Also if you hate typical american patriotism, you might read some parts of this book with gritted teeth. I know you need space to introduce the players and set-up the board, but I found the first part of the book a bit boring. The thing I didn't like about the book is that it takes a while for things to get started.

The whole thing is wrapped up and the explanation for the reason for the aliens to attack is really surprising and stunningly simple and logical at the same time. The conclusion of this story gave my goose-bumps. It all sounds pretty straight-forward and it is in some ways, but Niven & Pournelle have worked out the aliens with great detail and the way humankind is fighting back is really engaging, exciting and very original in places. A large alien spaceship arrives at Earth after stopping (unknown to the Earth) at Saturn for several years.

The story follows a couple of people, but the pivital role is played by a group of army people, scifi writers (!), scientists and politiciens who 'sit around' thinking of ways to defeat the aliens. Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Footfall. Wells defined in his 'War of the Worlds': hostile first contact.Įarth is overrun by aliens that bombard the planet with asteroids and are quickly victorious. Now the conquerors are descending on the American heartland, demanding servile surrender-or death for all humans. They could bombard the Earth with with pinpoint-accurate lasers and small meteors that struck with the force of nuclear explosions – and all this without using their major weapon, one they mysteriously called The Foot…Cover art by Tony Roberts.Footfall is a classic science fiction novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. The first contact is hostile: the invaders blast a Soviet space station, seize the survivors, and then destroy every dam and installation on Earth with a hail of asteriods. Missiles launched at it were destroyed with ease, and a single nuclear detonation in the upper atmosphere emitted an electronic pulse that played havoc with telecommunications on the ground. Once in range the alien spacecraft launched a debilitating attack on the space station and took the bulk of the welcoming party prisoner. A welcoming party was assembled and sent to an orbiting space station This was catastrophically wrong.

And surely they hadn’t travelled for centuries just to be hostile – they must be friendly. When the object headed toward Earth from the vicinity of Saturn was detected, the immediate reaction of the USA and the USSR was one of suspicion but this soon gave way to the astonished realisation that the impossible was happening – Earth was about to receive visitors from a distant star.

Footfall by larry niven