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Lucifer's Hammer

Larry Niven,

Jerry Pournelle

3.99 · Rating details · 41,110 ratings · 1,454 reviews

alternate cover for ISBN 0708813623

The chances that Lucifer's Hammer would hit the earth head-on were one in a million. Then one in a thousand. Then one in a hundred. And then ... even less.

...more

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Paperback, 639 pages

Published October 1st 1991 by Futura (first published July 1st 1977)

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Dec 25, 2014 carol. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of the apocalypse

Shelves: awards, classic, end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, going-back-to-cali

Full review (links and all) at https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2015/... because I am going to digress like you won't believe...

Good grief, reading hasn’t been such a chore since Professional Nursing Practice Foundations and Concepts. And in the fiction world, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. So perhaps you should take my review with a grain of salt, since plenty of people love Strange (unsurprisingly, no one admits to loving Practice Foundations). Niven and Pournelle start with a great idea, a ...more

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Jun 18, 2016 Althea Ann rated it did not like it · review of another edition

The Hammer disregards all pleas not to 'hurt 'em.'
Please, Hammer! Don't hurt 'em!

_____

There should be a name for the particular type of book that is exemplified by some popular novels published between the late 1950s and the early 1980s. It's very distinctive, but hard to describe. Some characteristics include: an insistence on referring to men by their last names only, flat characterization which tends to adhere to sterotypical gender roles, a focus on jobs/career as being a key part of identity, and a predominance of loveless relationships and adulterous affairs. It's more than just that, though - I really have never managed to quite put my finger on it. But it doesn't take long to recognize. After a few pages, I was like, "Oh, it's one of those." (I also thought, throughout reading it, that it was published in 1970, not 1977 - maybe I saw a bit of misinformation, but it feels VERY dated and regressive.)

Still, this started out in the three-star range, and stayed there for about the first 40% of the book. For that section, I was strongly reminded of Neal Stephenson's 'Seveneves,' to the point where I suspected (and still suspect) that Stephenson read this book - and wanted to do it better. (Stephenson succeeded, if that was the goal.) Of course, the difference is that in Seveneves, we're getting hit by moon bits and in Lucifer's Hammer, by comet bits, but the setup is very similar: We see the discovery of the phenomenon, the media reaction, and start glimpsing the effects on the daily lives of a wide range of people, including politicians, experts, and average joes. There's also the crew up in Skylab. There's a huge cast of characters, which meant for me, in this book, that I didn't feel emotionally invested in any of them, and for a while, the book dragged a bit. (The way the many characters were handled reminded me a bit of Kim Stanley Robinson's 'Mars' books - but those are better-written (sensing a trend here?))

When the comet hits and disaster strikes, things picked up a bit. (How could that not be exciting?) Unlike 'Seveneves', we get a more typical 'aftermath.' The book focuses on rural California, and a group of ranchers that pull together for survival, initially joined by their dedicated mailman, who insists on continuing his route. (Did this influence David Brin's 'The Postman'? If so, again, Brin did it better.) As the small details of survival go on, the book becomes very similar to Pat Frank's 1959 'Alas Babylon,' in the way it focuses on a small group in an isolated rural location, and the ins-and-outs of how they keep alive. It got a bit tedious - and quite sexist (repeated mentions of man's 'natural instinct' to 'protect the female' coming out, and how 'women's lib' is now defunct), with a few dashes of racism. I'm also a lot more inclined to be forgiving of certain attitudes in a 1959 book than in a 1977 book. Throughout this part of the book, my opinion dropped down to two stars.

Around 80%, Niven and Pournelle pull out all the stops. It's like they figured, "If they've read this far, they're not going to stop now, so we can go all out and pull no punches with what we really think." This final part of the book is almost like a satire of right-wing attitudes - except that it's painfully clear that it's in earnest. I guess that it's a fascinating glimpse into everything that those of a certain mindset really fear?

(Talking about the end here, so - hiding... but really, I'd recommend reading this spoiler instead of the book): (view spoiler)[
The finale is a drawn-out, multi-part big Showdown Battle - the opposing sides are: on one side, of course, our brave American ranchers. The ranchers are White and Conservative, although joined by one Exceptional Black Man who literally says, at one point, disparaging equal-rights activists "I have all the equality I've ever wanted." There are also the two Russians who exist to mention how superior the US is to Russia in oh so many ways, and the reformed hippies who have realized that communes are a bad idea. Oh, at the very end, out of the blue appear some previously-unmentioned Noble Indian warriors. Oh, and don't forget that a point is made that "men and women are still different" and due to tough times, kids have to grow up fast - which means that boys fight & teen girls are now fair game for middle-aged men. Politicians and military men (who are all physically large; that point is made repeatedly) feature prominently.

Opposing our Brave Heroes is a diverse rampaging army made up of (I kid you not): Trade Unionists (damn commies!), Environmentalists, Black Panthers, Back to Nature types (including Hippies and proponents of organic farming), and assorted City Folk, who are led by a raving preacher who forces them into bloody cannibalistic rituals. (!!!) I mean, it seems like it HAS to be a joke...? But then it's just not very funny...

