Gerrold/Chtorr 5th book info
Rachel K. Warren
Hmm, too bad Gerrold only posted this to rec.games.frp.gurps and not
rec.arts.sf.written. AARRRGGGHHHHH!! :)
I found this on dejanews. MY COMMENTS ARE IN [].
Subject: Re: War against The Chtorr, book five
From: 7030...@compuserve.com
Date: 1997/06/03
Message-Id: <8653139...@dejanews.com>
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.gurps
[More Headers]
From David Gerrold:
Here's what's happening with A Method For Madness, the next novel in The
War Against The Chtorr.
There are over 2000 pages of notes, some dating back as far as 1974.
While preparing A Method For Madness, I found notes I wish I'd had in
front of me for all four of the previous books. There are things I left
out I wish I could have included.
[Does this mean the first four books are going to be revised (again) too?]
So during the past year, I have been scanning all of my notes into a
massive outline file and organizing them.
These notes include details of the Chtorran ecology, both here and on its
home world, and the complete outline for the entire series Jack Cohen who
helped design the Chtorran ecology.
I recognize that there are a great many people who are very eager to see
this next book. [Words cannot describe how eager...] The problem is that
I intend for each book to be bigger and better than the last and that
means more work each time out. A Method For Madness has some of the
most difficult scenes in it yet.
[I don't care, you could publish it in chapters fer crying out loud!! :]
70,000 words of the book are finished, and that isn't even the first
third of the story. Please be patient, this one is big.
[AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!]
In the meantime, I have two other novels finished which will eventually
find their way into the pipeline. One is Blood and Fire, a novel of the
Star Wolf; the other is Jumping Off The Planet, which is about an
interplanetary custody battle.
[Well, at least we get a Star Wolf novel. *grumble*]
My assistant is currently investigating web-site service providers and
there will be a Chtorr.Com page up before the end of the year. On that
site, I will post regular progress reports, occasional previews, and
other Chtorr related stuff.
[Woo hooo!!]
I am currently getting 5-10 e-mail requests PER DAY for book five, so it
is never very far from my mind. Thank you all for your patience, and
your enthusiasm!!
[Patience? Pffft, I don't see any patience. I'm trying to block it out
of my mind, or get 'obsessed' over another series. Well, at least I
don't buy gummy worms, eat them, and call it _War Against the Chtorr_!
BADA-BING! BADA-BOOM! *canned laughter*]
David Gerrold
(Permission is hereby granted to repost this msg in appropriate
discussion groups.)
--
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Rachel K. Warren warr...@jmu.edu http://sys12.cs.jmu.edu/homes/warrenrk/
"Don't drink and park. Accidents cause people."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Gary Brown
On 4 Jun 1997 20:48:29 GMT, warr...@falcon.jmu.edu (Rachel K. Warren)
wrote:
>Hmm, too bad Gerrold only posted this to rec.games.frp.gurps and not
>rec.arts.sf.written. AARRRGGGHHHHH!! :)
>
>I found this on dejanews. MY COMMENTS ARE IN [].
>
>Subject: Re: War against The Chtorr, book five
>From: 7030...@compuserve.com
>Date: 1997/06/03
>Message-Id: <8653139...@dejanews.com>
>Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.gurps
>[More Headers]
>
>
>From David Gerrold:
>I am currently getting 5-10 e-mail requests PER DAY for book five, so it
>is never very far from my mind. Thank you all for your patience, and
>your enthusiasm!!
Bet he gets 50-100 a day now this has been posted in such a
high-bandwidth group with what I presume is his correct e-mail
address;-)
If I had my way, he'd be tied to his chair in front of his
Wordprocessor and fed through a tube until the whole thing is
finished....This waiting is TORTURE! (I don't REALLY mean that, do I
?????).
Do we believe him when he talks about a series 'outline'? I know
proper writers (IE not me) don't start a series without knowing the
full story but I couldn't help feeling through the last two volumes
that he was painting himself into one heck of a corner, Independance
Day style with mankind down, out and all but finished. Just hope David
manages a better ending than ID4 did.
Best candidate for making it up as he went along I reckon remains
Gentry Lee's RAMA sequels. Any comments people?
** Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spammers **
I am Homer of Borg. Resistance is....Ooooh, donuts.
