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)

Riviting.

After a comet strike civilization struggles to survive. At a Northern California ranch survivors are storing food planning for the upcoming winter and fighting an army of Cannibals.

Decent "What If" story

Good post apocalyptic story, but after listening to a full cast read World War Z, the one man performance could be better. There are a few points when the story feels dated, but it was easy enough to overlook and stay in the story. I enjoyed it.

Good P-A yarn

With the wealth of characters, it would have benefitted greatly from a female as well as a male narrator. A single narrator is common, but the lack of the second in this one was continually noticeable. But the authors attacked a story with massive scope and came away with enough human drama to keep you focused on this group rather than wondering about the rest of the world. Book 1 I found to be more engaging than book 2, given the suspense built.

I loved the book, once I got into it.

I bought the book 35-40years ago, but never took the time to read it. So I decide to finally listen to the audiobook. The narrator did a nice job telling the story. The storyline is very good. There is some depth to the main characters. My only issue was there were too many characters introduced early, and that made it a bit difficult to keep track of who was who and some of the relationships. I had to look up the character list online to read up on them. Once I got over that hurdle, I didnt want to stop listening at the end of my commute every day.

Still good after all these years.

I read Lucifers Hammer when it first came out. Back then I would have given it 5 stars. I listened to the audiobook and it was still very good, but with old age creeping up on me I have become a little more jaded.
Still great, but today only 4 1/2 stars.

it's still a great read nearly 40 years later

I was recently introduced to this book by my friend Chris from Canada who has a signed first edition. when an avid sci-fi fan remarks on a book that impacts is life it's a temptation too great to avoid. despite the advances in technology the book is not outdated and focuses on the moral and personal struggles of the various protagonist. these tensions are still true today. the book is well written with lots of little tidbits. If you read it carefully you will find a reference to "the mule " . you can research that on your own. I have previously enjoyed longer serious such as The Change novels by SM Stirling and if you like those you will like this is well even though you wish the universe would continue on from this book. this is a classic!

Still A Worthwhile Story After 4 Decades

I believe that this story was very entertaining and thought provoking! Although some terms were dated as could be expected, it is still relevant!

Lucifer hammer

read the book a long time ago and thought it was fabulous. Years later i saw i could get the audio book so i did and in the couple of months I've had the audio book I've listened to it at least a dozen times. love it love it.

Quite engaging.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It is quite engrossing.
Good characters and a story that is not too predictable.
Since it is set in the late 70s the characters perspective differs from our in a
refreshing way.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Nope. Far too long for that.
Pointless question about an audio book this long.

Best survival story I've ever heard.

More philosophical than other survival stories. loved how they tied together all the story threads.