Subject: "A Season for Slaughter (The War Against the Chtorr, Book 4)" by David Gerrold

"A Season for Slaughter (The War Against the Chtorr, Book 4)" by David
Gerrold

https://www.amazon.com/SEASON-SLAUGHTER-Against-Chtorr-Book/dp/0553289764

Book number four of a four book science fiction alien invasion series.
I reread the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Bantam
Spectra Books in 1992 that I bought new in 1993. I hope that more books
will be published in the series but I doubt it.

The book is dedicated to "For Ben and Barbara Bova, with love." There
is also a thank you list for several people including Robert and Ginny Heinlein, Jerry Pournelle, and Richard Fontana, I suspect alpha readers
and discussion buddies.

This is very hard sci-fi. Do not pick up this book without having many
hours available to you to finish it. Once started, the book sucks you
in gradually so that you say, "just one more chapter". When you finish
the book at 5:50 am the next morning, you will be exhausted as if you
had just run a 10K. This also applies to the preceding and follow-on books.

I have read this book at least three times. Maybe four times. I lost
count many years ago.

"First you die. Then they put you in a box and bury you. Then the
worms eat you."
"Be glad it happens in that order."
"- Solomon Short"

The first book starts off with a series of plagues that devastate the
human population across the Earth. Then the weird plants start growing everywhere. Then the huge one meter to five meter long alien
carnivorous worms show up and starting eating people, cows, horses, etc.
The worms are very difficult to destroy without a combat rated
flamethrower.

In the second book, Jim McCarthy is now a lieutenant in the Army Special Forces. And things are getting worse. McCarthy and Duke are drafted
into an expedition into northern California to investigate secondary and tertiary worm homes but their assault helicopter crashes when the
Chtorran airborn plants cause the jet engines to fail. Then things get
very tough when the bunny dogs riding the worms show up.

The third book is even worse. The subjects are horrible and not for the
faint at heart or the squeamish. All of the States in the USA except
Hawaii have worm infestations with worm huts all over the place.
Various cults of worm worshipers have sprung up of people actually
living with the worms and feeding their ... to the worms.

This book rolls things back and start talking about the conflicts
between the old army and the new army. And then they move to Brazil in
a very cool giant airship who has embraced the worms and the Chtorran
ecology. Hundreds of thousands of the worms living in huge mandelas
with people slaves. The sheer craziness is hard to comprehend.

Warning: this book ends on a cliffhanger. A subtle cliffhanger that is exposed in the beginning of book five.

Gerrold has claimed many times over the years that there will be a fifth
book and a sixth book and a seventh book in the series. I will believe
it when I see it. He stated once to us on his email list that book 5 is
so insane that he just could not finish several chapters in the middle
of the book. However, there is a taunting preview of book 5, "A Method
for Madness", at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20060321170726/http://www.gerrold.com/ chtorr-5/page.htm

I am hoping that if Gerrold does not finish the books then his son will publish the books when he passes on. Who knows? Gerrold is very
sensitive about people asking when he is going to publish the remaining
books in the series.

"David Gerrold's Health and Leukemia Fundraiser". He is 82 and sadly
recently diagnosed with HCL (Hairy Cell Leukemia).
https://www.gofundme.com/f/david-gerrolds-health-and-leukemia-fundraiser

He said he is going to try to finish book 5 of the Chtorr series. Who
knows if he does, I kinda doubt it. I suspect that he is totally
mentally blocked. He did provide his latest preview of "The War Against
The Chtorr (Book five)", "A Nest For Nightmares":
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mFEhjdp_S_sJDhuFrRZfhhqRPp9ZeedY/
view

BTW, he has expanded the Chtorr series to eight books now. The War
Against The Chtorr:
A Matter For Men
A Day For Damnation
A Rage For Revenge
A Season For Slaughter
A Nest For Nightmares
A Method For Madness
A Time For Treason
A Case For Courage

There is better review by James Nicoll at:
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/rose-garden-dreams

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (54 reviews)

Lynn







"David Gerrold's Health and Leukemia Fundraiser"
https://www.gofundme.com/f/david-gerrolds-health-and-leukemia-fundraiser


The War Against The Chtorr
A Matter For Men
A Day For Damnation
A Rage For Revenge
A Season For Slaughter
A Nest For Nightmares
A Method For Madness
A Time For Treason
A Case For Courage



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