Rating: 
Summary: it's a very good book
Review: I think this book is really cool. Funny and humorous, but sometimes cruel. I like this story - about the chtorran invasion. This book could be 10, but I think James McCarthy is a little bit childish sometimes, and he also cries very much. :)
Rating:
Summary: Bring it back!!!!
Review: I would have to say that this is the most far out, yet addicting series I have ever read. Just the way that the main character seems to go from low status to high status, and is involved on both sides of the war. That is something that almost no other authors have ever done. I have been looking for all the books the past year, and I would be very happy to see them reprinted. And please, if the 5th book is out yet, print that also.
Rating:
Summary: excellent sci-fi
Review: If you like sci-fi, read this series. Some of the best stuff I've read
Rating: 
Summary: Humanity's last days
Review: It is possible David Gerrold is better known for his Star Trek novels than the "War Against the Chtorr" series. For me, his writing is engaging at many levels. As works of pure adventure, they're good but as philosophical explorations of a horrible future, they're great. Some will find his work a little preachy and some will find it juvenile. I am lucky enough to sit in between these two categories and just find these books on my bedside table again and again.There are currently four books in the series, "A Matter for Men," "A Day for Damnation," "A Rage for Revenge" and "A Season for Slaughter." I understand three more books are planned, "A Method for Madness," "A Time for Treason" and "A Case for Courage" but it's been so long I have given up hope of seeing them. The original four are hard enough to find as it is. The series describes an alien invasion that was totally original for it's day and even now has not been bested in the creative stakes. Imagine an alien biosphere that is seeding the Earth with selected ecosystems, evolved in much more competitive evolutionary circumstances that can be found locally. Each organism is both capable of out competing its local variants as well as paving the way for more complex life forms, higher up the evolutionary pyramid. Viruses, super algae, motile plants and omnivorous gastropods are just some of the amazing variety of specimens that are wiping out the Earth's native ecology with frightening rapidity. All of this is explored through the eyes and ears of a young American, James McCarthy. He survives the plague years only to emerge into a devastated society that is barely away it is now at war with an alien threat. Through bad luck and bad planning James is quickly submerged directly in the fight and quickly becomes an expert on "worms" simply because he manages to keep surviving contact. Intermixed with desperate fights, we are introduced to the world political scene that is hampering humanity's slim chance for continued existence. Jim is drawn into a secret organisation whose sole aim is killing the alien menace, at whatever cost. The methods they employ are drastic and shocking but hard to argue with as Jim quickly learns after seeing a little girl executed rather than go on living in a worm's larder. These are challenging books that are not for everyone. However, if you like Heinlein or Christopher Wyndham, then you should enjoy these novels tremendously.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother with this series
Review: It may be a little unfair that I gave book one a one-star rating. I am really rating the series as a whole, up to book four. I loved the first one....but then it went downhill from there. The actual plot of the story - the alien invasion - advances very slowly, and more slowly as each book in the series is introduced. In book four there are entire chapters where the main character and his love interest just banter and chatter aimlessly - doing nothing to advance the story, and much to irritate the reader. Add all these problems to the fact that Mr. Gerrold hasn't written the fifth book in the series yet after several years - it may never be written at this point - and I would strongly recommend that you don't even start reading this series. The only thing worse than a series that begins terribly is one that starts out good, but then gets terrible as it goes along. At least in the first case, you can abandon it before you've wasted too much time.
Rating:
Summary: I have read/reread it 10 times now...
Review: Just original. The book has been compared to Heinlen's Starship Troopers but it is a step beyond. Starship Troopers is a great, original thought read. A Matter For Men gets you into the story with many underlying currents that bother you during the entire series. Even in the 4th book in the series, you know that you have not been exposed yet to the true underlying theme. Yes, the Earth is being "terra-formed". I almost get the feeling that is just the apparent thing that is happening. I am eagerly awaiting the 5th, 6th and 7th books that I doubt will finish the series. See http://www.chtorr.com for more details about the new books. Highly recommended for serious sci-fi readers. Warning: start this book early in the day so that you wont have to finish it at 4 am the morning.
Rating:
Summary: I have read/reread it 10 times now...
Review: Just original. The book has been compared to Heinlen's Starship Troopers but it is a step beyond. Starship Troopers is a great, original thought read. A Matter For Men gets you into the story with many underlying currents that bother you during the entire series. Even in the 4th book in the series, you know that you have not been exposed yet to the true underlying theme. Yes, the Earth is being "terra-formed". I almost get the feeling that is just the apparent thing that is happening. I am eagerly awaiting the 5th, 6th and 7th books that I doubt will finish the series. See http://www.chtorr.com for more details about the new books. Highly recommended for serious sci-fi readers. Warning: start this book early in the day so that you wont have to finish it at 4 am the morning.
Rating:
Summary: Whitlaw was the best
Review: McCarthy keep down ... and shut up.
That's the first intro we get to Special Forces soldier James McCarthy who may just be the savior of the human race ... we'll see when David Gerrold finishes this series.
I first encountered Gerold's A Matter For Men when it was serialized in StarLog magazine in early 1983. It was a good read with a not to heavy handed exploration of Vietnam, nationalism and what happens when pacifism takes root in a nation.
James McCarthy is a young, outspoken, even lost, individual who bumbles his way through a war against an invading organism. In the first book it's giant pink worms that tear into folk like Jaws the shark. It evolves from there as McCarthy and his squad leader Duke fight and learn about the worms. The problem is that humanity has been decimated by its own foolishness and some sort of unknown plague ... there's not much left to face the Chtorr -- named for its goulish cry just before it tears into something -- when Earth has to fight off the giant pink worms.
This is the first book in what is now a four book series. The author has promised at least two more books, but the last one came out in 1992. He's a little behind.
I keep coming back to this series for two reasons: I like the civics teacher named Whitlaw who dominates the first book through McCarthy's memories, and I like the mode training in the third book A Rage for Revenge.
Throughout the series, Gerrold keeps the plot moving, maybe not at the same clip as this book, but each one breaks new ground. These books are worth the investment in time to read them.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best i have ever read
Review: Thank you David Gerrold, for giving us(readers) this chance to participate in the Chtorr universe. My advice to everyone out there is: Dont miss these books. Final note: D.Gerrold please finish it. Thank you
Rating:
Summary: A great series to read .... If you dont mind the wait!
Review: The 'War against the Chtorr' series is a great read, especially for those who like reading a series, however the fifth book in the series is very late and I expect it may never see publication. I have been haunting the bookstore every 3 months since 1994 to see if it was finally released. The plot has a lot of twists and turns, and Gerrold has a keen eye for detail and description, but maybe a little too heavy on philosophy. Plenty of action and suspense here, however he addresses the same personal conflicts several times throughout the series. Read it for pleasure if you can handle the prospect of an unfinished series! - Bob Meads
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