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Summary: Nukes R Us
Review: Once again, Niven and Pournelle demonstrate their irresponsible environmental policies. After Earth is nearly destroyed, what's the most important thing a man can do? Why fighting to save your local nuclear power plant, of course!I wouldn't mind these guys espousing dangerous politics, but do they have to make everyone who disagrees with them out to be a dunderheard? Or a cannibal? Well, this book isn't ALL bad. The middle third is mildly entertaining. You can skip the whole first third where they try to make you care about their uninteresting characters and jump right to when the asteroid hits. The Escape From LA part is sort of fun if you're from southern California. Otherwise there are probably too many in-jokes for most people. And the last third is almost unreadable as it descends rapidly into Political Dogma With A Big Agenda. Niven is at his best when he's writing about other worlds. Pournelle is at his best when he's writing about LANs and disk drives. Put these guys together and it's right wing tripe.
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Summary: One of the best in the apocalyptic genre
Review:
Very well written, full of suspense.
This book is one of the best in the apocalyptic genre, along with John Cristopher's No Blade of Grass, which dealt with a world destroyed by a grass disease which killed grains as well as grass and left a world in starvation. It mainly dealt with the reactions of people to the disaster, which included the failure of law and order. Another fine one was Alas Babylon, by Pat Frank, which dealt with the reactions of the people in a small Florida town following a destructive atomic war. And of course, there was On the Beach by Nevil Shute, which also dealt with a post atomic war world and an American submarine crew stranded in Australia, where the physical effects of the radiation in the northern hemisphere was delayed by coriolis force. In this book, the world-destroying catastrophe was a huge comet which struck the earth, resulting in total destruction of much of the world through tsunamis, earthquakes, torrential salt rains, and the resulting loss of millions of lives and of all government, national state and local, and hence of all governmental controls and functions. Impotent police, firemen, and elected functionaries; everything and everyone whose function was to maintain order are gone or reduced to non-entities. Money is worthless, food and other essentials like clothes and gasoline are scarce and generally go to the strongest or the best armed. Cannibalism takes over in many places. There is no electric power, and candlelight replaces it for lighting. The book deals with the lives, before and after, of several people, from a country mailman to a U.S. senator, and of course the astronomers, astronauts and others who were intimately involved as well as vignettes of secondary characters as the story develops. The character development is excellent, and the book absolutely captured me. It is no wonder that it sold over a million copies. Joseph Pierre
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Summary: The most believable Apocalypse story I've ever read
Review: Niven and Pournelle are two of my favorite science fiction writers This book is one of the reasons. I have read it at least a dozen times.
Lucifer's Hammer is a real-page turner! The story is engaging, chilling and VERY believable, both because of its here-and-now setting and because the authors based it on some pretty impressive research. The characters are three-dimensional and seem to come alive before your eyes. If you want to experience the heights and depths the human animal is capable of reaching, it's right here. READ THIS BOOK! If you do, you won't just read it once, but again and again. It's that good.
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Summary: Although The Charges Of Racism Are Silly
Review: Given their attachment to the Reagan administration, I suppose I should not be surprised to learn that N&P are conservatives. But it was a bit disconcerting to read about the evils of hippiedom n a sci-fi work. Indeed, given the obvious fear of black gangsters and white [addicts], and the heroic actions of boy scouts and rugged individualist Senators, this book can easily be seen as a reactionary screed against the excesses of the sixties. The misogynistic clichés about how women must retreat to the kitchen when the times get really tough are expected. Still, the macho posturing is par for the course in this field, and does not mar the work over much. The story is quite entertaining, one would hardly think that the tail of a rock hitting the earth would be engaging, but N&P are nothing if not master story tellers. In the pre-apocalypse the characters drive the book, in the post apocalypse it's the story of their fates. Either way, it's an engaging page-turner. Almost any N&P work is worth the price of admission, but this one is a bargain at twice the price. They should make a mini series out of it.
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Summary: A Science Fiction Landmark
Review: Altho' I originally read this book back in 1986 , it has lost none of it's appeal to an old SciFi junkie like myself! Yeah , I know that the first part of the story is a little slow...but it really picks up just as the "hammer" is about to strike the Earth and everybody tries to "head for the hills". The riots and traffic jams in L.A. seemed to mirror reality pretty well. I don't call the book "racist" since the authors' intent was in several ways predictive of actual events that actually transpired later (but for different causes).
Remember, folks , that this is a work of FICTION. One of the precepts drummed into my thick head in my college English and various literature classes is that fiction often is a window into the world as perceived by the author!
When the book was written , the times were pretty turbulent in Southern California. One could perhaps infer that the book was a societal warning. In the end , mankind manages to survive in spite of food shortages , a war with the cannibal army (reinforced with the National Guard!). The final few pages are perhaps a little "trite" about trying to restart a nuclear power plant and return the power grid. This is a SciFi classic regardless of a few warts. It really is a fun read. It may scare the stuffings out of you , but it also may make you think about the truly fragile nature of our society and how thin is the veneer of man's behavior towards his fellow man.Even tho't is now a little dated , I recommend it highly even for younger readers. It never becomes as sleazy as some of Harry Turtledove's more recent opuses. A solid 4 stars.
