the reader into the story, immediately.

This is a great book! The whole series is wonderful-- it definitely makes you think!

If the first book was about discovering the Oversoul, this one is about using it.

Card is great at writing drama, and his characters are always masters (or victims) of clever manipulations and roundabout plans. At the center of this drama in Call of Earth is the Oversoul, as well as another strange intelligent entity which gives the characters seperate dreams.

[spoilers below]
However, at the end of the book I felt kind of unsatisfied, because I didn't think Card fully explained Moozh's motivations for changing his mind and letting everyone finally leave the city. It kind of seemed like a cheap Grinch-like "his heart grew three times that day" moment. Also, I don't think he really explained well, through his characters, why they were willing to leave, although he attempted to do so, sort of.

Either way, it kept me interested enough to pick it up during any free time, and I'm anxious to read part 3.

I also would be interested to know what scene is depicted on the cover.

As the Oversoul continues to fail, more strong-minded people are discovering technologies that will ultimately lead to destruction of Harmony, just like what happened on Earth forty million years ago. One such leader is General Moozh, who is primed for conquest. Basilica, home city of young protagonist, Nafai, and his family, is starting to come apart at the seams, with militant groups roaming the streets causing the people to seclude themselves, creating general unrest. Nafai, led of the Oversoul's subtle nudging, must decide the fate of Basilica and planet Harmony. Yet, The Call of Earth is not about Harmony at all. Nafai is being called to bring the human species back to planet Earth.

The author delves deep into the politics of an increasingly unstable Basilica, a matriarchal society where women control marriage and the city itself. Titles are being stripped from leaders. People are starting to abandon the carefree lifestyles of a free society. Bring into the story General Moozh, a ruthless leader of an outside force. He cannot be defeated in military maneuver, by oral discourse or by sword. He can only be welcomed into Basilica and by pure fate, his own progeny defeats and yet, seals his militant conquest. A very satisfying turn of events for the reader.

The Call of Earth is much darker than is predecessor, The Memory of Earth, often leading the characters through forced maturation, conflict and even murder, at the direction of the Oversoul. We find that the Oversoul is much more of a machine that a god-figure and is quite fallible.

Orson Scott Card is the author of science fiction and fantasy books and series and also a set of books on the "Women of Genesis".

After reading the first book in the homecoming saga I was fairly dissapointed in The Call To Earth. The 2nd book seemed to lack any real substance. There really is nothing going on, it seems to me that Card made this book as a filler. There are a bunch of useless characters and useless events, this book could easily be condensed to around 200 pages and be much better than it is now. Personally I did enjoy it, although I have to admit more then a few times I dosed off reading the book and skipped a few pages simply to try to stop the boredom. I am hoping this book is a build up to the 3rd book in the series, if not Im afraid the rest of the saga may be just as bad if nto worse.