"The War Against the Rull" by A. E. van Vogt (1959)

Mankind’s bitter and long-lasting struggle against the very advanced and very redoubtable worm-like Rulls for control of the Milky Way galaxy is told in this composite novel in a series of dramatic episodes, consisting essentially of previously-published golden-age stories [1] modified to fit into the new story line featuring almost exclusively Rulls, to the exclusion of the other form-changing aliens, the Yevds, featured in some of the earlier stories,.

The later 1978 story The First Rull was subsequently added to the 1979 edition of the novel (Chapter XXVI here), and in all later editions.

(72,000 words)

An e-book is available for downloading below.

The War Against the Rull (e-book)