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Summary: Riveting, scary, and REAL!
Review: Like many folks out there, I got this one for a rainy day; y'know, just for emergencies when there is nothing else to do. I'd heard some good things about this one, and some bad ones too (especially from my African-American friends), so it sat aside my bed table. While recovering from a recent illness, I decided to start the book. That was on a Friday; it was another NINE days before I finished it! But that's a good thing. Though a tad on the long side (Clancy's 'The Sum of All Fears' is even longer), it was interesting nonetheless. Starting with the plush California life, this story inches along for the first 250+ pages. Then the disaster hits you . . . WHAM!!! I died, figuritively, while reading the riot scene in downtown LA. And then there was the tidal wave; let me tell you, I was doin' some praying for these folks! The scope on which this book enthralls the reader is both huge and tiny; while the international comet strikes destroy the world economy, the authors managed to keep the focus on the Californian people and their fight for survival. To see Senator Jellison emerge as such a leader was relieving (good lord, the rest of the world leaders ALL manage to die, and he is somehow filled with common sense that no one else possesses). The portrayal of black characters is ethnically offensive, but this is a book that takes place (REMEMBER!) in the 1970's. The Black Liberation Movement and similar type groups were everywhere, and to the Caucasion communities they assumed this was the life of African-Americans (THANK GOD we know better now!). Gritty, Gorey, and most of all Hauntingly REALISTIC, I highly recommend this book! It is worth the sluggish beggining, the racial offensiveness, and even cannibalism!
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Summary: Here Is Gone
Review: Off to the minority I go: Lucifer's Hammer is a disappointment. I won't call out anything about racist undertones, because I don't think those claims are valid, but I will go along with previous claims about Niven and Pournelle's characters being shallow. It's really hard to really bond with any of them: Hamner's conceited, Harvey's depressing, Maureen's a walking soap opera, Hardy's a tool, and Nassor is totally unlikable. I found myself not caring if anyone lived or died... As for the plot and praise for the novel being the best end-of-the-world story ever, I ask why...a comet hit the earth, and people tried to survive. What's new or original? Although the authors sure couldn't cover every single issue that would face a society after an apocalyptic event like a comet, they seemed to focus only on what comes on the top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, ignoring the issues that make us human and would no doubt fester throughout human societies despite destruction of social order: marriage, religion, entertainment, etc. And the climax...oh, the climax. Wow, a war. I've never read about battlefield conflict before! What exactly makes this story any more interesting than your conventional war story? In my mind, nothing. Armies fight, one wins, it tastes the fruits of victory. In this case...electricity! What were Niven and Pournelle thinking with such a banal ending? 600 pages, and we get quick talk of power lines. Disappointing. Sorry.
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Summary: great book - a classic
Review: I read this book many many years ago and loved it. Recently I read another book of the end-of-the-world genre and wished I could remember the name of this book. Luckily I've got good search skills and rediscovered it online. It is every bit as good as I remember. Must read.
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Summary: It ain't perfect, but it's pretty darn good
Review: Larry Niven ("Ringworld") and Jerry Pournelle's "Lucifer's Hammer" is probably the granddaddy of the Comet/Asteroid impact novels. It debuted in the late 1970s, and, like other reviewers have commented, it is rather dated because of it. It still makes a darn fine read, and Niven's skill at storytelling more than make up for the novel's faults. An arrogant scientist discovers a comet heading towards Earth. A concerned Senator manages to make it into his ranch in the hills above his Los Angeles constituency before it happens. From there, he and his friends attempt to rebuild civilization, employing everything from Mustard gas to nuclear power along the way. The "bad guys" are some hoods from, well, 'da 'hood, who join forces with some National Guard renegades and form a cannibalistic army. It's a showdown of apocalyptic proportions (well, not really) that determines the fate of the world - or, at least, Hollywood. Yeah, it may take itself a little too seriously, but Niven and Pournelle know how to tell a good story. These days, the disaster and post-apocalyptic genre is filled with such books, but "Lucifer's Hammer" did the Deep Impact thing first. Prose isn't perfect, but dialogue flows easily; like the more recent "The Rift," "Lucifer's Hammer" is a monster of a book, but doesn't take long to breeze through at all. It isn't perfect, but it's one of the best. Check it out for good adventure, survivalist know-how, and a perfect example of how to do post-apocalyptic fiction.
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Summary: Blew Me Away!!!!
Review: This has got to be THE end of the world story! Don't let the length turn you off, it'll be done before you are ready for it. The story is of a meteor (Deep Impact-style) that is found in outer space by a novice stargazer, and it is up in the air about whether or not it will actually collide with Earth, excuse the hideous pun. The twists in the story keep the reader guessing about the outcome of the comits path, and the distruction it will cause if it does hit our planet. Life-like outcomes of the inevitable lend the story a pleasing and horrifing reality that shocks the reader. A definite MUST READ!!
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