# What’s the name of this SCI/FI book/series?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-name-of-this-sci-fi-book-series/200001>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 6, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-name-of-this-sci-fi-book-series/200001 "2003-09-06T22:42:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Mac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-name-of-this-sci-fi-book-series/200001/1 "2003-09-06T22:42:58Z")

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It’s an older SCI/FI series about a composer who took his sailboat to Belize to compose a new symphony and encounters extraterrestrials. The aliens are looking for a race that can stand the concept of fighting and killing to help them fight a war.

Does anyone know the name of the series and author?

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**Author:** ![lord\_vykor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e495f1/32.png) [@lord\_vykor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lord_vykor)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-name-of-this-sci-fi-book-series/200001/2 "2003-09-06T23:49:38Z")

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Perhaps _A Call to Arms_ by Alan Dean Foster? I believe the series was called “The Damned” or something of the sort.

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**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-name-of-this-sci-fi-book-series/200001/3 "2003-09-06T23:58:34Z")

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**Moderator’s Note:** Moving to Cafe Society.

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**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-name-of-this-sci-fi-book-series/200001/4 "2003-09-07T00:01:37Z")

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And **lord\_vykor** is correct by the way; the book described is indeed _A Call to Arms_ by Alan Dean Foster, book one of the series _The Damned_. (And it’s not _that_ much of an “older” series; it was first published in 1991, you young whippersnapper.)

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**Author:** ![Mac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Mac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-the-name-of-this-sci-fi-book-series/200001/5 "2003-09-07T20:22:44Z")

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Thanks, thats just what i was looking for.

And by the way i havent been called a whippersnapper in over 20 years. 😉