Benutzer:Agentjoerg/Der Krieg gegen die Chtorr

Der Krieg gegen die Chtorr ist ein (zum aktuellen Zeitpunkt vier Bände umfassender) Zyklus geschrieben von David Gerrold. Die Reihe ist gegenwärtig noch nicht abgeschlossen, soll aber noch weiter fortgesetzt werden.

Der Chtorr-Zyklus

Der Chtorr-Zyklus war ursprünglich als eine Trilogie geplant. Als die Handlung aber immer komplexer wurde, kam David Gerrold zu dem Schluss, daß drei Bände nicht ausreichen würden, um die ganze Geschichte zu erzählen. Zeitweilig war er unschlüssig, wie viele Bücher es letztendlich werden sollten, aber momentan sieht es nach sieben Bänden aus. Davon sind gegenwärtig vier Bücher veröffentlicht:

1. A Matter for Men (1983), Die biologische Invasion, Heyne, 1986, ISBN 3-453-31256-2
2. A Day for Damnation (1985), Der Tag der Verdammnis, Heyne, 1986, ISBN 3-453-31303-8
3. A Rage for Revenge (1989)
4. A Season for Slaughter (1993)

2004 gab Gerrold die Titel der noch zu veröffentlichenden drei Bände bekannt:

1. A Method For Madness
2. A Time for Treason
3. A Case for Courage

Handlung

Set in a devastated early 21st century United States with logical expected advances in current technology such as a fledgling moon base, this series of science-fiction novels describe the invasion of Earth by an alien ecology. The story is unusual in that the tactics used by the aliens eschew the usual direct attack in favor of terraforming the ecosystem.

The United States has just lost a harsh war in Pakistan, after which they were required to neuter their armed forces. The U.S. decided to increase weapon exports in order to make other countries reliant on them. Secretly, they continued researching and developing weapons, which is illegal according to the treaty.

Soon afterwards, a series of devastating plagues sweeps the world, killing 60% of humanity. As the survivors struggle to rebuild civilization, they discover that hundreds of alien plant and animal species have begun establishing themselves. They are almost universally far superior to the native organisms which occupy the same ecological niches. As a result, Earth's entire ecology is being rapidly supplanted (or "chtorraformed"). The invaders are called Chtorrans after the sound made by the most deadly predator encountered so far.

There is no sign of sentient aliens, but humans presume the invasion to be deliberate, either "seeded" from space or brought by undetected spacecraft. Many of the Chtorran organisms (see below) exhibit behaviors that are quasi-sentient (building structures, creating and using tools, farming/herding, setting traps, singing), yet the central question of whether they are doing so out of sentience or collective and programmed behavior is unanswered. With each new layer of organisms, a bit more hierarchy to the Chtorran "societal" structure is revealed, allowing the possibility that all these organisms will transform the Earth in support of some worse, higher form of Chtorran life. The presumed goal of these off-stage aliens appears to be nothing less than the complete replacement of Earth's entire ecology and the resultant extinction of all native life, at which time they can claim the planet without a single shot needing to be fired. Another possibility is that collectively the Chtorr are the alien, the invasion has begun and gained major footholds, and humanity has yet to figure out who the true enemy is (let alone how to successfully fight it).

The books largely follow the adventures of Jim McCarthy, a scientist and soldier in the U.S. Army, who attempts to understand the Chtorran ecology even as he engages in combat to destroy it. His early efforts primarily focus on the "Worms", a particularly large and dangerous carnivorous Chtorran species whose prey includes humans. McCarthy and other scientists investigate the rapidly expanding Chtorran ecosystem and attempt to unravel the ecological relationships between the various species.

In addition to descriptions of alien ecology, the Chtorr series includes lengthy expositions on various aspects of human psychology, particularly under wartime and survival conditions.

