Customer Reviews

A day for damnation (The war against the Chtorr)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The War against the Chtorr series of books was first published in the mid eighties. At a later point, the incomplete series was rereleased with a few changes. I first read the first three novels in a single hardback collection that I borrowed from a friend's house, and loved it. At the time, I was unaware that David Gerrold had also written "the Trouble with Tribbles." This set has been with me through multiple moves, and is the last book I will read this millenium. This series has not become dated--in fact, many of the thoughts remain refreshingly new. David has created a very complete world that is easy to enjoy. The characterizations are complex, the plot engaging, and along with the intense descriptions combine to present a seamless experience. However, the series remains unfinished, so ultimately, you must resolve the fate of the world yourself.

Kill whomever you have to, but read this series. If you are in the joint, make sure that the prison library has this one in stock. If you have to take five books on a desert island, let this series be books one through four, with the Boy Scout manual or the bible (your preference, faith or survival) being number five.

When I first read this series, I was still living at home with my parents. My mother got it for me because I was laid up off of work from a fall compounded with electrical burns from a 12,000 volt line (I used to be an electrician...it wasn't that injury that caused me to leave). Knowing my love for good SF and SF series, and seeing the "creepy-bug-worm-things" on the cover, she picked it up, hoping the series would help keep my mind off of my injuries.

It worked...quite well, in fact. I was so engrossed in the books that I finished them all in a span of 3 1/2 days.

This is easily some of the best post-modern SF that I have ever read. Sicker yet, Gerrold's future is starting to look a lot like our own present...anyone seen any creepy worms yet?

And then the waiting began....

However, I have news!

Having just visited Gerrold's site, as of July 4th of 2004, he had more than 250,000 words done on book five: "A Method for Madness." However, upon telling the publishers that it would break 300K, he was told to split it up, so we're looking at 166K words on book five, not counting sideline stuff, 66K into book six, and it seems that he'll be finishing it relatively soon.

He has sample chapters available on his website, www.gerrold.com

So, rejoice...the time of deliverance is almost at hand!

I'm guessing that book five will hit the shelves sometime next year...then again, I haven't searched Amazon...there may be more updates.

And about that desert island...if book five hits, say goodbye to the bible or the boy scout manual, or sneak 'em in your daypack.

They're that damn good.

I loved this book. Where the first book introduces you to the main character and hints at the atrocities that are happening around him, this book sinks under your skin and hooks you. I couldn't stop reading. I had to know what fate our poor planet was in for. Gerrold always makes his characters touchable, but in A Day for Damnation you find yourself wondering about those characters even after they are worm food. So much goes on page after page that I had to go back and read it again just to make sure I didn't miss any of the subtle plots. You just know it's going to pop up on you in the next novel. I've recommended it to all my science fiction reading friends and family. And I still am after reading it 8 years ago.

and I'm taking you with me!

I read this one first, then read the other 3. I still found this to be the best one, and after reading some of the others and David's Gerrolds website, I worry about both the state of the Chtorr infested Earth and Mr Gerrolds mental state in equal measure! As an biologist, I could see the obvious effort made into creating a believable alien ecology and he uses this book to great effect to consolidate the ground laid in book 1 (indeed much like the chtorran invasion!). The description of the speeded up ecology witnessed by the hero and his squeeze in the downed gunship is beautifully realised and the quality of the writing runs throughout the book, and indeed the series. I would worry as to the direction of the series, however, overall the reader wants answers that are not forthcoming and you get the impression Mr Gerrold himself doesn't really know how to move the series forward. In the planned 5th/6th book, he appears to suggest if you write yourself up as a character and bung him a few quid, you will be a "star" of the book, and be killed off in a variety of interesting and imaginative ways! Which is a shame, because book 2 established some nice architecture to the overall plot and it would be a shame to see the whole thing disintegrate into a mess. Of course this could be an allegorical manifestation of the seemingly entropic nature of the Invasion.

Or am I wrong?

Spoiler warning - As I recall, by the end of book 4, there appears to be no indication of the rhyme or reason, or intelligence behind the invasion and there is a limit to the amount of navel gazing and "worm empathising" that the series can stand. So Mr Gerold, if Book 5 is rubbish, chuck it out, re-read this book and guide the saga (and this is a saga) back onto the high quality rails it started off on.

This review is for book 2 only, not for the all four books like alot of the other reviews out there. This is the second book in The War Against the Chtorr series and we find our hero Jim Mcarthy and Duke leading a squad of bug killing marines until they get called away on a special mission. To make a long story short, there is a helicopter crash, a critical death, and a new Chtorran species discovered. Based on events in the book Jim finds himself believing that humans and the giant worms called chtorrs could live on earth in a peacful harmony. Can we?, or are we destined down the path of unavoidable war? You will have to read to find out! The book only gets four stars because there are spans of the book that get very boring and the action has decreased alot in this book. I would say this book is for story and building and to go into more detail of the vastness and the advancment of the Chtorran ecology over ours. I realy enjoyed the book except for those 2 or 3 spans I had trouble keeping my eyes open during. I haven't read the third book yet but the ending of this book has me pining to get the third. It isn't easy to find localy and on amazon it seems a little pricey for such and old book but maybe that's because they are so hard to get a hold of. I would recommend this book to anyone who has read A Matter for Men, like I need to, if you read A Matter for Men you are probably just as anxious to read this as I am to read A Rage for Revenge!!

It was a great book, but he never finished the series, if anyone get find him and tell him, i know a few hundred people or so that would buy the next ones for sure

It was good and still entertaining but the main character is getting very negative and the resolutions seems further than ever.. and I can't find the next book!

It may be the weakest of the series but it's the weakest of a great bunch! If you read A Matter for Men and then this book within a short space of time you may be a little disheartened about the prospects for the series but let me reassure you, stick with it, it gets better!

Although Gerrold spends time warning the reader that the book is not meant to be didactic, it could be one of the best business books ever written. The premise of the book is pretty mundane and the cover is embarrassing, but the series is one of my favorites.

Th ewar against the chtorr is a post apocaliptic setting that immediately grabs your attention. The Main character is very real, and not at all the classic hero type. David Gerrold does a wonderful job of making us feel the world from the eyes of this character. A great serious science fiction piece for people who like works like the Postman.