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Summary: Large scale disasters that have no chance of recovery soon
Review: I've read this book at least 3 times in the last 10 years. I keep coming back because I am interested in the science of this type of disaster. Read *Uriel's Machine*, by Knight and Lomas if you want real accounts and historical proof of what happens when a comet impacts the earth. This story is very good, the plot is complete, but the limitations are in what your mind can fill in. It is a PLEASURE reading material and some would do much to remember that. Serious books get the type of review criticism that others here seem to forget. This is a huge seller, and the main reason is it is a page turner. All of the other reviews good and bad FINISHED the book, so it must be at least worth that. Take a shot and read this one.
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Summary: Credible Science - Ridiculous Sociology
Review: I have never been able to swallow "apocalyptic" science fiction because it all suffers from the same affliction: the only way for the author to build suspense or brisk pacing is to twist the plot into pretzel logic.I tried to suspend my disbelief, but the premise of this story drops off into absurdity. For the events in this book to take place, we must believe that, in the event of a catastrophic impact: 1. Millions will have the foresight to seek high ground, but our elected leaders will not. 2. The authorities will not take the possibility of an impact seriously, will not even make preparations for it, have no disaster management or recovery plan, and are incapable of developing or implementing such a plan after the fact. 3. A fragile nuclear power plant will survive an apocalyptic catastrophe intact and be worth saving, but far simpler, more numerous, and more robust coal fuelled power plants will all be utterly destroyed and not worth the effort of salvaging. 4. Human knowledge, custom, institutions and social cohesion are so fragile, that they will utterly disintegrate at the first major shock. 5. The honour, training, discipline and practically unlimited resources of the military machine are so tenuous that it will unravel into assassination, desertion and feudal fiefdom at the first opportunity. 6. Cannibalism is such a societal taboo that those who engage in it, even in extremis, are marked and shunned for life. I could go on with episode after episode of such silliness. Additionally, such elements of interest as exist are overwhelmed by the writers' insufferable moralizing. The authors have a political agenda and do not hesitate to flog it. And, as the book's detractors have elsewhere noted, it's about as politically sensitive as Jean Marie Le Pen. Even if we make allowances for its time (1977), race is portrayed with an absurdity that defies description. The authors are by turns condescending and disdainful, disingenuous and stereotyping: Howard Stern in blackface. If you are only looking for an apocalyptic adventure story, this book manages to deliver the goods, though barely and only under considerable strain. Against this, it is filled with inconsistency, absurdity and delusional flights of fancy, managing to be both childish and mean spirited. If you believe science fiction to be something more than third rate adventure stories, if you think it serves a higher calling and should reach for profounder truths, then this book is a failure.
Rating: 
Summary: Good end-of-the-world fiction.
Review: The authors start out with multiple threads and by late in the book has woven them together into a single plotline. The best part of the book are the occaisional bits of humor. I did feel some empathy for the male and female leads and in any book I read, this is a good sign.
Rating: 
Summary: A great, great, GREAT, book
Review: This book is by far one of my favorite books that I've ever read. I have read many reviews that complain about the "slow" start to the book. Personally I found that the pace in the first third of the book was perfect. To many books that I've read start out with a bang and never let up. This book refreshingly develops the characters and situations surronding them to an extent that few other books do. By the time that "Hot Fudge Tuesdae" (the impact of a massive comet) arives, the authors have developed the characters to such an extent that their reactions to the events caused by HammerFall illustrate the changes in the way people must now live much more effectively than if the characters hadn't been developed to such a degree.
I'm not going to give the ending away, but it is also one of the top endings of any book I've read. It's not a cookie cutter ending that leaves nothing left to ponder. Instead it leaves the reader with much to think about even after they have finished the book.
I would strongly recomend this book to anyone who enjoys doomsday or classic sci-fi novels, as well as those who haven't been much exposed to these genres. After you finish reading it, you'll want to start at the begining and read it again (as I did).
Rating:
Summary: Great story
Review: I dont read many books twice or more, maybe 5 out of the hundreds i've read. Lucifer's Hammer i've read 3 times over the years and will read again. It's a great story, a little slow to start but after it get's cranking it stays cranking. End of world buffs will love it. This book and "The Stand" are my all time favorites.
Rating:
Summary: A Great book about the end of the world.
Review: I love books and movies about the end of the world, I don't know why but I do. "Lucifer's Hammer" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle tell about a comet heading for earth. The authors give us characters from every different social group and how the diaster effect them. The books is dated in some parts the reader is easiler able to over look this. The only reason that it didn't get five stars from me is the ending could have been a little stronger. But overall still a great book.
