Lucifer's Hammer

By: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle

Narrated by: Marc Vietor

Length: 24 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

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....

©1985 Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Take your earthquakes, waterlogged condominiums, swarms of bugs, colliding airplanes, and flaming what-nots, wrap them up and they wouldn't match one page of Lucifer's Hammer for sweaty-palmed suspense." ( Chicago Daily News)
"Massively entertaining." ( Cleveland Plain-Dealer)

Pretty good disaster thriller written in 1977

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend this even though some of the technical stuff is dated. The backbone of the story is still good.

What does Marc Vietor bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I enjoyed the narrator's emotions and think he did a great job.

Do you think Lucifer's Hammer needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I would love to read a 35 or 40 years later sequel. It would be nice to see how humanity has done and how those who only know the "after" have adapted.

Comet Drama

Lucifer's Hammer is a good book. I would recommend it to anyone. There less Sci-Fi than I was expecting. There was a lot more drama than I was expecting too! All the characters are believable as well as the situations that they have to go through. Overall Lucifer's Hammer was flat for me as I had no excitement to read more even at the end.

Hit the nail on the head

I thoroughly enjoyed Lucifer's Hammer. Very interesting characters and interactions. Opening chapter with a quote really set the mood.

Good reading of a modern classic

Well done. Having read this book several times, this is my first time listening.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

This Hammer's Gonna Fall... on YOU!!

I've been thinking about this book a lot in the past few weeks because of the COVID-19 scare. I read it months before writing this brief review. Lucifer's Hammer tells the story of the mass catastrophe of a huge comet (Lucifer's Hammer) hitting the earth. The comet damages the earth but also immediately kills most of humanity. This complicated narrative explores many issues and values throughout, making the story quite connective to the lives of the readers. The range of characters evinces human nature in its breadth. A third of the book is given to development before the Hammer falls. The second third is concerned with Hammer fall and the immediate consequences. The final third explores the social, political, martial, psychological, etc. changes wrought by Hammer fall. The narrative is gripping and the characters are intriguing and believable.

Niven + Pournelle = Rad.

A superb reading of a superb story.

This has long been one of my most favorite stories. I first read it a long time ago and maybe another time in-between. The characters are so engaging and realistically fleshed out. They are also a good cross section of how people might or would act in this situation. There are no plot holes or reality gaps, that I can see, except for a couple of small ones that don't impact the story. The narrator did a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life. He had exactly the right tone for reading this kind of story. He spoke clearly and was easy to understand. I'm certainly going to look for more books that he has narrated. Even if you have already read this book, I think you will enjoy this reading. I did.

Great classic disaster fiction

Great classic disaster fiction, focused on the reactions and behaviors of people, based on the writings of scholars.

should be a movie

I read this as a teenager liked it but did not truly appreciate it. Listened to this 30 years Katerina and loved it. A must read (listen)!

A story for today

My mother bought this book as a 1st edition and it has been in our library since. I just rediscovered it and decided to get it on audible. It is even better than I remember. A very timely story for current times.

Really enjoyed it.

the beginning was tough. lots of character development but once it got going it was great.