To top it all off, there's a Great Battle to Save the Nuclear Plant from the Mixed-Race Horde. Bear in mind, the reason to save the power plant is not because destroying the plant could result in a nuclear meltdown which would render the entire area uninhabitable. Noooo... this is a VERY SAFE nuclear plant, and that could never happen due to all the Safety Features. No, it becomes a symbol of the Light and Hope of All Future Technology-Based Civilization, which is driven home in a luridly purple death scene, in case the readers missed it.

So, woo-hoo! The battle is won. It is pointed out repeatedly that one should not regard ones' enemies as human; they're just ants. Technology will be rebuilt, but until it is, it's gonna be "A Man's World." People will work hard in a manly way, accompanied by their strong yet womanly women. They will be cooperative, but not in a communist way. Justice will be harsh. And as the cherry on top of this fantasy, slavery is reinstated. (Yes, really!) Woo-hoo! (hide spoiler)]

And... down to one star.

Read for post-apocalyptic book club. I guess I'm glad I read it, just because I've seen it around nearly my whole life - even physically picked it up in the library on a couple of occasions - but never read it until now. But, hoo-boy, this was quite something. And not a good something. ...more

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Jul 29, 2019 Adrian rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, zz-owned-books, sf-apocalypse-dystopia

Now originally I had this marked as a re-read but do you know, if I had read it, I didn't remember it one little bit so I'm guessing I have really never read this before, which I have to say is very remiss of me, as this is a very good book, that's very good not great.

I have always enjoyed Larry Niven's books, hey Ringworld is one of my favourite SF books of all time, and this book is just so typically Niven. What do I mean by typically Niven ? Well he is one of the best exponents of world and ...more

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Aug 23, 2011 David rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Californians, cannibalistic televangelists, Bruce Willis,

Shelves: science-fiction, post-apocalyptic, audiobook, california, hard-sf, survival, 1970s, kinda-sorta-really-racist

There was a time when Larry Niven was one of my favorite authors. Of course, that time was when I was an immature SF geek who didn't read much else. Okay, I still think Ringworld was kind of awesome. And I have fond memories of some of his other collaborations with Jerry Pournelle, e.g. Footfall and Oath of Fealty. But the last few I have read really unearthed things I didn't notice when I was younger, and this one, which was one of their early collaborations, really shows its age.

Lucifer's Hamm ...more

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May 30, 2013 Henry Avila rated it really liked it · review of another edition

In deep space a little smudge appears near Neptune, amateur astronomer Timothy Hammer a millionaire playboy he's rather a timid philanderer sees the object. From a third generation wealthy family in Los Angeles Tim inherited a big soap company.Through his telescope it's a very let's be honest unimpressive thing but getting bigger. And the public will notice soon enough, a lot in fact become quite scared... In his private observatory located on a mountain top outside the city after numberless lon In deep space a little smudge appears near Neptune, amateur astronomer Timothy Hammer a millionaire playboy he's rather a timid philanderer sees the object. From a third generation wealthy family in Los Angeles Tim inherited a big soap company.Through his telescope it's a very let's be honest unimpressive thing but getting bigger. And the public will notice soon enough, a lot in fact become quite scared... In his private observatory located on a mountain top outside the city after numberless lonely nights, observing the universe Mr.Hammer feels elated. The world ignores now, yet not for long , the unknown comet one of millions in a "soup"surrounding the Solar System. Leftovers from its formation, once in a while a giant gas planet's gravity like Neptune captures a snowball and hurls it towards the Sun. Anything in the way is doomed Tim has to share the accolades with a teenage boy though, from Iowa named Brown.The International Astronomical Union (I.A.U.) has rules to follow, so officially Tim's comet is called Hammer-Brown which annoys the gentleman more than a little. However the boy reported the "heavenly body" at the same time so the proud Mr. Hammer even invites the kid to stay at his mansion , all expenses paid of course by the millionaire and see the local attractions. Mr.Hammer more importantly holds a party in his Beverly Hills home for family and friends to watch the television documentary about his Comet that he naturally financed.Tim wants them to see it, he's has done something significant... They'd never taken him the gentleman, seriously...Odds grow shorter against the dirty snowball MISSING and actually hitting the Earth, scientists become less confident as the comet comes closer.The solar wind makes the comet's tail millions of miles long, always away from the Sun the giant comet composed of ice , gases and some rocks beautiful even magnificent to the sky watchers on Earth. If it does hit, civilization will cease on Terra after pieces of the comet smash into the Earth's oceans, tidal waves hundreds of feet high, they'll be or even higher destroying everything in their paths. All around the Earth's coasts the sea expanding over the cities and beyond..Rivers, lakes, dry streams reclaiming their old territory.. tremendous heat caused by the invader burning the Earth's surface. Leaving large glowing holes many miles wide on our planet will inevitably, result in the unexpected death of countless victims. Killer winds massive hurricanes and earthquakes, perpetual rain soaking the world, floating bodies, flooding homes , building, farmlands. Sleeping volcanoes erupting spreading their deadly lava, ashes and gases..No crops no food no sunlight, no safe areas, nuclear war, maybe to finishing off the rest of the people or, back to the stone age. Later the glaciers come down from the north freezing all nothing can stop these monsters, for the few survivors a new Ice Age too. Everyone for themselves the strong the lucky and especially the brave, shall inherit the ruined world. The unthinkable occurs Lucifer's Hammer strikes our home...But some humans are still alive afterwards...Absorbing story which lifts the narrative above the ordinary into the sublime... ...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Bradley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, dystopia-yes-pls, 2016-shelf

I just knocked this one off my top one-hundred novels of all time, but I did it with a heavy heart.

