So, I have to admit, I was expecting to see the word “leader” in Lucifer’s Hammer many more times than 14. For a novel that, at its heart, seems to be talking about human society and bootstrapping ourselves out of disaster it seems as though there should be more instances of it. What’s telling, however, is the context that leader is used in.
Of the fourteen times that “leader” is used in Lucifer’s Hammer, it is never used positively. It is used as part of Stalin’s titles, to describe people doing morally suspect things (Alim, the Comet Wardens) or, in the post-Hammerfall part of the novel, to describe someone who isn’t actually as important as they think they are. Leaders are presented as transitory or actively evil. Alim is described as a “natural leader” (73), but it then goes on to say “He hadn’t been busted since juvenile days”(73). So what makes Alim a natural leader? Is it his intelligence? Tim Hamner and Dan Forrester are incredibly intelligent, but they aren’t natural leaders. We’re asked to accept Alim as a leader, as someone who was born with innate leadership qualities, but those qualities aren’t described in any way. Senator Jellison, who takes a clear leadership position, is never actually referred to as a leader — the only time he and ‘leader’ are associated is when Tim is imagining him in formal morning attire shooting people (388).
Does this mean that Lucifer’s Hammer is more about the complete destruction of humanity, both as a civilization and as a concept? We’ve not seen too terribly much in the way of humanity being shown to others, and when humanity is being shown, it’s not the leaders being humane. Usually it seems to be the women, and one has to wonder if it’s being shown as a feminine weakness or as a human strength.