Rachel K. Warren
Gary Brown (Ga...@NOSPAM.demon.co.uk) wrote:
> On 4 Jun 1997 20:48:29 GMT, warr...@falcon.jmu.edu (Rachel K. Warren)
> wrote:
> >From David Gerrold:
> >I am currently getting 5-10 e-mail requests PER DAY for book five, so it
> >is never very far from my mind. Thank you all for your patience, and
> >your enthusiasm!!
> Bet he gets 50-100 a day now this has been posted in such a
> high-bandwidth group with what I presume is his correct e-mail
> address;-)
Hey, that's his own fault if he didn't wanted it spread too much. :)
> If I had my way, he'd be tied to his chair in front of his
> Wordprocessor and fed through a tube until the whole thing is
> finished....This waiting is TORTURE! (I don't REALLY mean that, do I
> ?????).
If it could be done, I'd help. I think. If it was legal. :-)
> Do we believe him when he talks about a series 'outline'?
Well, I know he's been thinking about the Chtorr since at least 1977,
where he talks about Chtorran plants in _Moonstar Odyssey_. (which, btw,
I didn't like. It wasn't unreadable, just unconfortable to read.
I might explain that sometime.) Supposedly he's been thinking about the
Chtorr since 1974. I can believe their ahve been notes scattered
everywhere.
> I know proper writers (IE not me) don't start a series without knowing
> the full story
I dunno, I think a fair number of published writers write stuff as they go
along. :-)
> but I couldn't help feeling through the last two volumes
> that he was painting himself into one heck of a corner, Independance
> Day style with mankind down, out and all but finished. Just hope David
> manages a better ending than ID4 did.
Well, DG says he knows the ending. I don't see how a person can write
himself into a corner if he knows the ending.
7030...@compuserve.com
In article <33a03fa2...@news.demon.co.uk>,
Ga...@NOSPAM.Virgin.net wrote:
>
> On 4 Jun 1997 20:48:29 GMT, warr...@falcon.jmu.edu (Rachel K. Warren)
> wrote:
>
> >rec.arts.sf.written. AARRRGGGHHHHH!! :)
> >
> >I found this on dejanews. MY COMMENTS ARE IN [].
> >
> >Subject: Re: War against The Chtorr, book five
> >From: 7030...@compuserve.com
> >Date: 1997/06/03
> >Message-Id: <8653139...@dejanews.com>
> >Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.gurps
> >[More Headers]
> >
> >
> >I am currently getting 5-10 e-mail requests PER DAY for book five, so it
> >is never very far from my mind. Thank you all for your patience, and
> >your enthusiasm!!
>
> Bet he gets 50-100 a day now this has been posted in such a
> high-bandwidth group with what I presume is his correct e-mail
> address;-)
>
> Wordprocessor and fed through a tube until the whole thing is
> finished....This waiting is TORTURE! (I don't REALLY mean that, do I
> ?????).
>
> proper writers (IE not me) don't start a series without knowing the
> that he was painting himself into one heck of a corner, Independance
> Day style with mankind down, out and all but finished. Just hope David
> manages a better ending than ID4 did.
>
> Gentry Lee's RAMA sequels. Any comments people?
>
> ** Header address intentionally scrambled to ward off the spammers **
>
> I am Homer of Borg. Resistance is....Ooooh, donuts.
>
> Ga...@Terrania.Demon.Co.Uk
ANY COMMENTS??
Yep, I have a comment. Or two.
I started the first book in the series, A MATTER FOR MEN, in 1972. I
wrote fourteen chapters, and then my agent called and said he'd sold THE
MAN WHO FOLDED HIMSELF to Random House, so I had to finish that one
first.
So even though I was working on other projects, I continued to make notes
on The War Against The Chtorr. I carried a notebook and a mini-tape
recorder with me and dictated hours of thoughts and speculations. I
interviewed Jack Cohen, Rick Sternbach, Lester Del Rey, Larry Niven,
Jerry Pournelle, and half of NESFA for information about how to build an
ecology.
For years I had stacks of tapes piled up on a shelf and a humongous
fililng cabinet filled with transcriptions, typewritten notes, and
clipped-out articles. I bought my first computer in 1978 in the vain
hope that it would help me organize everything. I've gone through four
outline programs and two scanners, and as of today, all of those various
notes now comprise a document more than 1200 pages in length.
I now know pretty much where the next three books are going to go. It's
pretty scary and exciting stuff. And hard to write. After that, if I
wished, I could write a second series of seven that detail what we would
find if we could get to the planet Chtorr.
