Lucifer's Hammer
by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle

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Book Reviews of Lucifer's Hammer

Book Review: "Lucifer's Hammer" a full-impact tale of the Apocalypse
Summary: 5 Stars

How I managed to miss this book for all these years is quite beyond me. The book, though, is a pleasant discovery and a complete revelation. Written by science fiction greats Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, it is a fantastic and fantastically ambitious novel about (obviously enough, if you haven't been skimming this review) the end of the world. More than that, it is a page turner, possessing that magical "je ne sais pas" quality that makes bands into legends, actors into stars, and books into pop culture. As surely as a John Grisham novel or Tom Clancy techno-thriller, "Lucifer's Hammer" compels the reader onward, heedless of time, hunger, or any constraint that would dare suggest putting down the book.

The "Hammer" is a comet, delivering the one type of cataclysmic destruction we could reasonably expect to face in our lives. A key trick to the novel is the sense of inexorable, unavoidable doom. Up to the strike (and even beyond), there are a number of comet asides, passages that describe the roiling journey of the comet to its date with destiny and beyond. While man built the pyramids, invented the Printing Press, fought World Wars, the comet in its various stages of travel is described, rendering puny and insignificant that which we call our history. When the "Hammer" falls, no detail is spared in portraying the full scope of the horror unfolding.

I've always felt "end of the world" fiction has fascinated the general population for a couple of reasons. We certainly live in an age where it could happen in an instant, but also because (like a moth to a flame) we are curiously drawn to something so vast and alien, it is beyond our ability to grasp. These works offer us a small glimpse and insight into the concept of "global holocaust". In this respect, "Lucifer's Hammer" is truly one of the giants in this genre. It is bleaker than Stephen King's "The Stand", which had at least the assurance that God did exist, but "Lucifer's Hammer" is not without its version of hope either. Faced with annihilation, Niven and Pournelle have a complete cast of fleshed-out and well-written characters whose triumphs and defeats we don't just experience, we feel. There is no promise of victory or survival for these characters, but we empathize with their struggle to not simply pass on without a fight.

"Lucifer's Hammer" hits home as a believable work of what might be, and as a meticulously crafted piece of writing. It is well worth a purchase for science fiction and general fiction readers alike.

Summary of Lucifer's Hammer

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