henry%clemson.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa (06/07/85)
From: Henry Vogel <henry%clemson.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa> I finished Footfall, the new book by Niven and Pournelle, a couple of days ago. It's an alien-invasion-of-earth novel and quite well done. It's kind of curious that there have been quite a few of those lately: Gerold's Chtorr books and Battlefield Earth (even though the invasion had already taken place) come to mind right off. Anyone who has read any of their previous novels will recognize the style and their method of story telling. The first 100 pages or so deal with introducing the characters and setting up the story and the last 400 pages deal with the actual invasion. As expected from a Niven-Pournelle book, the aliens have their own complex society that differs from our in several ways. One of the few things that bothered me about the book was the aliens' assumption that their inbred customs would be the same as ours (the aliens idea of surrender, for example, is significantly different than ours). That's the only nit I have to pick with the novel. Needless to say, this is hardly a review - call it a recommendation. If you alien invasion stories, Niven and Pournelle stories, or both, you will like Footfall.
erics@uottawa.UUCP (Eric Smith) (06/18/85)
In his article, Henry Vogel <henry%clemson.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa> writes: >I finished Footfall, the new book by Niven and Pournelle, a couple of days >ago. It's an alien-invasion-of-earth novel and quite well done. It's kind of >own complex society that differs from our in several ways. One of the few >things that bothered me about the book was the aliens' assumption that their >inbred customs would be the same as ours (the aliens idea of surrender, for >example, is significantly different than ours). That's the only nit I have to >pick with the novel. Actually, it seems to me that we humans often assume that our customs will be the same as thoses of others. It's a frequent cause of misunderstanding. Why shouldn't aliens be subject to the same foibles? (Although it would be nice if they weren't). -- Eric Smith "No matter where you go, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont. there you are." ...utzoo!dciem!nrcaero!uottawa!erics - B. Banzai