I spend 2-4 hours a day working on the outline, as well as on the fifth
book. The work progresses slowly, because I'm at the most crucial point.
Now I have to winnow down all of the different details to make sure
they're consistent. Book five gets into the ecology of the Chtorr and
the nature of the beast in a way that requires I go through all of the
notes and make sure I've left nothing out and not left any major
loopholes that the readers will beat me up with. (The most famous error
in sf history is the time Larry Niven got the Earth rotating in the wrong
direction in the first edition of Ringworld. Oops.)
I apologize if the wait is too long for some folks. I don't like having
to wait for the next book in a series either. But I only get one chance
to write these books, and I'd rather do them right than fast.
Please be patient.
That's the first comment. Here's the second. Five years ago, I adopted
a special needs child. He's the best thing that ever happened to me. He
uses up a lot of my time, but I don't resent it. I'd rather spend time
with my son than anything else in the world. If this slows down the
writing, well ... it's a very small price to pay. He's the most
important thing in the world to me.
David Gerrold
-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet
James Gassaway
7030...@compuserve.com writes:
<snipped most of Gerrold's reply>
>I apologize if the wait is too long for some folks. I don't like having
>to wait for the next book in a series either. But I only get one chance
>to write these books, and I'd rather do them right than fast.
>Please be patient.
>That's the first comment. Here's the second. Five years ago, I adopted
>a special needs child. He's the best thing that ever happened to me. He
>uses up a lot of my time, but I don't resent it. I'd rather spend time
>with my son than anything else in the world. If this slows down the
>writing, well ... it's a very small price to pay. He's the most
>important thing in the world to me.
>David Gerrold
As one of the people who is impatiently waiting for the continuation of
the Chtorr series I hope that the emails haven't been too annoying. (I'd
apologize but I can't remember having sent you any mail or email, so ...
:| ) While I want the next book, I too would like it to be "right". And
regardless of our clamorings, at least some of us recognize that your son
_is_ a higher priority. I hope that (at least sometimes) you can
remember that all our "gimmme, gimmme, gimmme" indicates that we LIKE
your work.
And thank you for the work you have given us.
--
Dimensional Traveler
Commander, WarForce Omega (the Star Killers), Multiversal Mercenaries.
You name it, we kill it, any time, any reality.
Paul T. Riddell
Hey, you have no complaint from me. I know better: I'd rather have
it good than on Thursday, and you have to go at your own speed.
(However, did you have to make the books so damn addictive?)
Cordially,
Paul T. Riddell
--
*****************************************************************
The Healing Power of Obnoxiousness:
The Paul T. Riddell Essay Archive
http://www.imagina.com/webpages/priddell
Find Irate Ian and win potentially valuable prizes!
Rachel K. Warren
7030...@compuserve.com wrote:
> In article <33a03fa2...@news.demon.co.uk>,
> Ga...@NOSPAM.Virgin.net wrote:
> >
> > On 4 Jun 1997 20:48:29 GMT, warr...@falcon.jmu.edu (Rachel K. Warren)
> > wrote:
> >
> ANY COMMENTS??
> Yep, I have a comment. Or two.
Wow, this must be my lucky day. I get to read two more chapters from
David Weber's _In Enemy Hands_, beat the crap out of a Galaga machine
at my ice-cream shop (I got a good 107k points with one quarter. I'm
pretty happy about it), and now Gerrold posts an article to RASFW. Werd.
> I started the first book in the series, A MATTER FOR MEN, in 1972. I
> wrote fourteen chapters, and then my agent called and said he'd sold THE
> MAN WHO FOLDED HIMSELF to Random House, so I had to finish that one
> first.
Well, I was off in my recollection by two years. Oh well.
> So even though I was working on other projects, I continued to make notes
> on The War Against The Chtorr. I carried a notebook and a mini-tape
> recorder with me and dictated hours of thoughts and speculations.
Wow. I've found someone even more obsessed than I am. *laugh*
> Jerry Pournelle, and half of NESFA for information about how to build an
> ecology.
What is NESFA, btw?
> I bought my first computer in 1978 in the vain hope that it would help
> me organize everything
*chuckle* h0h0h0h0...trying to find the silver bullet...
> I now know pretty much where the next three books are going to go. It's
> pretty scary and exciting stuff. And hard to write.
Jeez, don't tease the poor obsessed like this! :)
> After that, if I wished, I could write a second series of seven that
> detail what we would find if we could get to the planet Chtorr.