Memories of a novel sometimes simply don't live up to a re-read.

On the other hand, there are quite a few things about it that are still freaking fantastic, such as the science and the emotional impact of the comet strike. Most of the first third of the novel focused on the 70's modern society, with all the strange views common of that time, but that wasn't the most striking feature. I was humbled b ...more

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Feb 16, 2014 Joe Valdez rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-apocalyptic

The next stop in my end-of-the-world reading marathon was Lucifier's Hammer, the 1977 disaster epic by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Niven was an established, Nebula Award winning author in Los Angeles when in the early 1970s, he was approached by Pournelle, an engineer with a military background who lived in the area. Pournelle was looking for a partner to teach him how to write and inexplicably, the pair went on to co-author nine novels together.

After a dedication to Neil Armstrong and Buz ...more

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Jan 07, 2013 Donna Crupi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

My God I loved this book! Back in high school I thought I wasn't a reader. Then I had an English teacher, Andy Page who would suggest I read certain books. This was the first one he recommended.

I found out it wasn't that I didn't like to read. It was that I didn't like to read crappy books.

Lucifer's Hammer is the sci-fi book I use to measure all sci-fi books against. With a memorable band of characters, a doomsday clock ticks down along with the explanation of the odds of the comet hitting the ...more

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Mar 20, 2011 Checkman rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: a-disappointment, post-apocalyptic, beach-read, seventies-classics, adventure, drama, reevaluation, disaster

Not the book I remember reading in high-school. Of course that was thirty-four years ago! Times and attitudes change. What was a thrilling page turner is now a cliched and overblown melodrama. What happened?

Sterotypes, cliches, overwrought writing, and some real interesting ideas about race, men and women. Not to mention a pretty negative view on Human nature in general. Talk about dark. And I've been a cop for the past nineteen years! Not everyone is that horrible or that quick to give into sa Not the book I remember reading in high-school. Of course that was thirty-four years ago! Times and attitudes change. What was a thrilling page turner is now a cliched and overblown melodrama. What happened?

Sterotypes, cliches, overwrought writing, and some real interesting ideas about race, men and women. Not to mention a pretty negative view on Human nature in general. Talk about dark. And I've been a cop for the past nineteen years! Not everyone is that horrible or that quick to give into savagery. Yes there was what happened in New Orleans after Katrina, but that behavior wasn't so common in other areas hit by Katrina. In Jan 1998 we were living in Upper State New York when a massive ice storn came in leaving millions without heat, phones or electricity for weeks - in January. It was pretty bad, but we all kept our heads and worked together. We did not become monsters in the first few minutes. The book fails badly in this respect and it effects the rest of the story after Hammerfall.

I consider myself to be a moderate conservative (well that's what my wife says I am) and I try hard (not always successful I should add) to have a live and let live attitude. As a teenager/young adult I considered Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven to be good writers and I agreed with their political and social opinions. Now they seem to be rather archaic and downright reactionary.

Now I understand that this novel was written in the mid-seventies and aspects of it were in reaction to the changes that had swept through the United States in the previous fifteen years. I also try not to condemn novels written in the past. Afterall they are a reflection of their time - not the present. But Niven and Pournelle are still alive and they haven't really changed. They have websites/blogs and their opinions are in the open for anyone that is curious. Needless to say I'm not happy about having a fond memory of my youth disturbed. Well I guess that's the word for reading a novel about the end of modern civilization.

Sometimes I wish that we didn't change and could just hold onto those things we remember so fondly. Oh well. Onto the next book.

Re-Review

Well there I carefully read it from front to back. First time since 1985.

First the positive aspects. The book is still a very skillful large scale epic disaster novel. The middle part (where the comet hits and the characters struggle to make it through the first few days) is probably the beat put-together, but even the first third where we meet all the characters and go through the build-up worked. The last third gives us a battle between our community of civilized people and the evil army of cannibals and religious zealots. It's interesting to compare "Lucifer's Hammer" to "The Stand" when talking about the last third. Pournelle and Niven give the readers what King did not. A big violent battle between the two communities.

Okay so on one level it's still a very readable and engrossing book, but there is no getting away from the political and social ideas that have caused such a fuss. Anyone familiar with my reviews are aware that I'm always the first to point out that judging a book written many decades ago by contemporary standards is unrealistic. However "Lucifer's Hammer" isn't that old of a novel and the political aspects get in the way at times. Pournelle has always been something of a provocateur and he had a grand time with this one (I need to include Niven here as well), but it gets in the way. I do not subscribe to mindless, knee-jerk, PC Think, but I found myself raising my eyebrow more than once. I couldn't help it. Also some of the writing is a little lazy in that the political views espoused by the authors face no real challenge from those folks on the other side. The "other side" is portrayed in simple terms and that's lazy. The real world doesn't have easy to see lines and often the "other side" has some good points. They aren't idiots just because you don't agree.

