A Season for Slaughter

The War Against the Chtorr #4

by David Gerrold

From the author of the Star Trek novel, Encounter at Far Point comes the fourth book in his riveting epic of alien invasion and conquest. Only luck, sheer will and an incredible ability to adapt will bring the expedition to safety, when a Special Forces commando and a scientist lead a group of experts into the heart of the alien invasion in South America.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Military Science Fiction, Novels, Speculative Fiction, Military Fiction

562 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Gunther Rogahn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I refuse to read anything by this jackass until he finishes this series. He's been lying about it for 20 years or so.

[Scott S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

After I began book 1 I found out this was an unfinished series. That was a bit of a killjoy. A posting on his facebook page from mid 2017 sparked hope that he might crank out the final two books pretty soon. Unfortunately, a few seconds more on his facebook page destroyed my hope. He has apparently become a Hillary supporter and I just don't know how the guy that wrote these (libertarian flavored?) books falls into the idiocracy of liberal mentality. But no one is the same person after 2.5 decades, so how will he ever jump back into the same mindset? Maybe he'll surprise me, but mentally I'm writing off this series.

I just keep keep imaging: Book 4 (1992) "we have to kill these invading life forms" - cliffhanger!.... Book 5 (2019?) "well gosh, it's a good thing they decimated the population! talk about population control! maybe now we can get that man-made global warming under control! lets apologize to the invaders a whole lot and explain our FEEEEELINGS so they'll be our friends!"

Oh and even better, this one ended on a cliff hanger! Okay, maybe not a "they're about to go over a waterfall" cliffhanger, but still we did NOT get to a satisfactory stopping point.... Calm down, Larry Correia, I agree 100% that no author OWES me a book, but come on! What a douchebag move. On top of that he has apparently been teasing people for 2.5 decades with "soon". I don't care if books 5 & 6 put Shakespeare's greatest works to shame it still would not have been worth the wait to anyone that finished the books when they were released. He may not OWE his fans a book, but in my opinion he certainly owes them an apology. Heck, after five years or so say "I know many of you are eager for a conclusion to the Chtorr saga, but I'm not at a place in my life where I am able to finish the tale". Boom, equal frustration, but less anticipation.

[Bon Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

WE. WANT. MORE!

[Mojo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this when it came out WAY back in '92 and frankly it's been so long that I have forgotten what it was all about except in broad stroke. I really liked the series but I don't think I will read any more. 20+ years of waiting between books is just too much to ask from a reader. I got so tired of hearing "any day now, no early next year, no late next year, maybe the year after that...." that I stopped paying any attention to Mr. Gerrold.

[NumberLord · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series gets back on course (for the most part) in this book. Our hero Jim starts finding out more about the aliens.
But where's the next book? Season for Slaughter was published in 1992. The final three books in the series already have names (A Method For Madness, A Time For Treason, and A Case For Courage)...now hows about publishing the darn things?!

[Branimir · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eto, pročitah i posljednju objavljenu knjigu u serijalu Rat protiv Chtorra. Krivulja kvalitete romana ima, kao što je uglavnom uobičajeno u umptologijama, negativnu derivaciju. Prve dvije knjige su fakat dobre. Nakon njih slijedi pad. Mislim da je ovaj serijal čista slika onoga "zagrizao je više nego što je mogao". Pisac je napravio najlogičniju i najinteligentniju invaziju vanzemaljaca, te probleme napravio toliko velikima da se svako malo očekuje neki deus ex machina trenutak da ljudi (kao junaci i kao vrsta) prežive. Problem je i što se oni ostvaruju. Sad bih tu mogao drobiti o likovima, plošnosti, seksualnosti, crvenokosim generalicama i tajanstvenim tajnim agentima koji mogu sve, no to otkrivanje ostavljam budućim čitateljima.
U svakom slučaju, ove 4 knjige vrijedi pročitati kao manual za invaziju, jer sve ostalo je preglupo. I onda zaboraviti da će se ikad nastaviti serijal, jer je David Gerrold GRRMartin prije GRRMartina. Naime, ova, posljednja knjiga izdana je davne 1992. i u njoj je intervju s piscem u kojem on kaže kako već ima 50k riječi za sljedeći roman i da se nada da ljubitelji neće opet morati čekati čak 3 godine za nastavak.
U međuvremenu je navršio 73 godine, napisao 9 drugih romana i još ponešto. Ovo se neće završiti, jer mislim da nema šemse da napiše još 4 Chtorr romana koliko piše na njegovoj wikipedia stranici. Dao crv da sam u krivu.