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Summary: The second most important book I ever read!
Review: This is the second most important book I've ever read, and I've read it 8 times. It isn't about survivalism, it isn't about racism (absurd assertion make by bigots who haven't read it), and it isn't a political commentary on the 70's. It is about stark reality and what is important if the delusions of political correctness,quotas, and journalistic provarication are [taken] away. The comet is just a metaphor for a slate wiped clean, by whatever means. It says most gangs are black or hispanic and most farmers are white.That is not racism it's reality. And only woman have babies too. Sorry, that's just the way it is. BUT, this book debunks every stereotype. There are blacks, women, whites, hippies(it was written in the 70's)... every kind of person, as heros as well. The heros are the people who value education, self reliance, forethought, and above all, an open and flexible mind. The villains are the lazy, the users, and the unmotivated. The messages of this book is that some people are better than others, but it is up to the individual, himself, whether he is on the top or the bottom. Self respect, hard work, and education may, in the final outcome, mean everything.
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Summary: Wherein we learn just how fragile a basket the Earth can be.
Review: Apopcalyptic-fiction books seem to take on a familiar pattern. Threat to Earth emerges, four to six people come out of the woodwork to deal with it somehow, some of them have sex with each other or someone else. The disaster strikes, and a boatload of people die. Some of the four-to-six lead characters are involved in picking up the pieces. The National Guard is co-opted by savages and ends up imposing some sort of martial law or military regime. And so on. All this is found in "Lucifer's Hammer." But while the formula is trite and hackneyed in other works, Niven and Pournelle make it work. They breathe life into their characters that's sadly lacking elsewhere. One feels the tension and anguish surely experienced by the characters -- and indeed by the rest of the world -- as the comet draws nearer and nearer, subjecting humanity to sure doom. The authors even manage to inject some humor into a deadly serious topic -- for instance, letting some stoned California surfers ride their last wave, the biggest one in history, formed by the collision of part of the comet with the Pacific Ocean. This book's sheer scope, and the magnitude of the disaster imparted, can be overwhelming at times. I first read it at the beach one summer; I still recall lying on the sand, watching the tide come in and washing the sand from my feet, thinking "it just doesn't matter ... we humans don't matter; we're so insignificantly powerless against something like that." This, perhaps, is the most important part of "Lucifer's Hammer" -- gaining an understanding about how vulnerable humanity is to a mass disaster. As Robert Heinlein wrote, "The Earth is just too small and fragile a basket for the human race to keep all its eggs in." Ironically, and not surprisingly, the authors reproduce this quote in the book's frontispiece. Yes, the book is dated. It didn't age well with the passing of the years; one can't help but envision the characters wearing polyester leisure suits with big pointy collars and driving huge Cadillac Eldorados which get 10 miles to the gallon. But that's mostly irrelevant. Imagine a 1970s-era human race being destroyed if you need to. The point is that "Lucifer's Hammer" provides the most gripping portrait yet of what a mass calamity would do to the planet -- but it also shows how man can endure almost any tragedy.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Long before I saw Deep Impact, I read this masterpiece by Larry Niven and Jerry Puornelle. As good as that movie was, this book was at least 10 times better! This is one of the best end of civilization books I have ever read (better than When Worlds Collide and Earth Abides). Shows how some people will turn into savages while others will try to keep the society going. So realistic, you feel that it actually happened.
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Summary: A True Classic
Review: I first read this book in 1986, and I'm glad to see it still in print, because I want to re-visit it some 16 years later. It is a true classic-not just your run of the mill sci-fi or fiction. This book has an element of realism to it and is absolutely one of the finest pieces of writing in its genre that I have come across. I first learned of it when reading some material from the "survivalist movement"...people who continuously prepare for a societal breakdown. _Lucifer's Hammer_ was highly recommended as one of the most realistic novels available which would illustrate and drive home the realities of a potential worldwide disaster which would uproot life on the planet. I found it to be true; the authors did their homework. It was fun to think about during the Y2k scare/hoax! In a moment, all rights to private property are gone. What was "yours" one hour ago, now belongs to the first and strongest band of warlords who stake it. I will never forget the band of suburban Boy Scouts who were in the mountains on a camp-out, and their transformation within days from boys to men; roving warriors under the leadership of their scoutmaster. In later years, "Deep Impact" came to the theatres, and seemed to pick up in the spirit of "Lucifer's Hammer", in exploring the "impact" of a worldwide disaster. LH is a modern classic. I can't wait to read it again. I still get goose-bumps when I think about those chapter introductions in the beginning giving a graphic description of the "maelstrom" heading toward earth.
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