Like Armegeddon, the earth is the target, this time by a comet & it hits the earth. Excellent look at our civilization; how fragile, yet resilient. A must read. Well written & researched. ( )

I wasn't expecting much when I started this book, probably due to the cheesy cover and the images of the movie "Deep Impact" dancing in my head, but I was pleasantly surprised. The characters, although not incredibly deep or challenging, are still drawn out well enough that I cared about most of them. This is not an easy feat, considering the amount of characters that the authors introduce. The description of the actual "event" and the storytelling afterward are first rate, however, it does take awhile to get there, as there are extensive character introductions at the start. Also, be warned this book is from the 70's so there are some cold war themes prevalent throughout the story, which are not relevant today. Overall though, a very enjoyable book about apocalypse and its aftermath that kept me in suspense from the moment the action started until the conclusion. ( )

The book was written in the late 70's and, as such, has a big dose of the "Cold War" fears in it which seems a bit excessive (i.e. if the world is already being toasted by a series of comet hits, I seriously doubt that any nation would then go and nuke a neighbor... very "dated" concept). And, besides, the authors went nowhere with the nuking - just threw it in there but it ended up meaning nothing in the story.

Unlike many apocalyptic novels, the authors didn't have everyone being naive (i.e. nearly everyone realized that they'd lose electricity, etc), and the problems were believable - for example: the necessary items were unavailable, not that the people were too stupid to know what they needed.

My biggest complaint is that there were too many characters and their names were too similar so even after finishing the book, I'm not really sure who was who, and etc. I.e. there is a Harry, Harvey, Hamner, and Harv who are involved with women named Marie, Maureen, Eileen, etc... (and the women, in the entire novel, are only there as "mates" for the men; not one woman does anything other than be nurses/doctors or cooks or sex partners.)

Overall, the story is quite believable (minus the Cold War and useless women) and rather frightening. Makes you want to go learn a "useful" skill... ( )

Lucifer's Hammer is a book that asks a large question. What would happen to our society if it were interrupted by a catastrophic natural event? Even though humanity seems far beyond its primitive roots, are we really only a hair's breadth from chaos? How quickly can society disintegrate and how far can we fall?

For the most part, I believe that Niven succeeded in portraying a convincing scenario, at least from the point of view of most of the main characters. The characters had realistic motivations and behaved in ways that I found authentic. I also thought the characters were interesting and I felt curious to see how their individual "lives" would resolve.

There are a few weaknesses to Lucifer's Hammer. For one thing, I believe that the books is set in the 70's or 80's. Therefore, there are many technological advances that he does not anticipate. The complete lack of communication and large-scale transportation (helicopters!) is hard to imagine.

The other weakness for me, was the idea that so many people would just go crazy and totally freak out. Obviously, Niven keeps his main characters pretty sane. However, he describes a relatively large group of folks that just wig out. And these crazier people band together and terrorize others. I think that it is too bad that these crazy freaks happen to also be minorities and military. I suppose that the minority aspect is due to the age of the book? Maybe the military, too. Considering the fact that in natural disasters the military comes to the rescue........I just didn't appreciate the generalization. (maybe Niven is a friend of John Kerry-ha)

If you can get past the negatives, there is no doubt that the story is compelling and exciting. There is plenty of conflict and suspense. We may not all agree with Niven's hypotheses, but we can all enjoy a good story. ( )

An asteroid impacts the earth, and the protagonists deal with the predictions of the catastrophe, the event itself, and survival in the aftermath. A classic to be compared with Alas Babylon.

Cast: TV reporters, senators, gang members, cannibal cultists
Timeframe: pre-catastrophe through homesteading
( )

Put very simply, Lucifer's Hammer is a book about a comet hitting Earth. The book takes 640 pages to do this; there's a lot of detail to the story. The first couple hundred pages are all pre-comet and set the stage, introducing all of the characters. (There's a dramatis personae at the beginning of the book; I found myself referring to it frequently to see which characters were which.) The strike itself occupies about another hundred pages, with the balance of the book dealing with the aftermath.

