Steel Giants of Chaos

"Steel Giants of Chaos" by James R. Adams is a science fiction story unfolding on a future Earth facing metallic decay after a biologist-explorer, Gene Drummond, returns from Venus. The world he knew is now threatened by a mysterious disintegration of metals, caused by a ray from space, and he's the man tasked with stopping it. Gene becomes embroiled in a war between the "Wronged Ones," inheritors of misfortune after a mind-swap with Earthlings, and the aggressive "Beast People." Racing against time, Gene stumbles upon technology that might reverse the planet's doom. His adventure is a journey into alien conflicts and moral tests, challenging his beliefs as he fights to fix not only Earth's problems but those of another world entangled in Earth's past, pushing him to a final act of judgment about identity, fairness, and living together.