I originally read this in 1985; started it on a Friday evening and read until about 2:00am, put it down to sleep, picked it back up at first light and finished the book by a little after noon. I hadn't been or looked outside since starting the book and when I opened the door it actually startled me that the sun was shining, the birds were singing and all was well with the world. I'll never forget that moment. This is an extremely well written and very believable story. I agree with the need to keep refering back to the character guide in the front for a while (as the story unfolds), but once it starts rolling this is a page-turner! I liked it so much I've ordered a new copy here in 2006 to reread and then give to friends (I gave my original copy away for the same reason).

Bottom line: Two ever growing groups of people reacting to a near-end-of-the-world experience in exactly opposite ways. Which group would you end up in?

Gosh, I do ADORE these end-of-the-world tales. They are the ideal "pick-me-up" for a prosaic existence.
If you don't possess the intestinal fortitude to take a pill and drown drown DROWN in the aftermath of a day littered with self-doubt and turmoil, read "Lucifer's Hammer" and just about any other apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic fiction on which you can get your hands. There's a pile accumulating in my bedroom. I have not yet encountered a "stinker". I hope that I never run out of titles in this genre because the catastrophic glee that I derive from the pages really keeps me breathing at a regular rhythm.

Gee...kind of reminds you of that fifth-season Twilight Zone episode, "Ninety Years Without Slumbering", doesn't it...??

Good apocalypse story. I would not have minded a bit more shooting. I reread this book every twenty years or so.

I read this book in the late seventy's and am still impressed with the writer's and recommend it frequently. I do remember plodding through the first 100 or so pages, but it is well worth the effort to be introduced the various players you will become intimate with later.

The society that developes after the "hammer" hits is very realistic (scary!) and may give you pause as to the profession you have chosen.

I will be reading this again soon just to refresh my memory.

Stephen King's 'The Stand' was virus, Robert R. McCammon's 'Swan Song' was nuclear, Thomas Disch's 'The Genocides' was alien plant growth, Walter J. Williams 'The Rift' was earthquake; and 'Lucifer's Hammer' is annihilation by comet. Each of these books are 'must have's' for fans of Apocalypse Fiction.

The major protagonist is Tim Hamner, a rich-boy with nothing to do but indulge his fascination with the stars. Hamner, along with a young boy named Gavin Brown from Iowa, discover a comet heading towards earth. The comet, Hamner-Brown, soon becomes known as The Hammer, as scientists plot its course closer and closer to Earth's orbit.

Hamner makes acquaintance with Harvey Randall, a news reporter who wants to make a documentary series on the comet. Joining with them is Dr. Charles Sharps from the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, Senator Arthur Jellison and his daughter Maureen, Dr. Dan Forrester, an astronomy Phd and computer programmer, a team of astronauts, and a dedicated postal worker named Harry Newcombe.

The story centers around Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley, after pieces of the "calved" comet hit all across the world, causing first earthquakes and then a massive tidal wave to hit the Los Angeles basin. Senators, rich men, thieves and killers are suddenly made equal in the wake of Mother Nature. Rich and poor take on a whole new meaning in a society that suddenly has different values and different needs.

Senator Jellison owns a ranch in the foothills of the Sierras, and along with his neighbor George Christopher begins to form an aftermath society bent on survival at all costs.

The good points of 'Lucifer's Hammer' are the characters, the topography staying fairly true to form, the realism of many of the needs and behaviors of an abandoned society (especially the herding behavior) and the many points of view from all the different types of survivors.

The bad points would be some flat spots in the prose, some outdated notions (since the book was written in 1977) and too many circumstantial meetings.

All in all, this is a great book, and again, a must have for any fans of Apocalypse Fiction. Enjoy!