As might be inferred from the spacing of events, the book proceeds at a somewhat slow pace, ramping up so gradually that I didn't notice the tensions in some scenes until I had to put the book down and realized that I was nearly breathless wondering what would happen. The aftermath is where the meat of the conflicts occur, but the preceding half of the book is pretty necessary to lay the groundwork for later developments.

The science in the book is also good. Niven and Pournelle spent a lot of time working out the details of a comet strike such as the one presented in the book, and it shows; the science is very thorough and believable. This was somewhat surprising given how long ago the book was written: 1977. Much other SF from that far back tends to be very dated, a fate Lucifer's Hammer seems to have escaped, for the most part.

There were some instances where I was reminded that the book was taking place three decades ago. Racial tensions in the book are a lot higher; while the civil rights movement had succeeded, many people still weren't accustomed to it, and a couple of the black characters have to deal with some uncomfortable situations. The technology isn't as good as that which we have today; while I can't remember any specific examples, there were some things that I noted would have been different if the story had taken place in our present. And someone makes reference to NASA's perfect record of not having any deaths during their missions, a record that, sadly, has been broken a few times since then.

All in all, it's a very good book, especially for fans of either SF or disaster stories.

Superior post holocaust story with believable and extremely chilling enemies. Excellent book. ( )

This is one of the stupidest, most racist apologies for fascist ideology I have ever read in my life. It is pure propaganda for nuclear power and survivalist mentality. Having the black population of Los Angeles become cannibals is grosteque. I blame Pournelle -- Niven usually seems to have better sense. ( )

Wow, I just love this book. While reading it I became so immersed in the story that I sometimes couldn't differentiate it from life. Scary stuff- Still the best book I have read after all these years ( )

Yet another comet-hits-the-Earth, yet it is well done. What else would you expect from this writing pair? ( )

The only reason I didn't give this story of a post apocalyptic world is there has to be something wrong with all the characters these two writers used. Really, it is the best and truest scenario of what humans would be like after a catacylsmic event such as a comet strike or nuclear war. One senses, too, the psychological change from the characters mind workings before and after the Hammer falls. ( )

Surpisingly 90's like for something written in the late 70's -- protagonists Timony Hamner (discoverer of the comet) and Larry Randall join the remaining survivors in creating a new civilization -- US government falls and is claimed to be lead by a variety of people heard via shortwave radio -- atomic power plant in San Joaquin valley becomes remaining monument to modern age with consequence of it being a target by the enviro-religious bands and a defended stronghold by the engineers and soldiers -- interesting events with 2 astronauts and 2 cosmonauts who view it together from their space lab -- diabetic astro-computer scientist prepares by packing insulin and the tools necessary to create it and also stores a huge collection of books in a sewage tank -- Senator's ranch becomes a stronghold and center of civilization and Maureen becomes the princess whose dowry is in effect the kingdom -- they keep all new families out unless they bring needed skills or information -- many people prepared during the last days and fled but didn't have anywhere to go -- others watched who prepared and then robbed them once it actually happened -- most just perished in the floods that hit every major coast. ( )

I am a very picky person when it comes to keeping my books in good shape. I don't fold the pages, I don't crack the spine, I'm careful where I put the book so it doesn't become damaged. Most of my books look perfect when I finish reading them.

This book looks like it's been in the library for years. This is because it's probably in my top 5 of re-read books (right up there with LOTR and Ender's game).

After reading it a couple of times, I asked my family to read the book. We now often refer to what we will do "when the comet hits". The book seems quite realistic, and certainly puts you in the mindset of "What would I have done in that situation?".

Brief summary of the book:

1. Pre-meteor (introducing characters)
2. Meteor is coming, how are people preparing?
3. Meteor hit, how are people immediately surviving/dying?
4. People getting into groups, post-meteor actions of groups.
5. Summary of groups actions, long term plans, etc.