Dramatis personae

• Jim McCarthy: Der Hauptdarsteller des Zyklus. Alle Bücher sind aus seiner Perspektive geschrieben. Jim ist ein Militärwissenschaftler, der zur geheimen "Onkel Ira" Abteilung eingezogen wurde, um die Invasion der Chtorr zu bekämpfen. Er ist bisexuell und unterhält eine Liebesbeziehung mit Lizard Tirelli. Jim wird oft als ungestüm, agressiv und impulsiv characterisiert. Er kann es nicht ausstehen, wenn wichtige Probleme durch die Politik behindert werden. Deshalb muss er auch des öfteren durch Lizard oder die "Onkel Ira" Abteilung herausgeboxt werden, wenn er sich wieder einmal zu gewissen Handlungen hat hinreißen lassen, zum Beispiel, als er einen Major aus Québéc dazu bringt, seinen Dienst wegen Feigheit zu quittieren.

• Elizabeth "Lizard" Tirelli: Ein Offizier der US-Armee. Sie fängt als Hubschrauberpilot an, aber im vierten Buch wurde sie schon zum General befördert und ist jetzt eine der führenden Personen im US-Militär bei seinem Kampf gegen die Chtorr. Sie ist in einer komplizierten Liebesbeziehung mit McCarthy.

• Ted: Jim's military partner and sometimes lover. Ted joins the Telepathy Corps early on in the series and has a chip implanted in his brain which allows other Telepathy Corps members to access his body. He talks about how he no longer feels a connection with his body; as part of the Corps mass mind, he can occupy and use any other Corps body.

• General "Onkel Ira" Wallachstein: Der Anführer einer streng geheimen militärischen Spezialabteilung, die nur dem Präsidenten persönlich untersteht. Offiziell existiert die Abteilung gar nicht. Der Auftrag der "Onkel Ira" Abteilung ist es, zu tun, was immer auch nötig ist, um die Invasion der Chtorr zu bekämpfen. Dabei ist es ihr erlaubt, die Politik links liegenzulassen, die sich sonst unvermeidlich einmischen würde.

• Daniel Foreman: An enigmatic and harsh man who leads the Mode training courses. He teaches people how to reach their potential required to fight the Chtorr by changing in and out of "modes" and how to accept the limitations and concepts of ones own psychology. He writes articles under the name "Solomon Short" and is quoted as such at the heading of the chapters in books 3 and 4.

• General Wainwright: The highest-ranking member of the military shown in the books. The General is more of a politician than a fighter, and is usually characterized as putting his own troops at risk rather than risk a political bungle. He has told McCarthy numerous times that he has a personal hatred for him, something that only seems to amuse McCarthy. Wainwright has an assistant, Dannenfelser, who has an open personal dislike for McCarthy and often seeks to make him miserable.

• Jason Delandro: Jason is the spiritual leader of a group of renegades living nomadically in unpopulated territory in the United States. He is very convincing and has an extremely loyal, almost religious, following. He believes in living as hosts and treating the Chtorrans as guests, with the understanding that the Chtorrans could take whatever they need, including innocent human life. Three of the members of his group are actually worms, one, Orrie, raised from birth, and the other two trained by Orrie to understand humans. The human-Chtorran relationship amongst the renegades is complex, but ultimately results in a loss of humanity for those involved (characterized by people giving their newborn babies as food to the worms) and complete acceptance and subservience to the Chtorrans.

Das chtorranische Ökosystem

• Stechfliegen (engl. Stingflies): One of the most common Chtorran creatures, stingflies resemble large mosquitoes. Although their bite is not very harmful to humans or animals, they can attack in swarms and do a large amount of damage. They lay their eggs on a Chtorran plant called a "wormberry" and hatch once in the stomach of whatever ate the berry. Gastropedes and other Chtorrans do not seem to be harmed by stingfly larva living in their bodies, but humans can die of painful ulcers and infections if they accidentally eat stingfly eggs.

• Quallenschweinchen (engl. Jellypigs): Small, blob like creatures that live off of nutrients found in dirt. Their part of the ecology seems to be to dig out the tunnels and underground areas necessary for many creatures to survive. They are only found in "clumps" of several dozen or more. Reproduction happens when jellypigs rub against one another in a clump, cross fertilizing small eggs contained just beneath the skin. When a jellypig stops moving for a certain amount of time, the babies eat their way out of the mother.