- Paperback: 700 pages
- Publisher: Orbit; New edition edition (22 Aug 1991)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0708883761
- ISBN-13: 978-0708883761
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.8 x 5.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,248,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
"NOBODY DOES IT BETTER THAN NIVEN AND POURNELLE.
I LOVED IT!"
--Tom Clancy
They first appear as a series of dots on astronomical plates, heading from Saturn directly toward Earth. Since the ringed planet carries no life, scientists deduce the mysterious ship to be a visitor from another star.
The world's frantic efforts to signal the aliens go unanswered. 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.
Now the conquerors are descending on the American heartland, demanding servile surrender--or death for all humans.
"ROUSING . . . THE BEST OF THE GENRE."
--The New York Times Book Review
From the Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
I LOVED IT!"
--Tom Clancy
They first appear as a series of dots on astronomical plates, heading from Saturn directly toward Earth. Since the ringed planet carries no life, scientists deduce the mysterious ship to be a visitor from another star.
The world's frantic efforts to signal the aliens go unanswered. 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.
Now the conquerors are descending on the American heartland, demanding servile surrender--or death for all humans.
"ROUSING . . . THE BEST OF THE GENRE."
--The New York Times Book Review
From the Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Larry Niven was born in California in 1938 and studied mathematics at Washburn University, Kansas. His first published science-fiction story was 'The Coldest Place' in 1964 and he immediately established himself as a significant figure in the science-fiction world, winning four Hugos for short fiction. Ringworld is the most important novel in his future history, Tales of Known Space sequence. He has also collaborated, most notably with Jerry Pournelle on The Mote in God's Eye, Oath of Fealty, Inferno, Lucifer's Hammer and Footfall.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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The lush tropical growth of the Kona Coast ended abruptly. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The lush tropical growth of the Kona Coast ended abruptly. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Footfall" harkens back to the Science Fiction of the 1950's, with the President and the U.S. military dealing with godless Communists and equally godless aliens. A moving dot is discovered on astronomical plates and the evidence is clear: it is a spaceship from another galaxy far, far away. Attempts to contact the aliens are unsuccessful but as soon as they arrive at Earth their intentions become clear: they destroy the Soviet space station, the moon base and then every dam and major installation on the planet by raining down asteroids. To add insult to injury, when the aliens begin landing troops in Kansas, they look for all the world like elephants with trunks performing the function of hands. Now it is up to President of the United States David Coffey, Congressman Wesley T. Dawson of California, USAF astronaut Major General Edmund Gillespie and his sister-in-law Jeanette Crichton, the Director fo the Lenin Institute Academician Pavel Aleksandrovich Bondarev, the unemployed minstrel Harry Reddington, the captured alien Harpanet and several dozen other characters to save the Earth from the alien threat.
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have provided a good old-fashioned "pulp" story, where you go along for the ride. My only substantive complaint is that the Snouts, as the aliens are called for obvious reasons, have a convenient Achilles heel (or two) that allows Earth to have a fighting chance against a technologically superior enemy that REALLY controls the high ground. My favorite part is President relying on a group of Science Fiction writers for advice on how to deal with these strange visitors from another planet, which at least avoids the stereotype of the stupid military advisers just wanting to use nukes at the first opportunity. The "science" in "Footfall" is enough to fuel the story without becoming oppressive; the first time I read this novel I remember thinking it was just an excuse to find a story where launching an Orion was a plausible plot device. "Footfall" is not epic science fiction; it is just a fun read that takes us make to those thrilling days of yesteryear when BEM ruled.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For me this ranks as one of Niven/Pournelles greatest books. This is a story about a one-way alien invasion of Earth where the aliens are in many ways a less technically knowlegable race that us and with an interesting mental outlook. I found the story well written, utterly plausable ( if you believe that aliens exist!), No so technical that it was boring and with good characterisations. The aliens were interesting, a twist on the "dumbo fights back" and the finale is so good it actually took my breath away, I was riveted to my chair right up to the last word. Niven is a good author, but the Niven/Pournell combination is outstanding.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Even though I found this book generally enjoyable it was hard work in places. The alien language and names were quite off putting due to the length of them. The story line of the various characters was not in depth and I didn't really care whether they were killed off or not. Good read in all other aspects.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Quite an interesting book
Loved most parts of it, though it was a bit too long in the uninteresting bits and a bit too short in the interesting bits. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jack Harvey
Torpid and Reactionary
The elephants idea never really convinced, despite the attention given to trying to make them seem 'alien', with a base-8 numeric system and an overriding herd mentality, but at... Read more
Published 3 months ago by T. West
Its hateful, but I loved this one.
Silly old right-wing pontificating nonsense full of characters of approximately monatomic thickness and jingoistic sabre rattling... Got that of my chest. Read more
Published on 28 May 2001
One for the creditors rather than the readers
I am a big fan of the writing of both Niven and Pournelle. This is the worst book I have read by either of them. Read more
Published on 4 Dec 2000 by "simon_23"
Not their best work
To start with let me first say that I love Larry Niven's books. His collaboration with Pournelle to write the Mote in Gods eye was also brilliant. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2000 by Pb
ID4?
An absolutely brilliant book, althogh in my opinion Independance Day seems to strike aloy of similarities!
Published on 13 April 2000
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