I have read almost all of the post-apocalyptic books on the market, and this is *by far* my favorite book on the subject. Great flawed characters, engaging plot, great visuals (driving on flooded train tracks, surfer on a tsunami (trust me, it works), an epic last battle), and a good ending.

Finally, I agree with other reviewers who desperately wish that the other "meteor" movies had taken some clues from Lucifer's Hammer. This would make an excellent movie, though I'd be afraid it would be screwed up. ( )

Meteors, asteroids, what else can you hit the earth with and write a book about it? How about a comet? Yep, that is what has been done here. Apart from sounding cooler, you get the usual nastiness and struggles as those alive in the aftermath have to deal with trying to stay alive.

New power structures, violence and eating take up a lot of the time.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/01/lucifers-hammer-larry-niven.html ( )

This book just happens to be one of the best works that Larry Niven has ever produced. The evocation of life and the struggle for existence after the comet hits is extremely well done and believable. It may not be how it would REALLY happen in such a situation, but it's convincing enough.

Yes, it IS unfortunate that the Good Guys are pretty much all white while the Bad Guys are pretty much all black. Given Jerry Pournelle's right-wing conservatism, it's probably not too surprising it was written that way. But if you can put this demerit aside long enough to get to the end of the book, you'll find there's a grand adventure story in there.

It's a great pity the makers of the two recent End of the world movies, Armageddon and Deep Impact, didn't have a good look through this book for ideas before settling on their final storylines. If they had, perhaps both movies, but in particular the execrable Armageddon (come on, an RV on the comet's surface?) would have been a whole lot more convincing.

My copy of the book is well thumbed and falling apart from being read so many times, by both myself and my wife. What more can I say? Read it and enjoy some grand science fiction writing by a master (maybe two). ( )

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1A... ( )

Okay - I hate to admit it but I love - absolutely love this type of story. It has everything that "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon" was missing. The horror. The struggle for human survival post impact. Characters that remain in memory! and just good, old fashioned summer fun reading. Whether published in the 80s or today, this remains a great distraction for sci fi and disaster lovers alike. ( )

Lucifer’s Hammer is the classic Meteor/Asteroid/Comet Hits Earth story, much more scientifically plausible, at least, in this nonscientist’s opinion, than either of the modern films, Deep Impact or Armageddon. Observers know the comet--which cannot really be diverted since it is no more than a moving collection of “slush”--will cross Earth’s orbit. Yet they believe the odds of a direct hit are low. Of course, the unlucky happens.

Niven and Pournelle are libertarians in their way, yet they believe that freedom can only follow from order, which is always fragile. The comet impact thus creates nasty anarchical conditions for the living--generally those who were on high ground during the hit--and the novel goes on a bit too long describing various semi-primitive battles between surviving factions. I dissent from the political thesis. Anarchy, defined as lack of central control, need not bring out the untrusting/untrustworthy brute in all of us. But I kept “turning the pages” (as they say), and felt, along with our hero and heroine, great sadness that no one would again be having afternoon tea at the Savoy for a very long time. ( )

This book sat on my shelf for a long time. I think I got it at a booksale for 50 cents or something. It's intimidating, the paperback looks like a brick.

That said, it's definitely one of my favorites. I should have known Niven wouldn't let me down. This is basically Gary Paulson's Hatchet, for adults, on a massive scale. It covers a lot of ground - technology surviving under bad circumstances, politics, survival, and modern (ok, 70s-era) society in general. Highly recommended. ( )

I enjoyed this book a lot. I thought the characters were well developed, and that the plot brought up some interesting questions / decisions. One that continually pops into my head when I think about this book is, what would you do to rebuild civilization? How far would you go?

The only thing I wasn't overly happy about was the ending. I kind of wish they had gone further with it. It felt like too much was wrapped up too fast. Besides that, enjoyable.

Reading it has led me to starting Ringworld, another book by Larry Niven (but without Jerry Pournelle's assistance, unfortunately). ( )