Lucifer's Hammer
Lucifer's Hammer is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1977. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1978. The story details a cometary impact on Earth, an end to civilization, and the battle for the future. It encompasses the discovery of the comet, the LA social scene, and a cast of diverse characters whom fate seems to smile upon and allow to survive the massive cataclysm and the resulting tsunamis, plagues, famines and battles amongst scavengers and cannibals.
Stats for nerds
24recommend
41mentions
38people
2011–2026years
63% recommend37% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle wrote some great global disaster novels as well. Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer.
- I liked the Niven/Pournell books and I still think back to them often enough. The Mote in God's Eye and Lucifer's Hammer I think I read back to back. It's been a long time but I really enjoyed them when I was younger.
- Btw, I really enjoyed Lucifer's Hammer (1977, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle) as it explored the issues we are discussing. The source of that story was a meteor and not a solar flare, but the effect is the same.
- It was a Niven / Pournelle mashup. Also, Lucifer's Hammer is a fun read I recall.
- > This is HN, I can be cynical, right?
Your comment isn't cynical, it is more akin to a lucid perspective of a set of threats.
The economy and threats to democratic process are more worrisome -- and yet at the same time, much more within our capability to fix than an asteroid strike.
For a lucid fictional presentation of an asteroid strike, I recommend "Lucifer's Hammer" by Niven and Pournelle.^1
- Read Lucifer's Hammer [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer%27s_Hammer]
