Re: David Gerrold - War with the Cthorr

On May 1, 11:36=A0pm, Bryan Derksen <bryan.derk...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Shawn Wilson wrote:
> > On May 1, 3:09 pm, Dan Swartzendruber <dswa...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> My theory: he painted himself into a corner and has no idea where to
go=

> >> or how to finish in a satisfactory way.
>
> > I second that. =A0But, really, while he makes a point that the Cthorr
> > are a billion years more evolved than earth life (which is itself
> > meaningless, they spent a billion years evolving against each other,
> > not us) technology is faster than evolution. =A0Chemicals and
engineered=

> > bacteria and nukes should be able to finish off the Chtorr.
>
> Indeed, I've never understood the "humanity is doomed" vibe that most
> readers seem to get out of the series. Perhaps it's doomed because the
> author has decided by fiat that the Chtorr are unbeatable, but if it
> turns out to be the case my suspension of disbelief won't hold. The
> humans in that setting have fearsomely advanced biotechnology and AI
> compared to the real world, it should be relatively straightforward to
> identify enzymatic pathways and genetic vulnerabilities that Chtorr have
> but Terran life lacks, and hit those with massive poisonings to even out
> the playing field.
>
> I recall that nuking was frowned on because Chtorran life tended to
> recolonize the burned areas faster than Terran life, but I don't see why
> it'd be worse than letting Mandalas and Enterprise Fish and other
> large-scale Chtorran structures organize themselves. Large-scale
> organization is one of humanity's key advantages, forcing the Chtorran
> ecology to remain decentralized makes sure we stay ahead in that area.
> Though I imagine using really nasty chemical poisons would be more cost
> effective than wasting plutonium.
>
> Anyway. Perhaps one day David Gerrold's son will publish stuff based on
> whatever notes he's got.

Right.  Better to live on a world with some radioactivity issues than
to be wiped out of existence.  I kind of enjoyed the first three books
(although they were published so far apart that I kept forgetting the
details of the previous volumes as I read each new volume), but no way
giant worms couldn't be destroyed by even the weapons we have today.