LUCIFER’S HAMMER by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Narrated by Mark Vietor

    Extinction Level Event Survival Guide

In my early Science Fiction fan years I was a huge Larry Niven fan. I always enjoy the way he makes his readers think.  When Niven teams up with Jerry Pournelle the result is an added dimension of realistic technological extrapolation.  It seems also the Pournelle must be some kind of Soviet expert because his collaborations always have a strong Cold War element. What is more Pournelle understands the inner workings of the scientific community, so we are treated to the correct procedures of discovery and reporting of a comet discovery. I read this book thirty years ago and decided to revisit it in audible form recently in an attempt to recapture my youthful sense of wonder. This is a fun disaster novel, if such a thing can be said to be at all enjoyable. And even though the build-up to the inevitable comet strike and subsequent collapse unfolds slowly the situations presented are done so in such a realistic fashion that the youthful mind inside me can easily imagine going through such a crisis. It is natural for anyone who is mindful of history to try to put yourself in the place of the characters going through a crisis. I think that is a large part of the appeal of this book for me. I liked it as much this go ‘round as I did the first time.

Mark Vietor  is a steady narrator in this book. His character voices are understated but strike just the right calm tone for the serious topics and themes covered when a natural disaster devastates the globe. Vietor makes this a very enjoyable entertainment.