[Duncan (Backawayfromthedonkey) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Season for Slaughter (1993) Book #4 The War against the Chtorr

The War against the Chtorr is what can be called an Alien invasion series, but unlike the majority of Alien Invasions in media it is being done over time through Terraforming. It all starts coming to ahead after a series of plagues that kill a large percentage of the human population and the appearance of the ‘worms’. Large pink man-eating Arthropods.

The first book A Matter for Men introduced our Protaganist Jim McCarthy who joined a special forces mission as the Biology ‘expert’. We follow him throughout the books as he learns more about the Chtorran ecology and it’s consequences. David Gerrold also manage to introduce the history leading up to the invasion

I read A Matter for Men (1983) when it was first published and as a 15 year old Science Fiction fan I’d never read anything like it. It was meant to be the first book in a trilogy, but David Gerrold decided it was too complex and would be 6 books. It was followed by A Day for Damnation (1985) and A Rage for Revenge (1989) which I also read on release. The fourth novel in the series A Season for Slaughter (1993) I never read on release, when I did look at reading it a few years later I realised that the 5th novel didn’t look like it was on the horizon so I left the series alone alone.

Here I am 28 years after the publication of A Season for Slaughter was and there has been no sign of the other two novels in the series, I however decided it was time to get around to A Season for Slaughter. I don’t get too hung up if Authors take a long time to publish their sequels as I get they have lives and things happen. There seems to be this modern trend of people ranting a raving about waiting so long for sequels to books. To me if it doesn’t happen I just read something else, it doesn’t mean I didn’t get anything out of reading the books that were published.

This book is around 200 pages longer than the first two books, whilst A Rage for Revenge (the 3rd book) is around 50 pages shorter. I always thought that A Rage for Revenge was too long. There was a lot of what felt like moralising in that book along with sections with extra information. The sections on the Mode felt far too long and in my opinion it needed a good editor.

My feelings about ASFS are very similar it really needs a good editor, when you get some chapters that 30% of them are extraneous information that doesn’t help move the plot forward, I think there’s an issue. As much as most is on the Chtorrian ecology so quite interesting it pulls you away from the Narrative. This information would have been better off in an Appendix in my opinion.

A Season for Slaughter follows on with our Protagonist Jim McCarthy and his continued interaction with the invasion, what follows is the problems he causes and its effects on his relationships with other personnel. Developing on from the Previous book Jim McCarthy has become a bit of an insufferable character, to quote Peter Quill ‘A Bit of a Dick’. The issue I had with it was that he had become so annoying I was in two minds if I wanted to continue to read about him anymore. I am wondering if the reason David Gerrold has not finished the books is that the character just annoys him a bit too much as well. There is a large section in the middle of the book that I can only describe as melodrama along with Gerrold proclivity for Sex scenes that are pointless and just seem to be there for the sake of it.

The main thrust of the plot is the investigation of a large Chtorran infestation in South America and the Military and worlds Governments attempts to investigate it. As in his other books there is a lot of political manoeuvring by certain factions in order to get what they want out of the mission. What David Gerrold has done well throught these books is manage in every book to make the infestations and terraforming feel like it’s progressing and increase the pressure on the planet. David Gerrold is a fan and was a friend of Robert Heinlein, you can see the influence in the books especially in some of the combat scenes and also the way older characters seem to have to explain to the younger less experienced ones

Where this book does shine as with all the other books is in his description and development of the Chtorran ecology. The detail and research that he has put in makes it seem so real and the earth is being slowly terraformed before everyone’s eyes. This book does have some of the most interesting ideas of the series but the bloated nature of parts of it and the melodrama around the protagonist let the book down. As a complete book this is probably the weakest of the series. If you knocked 200 pages of it and tightened it up it would though be the strongest.

There is also the introduction of a Down Syndrome Character that was an idea that Gerrold Floated for Star Trek that never came to fruition. I personally found the way the character was represented and the plotline around her leaning to rather Abelist viewpoints. I think the inclusion of the character was meant to feel inclusive but to me and my experience of Disability it had the opposite affect. I am wondering if the author spoke to the Down Syndrome community while developing the character or not. It could though just be the passage of time and that in the nearly 30 years since the book was published views on disability have thankfully developed. I would though not let that plotline push you away from the book.