In the end I will increase my rating to 2.5 stars, but not higher. ...more

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Nov 06, 2015 Sarah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Yep, still a five star read for me. It's everything a post-apocalyptic book should be, including very realistic. I've been reading this book for 25 years and I've probably read it 20 times and I'll read it 20 more. "We control the lightning!"

...more

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Mar 30, 2017 Terry rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-book-challenge, audio-book, sci-fi

Very interesting read. The idea of a comet strike is a scary one, for sure, and even though this may be a little dated, the outcomes still seem pertinent. While I liked the story overall, I never did really connect with the characters.

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Feb 12, 2008 Kristin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, scifi-bkgrp-selection

Lucifer’s Hammer falls into the “End of the World/Catastrophic Event/How Will the Human Race Survive” category, and it can be further broken down into those niche genres in SF which wipe California off the face of the map then discuss how Earth will survive.

Destruction of California aside, this was a really good book. Tim Hamner discovers a comet, which upon further investigation will be moving through Earths solar system in the immediate near future. Chances of it hitting are a million to one…n Lucifer’s Hammer falls into the “End of the World/Catastrophic Event/How Will the Human Race Survive” category, and it can be further broken down into those niche genres in SF which wipe California off the face of the map then discuss how Earth will survive.

Destruction of California aside, this was a really good book. Tim Hamner discovers a comet, which upon further investigation will be moving through Earths solar system in the immediate near future. Chances of it hitting are a million to one…nope, better make that 100,000 to one. Oops! Slight miscalculation, 10,000 to one. Wrong again! 1000 to one. Oh, drat! It hit in 6 places!

The first third of the book establishes the characters and how people react to the news of impending doom. And there are a LOT of characters. Some don't believe it, some go all out in their preparations, some wait till the very last day.

The second third of the book deals with impact and the days immediately after impact: how huge tsunamis wipe out any coastal area, cities and islands; the force of impact drives sea floor mud and ocean water far into the atmosphere and rains down upon the land causing huge flood events; mega-hurricanes are spawned affecting weather patterns over tremendous areas; earthquakes shake the continents and Russia and China launch nuclear weapons at each other. It looks at how people respond both individually and as small groups. It gets a bit gruesome, but I like that look at reality.

The third part of the book speculates what people would do to survive, how would they react to this new state of survival and I have to say the authors did a pretty good job on touching on a bit of every part of humanity, the good, the bad and the very ugly.

But I do have a few complaints, mostly with the third part of the book. This was written in the 70's and the 70's attitude toward women was still prevalent. Women were to be protected, took subservient roles to the men (housewives who volunteered, secretaries, accountants, cooks). What really got my goat was for one small group trying to survive, when the current leader died (predicted to happen anytime in the next "year") the new leader of the valley would be determined by whomever his daughter married. Three guys were posturing for her "attentions" while she was sneaking off to sleep with a fourth. Gimme a break!

It was also brought to my attention that blacks are stereotyped in this story as the poor inner city types who continue to rob, pillage, and rape both before impact and after. The authors attempted to counter this by sending a black man into space and have him return a hero, but his part is rather minor compared to the gangs roaming the countryside.

Still, if one can put aside some of the quirks and if you like end of the world type stories, this one was pretty darn good.
...more

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Jul 31, 2016 Michelle Morrell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own, x-read-2016, post-apocalyptic-fiction

Lucifer's Hammer isn't just a book about a comet. Lucifer's Hammer is a full-on 1970s disaster film, full of polyester flared slacks and unfortunate hair. All the peril and pathos of an epic apocalyptic masterpiece, set around the Hollywood normal lives of strangely familiar characters dramatically ripped asunder and the epic levels they go to for survival. It's a big book in more than page numbers.

What I liked:

It's smart. There is a lot of science peppered throughout, real facts and knowledge w ...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Kat Hooper rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

3.5 audio Originally published at FanLit.
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

When bored millionaire Tim Hamner discovers a new comet, he’s excited to finally accomplish something without the help of his family. Harvey Randall, who’s producing a TV documentary about the comet, expects his show to be wildly popular. And the American and Russian astronauts who are chosen to study the comet are proud to be chosen for such an important international mission.

All the experts said there was no way t 3.5 audio Originally published at FanLit.
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

When bored millionaire Tim Hamner discovers a new comet, he’s excited to finally accomplish something without the help of his family. Harvey Randall, who’s producing a TV documentary about the comet, expects his show to be wildly popular. And the American and Russian astronauts who are chosen to study the comet are proud to be chosen for such an important international mission.

All the experts said there was no way the Hamner comet would hit the Earth. But there are always plenty of people who are ready to panic — the type who start hoarding guns, ammo, and canned food. Then there are the types who are ready to prey on the panicky folks — doomsday cults declaring it’s the end of the world, or burglars waiting for the rich people to flee their expensive homes. When the comet does hit the earth, all those weirdos and the normal folks who are left must figure out how to survive on a destroyed planet. Faced with the stress of just trying to stay alive, will they become selfish and greedy, or will they work together to try to recreate their lost civilization?

