I am wondering how realistically speaking Lucifer’s Hammer novel was successful in describing the effects of a comet hitting the planet Earth. After all the authors had not lived such an experience. It could be a silly question to ask, but they describe this event with such a detail that at times it feels like this disaster really happened and that they are the sole survivors.
I don’t watch a lot of movies, but I think the Deep Impact movie (I don’t remember discussing this in class) was based on this novel. As opposed to this movie, the story of Lucifer’s Hammer is not about a hero or heroine, but rather the story of so many characters that are described as normal people with their vises and virtues features like any other human being. After the Hammerfall every body is equal vulnerable because genre class or ethnicity is not important, but rather their attitude or determination rules who die or live.
What I am also wondering about this novel is the element of sense of humor among the characters – specifically among the scientists comparing the thickness of the comet to ice cream. They even named a chapter “Hot Fudge Tuesdae.” In this chapter even the serial killer Charles Manson appears like a character “ Charles Manson running at them with a chain saw” (p. 213). I had to make this comment because I don’t see the connection. Besides, I question the wisdom to include this kind of humor in a disaster story that is about life and death. I think the best elements of this novel are the creation of a variety of characters and their dialogue to create a lot of suspense. As a consequence it is one of those books that keep the reader interested to flip the pages until the end.