Apparently if a comet hits Earth the Black Panthers will turn into cannibals while the white people quietly establish a conservative community. Her one negative comment was that the pro-technology pitch might turn off some readers but "all in all it's a good book, if not a great one". His job lets him learn enough about the comet to understand how much damage it might cause, while his lack of scientific expertise keeps him from realizing that there's a strong chance it won't hit (which is why the scientists are caught unprepared). Later the glaciers come down from the north freezing all nothing can stop these monsters, for the few survivors a new Ice Age too.

Several of the New Brotherhood's leaders (including Armitage and the cannibalistic Sergeant Hooker) survive the final battle. So he wrote Lucifer's Hammer about a comet and took the alien part of it and wrote a totally separate and unrelated novel, Footfall. I am aware that the 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.Apocalypse Wow: Niven and Pournelle take about three chapters in the book to describe the utter destruction of the world, each time detailing the effects of the impact on a different region.

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. Once the asteroid impacts, we get disaster scenes from even more characters, some of whom don’t live through it. Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: There are several instances throughout the novel, which is unsurprising when it involves the survivors of an apocalypse. He’s still a pariah among Jellison’s group, since he ate human flesh to be indoctrinated into the New Brotherhood. Lucifer's hammer spends exactly the right amount of time building toward the cataclysm, and then continues to grip the reader all the way through.This helps explain why they are all accepted inside Jellison's ranch when the majority of people who try are turned away.

But I was a fan of books such as On the Beach – and Lucifer’s Hammer pointed out that not making an effort would lead to societies where ‘rat-catching’ was the prize to be aimed for by the young. He takes charge and organizes the easily protected valley in the Sierra foothills where his ranch is located, dubbed the "Stronghold". The mechanics of destruction, the effect of Lucifers Hammer on the Earth are particularly well done and suitably 'wow' in their description, as are the cascade of events that follow such a massive event. Niven and Pournelle originally pitched the story to publishers as an alien invasion story in which the aliens drop a comet onto Earth after humanity fights them. Killer winds massive hurricanes and earthquakes, perpetual rain soaking the world, floating bodies, flooding homes , building, farmlands.on unclipped dust jacket; with a small puncture ("1/4" x 1/8") and very slight corner wear to the jacket. From Astronauts sent up to examine it and plot it's trajectory, Senators trying to do their best for neighbours and voters, Scientists and Astronomers investigating the "Hamner-Brown" Comet, to normal everyday people, this book (Niven/Pournelle's writing) creates believable characters that you just want to follow through the story. Sharps alleges that the Soviets are planning a comet mission and Jellison is able to scare up funding for a U.

One Degree of Separation: The novel focuses on characters who all know each other or are related in some way. One of Earth's possible destruction through a "Dinosaur killer" comet that might or might not hit the planet.

Leaving large glowing holes many miles wide on our planet will inevitably, result in the unexpected death of countless victims. Antagonistic Governor: Lieutenant Governor Montross becomes Acting Governor of California following his boss' death in the chaos following Hammerfall, and while he never appears in person his one known action of note is joining the New Brotherhood Army and ceding all legal authority in the state to them. They attack, but Jellison's outnumbered forces defeat them with the help of mustard gas and other weapons produced by Forrester. Maureen's lover is Air Force Colonel Johnny Baker, an astronaut who laments the end of the Apollo program and holds out hope that Maureen and her father can pass funding for a manned mission to study the comet as it passes near Earth.