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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….

I just finished reading “Lucifer’s Hammer” by Larry Niven, a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel that tells the story of a stray comet that collides with the Earth and the resulting aftermath.

Timother Hamner, a wealthy corporate heir and amateur astronomer, has co-discovered a new comet, dubbed Hamner-Brown. Once it is calculated that the comet will pass very close to Earth, Tim asks local LA documentary producer Harvey Randal to produce a series of TV episodes featuring the comet, to drum up public interest. Meanwhile, a series of political back-manuevers results in a joint space mission with the United States and Russia to get a team of scientists up to Spacelab to study the comet and it’s pass by the planet. Religious fanatics take to the airwaves predicting the imminent doom of everyone but most of the public seems uninterested, as scientists continue to emphasize that the chances of “The Hammer” (a play on Tim’s name) hitting the Earth are extremely slim (strangely, the comet is never referred to Lucifer’s Hammer anywhere in the book, just “The Hammer” or “The Hammer of God”). To their surprise, however, the comet breaks up into smaller (but still huge) chunks that impact with the Earth in several places, causing earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and millions of casualties. The remainder of the novel addresses the survivors, weaving together the disparate cast of characters introduced during the comet’s approach, as they fight to stay alive during the impact, and try to start rebuilding society in the aftermath of Hammerfall.

I’d describe “Lucifer’s Hammer” as more post-apocalyptic/end-of-the-world and less science fiction. There is obviously a lot of science around the formation, orbit, and physics of comets, but there’s not a lot of the futuristic stuff I would expect to find in an SF novel. It takes place in “present day” (which is 1977) and thus shows its age: southern California society, racial tensions, U.S/Russia Cold War, no cell phones, the internet, etc.). That being said it’s still better than the 90s comet movies “Deep Impact” or “Armageddon.” It does share themes, though, with other end-of-the-world scenarios in pop culture like “Revolution” or “The Walking Dead” (with different causes of the end of the world, but similar social breakdowns and fights for survival).

Coincidentally, while I was in the final pages of “Lucifer’s Hammer,” the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft actually placed a lander (Philae) a comet, a historical first!