Lucifer’s Hammer is an exciting post-apocalyptic story first published in 1977. It takes a while for the comet to hit as Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle introduce us to a large cast of characters — Tim Hamner and his girlfriend who doesn’t want to marry him because she has career ambitions; Harvey Randall and his dumb wife who prepared for the end of the world by stocking her freezer and packing nail polish; a senator and his beautiful daughter; a sociopath who’s stalking a young woman; a man who runs a nuclear power plant; two Russian astronauts and two American astronauts. And there are others. Though none of these characters are particularly interesting or likable, Niven and Pournelle do a good job showing us how the possibility that the world is ending affects each of them in different ways.

Once the comet finally hit, I was riveted. The action never let up. Natural disasters, the threat of world war, the fast decay of civilization — it all seemed so frighteningly possible. The catastrophe affected characters differently, seeming to strip off all the “civilization” they pad themselves with — the way they want to be perceived by others — and revealing the essence of who they really are. In Niven and Pournelle’s version of the end of the world as we know it, most humans immediately become selfish and cruel, unwilling to share food or shelter, and ready to kill those who may have something they want. Perhaps I have too much faith in humanity, but I had a hard time believing that we’d so quickly stop grieving and so quickly start turning on each other. Maybe I’m just naïve, but I’d like to think that, for most of us, such a huge tragedy would bring out empathetic cooperation rather than egocentric competition.

The authors do, however, make a good case for situational ethics, especially when dealing with such issues as biological warfare and slavery. As one character puts it, “A civilization has the ethics it can afford.” Even if I found it hard to believe, it did make me think about how our ethical standards might depend on the condition of our society, and it made me appreciate the society I live in.

Written by two middle-aged white men in the 1970’s Lucifer’s Hammer has some distasteful depictions of women and blacks. I suspect that the authors would say “but one of our astronauts is a woman and another is a black man!” and indeed they were probably the two most admirable characters in the book, but that wasn’t quite enough to make up for the ugly bits, especially the gang of black “brothers” who were the villains of the story.

I listened to Brilliance Audio’s version which is almost 25 hours long and is read by Marc Vietor who was excellent, as he always is. Though I have some complaints, the basic truth is that I was caught up in the exciting story and would recommend this audio version of Lucifer’s Hammer to anyone who enjoys post-apocalyptic disaster stories.

The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival–a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known…. ...more

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Jul 13, 2020 Jim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, 2fiction, 1audio, apocalyptic

The end of our civilization comes as a comet hits the world & we're shown through the eyes of a bunch in California. This book has it all & is well researched. I first read it when it came out in the 1970s & am surprised by how well it has aged - very well indeed. Perennial problems with race, religion, & the morals of survival are all examined through a large, but well drawn cast of characters.

I read this with the Evolution of SF group & it was a great pick since I can see where it helped spawn ...more

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Jul 28, 2015 David Sarkies rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: People who like hard sci-fi

Recommended to David by: Came with a Larry Niven collection

Shelves: sci-fi

A disaster and post-apocalyptic novel rolled into one
10 August 2015

Well I am finally back from my trip after finally finishing this monster of a book 20 minutes before my plane touched down at Melbourne Airport (and what a horrid flight it was: I really should have put my carry on bag into the overhead locker - I so didn't need my laptop because I was too exhausted to do anything other than attempt to finish this book, despite the fact that the plane had to take the long way round due to a volc ...more

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Jul 20, 2020 Oleksandr Zholud rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is a large SF apoc/post-apoc novel. I read is as a part of monthly reading for July 2020 at The Evolution of Science Fiction group and in a month (in August 2020) it should be in Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels group. The book was first published in 1977 and was nominated for Hugo, but lost to Gateway by Frederik Pohl.

The story’s title is a name of the comet, which should go right next to Earth in 1977. Originally the comet was named Hamner-Brown Comet by the names of the discoverers, bu This is a large SF apoc/post-apoc novel. I read is as a part of monthly reading for July 2020 at The Evolution of Science Fiction group and in a month (in August 2020) it should be in Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels group. The book was first published in 1977 and was nominated for Hugo, but lost to Gateway by Frederik Pohl.

The story’s title is a name of the comet, which should go right next to Earth in 1977. Originally the comet was named Hamner-Brown Comet by the names of the discoverers, but Hammer sounds so much better! The first roughly third of the novel introduces a horde of characters, quite unusual for the SFF at the times of writing, 41 persons listed as Dramatis Personae as there are few missing! They are different people of different status and profession, from Tim Hamner, a wealthy hobbyist astronomer, who co-discovered the comet to a journalist team that covers the story, to a professional criminal, a sex maniac, a solder, a postman, a congressman, scientists, astronauts and many more.

It should be noted that the majority of actors are white men, while women are more in the role of a trophy wife or secretary and majority of black people are with criminals or movements like Black Panthers. Moreover, right after the calamity there is a widespread practice of teenage wives, who prefer to get a husband to likely rape/death. I highly doubt that the new SF book with such depictions (even while there are strong women and positive blacks) would have been published, and for sure it wouldn’t have been nominated for Hugo. It is fascinating how times change!

The first third doesn’t sound like a SF, more a contemporary fiction with some mention of space program and comets, but nothing out of place. Moreover, most actors are sure that the comet will miss, up to the very last day and if the novel would have been shorter, I’d believe that it is a story about unsubstantiated human panic.

