Jellison's people are reluctant to send it, as the greatly weakened New Brotherhood no longer poses a threat to the Stronghold, but astronaut Rick Delanty gives them a stark choice: remain safe, though their descendants will be peasants, or attack and wipe out the New Brotherhood, and use the electric power to rebuild civilization. It's repeatedly referenced that if humanity had been just a bit more advanced - that is, just that much better at nuclear physics (and space development) - they would have been able to prevent the impact. It helps make for very interesting reading, and I think I’ve added several new books on my to-read list.

The part where the one guy's teenage son decides to stay with the scout troop and the dad just kind of has to accept it. When it is clear the asteroid will come closer than expected, money is wrangled to get a team of astronauts up into space to take samples, pictures and measurements, and I was surprised to find this was one of the most interesting sections for me. In the epilogue, after Jellison's death, Tim notes that Harvey and Maureen "would have to come to terms" with the Colorado Springs group, implying either that either they do have that authority or that they're powerful enough to be respected anyway. Tsunamis and earthquakes, whilst triggered this time by a meteor shower, gives a powerful image of what would happen. For to you Kingdoms and their armies are things mighty and enduring, but to him they are but toys of the moment, to be overturned with the flick of a finger.The authors weren't quite as horribly axe-grinding as, say, certain authors of political thrillers or grimdark fantasy. As far as they are concerned, Arthur Jellison (former US Senator and leader of the effort to organize and rebuild) is their leader. This is the story Niven and Pournelle tell, with a level of realism that echoes people’s attitudes and actions witnessed during the COVID pandemic.

To the title page it is signed by both Niven and Pournelle as follows, "For Ed, best wishes, Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven, Westercon, '80. There are also the two Russians who exist to mention how superior the US is to Russia in oh so many ways, and the reformed hippies who have realized that communes are a bad idea.

But the last few I have read really unearthed things I didn't notice when I was younger, and this one, which was one of their early collaborations, really shows its age. This final part of the book is almost like a satire of right-wing attitudes - except that it's painfully clear that it's in earnest. Sounds like the Suck Fairy got in there while you weren't looking and spread her Suck all over the pages.

Like if you could just imagine that the characters in the band of cannibals are of all races, then the book immediately becomes top tier. I was humbled by the way they could turn so many flawed and normal people into an epic scene of pathos when they died. I also thought, throughout reading it, that it was published in 1970, not 1977 - maybe I saw a bit of misinformation, but it feels VERY dated and regressive. But still, this is a book that you will enjoy if you like the premise and don't pay much attention to subtext, but will probably annoy you if you do notice things like ALL THE BLACK PEOPLE BECOME CANNIBALS! However, I believe it is fundamentally an exciting thriller and a very impressive extended essay on the psychology and anthropology of humanity's behaviour in the face of global tragedy.The remainder of the story takes place in California, where survivors in the San Joaquin valley go about preparing for the coming ice age and trying to rebuild what little civilization they can. But the last few I have read really unearthed things I didn't notice when I was younger, and this one, which was one of their early collaboration, really shows its age. In Policeman, narration is provided first person, and although many of the projected responses to impact are exactly the same in both books, experiencing it through one man’s journey is far more profound and moving. On the other hand, there are quite a few things about it that are still freaking fantastic, such as the science and the emotional impact of the comet strike.

The Night That Never Ends: In addition to the dust and debris thrown into the upper atmosphere, the massive amounts of water vaporized by the ocean impacts cause a perpetual 100% cloud cover (at one point in the book, it rains for a month) and thus a perpetual twilight. In universe, Harvey Randall never finds out what happened to the looters using the blue van who killed his wife and stole all of his food and supplies, though the readers are told. Yes there was what happened in New Orleans after Katrina, but that behavior wasn't so common in other areas hit by Katrina.And it might've been even worse if the US military hadn't gotten the clarification that the Soviet Union was nuking China instead of the US.