I guess the human race does survive the Chtorr then.
> I apologize if the wait is too long for some folks. I don't like having
> to wait for the next book in a series either. But I only get one chance
> to write these books, and I'd rather do them right than fast.
*grumble* Ok. *grumble*
> Please be patient.
Pfffft. I won't be paitient, but I won't whine about it either. Kids are
more important than fans wanting books.
But still, I wonder what is going to be first, Chris Claremont going back
to the X-men, or you finishing the fifth book. :>
BTW, rumor(?) has been saying that _Star Wolf_ is going to be shown on
the Sci-fi channel this fall. If your still reading this newsgroup, is
this still true?
7030...@compuserve.com
In article <5nvsob$4...@crl3.crl.com>,
dtr...@crl3.crl.com (James Gassaway) wrote:
>
> 7030...@compuserve.com writes:
>
> <snipped most of Gerrold's reply>
>
> >to wait for the next book in a series either. But I only get one chance
> >to write these books, and I'd rather do them right than fast.
>
>
> >That's the first comment. Here's the second. Five years ago, I adopted
> >a special needs child. He's the best thing that ever happened to me. He
> >uses up a lot of my time, but I don't resent it. I'd rather spend time
> >with my son than anything else in the world. If this slows down the
> >writing, well ... it's a very small price to pay. He's the most
> >important thing in the world to me.
>
> >David Gerrold
>
> As one of the people who is impatiently waiting for the continuation of
> the Chtorr series I hope that the emails haven't been too annoying. (I'd
> apologize but I can't remember having sent you any mail or email, so ...
> :| ) While I want the next book, I too would like it to be "right". And
> regardless of our clamorings, at least some of us recognize that your son
> _is_ a higher priority. I hope that (at least sometimes) you can
> remember that all our "gimmme, gimmme, gimmme" indicates that we LIKE
> your work.
>
> And thank you for the work you have given us.
>
> --
> Dimensional Traveler
> Commander, WarForce Omega (the Star Killers), Multiversal Mercenaries.
> You name it, we kill it, any time, any reality.
Thanks for understanding. I appreciate it.
And yes, I do recognize that the "gimme, gimme, gimme" is a compliment of
the highest order. That's why I want the next book to be better than the
last. To make sure that the readers get the book they deserve.
Thanks again.
7030...@compuserve.com
In article <33a03fa2...@news.demon.co.uk>,
Ga...@NOSPAM.Virgin.net wrote:
>
> On 4 Jun 1997 20:48:29 GMT, warr...@falcon.jmu.edu (Rachel K. Warren)
> wrote:
>
"Do we believe him when he talks about a series outline?"
The outline was 7 pages long when I started. Then I started doing
research, and the outline grew. Then I started getting ideas for more
pieces of the ecology and more pieces of the story and the outline grew.
The more I wrote, the more ideas I got, and the outline grew.
At the moment, the outline is 1300 pages long. There are about six
inches of files still to be scanned and 30 hours of tapes. Then it has
to be organized. I figure it's another year's worth of work. The good
news is that I'm working on the books concurrent with the outline.
James Gassaway
7030...@compuserve.com writes:
>In article <5nvsob$4...@crl3.crl.com>,
> dtr...@crl3.crl.com (James Gassaway) wrote:
>>
>> 7030...@compuserve.com writes:
>> As one of the people who is impatiently waiting for the continuation of
>> the Chtorr series I hope that the emails haven't been too annoying. (I'd
>> apologize but I can't remember having sent you any mail or email, so ...
>> :| ) While I want the next book, I too would like it to be "right". And
>> regardless of our clamorings, at least some of us recognize that your son
>> _is_ a higher priority. I hope that (at least sometimes) you can
>> remember that all our "gimmme, gimmme, gimmme" indicates that we LIKE
>> your work.
>>
>> And thank you for the work you have given us.
>>
>Thanks for understanding. I appreciate it.
>And yes, I do recognize that the "gimme, gimme, gimme" is a compliment of
>the highest order. That's why I want the next book to be better than the
>last. To make sure that the readers get the book they deserve.
>Thanks again.
>David Gerrold
Wellll, before you think I'm _too_ understanding. I was tempted to
observe that your son has to sleep sometime and offer to help pay for
daily shipments of Jolt Cola. :) But I concluded that the
sugar/caffinee rush would probably lower the overall quality of your work
even if it would provide extra inspiration for Solomon Short. (Now
executing a hasty withdrawal before I get plastered.)
