If you’ve been reading here for a while, you saw a comment last month about the fact that I was reading “Lucifer’s Hammer,” by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. I’d read the book nearly 20 years ago, and wanted to re-read the story.
The book has several distinct sections. In section one, the comet is discovered, and physicists and astronomers try to determine just how close it will pass by Earth. The main characters are introduced.
The second section deals with the fact that the comet calves and actually hits the earth. The authors describe what is likely to happen if parts of a comet were to fall in the Gulf of Mexico and also in the Pacific Ocean, near Los Angeles. Earthquakes, tsunamis, mudslides, the rise of the water, salt water rain, and lack of sunshine are among the expected calamities should a comet hit. People have to make decisions about what realistically they need, as they leave their homes and rush for high ground. Some people have been preparing for months, others wait until the comet actually hits.
The last section of the book deals with the realities of maintaining life for groups of people for the first two years following a comet strike. Decisions have to be made about collecting, growing and stocking food. You can assume that the crops in the ground will be lost, and you’ll be dependent upon things that can be stored. Feed for a limited number of animals, grain to be planted when sunlight returns, and fuel for heat and limited transportation, all have to be preserved.
Ethical considerations come into play. Who do you save? Who will be allowed to join your group of survivors? Do you save friends, or do you save people who have a talent that is needed as society redevelops? How do you turn people away? One of the characters is allowed in because he had the foresight to store books. He chose hundreds of books that he considered necessary to civilization…..great literature, as well as reference books and technical knowledge. He bagged each of them in four layers of zip lock bags and then stored them in a cistern, to be collected later. His entr
My mind/memory being the sieve that it is, I remember very little of what I read–at least when what I read is fiction (maybe that’s one reason that I don’t dote on fiction.) The only thing that I really recall about “Lucifer’s Hammer” is the guy stowing the books. Somehow, though, I’ve become confused, perhaps. My memory has the guy stowing the bagged books in a septic tank, rather than a cistern. Gaaah! Were you just trying to save our delicate sensibilities, or did my memory warp over time?
Well, maybe it’s just the use of “cistern” that’s at issue. I assume that a septic tank could be termed a “cistern”, but we always called our hole in the ground that cached rain water our cistern.
NO, I wasn’t protecting your gentle sensibilities. I think he put them in a cistern. I’ll have to thumb back through the book and see if I can find the passage.
What makes me think it was a cistern rather than a septic tank is that a cistern would have a moveable top, where a septic tank is usually a box with a couple of openings. at either end.
Either a cistern or a septic tank would work, but which would you rather have to sort through when you went to reclaim the books???
I thought that was the genius of his plan. No one in their right mind would look for anything valuable in a septic tank!! Tell me when you find it (if you waste your time doing so!)
Lucifer’s Hammer is one of my all time favorite books. I’ve read it probably six times over the years. It’s a little dated, having been written circa 1976, but still worthy. Last time, I found myself picturing all the differences if the scenario were set now. Apart from the obvious elimination of Apollo as a plot element.
Shiva Descending is another good one.
I was fascinated by “Lucifer’s Hammer,” Jay. Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll add it to my Christmas wish list.
“The Stand” comes across as a bit dated now, too, but it’s still a great read. Every chapter reminds me of a song, or a fad, or a product that we used that has passed by the way. The book could be a time capsule for the 70s.