This sets up the secret Core group, a society of humans who have telepathic powers (they can communicate with one another and can suggest to other races – such as “you should jump off a very tall cliff with a rocky landing” suggestion, and the member of the race so ‘suggested’ will attempt to do just that post haste).
![the damned by alan dean foster the damned by alan dean foster](https://www.fictiondb.com/coversth/th_0345375742.jpg)
![the damned by alan dean foster the damned by alan dean foster](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/y~0AAOSwW8Ne-zUl/s-l640.jpg)
And making a long side story short, have acquired the capability to suggest as well, due to a mis-adventure the Amplitur attempted with humans early on. Now, it turns out that the humans are immune to the suggestive powers of the Amplitur (no one* of the Weave has telepathic abilities, which is why they were collectively afraid of the Amplitur * - see below on the Lepar). At which the humans, along with one or two of the Weave who can (barely) stomach violence, manage to do after centuries of war. So when the Weave was being set upon by another race called the Amplitur, who have the telepathic power of ‘suggestion’, able to just utter some words at members of another race and basically ‘take them over’, the Weave recruit the humans to do their fighting for them, to beat off the Amplitur. Now, for the Weave, combat, violence, etc, is pretty foreign to them and for many races simply *seeing* acts of violence – much less committing them, even in time of war – has debilitating effects (Lalelelang, specializing in humans for study, has developed mental and physiological techniqus ). It starts out all nice and good as we are introduced to Lalelelang, a researcher of the bird-like Wais, who are members of a collection of interstellarly connected races called The Weave. Note that this is the third book of a series, of which at this writing I have not yet read (much less have found) the first two. Well…it was an okay book, not a bad read, but…there were issues. Now, for the Weave, combat, violence, etc, is pretty fo Warning: spoilers embedded in the review. Warning: spoilers embedded in the review. It's a good, thought-provoking end for the series.more Foster creates interesting alien civilizations and societies, as well as fascinating individual characters. The interstellar war between The Weave and The Amplitur is reaching towards a savage end, thanks to human intervention, when a scholar, Lalelang of the Wais, goes to work. Foster ponders the nature of pacifism and aggression, and how individuals might make a major difference to their worlds without resorting to warfare. The plot proceeds thematically from the first two books, and we have a new cast of main characters. Foster cr The Spoils of War is a good conclusion to Foster's Damned trilogy.
![the damned by alan dean foster the damned by alan dean foster](http://images.gr-assets.com/users/1338416401p2/9893002.jpg)
The Spoils of War is a good conclusion to Foster's Damned trilogy. He took a chance on her intelligence and compassion, and gambled the fate of Humanity on the possibility that together, they could find an alternative to a galaxy-wide bloodbath.more
![the damned by alan dean foster the damned by alan dean foster](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/ee/43/893a224128a0828f1f96a010.L.jpg)
At the last moment, she was saved by a lone Core commander. Researching further, she uncovered a secret group of telepathic Humans called the Core, who were on the verge of starting another war, and then eliminating Lalelang. But then the birdlike Wais scholar Lalelang found evidence that Humans might not adapt well to peace. Researching further, she uncovered a secret group of telepathic Humans called the Core, who were on the verge of starting another war, and then eliminat The Weave was on the verge of winning a decisive victory after a milennia of war, thanks to their new allies from earth. The Weave was on the verge of winning a decisive victory after a milennia of war, thanks to their new allies from earth.