William Baird
In article <8665029...@dejanews.com>, <7030...@compuserve.com> wrote:
Gack! David's found UseNet...we'll never get him to finish now...;)
>And yes, I do recognize that the "gimme, gimme, gimme" is a compliment of
>the highest order. That's why I want the next book to be better than the
>last. To make sure that the readers get the book they deserve.
better than aSfS? *slobber* This ought to be interesting...
Will
personal theory: the ecology is the invader/sentient...
>David Gerrold
--
Will Baird email: wba...@acca.nmsu.edu http://essex.nmsu.edu/~scomputi/
Phantoms! Whenever I think I fully understand mankind's purpose on earth...
suddenly I see phantoms dancing in the shadows...[saying] pointly as words,
"What you know is nothing little man; what you have to learn, immense." - CD
James C. Ellis
7030...@compuserve.com wrote:
>
> At the moment, the outline is 1300 pages long. There are about six
> inches of files still to be scanned and 30 hours of tapes. Then it has
> to be organized. I figure it's another year's worth of work. The good
> news is that I'm working on the books concurrent with the outline.
As a technical query; what program are you using to organise this...
(I'm not going to say mess) collection? It sounds like it will be a vast
job to pick information out of it even once it is completely in
electronic form.
Biff
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Me? Lady, I'm your worst nightmare - a pumpkin with a gun.
[...] Euminides this! " - Mervyn, the Sandman #66
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Erik Beese
> I apologize if the wait is too long for some folks. I don't like having
> to wait for the next book in a series either. But I only get one chance
> to write these books, and I'd rather do them right than fast.
These books are well worth the wait... I've read one copy of the series
into oblivion and am currently working on my second copy of each book.
Thanks for explaining the wait... myself and many of my friends thought
that you had just dropped off the face of the Earth.
Thanks for taking the time to do it right.
Erik Beese
Gary Brown
On Mon, 16 Jun 1997 18:21:34 -0600, 7030...@compuserve.com wrote:
>At the moment, the outline is 1300 pages long. There are about six
>inches of files still to be scanned and 30 hours of tapes. Then it has
>to be organized. I figure it's another year's worth of work. The good
>news is that I'm working on the books concurrent with the outline.
Sod the books, David, just publish the damn outline ;-)
Seriously though, do I hear 'The Encyclopaedia of Chtorran Ecology',
or 'The Rise and Fall of the Chtorran Empire' followups???? Many major
series seem to spawn reference books, EG, Perry Rhodan, Discworld,
Star Trek etc.
Gary Brown
On Sat, 14 Jun 1997 15:41:05 -0600, 7030...@compuserve.com wrote:
>In article <33a03fa2...@news.demon.co.uk>,
> Ga...@NOSPAM.Virgin.net wrote:
>>
>>
>> Do we believe him when he talks about a series 'outline'? I know
>> proper writers (IE not me) don't start a series without knowing the
>> full story but I couldn't help feeling through the last two volumes
>> that he was painting himself into one heck of a corner, Independance
>> Day style with mankind down, out and all but finished. Just hope David
>> manages a better ending than ID4 did.
>>
>Yep, I have a comment. Or two.
>
>I started the first book in the series, A MATTER FOR MEN, in 1972. I
>wrote fourteen chapters, and then my agent called and said he'd sold THE
>MAN WHO FOLDED HIMSELF to Random House, so I had to finish that one
>first.
>
I must confess I had no idea this had been such a lengthy project.
>I now know pretty much where the next three books are going to go. It's
>pretty scary and exciting stuff. And hard to write. After that, if I
>wished, I could write a second series of seven that detail what we would
>find if we could get to the planet Chtorr.
>
This is a great re-assurance to me and gives me great hope that the
incredibly high standard of characterization and story-telling can be
continued. As a student, I always found that the initial plotting and
research was the hardest part.
I hope you have not taken offence at my initial suggestion. I felt
that the story had become so hugely detailed and you had continued
through four books to paint mankind into worse and worse corners that
you might not find your way out. Mind you, that's assuming mankind is
supposed to triumph.
