perelgut@utai.UUCP (Stephen Perelgut) (11/27/85)
Footfall Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle a Del Rey book, 1985 (hardcover) Footfall is the latest collaboration between Niven and Pournelle. This is a BIG book (500 pages). It has to be. It has a BIG cast. The basis of the story is that aliens have come to take over the earth. In fact, they want to incorporate humans into their herd-like culture. The aliens look a lot like Dumbo-the-elephant. Their manipulative members are trunks that split, split, and split again (eight digits.) The aliens are well thought out and their culture (what little of it appears within the story) makes a kind of sense. I don't quite believe it, but... The story itself is nothing to write home about. There is a cast of thousands all of whom turn out to know each other (quite frequently in the biblical sense of the word "know"). God only knows why, but otherwise moral characters will screw like rabbits at the drop of a suggestion. Coincidence and super technology abounds in places where it shouldn't be necessary. Luckily, the U.S. is saved by the advanced thinking capabilities of science fiction authors, led by the legendary writer, Anson. Cute name. He even acts like RAH is said to behave. Hmmmmm. Remove the gratuitous sex, stupid coincidences, extra characters that don't add much to the plot (an entire survivalist group that exists in the book for one purpose [last 100 pages], which purpose is only there to move one character to the right place at the right time, who is only there to ...) and you have a 125-150 page book without a lot to recommend it. On a scale of -4 to +4 this one rates -1. Niven and Pournelle write well together, and the imagery is all there. But what a waste. Read this one if someone lends it to you and you have a lot of time on your hands. Or if you have a thing for Niven/Pournelle. I rated it as -1 since it is well written (even if what's there isn't such a great idea), and it is Niven. How long before Niven reaches that awful place Asimov and Heinlein have found? -- Stephen Perelgut Computer Systems Research Institute, University of Toronto
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (11/28/85)
When evaluating Niven&Pournelle books, one should remember that they
quite explicitly write in two modes: SF mode, and Bestseller mode.
Footfall is an example of the latter, as you can tell from the "mainstream"
conventions -- dozens of shallow characters, topical issues and gratuitous
sex sprinkled through it, simplistic plot with abundant side plots, etc.
Niven is on record as regretting having taken on Footfall.
--
Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
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