As the comet hits both land and sea, the global catastrophe starts, described in painstakingly small details. The authors definitely made their research and part of it maybe seen in epigraphs before each chapter, taken from such books as How the World Will End and The Coming Dark Age.

An interesting novel with well written calamity and people rapidly abandoning veneer of civilization, but I’d prefer less characters, shorter, more straight-lined story.

...more

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Nov 29, 2020 MadProfessah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-read

Lucifer’s Hammer is one of the classic works of science fiction; it was nominated for the Hugo and Locus awards for Best Novel. Written by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven and published in 1977, Lucifer’s Hammer is one of the most prominent examples of the post-apocalyptic trope of modern science fiction. Set primarily in California, the story follows a large cast of characters as they are affected by the discovery of the Hamner-Brown comet, its rapid approach to Earth, catastrophic collision and Lucifer’s Hammer is one of the classic works of science fiction; it was nominated for the Hugo and Locus awards for Best Novel. Written by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven and published in 1977, Lucifer’s Hammer is one of the most prominent examples of the post-apocalyptic trope of modern science fiction. Set primarily in California, the story follows a large cast of characters as they are affected by the discovery of the Hamner-Brown comet, its rapid approach to Earth, catastrophic collision and immediate aftermath.

The story is set in the late 1970s and the cultural assumptions and depictions are somewhat jarring as one views them from the perspective of a gay, Black man living in the 21st century. This is not a new experience I (and am sure many other readers who are not in the expected target audience of straight, white, males) have had reading alleged classics of science fiction. Honestly, I would say that Lucifer’s Hammer has fewer “ugh!” moments than others I have read. (Looking at you, Robert A. Heinlein!) For example, the N-word does appear in the text, unexpurgated.

The primary way the disconnect between the modern reader and the somewhat dated text manifests is in a lack of empathy for the primary characters. I was never that invested in whether a particular character that we’ve been given a first-person perspective of would survive or not. To me, the narrative tension in the book that kept me reading to the end was the recognizable plausibility of the depiction of the rapid deterioration of civilization after the cataclysmic comet collision and whether human civilization would still be viable at the end of the book. Pournelle & Niven use 3-4 main characters as devices through which they tell the story. The first is Tim Hamner, a rich astronomical dilettante who happens to discover the comet and then escapes with a woman-who-is-not-his-wife to Northern California after devastating tidal waves basically inundate and decimate Southern California where he lives. Another is Harvey Randall, a producer of television documentaries who does a series of stories on Hamner and the comet. The third most prominent character is Maureen Jellison, daughter of U.S. Senator Arthur Clay Jellison. When the comet strikes, Jellison becomes the de facto leader of a group of survivors in Northern California, due to his thforesightedness to stockpile useful supplies on his ranch in the area. There are many other characters who also get first-person accounts, from the murderer-rapist who takes advantage of the turmoil and confusion to commit crimes, to the policeman who punishes him and maintains law and order despite the uncertainty of whether humanity itself will persist and lastly, the Black criminal Alim Nassor who (unsuccessfully) attempts to use the abandonment of white folks their homes to enrich and empower himself and his “brothers.” Some of these characters are simply bad people so that’s one reason why it’s difficult to connect with them or care about their survival. However, some of the characters are simply not that relatable to me (perhaps because I’m not in the expected target audience). And, frankly, some of the depictions of the characters (or more accurately, the characters' attitudes and beliefs) are borderline offensive.

However, in the end I would say that overall Lucifer’s Hammer is an effective, if flawed, entry in the genre of speculative fictional depiction of apocalyptic events. It would have been improved by providing a more diverse set of perspectives on the cataclysmic events by the inclusion of different characters. ...more

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Dec 19, 2007 Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, 2fiction, 1paper

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.

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Nov 12, 2010 Bandit rated it it was ok · review of another edition

In my quest to read classic post apocalyptic classics, I couldn't very well ignore the famous Lucifer's Hammer, although having read it, I now wish I did. Any book opening with a list of characters (and not being Shakespeare) should warn the reader of how difficult it'll be to keep those characters straight, which was definitely the case here. It might have been easier, had the characters been more likeable, but they were just a bit like stereotypes and not very relatable. The introductions took ...more

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Nov 23, 2014 William rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: extraordinary-books

A truly fabulous, and extremely scientific scenario for a possible end of modern civilisation, due to meteor strike.

One of my very favourite sci-fi and space opera books when I was just entering university. Terrific stuff. I also totally loved The Mote in God's Eye ...more

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Nov 27, 2016 Wayne Barrett rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, 2016, apocalyptic, holocaust

3.5

What could possibly be worse than a full scale nuclear war? How about a century long ice age covering what is left of civilization after a massive comet strike.

I felt like the characters were a little weak... unrealistic in their mannerisms and dialogue, but the plot line was powerful. Of course the final events would take place around my home town of Bakersfield California. The scariest part about stories like this one is that it is something that could actually happen, and in our present ...more

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Mar 26, 2015 Patrick Peterson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, political, science, self-help, military, psychology, sense-of-life, thriller, sf, fiction

2020-03-02 - I just saw a friend reference this book and realized I had not reviewed it, but really liked it. I read this about 20-24 years ago or so and found it totally gripping. I did not like the negative implications and authoritarian nature of the authors' dealing with the apocalyptic scenario they had drawn, but they still did a highly plausible job.