This is still one of the most interesting Alien invasion series out there. Even after nearly 30 years since the last book it still seems fresh. I would advise anyone who was interested in exploring the War against the Chtorr to maybe stop at the second book because until the series is finished that is a great point to jump off without leaving you hanging too much or frustrated as I was after A Season for Slaughter.

I have a planned review/deep dive of the entire book series on my Blog over the coming months

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite a lot of drag in the center from the soap opera, the bookends of action with the Chtorr are fascinating, with the scientific treatises at each chapter's end adding a growing sense of dread with the evidence and theorizing about just what Jim and Liz are dealing with. Incredible attention to detail of an alien ecosystem. I have this theory that the Chtorr are not aliens but merely the next stage of evolution. Which makes it horrible on another level...humans fighting against fate. Though I occasionally want to slug some of Gerrold's characters who whine or argue on too long, I'm continually on the ride for the exploration of ideas, and Gerrold's imagination never fails to impress me. I'm glad the series has continually gotten better in being very calculating in its expansion of this universe. I'm very much looking forward to July 3010--whoops, 2010, and book 5, A Method For Madness.

[Adrian Hunter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't hate it as much as the last two. McCarthy gets even MORE full of himself, and all the other characters in charge just kind of tolerate him because of his incredible talent in deciphering the Chtorran ecology. The world really is coming to an end as the Chtorran ecology has almost completely overwhelmed our own, and a last ditch research/military expedition may or may not gain the keys to fighting back. Ends on a hell of a cliffhanger that's been waiting ten plus years for resolution

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fantastic 4th book of "The War Against The Chtorr", taking us deeper into the Chtorran ecology, the mysteries of how the Chtorr infested Earth and hints at how the intelligence guiding the invasion may function. Released in 1993, I believe, now more than 20 years later we're still waiting for books 5-7 . . . but Gerrold's website says they're in the works!

[Keira F. Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gerrold's amazing and conversational writing, in the equally amazing and vibrant (and terrifying) Chtorr universe. Love it.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

...I meant to review every book in the series, but became troubled by parts of the narrative and kept reading all the way through without recording the experience until now, when I've finally finished the 4th book.

I really like the sci-fi concept of an invading alien ecology. The worms are a bit weird as a big bad, but the idea grows on you - especially the hive-mind through symbiotic nerves, an idea I've already stolen for a D&D character I liked so much. An invasive kudzoo; an engine clogging pink cloud; massive deep sea fish swallowing ships in single gulps. The ecological aspect is intriguing, and is great imagination fuel. This element of the War Against the Chtorr is my favorite part.

I'm debating if the book is typical 80's heterodoxy in terms of gender and sexuality, or the characters/plots are a play on it. For example, the harder a character clings to typical manly behavior, the more their character suffers over the long term - physically or reputationally. One of (the?) secondary main characters, Lizard, is an example of a character that upends demure gender norms by being a badass maverick that ascends the military to power, holding her own against other dick generals and fighting the Chtorr, while also being (in book 1) barely able to pass the Bechdel test, being a sex object, and being a damsel in distress in the 4th book (counterpoint: really saving McCarthy's ass multiple times, doing the prestigiously difficult military assignments, etc.). This book also grapples a lot with pedophilia in humans that have been integrated into the Chtorran ecology, seemingly a key part of why we need to fight the Chtorr. It's more uncomfortable than perverse, and it is a great reason to be revolted by and hate the Chtorr. It is definitely a part of the narrative which seems really important to Gerrold (author) but is really not my cup of tea. Gayness and bisexuality are present in the books, in characters that are both respected and noble but also having elements of stereotypical caricature.

I read all the books (up to now) once, casually, over the span of weeks and often inebriated. If I was really going to make up my mind about them, I'd need to read them again and really pay attention to the above points.

I'm not sure if I'll read book 5...maybe if I find it easily, but until then, I've got enough else to read, I'm not going to chase it out...