I apologise if I paraphrase you David, but I seem to recall at a panel
during the '95 Scottish Worldcon you and Jack commented that 'we may
_never_ know the Chtorran motives' (very paraphrased ISTR). I suddenly
thought, 'Oh god, Rendezvous with Rama again'. IE, a book that asks so
many questions but almost leaves us annoyed at the end with the number
that it leaves unanswered. Then again, RWR is one of my most-read
books so that can't be a bad thing....
>That's the first comment. Here's the second. Five years ago, I adopted
>a special needs child. He's the best thing that ever happened to me. He
>uses up a lot of my time, but I don't resent it. I'd rather spend time
>with my son than anything else in the world. If this slows down the
>writing, well ... it's a very small price to pay. He's the most
>important thing in the world to me.
>
>David Gerrold
>
I was fortunate enough to see the two of you together on stage at the
Hugo ceremony in '95 and the bond was clear for all to see. We can
forgive you for being distracted :-)
You have not mentioned the Star Wolf TV show that you previewed in
Glasgow. Is this still a go-er in the States? I had assumed this was
another reason you were finding time short.
Anyway, if anything I am glad that my request for comment has caused
you to de-lurk. Thanks for taking the time to post and keep us all up
to date. We eagerly await....
Nyrath the nearly wise
Gary Brown (Ga...@NOSPAM.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: Many major
: series seem to spawn reference books, EG, Perry Rhodan, Discworld,
: Star Trek etc.
A Perry Rhodan reference book? I hadn't heard about that.
Can you tell me more? Is it still in print? (is it in English?)
Ramit Hora
7030...@compuserve.com wrote:
: The outline was 7 pages long when I started. Then I started doing
: research, and the outline grew. Then I started getting ideas for more
: pieces of the ecology and more pieces of the story and the outline grew.
: The more I wrote, the more ideas I got, and the outline grew.
: At the moment, the outline is 1300 pages long. There are about six
: inches of files still to be scanned and 30 hours of tapes. Then it has
: to be organized. I figure it's another year's worth of work. The good
: news is that I'm working on the books concurrent with the outline.
I would just like to say that I would love too see more work from this
outline, and yes, I know it will take time and I'm willing to wait. This
has been one of my favorite Sci-Fi series ever and I hope to keep reading
up on it for years to come.
-Ray
P.S. I miss your commentaries on YIL, they were amusing.
--
***************************************************************************
Ramit Hora | Work E-mail: con...@binghamton.edu
Personal E-mail: r...@degobah.core.binghamton.edu ho...@worldnet.att.net
"All true wealth is biological." - Lord Aral Vorkosigan
"This neurotic pursuit of sanity is driving us all crazy."- Solomon Short
***************************************************************************
My opinions are my own, not the Evil Galactic Overlord's.
Mark Asher
> William Baird <wba...@whocares.nmsu.edu> wrote in article
<5o4ki9$4...@bubba.NMSU.Edu>...
> In article <8665029...@dejanews.com>, <7030...@compuserve.com>
wrote:
>
> Gack! David's found UseNet...we'll never get him to finish now...;)
>
> >And yes, I do recognize that the "gimme, gimme, gimme" is a compliment
of
> >the highest order. That's why I want the next book to be better than
the
> >last. To make sure that the readers get the book they deserve.
>
> better than aSfS? *slobber* This ought to be interesting...
>
> Will
> personal theory: the ecology is the invader/sentient...
That's what I was thinking. Those neural symbionts or whatever they are
called - the fuzzy things that attach to the creatures - are probably like
neural synapses and together on a planet-wide basis make up a collective
consciousness. The only thing that's puzzling about this theory is that it
would seem a collective intelligence of this order wouldn't be driven to
become technologically-oriented. By that I mean it would seem to be
perfectly adapted and without competition on its native planet. And without
technology, how would it migrate from Chtorr to Earth?
Anyway, damn interesting books unlike anything else I've read in the field.
I kind of wish I'd found them later after Gerrold was finished, however.
Mark Asher
William Baird
In article <01bc801a$a1c3ccc0$679e...@MarkA.impacttech.com>,
Mark Asher <ma...@impacttech.com> wrote:
>That's what I was thinking. Those neural symbionts or whatever they are
>called - the fuzzy things that attach to the creatures - are probably like
>neural synapses and together on a planet-wide basis make up a collective
>consciousness. The only thing that's puzzling about this theory is that it
>would seem a collective intelligence of this order wouldn't be driven to
>become technologically-oriented. By that I mean it would seem to be
>perfectly adapted and without competition on its native planet.