The set-up: What happens to some people in the LA area (including the one who actually discovered the upcoming disaster) when a meteor/aster ...more

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Sep 04, 2015 Sarah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

Towards the beginning of this book I knew I was going to give it five stars and I figured that one star would be for nostalgia. Then I realized that any book that keeps me going back over and over for nearly 25 years has damn well earned the full five stars. I just love this book. It's what made me fall in love with the post-apocalyptic sub-genre in the first place.

35% of the book takes place before the comet strike. One of the thing that always interests me is how very angry people get towards ...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Jennifer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Some books take you back to a time and place. I can tell you I was 17. It was spring break. My senior year of high school. I was in New Mexico. At an artists house. A dinner party. I sat in the corner reading this book.

This was a most enjoyable read. I liked the build up, the various vignettes of people. I loved the detailed description of the end of the world. I loved all the little (well, not literally little) things that went down with our characters, how they survived or didn't. I loved the ...more

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Apr 19, 2009 Michele rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopia-apocalypse

A bit dated in language and attitudes, possessed of a few too many convenient coincidences, and stretching credibility more than once (cannibalism so quickly?? surely not!), nevertheless still a classic of the genre and a fun read. It's also steeped in that optimistic, sunny, innocent 1970s belief that technology can save us from anything, a viewpoint which appears distinctly naive today given tech's decidedly mixed impact (I'm looking at you, Fake News and nuclear accidents and cyberstalking an ...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Stephen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, doomsday, the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it

The eeriest part of the story of the dinosaurs is its sudden, abrupt, and once-mysterious ending. After nearly 200 million years of domination, the dinosaurs vanished in a startlingly moment. Although the source of this mass extinction was debated hotly for years, today a general consensus of scientists believes asteroid impact to have been the culprit. The force of the impact shockwave would have been disastrous by itself, vaporizing everything in a wide radius...but the widespread ecological d The eeriest part of the story of the dinosaurs is its sudden, abrupt, and once-mysterious ending. After nearly 200 million years of domination, the dinosaurs vanished in a startlingly moment. Although the source of this mass extinction was debated hotly for years, today a general consensus of scientists believes asteroid impact to have been the culprit. The force of the impact shockwave would have been disastrous by itself, vaporizing everything in a wide radius...but the widespread ecological disruption and climate change which followed doomed the survivors, especially those who were adapted for certain ecological niches. Imagine, then, the fate of hyperspecialized humans following a similar impact. What becomes of us, a species most of whose members are far removed from the production of food, who are utterly dependent on an evermore fragile castle of cards called civilization, when that structure collapses? Such is the setup of the terrifying disaster thriller Lucifer's Hammer, easily the best of its genre I have ever read...or can imagine.

The year is 1977, and the Cold War is about to end...for the participants are doomed. The discovery of a new comet delights the astronomical community and general public, especially seeing as it will pass near enough to the Earth to provide a fantastic light show but not too close as to pose a threat. But no one's data is perfect, and the comet -- dubbed The Hammer of Lucifer -- does fall. Multiple impact points vaporize land and ocean alike, and the force of the hit triggers massive earthquakes and global volcanic activity. Tsunamis and torrential rains follow, and the astronauts orbiting Earth can only watch in horror as chaos engulfs the globe, civilization goes dark, and the Earth itself becomes clouded over -- no longer a 'pale blue dot', the planet is swathed in stormclouds which will deliver a harvest-killing rain of destruction.

On the ground, beneath those clouds, there are survivors. Those who live through Hammerfall race toward the high ground like rats fleeing a sinking ship. Once they were civilized, and their shoulders bore a thousand petty burdens -- what to wear, which car to purchase next? -- but now they were reduced to scrounging for food and shelter. Rich and poor, powerful and weak, black and white -- no one is spared from the basic struggle of survival. As the weeks pass and the immediate damages are over, the scattered survivors form groups and learn that their greatest enemy may be one another, for the disaster's fallout has allowed some of the most base and savage instincts of humanity to express themselves in full. Although readers get hints of what is happening around the world, most of the action is confined to the San Joaquin Valley of California. As in Stephen King's The Stand, the survivors coalesce into two groups, and their interests collide in the fate of a nuclear power plant which somehow survived the catastrophe and may represent humanity's best hope for recovery.

Virtually every natural disaster known to us is unleashed by the Hammer, but I was less interested in the race for immediate survival during the fall itself than by the aftermath. How do people survive the coming winter, let alone the coming ice age? Lucifer's Hammer abounds in characters, and watching them struggle to regain civilization -- and collapse into depravity -- is utterly gripping. People are forced to assume leadership, to find a place for themselves in this newly devastated world. Death is all around them, and their futures are utterly uncertain. It's an ideal foundation for a novel in which human beings struggle against the elements and the worst of themselves, seeking to overcome it all.