[Bravo27]

Anche questo quarto capitolo della saga mantiene una qualità altissima. Lo schema rimane quello di introdurre un nuovo livello nell'invasione Chtorr della terra con la situazione per gli umani ormai veramente complicata e quasi disperata. Le vicende dei due protagonist, Jim e Liz, sembrano un po fuori contesto, ma in realtà oltre ad essere simpatiche ed alleggerire la tensione sembra che indichino una strategia superiore ancora da chiarire.
L'unico difetto è che il prossimo capitolo non è ancora uscito e dato il ritardo ormai biblico, non so se mai uscirà.

[Davide Sassoli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could really use an epilogue... (mind: not a decent or a good one, just ONE)
Not bad for the rest!

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really something of a disappointment. A Season for Slaughter is the 4th book in David Gerrold's heretofore amazing "War Against the Chtorr" series - the first three of which I had read before. They're all out of print now, or were when I went looking for them, and it took me so long to track down book four ('bout five years ago) that by the time I found it at a LGBT bookstore in downtown Toronto (a funny story in and of itself) I had fallen out of the habit of the series and didn't get around to reading it until now.

I loved the first three books when I first read them. I loved them upon a reread now.

Each book in the series is distinct from the others in both tone and content, as the Chtorr invasion continues and our heroes learn more about the enemy they're facing. That said, I knew there would be differences in this volume... but it just doesn't work for me. A Season for Slaughter pushed both the horror elements and the pedantic, lecturing tone of the previous books too far for me.

It's also a lot longer than any of the previous books – and I feel like the length is "stuffing," expository material that Gerrold might find quite fascinating (let's be honest, it is rather fascinating) but that isn't plot and doesn't move the story forward in any productive way. 300 pages in, I was still wondering what the point of the book was and whether the few emotional/character issues that had been raised were going to be dealt with at all. They weren't.

The end has a great twist that begins to redeem the book... but just isn't enough to make up for over 550 pages that could have been better served if an editor had made Gerrold cut it down to 350.

I think the series is still salvageable, if he ever gets around to publishing more (he's been "working" on book 5 of the projected 7-book series for about the last ten years) but I wouldn't recommend them as glowingly now as I did before I read this volume.

[Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dokončeno z 70% a odloženo. Celá série Války s Chtorry začínala tak slibně. První kniha byla plná zajímavých nápadů popisů interakcí cizorodých ekosystému a ovlivnění naší planety a vzájemných interakcí. To všechno bylo doplněno zajímavou akcí a skvělým experimentem se psychologií a posunem lidského myšlení v rámci přežití druhu. To byla první kniha, následovala smutná sestupná tendence a tento výtvor není nic jiného než tragédie. Hlavní hrdina celou dobu brečí, řeší vztahy a chová se jako malé rozmazlené děcko. Vedení armády je nastěhované do obří vzducholodě kde je většina posádky zkouší experimentovat se svojí sexualitou. Dialogy jsou příšerné a občas mě přinutili se vrátit o několik stránek zpět a zjistit o čem to vlastně bylo. Prostě ruce pryč. Lepší nápad než číst Čas pro jatka je jít si vymlátit mozek z hlavy krumpáčem – tahle činnost alespoň bude mít nějaké finále.
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I didn’t finish book and I give up at roughly second third of it. Whole series of War against the Chtorr seems so promising. There was the interesting description of foreign ecosystem and their influence on our planet. There was a great action. There was interesting psychology experiments and shift in the human way of thinking about our race. That was first book. Then it was the descending series of disappointment and this book is really tragedy. Main character was still crying and behaves like small spoiled brat and whole bisexual army lives on a luxury airship – you get an idea. Keep your hands and eyes away from this.

[Jim N · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Season for Slaughter is the fourth and, thus far, final book in the unfinished War Against the Chtorr series. I've been waiting decades for more and supposedly, substantial portions of the fifth and six books are coming one of these days. Meanwhile, even incomplete, this remains a series worth reading.

This entry contains some of the most memorable scenes in the series. We're given much more insight into the Chtorran ecology and how it interacts with both terrestrial lifeforms and other Chtorran life. This is great stuff and throughout the books, whenever Gerrold delves into the nature of the alien invasion, he really delivers. Unfortunately, I think he overplays his hand a bit with some of the character interaction in this novel, going back to the well of protagonist Jim McCarthy's hair trigger temper and difficulty with relationships a little too often. There's also a relatively long and somewhat heavy-handed lull in the middle of the novel focusing on McCarthy's romantic relationship with "Lizard" Tirelli. It's not the she isn't an interesting character or that the relationship hasn't been developed over the previous 3 books. It's just a little too much of everything and consequently, doesn't quite work. However, the book bounces back from that lull with a vengeance and the final third of the novel contains some of the most disturbing and spectacular scenes to be found in the whole series. Definitely recommended.

[Gwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent characters, events and settings, I have a love hate reaction to the main character, mostly because of his mistakes as well as success in the fight against the alien infestation of earth. The interactions of humanity with the alien ecology and the type of society that is evolving to cope is very intriguing and still no indication of who and how the infestation is being accomplished.

Gerrold has been very slow to complete the remainder of the heptology, his excuse is that as the story has become more intricate it takes longer for him to write the series, okay, granted but the series was initially written back in 1983 with the last book done in 1993!. I just hope he completes the last three books it in my lifetime, It's ben a great read over the years. leaving you wanting more (sigh).

[Robert Bush · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 books in and...they still know nothing. The invaders are still a complete and utter mystery to them.

Add in that this book was published over 20 years ago and the 5th book is still no where to be found? He claims in some interview questions at the end of the copy I read that he knows exactly where this series is going. Well, if he does, then he doesn't know how to get there. Either that, or he's drawing the story out into multiple book instead of just finishing the damn story!

I'm going to lean on the idea that he really has lost where he wants to go with the story. Otherwise it wouldn't have taken him 22+ years to get book 5 finished (it was supposed to have been finished in September.)

[Eyjólfur Örn Jónsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite never really liking Science fiction I fell in love with these books in the early 90s. Gerrold draws an amazing picture of a future where humans have come under attack. Aliens unlike anything I had ever read or heard about came to graphic life in Gerrolds storytelling. He stays true to life and makes the story very believable by making the main character Jim extremely flawed and prone to mistakes (making for an excellent love/hate relationship with the readers).

It´s now been 19 years since the fourth book was published (1992) and with the last three installments already named it feels about time for the next book in line.

[Christopher Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best (albeit, unfinished) alien invasion series I know. Trying to be patient in waiting for him to close the loop on this one. I balk at recommending this one to others only because I don't want them to experience the same 21+ year wait that the rest of us have had to deal with since he published the "latest" book in the series, A Season for Slaughter. However, to be fair, I have no idea how the hell he is going to tie this all together, and I admire the man's ambition for taking on such a project that was supposed to be a trilogy.

[Sandra]

For once we get spared the indoctrination lectures. Don't worry, the levels of annoyance will be kept up by our main couple being all love-y-dove-y.
To be honest, it felt like the author is finally starting to get a bit of a hang of this writing thing he's supposed to be doing. Kind of. Maybe. Sometimes.
I liked how the sting-fly and helium thing was set up. Best bit in the whole series, the reveal.
I think I might have liked this book best because it had more on how the invasion is going than previous ones.

[Juniper · Rating 2 out of 5]

The scifi is still interesting. The interpersonal aspects are still annoying. I found myself scimming and skipping a lot of the overly descriptive walls of text that kept me asking how much the author is being paid by the word. I don't need to read about every possible detail when it comes to a 7 course meal or the random names used for worms that were never used again beyond the initial naming of them. Seriously... he threw nearly 100 names at you in one chapter and they didn't stick.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm...too much of a good thing perhaps? This one started off as another winner for about 200 pages but the rest started to wear a bit thin. No sign of any more on the horizon but I'm waiting.
But I'm in too deep to back out now. I need more, c'mon Dave, get these published!!!

[AndrewP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a great story but the author seems to have written himself into a corner here. I can't see any way out, and as there are no further volumes in this series I will have to wait to see what happens.

[Robyn]

A former boyfriend introduced me to the series, which at the time we thought would be rounded out by a fifth book within a couple of years. How naive we were! Don't know how the War Against the Chtorr books were never added to my GoodReads account.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fourth and, to date, the last Chtorr novel. He's been writing book 5 for years and has contracted for a sixth, maybe seven. I'll believe it when I see them.
Seventeen years and counting.

[Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

He ventures into territory a little more philosophical than I prefer in my sci-fi.

[Doug Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great addition to the series. Now if only he would write the next one its been over 15 years!

[Clinton Sheppard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back to the action.