>And without technology, how would it migrate from Chtorr to Earth?
And who said they'd need to have technology to be able to make the trip?
Do you remember Jim's 'monkey dream'? When he had dust poisoning....in aDfD.
There was a line about the anchor trees...and how they knew it would be time
soon, and how god was singing cuz she was happy and how delicious the radio
bright star was...and how teh anchor trees 'came'. My guess is that the
'anchor trees' squireted/shot the shambler seeds across the Void, and...
for Sol to be seen as radio bright it'd only have to have been since ~1930's
or so...And it would seem that the time of the story (at least for the first)
is ~2020-2030...soooo....*shrugs* Call it 75 years between the Great Squirt
and the shambler seed shower...all depends on how fast the resulting velocity
of the great squirt was.
Only problem with it is that the rgeat squirt would need to push the seeds
up to some fraction of the speed of light...unelss we weren't the intended
target and got in the way...:)
Then again, I could, and probably am, totally wrong...
>Anyway, damn interesting books unlike anything else I've read in the field.
>I kind of wish I'd found them later after Gerrold was finished, however.
Seconded. Macht nichts, they're still good.
Will
>Mark Asher
john douglas richardson
: >And without technology, how would it migrate from Chtorr to Earth?
You know, I was going to say almost the exact same thing, only I wasn't
thinking about the monkey dream. I was thinking about those trees in the
niven story that spread seeds around by growing the equivalent of a solid
rocket booster, then occasionally blast off (It's been a while since I've
read the story. I remember it's from known space). Anyways, I've been
thinking for a while that since the shambler tree seeds can be dropped
from space and land intact, and apparantly, the shambler grove in the last
book was what the origin of the chtorran invasion looked like, this doesn't
necessarily imply technology. True, chances approach nil that the trees
evolved naturally, and even less likely that they would contain all of the
genetic information for the entire ecology. But it is possible that, given
the way the humans in the Coari mandala were genetically transformed, that
this happened. The shamblers could be a sort of organic vector for the
chtorran ecology. It's possible that the chtorrans (symbiotes or whatever
they really are) have a highly advanced medical/biological technology, but
are sub-technical in other areas, or maybe even it's non-technological.
Perhaps they are somehow able to modify genes in different species as some
sort of inborn trait, kind of like what is theorized of the 'descolada people'
in the most recent book of the Ender saga from Orson Scott Card.
the monkey dream would seem to verify this theory though. I'd never really
paid much attention to that passage, I always just skip over it sort of.
Next time I'm home, I'm going to take a look at that passage again, because
this has that 'big click' quality.
--
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jdri...@uiuc.edu http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/jdrichar
"Tell me what you really think of me, Mr. Roark."
"But I don't think of you."
--Howard Roark and Ellsworth Toohey, _The Fountainhead,_ Ayn Rand
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Wingman
In article <01bc801a$a1c3ccc0$679e...@MarkA.impacttech.com>, "Mark Asher" <ma...@impacttech.com> wrote:
>Anyway, damn interesting books unlike anything else I've read in the field.
>I kind of wish I'd found them later after Gerrold was finished, however.
While you're waiting for the fifth book, you may want to try a comic series
called "Nausicaa", translated by Viz Communications. It starts out
differently from the Chtorr books but after a while the two series
become VERY similar. In the War Against the Chtorr, you've got the
Chtorr forest spreading across the Earth and bringing the Chtorr bugs
with it. In Nausicaa, you've got the Ohmu forests spreading across the Earth
and bringing the Ohmu bugs with it. The critters in the two stories are
rather similar too.
Christian Weisgerber
nyr...@clark.net (Nyrath the nearly wise) writes:
> A Perry Rhodan reference book? I hadn't heard about that.
> Can you tell me more? Is it still in print? (is it in English?)
Over the decades, there have been several editions of the Perry Rhodan
Encyclopedia. The latest one has five volumes and covers the series up
to #1500. (The series is now at #1870.)
I'm not sure if the PRE is still in print. Of course it is in German. I
mean, pretty much everything it covers hasn't been translated into
English anyway.
If you're looking for information on PR, de.rec.sf.perry-rhodan might be
a good place to check. People might even forgive you posting in English
there, if you're real nice. :-)
--
Christian 'naddy' Weisgerber na...@mips.rhein-neckar.de
See another pointless homepage at <URL:http://home.pages.de/~naddy/>.