This is one SF thriller I highly recommend; this makes the Mayan doomsday hype look pale by comparison.
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Jun 12, 2017 Christian D. Orr rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Sci-fi fans

One of the classic TEOTWAWKI ("The End of the World As We Know It") novels about a comet striking the Earth, published in 1977 and thus predating films like "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact" by a good solid decade.

A gripping, scientifically well-grounded, frighteningly realistic storyline and a diverse cast of characters that hold the reader's interest. And as someone who grew up in L.A, the SoCal locations--particularly the San Fernando Valley--make the novel relatable for me at a personal level; ...more

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Aug 06, 2020 Roger Ley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: my-books

The lockdown has me revisiting by home bookshelves and what a read this was. Definitely the best post apocalypse story I've ever read. Like some of John Wyndham's novels, it's all about what happens after the apocalypse. A masterful novel by two wonderful writers. ...more

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Apr 22, 2019 Austin Prince rated it it was ok · review of another edition

TLDR: the dialogue is great, the set-up was good, the apocalypse was fun, and the ending was hopeful, but this book's regressive social opinions do not stand the test of time.

The allure of the post-apocalyptic genre does not arise solely from morbid curiosity, conservatism, or Michael Bay explosions. The characters even mention it in the beginning - it is the desire for personal meaning in your life. A society-ender shatters alienation. You may safely pause from keeping up with the Facebook Jone TLDR: the dialogue is great, the set-up was good, the apocalypse was fun, and the ending was hopeful, but this book's regressive social opinions do not stand the test of time.

The allure of the post-apocalyptic genre does not arise solely from morbid curiosity, conservatism, or Michael Bay explosions. The characters even mention it in the beginning - it is the desire for personal meaning in your life. A society-ender shatters alienation. You may safely pause from keeping up with the Facebook Joneses, from workplace kaizen, from commutes, and from all the other soul traps the lawyers, accountants, and tech paradigm shifters have constructed for us. If life is Sisyphean anyway, then a world ender enables us to roll only the boulders that truly matter. It is enforced mindfulness, without the subscription service offer or preaching that always accompanies these messages.

After the end of the world, you can rebuild it in the way of your choosing. And the way the authors' chose to build, destroy, and rebuild this world were fascinating in some respects and hopelessly regressive in others.

The dialogue in the beginning was fantastic, being engaging enough to transport you to the dinner parties and boardrooms muddied only by irony's growing eclipse. The disaster itself was spectacular: plausible yet terrifying. The side story of the astronauts is almost a microcosm for what unfolds down on Earth. The civilization they attempt to build is interesting as well.

The two major problems I have with this story (-1 star for each) are: 1. the story does not benefit from 70's-era sociology and 2. the war scene seemed too advanced and well-armed for a society so recently destroyed.

I want to enunciate point number 1 a little more. Racism and sexism are abound in this book. As in most media from this era, every character is physically described only in as much as they do not resemble Superman. The default option for every character is strong, big, male, and Caucasian. Only deviations from this ideal are mentioned and, in many cases, these deviations serve as their sole characterizations.

The only black characters are either criminals, government employees (leeches in the subtext of this novel), cannibalistic slaves (seriously!), or one astronaut who only got chosen for the space mission because of affirmative action. All women are described based on their attractiveness and none are allowed any agency or moments of genius without it being approved of or qualified by male characters. Granted, some of them are rocks of stability when their male mate falters, but even then they serve only to reorient men away from despair. The one exception might be the Russian MD astronaut, but even she is relegated to a masculine other after initial comments are made about her physical appearance. Pretty sure it fails the Bechdel test, too.

My hope was that these characterizations were set-ups. They would be further evidence of a society gone wrong, that this would all disappear once the comet reminded everyone what truly mattered. This is what kept me going through to the end. But no, none of that ever resolved. In fact, it got worse as the story ended. One might argue that if tribalism could exist in our comfortable modernity, it would only be amplified after society's end. That is a fair, if depressing, point and would've been interesting (as all ideas expressed in sci-fi should be). But the social subtexts here could not have been plot devices because they were neither resolved nor explored. They were simply products of the authors' attitudes. And there is nothing futuristic about "ample wom[e]n" or Ebonics-talking thieves who also happen to be Muslim who also happen to be Black Panthers who also happen to become cannibals who also happen to become slaves at the end. ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Goodreads Librari...: correct page count ISBN 0449208133	3	229	Dec 03, 2020 12:06PM
Hugo & Nebula Awa...: Lucifer's Hammer (Spoilers allowed!)	40	22	Aug 28, 2020 05:31PM
Hugo & Nebula Awa...: Lucifer's Hammer (No spoilers please!)	19	19	Aug 20, 2020 09:54PM
Hoyt's Huns: Lucifer's Hammer -- November 2017 -- spoilers allowed	4	11	Nov 05, 2017 11:34PM
Hoyt's Huns: Lucifer's Hammer -- November 2017 -- spoiler free	2	5	Nov 01, 2017 11:22PM
Apocalypse Whenever: MAY 2017: Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle	222	262	May 22, 2017 09:13AM

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About Larry Niven

Larry Niven

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Laurence van Cott Niven's best known work is Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) (1970), which received the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. The creation of thoroughly worked-out alien species, which are very different from humans both physically and mentally, is recognized as one of Niven's main strengths ...more