A Rage for Revenge

The War Against the Chtorr, Book 3

By: David Gerrold

Narrated by: John Pruden

Still reeling from the alien plagues that killed two-thirds of the planet's population, humanity now confronts the most deadly enemy Earth has ever known - the giant man-eating Chtorr. Lieutenant James McCarthy has grown to manhood under the shadow of the terrifying invasion of the Chtorr. As a student, he learned all he could to understand their alien behavior. As a Special Forces commando, he made violent first contact. Now this battle-hardened warrior faces a profound challenge. Captured by an anarchistic band of men and women known as renegades, McCarthy must secretly gather vital information while fighting indoctrination into their cult - which serves and worships the Chtorr.

©1989 David Gerrold (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Unsettling and Memorable

David Gerrold warns the reader right up front that this novel is didactic and he's not kidding. There's a great deal of moralizing but it's done with purpose. This isn't the strongest book in the series but it may be the most memorable and I think it's the entry in which the series' key themes are most prominent. One of the most interesting aspects of the War Against the Chtorr novels is they're not simply a rip-roarin' military science fiction yarn about humans battling huge, purple alien worms. The series is also about humanity, about change and adaptation. Before it even begins, a substantial portion of the human race has been wiped out by a series of plagues. Everyone remaining is deeply scarred by those events. Faced with an ecological invasion that seems almost unstoppable, humanity's psychological response becomes as important as any scientific or military reaction to the Chtorran threat and that response is varied. We experience it in this series primarily through the protagonist, Jim McCarthy, who is young, thoroughly messed up and often angry, frustrated and confused. His psychological state is well-established in the first two books, as is his vulnerability, and that's crucial to understanding his behavior in this one.

In A Rage for Revenge, Jim finds himself captured, manipulated and indoctrinated into a cult. The cult represents one of the aforementioned adaptations to the alien Chtorran presence. It's an effort to live in harmony with the Chtorran ecology. Gerrold handles this quite well and the chapters involving the cult are both believable and unsettling. The section that follows is unnerving too and the book deals with difficult and uncomfortable themes (including pedophilia) in ways that some readers will find hard to handle. However, when viewed within the larger psychological context described above, I think it works. In other words, we're supposed to feel uncomfortable.

Much of the aforementioned didacticism involves chapters describing the Mode training, another (and controversial) human response to the invasion, designed to help humanity successfully hold itself together and find a winning strategy.

None of these books are for the timid or easily offended. In addition to the controversial themes mentioned above, this one features dirty limericks at the beginning of every chapter (for reasons explained in the book).

I've read this novel 3 times now and although I don't think it's one of the best books I've ever read, it's certainly among the most memorable. As good as it is in some places, it's didactic nature wears a little and there's an aspect of the story near the end that doesn't quite ring true to me. Nevertheless, I recommend it.

John Pruden's performance is excellent.

old favorite

Much more vulgar than I remember. I must be getting old. David Gerrold writes like Peter Max paints.

narration gd as usual. Story became pedantic psych

Story became a bore of psychology philosophy for teenagers. there is also a gaping hole in believability by not addressing where the premise of source that couldn't stop the teraforming before it started. lack of plot movement allows the reader to start looking for logic issues.

sex between Children and adults is not OK

What was most disappointing about David Gerrold’s story?

That he even hinted that sex with kids is OK the book is fiction but he needs to get his head out of the gutter. I had licked the first two books

What was that all about?

I lost patience. (And I still need at least 12 words, four, three, two, one.)

Why ?

Why make the protagonist a pedophile in the 3rd book? This tarnishes the whole series.