a mission from God to return humanity to a simpler, non-technological way of life. Their expansion is blocked by the Stronghold, which is also their only serious rival in numbers and strength. They attack, but Jellison's outnumbered forces defeat them with the help of mustard gas and other weapons produced by Forrester. An operational nuclear power plant nearby is also a target of the New Brotherhood. The defenders barely survive the first assault and plead for help. 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. Just then, Jellison dies, but not before the ailing old man casts the deciding vote for the latter. They succeed, and later, it is shown that they are well on the way back to restoring civilization. Literary significance and reception Niven and Pournelle originally pitched the story to publishers as an alien invasion story in which the aliens drop a comet onto Earth after humanity fights them. Jim Baen told them to write only the comet story. The original story idea was later written as their novel Footfall. At least one reference to prior work by the authors is present in the text, through "Crazy Eddie's Insurance", a direct reference to "The Mote In God's Eye" (published in 1977). Judith T. Yamamoto, in her review for the Library Journal, said that the novel was full of "good, solid science, a gigantic but well developed and coordinated cast of characters, and about a megaton of suspenseful excitement". Her one negative comment was that the pro-technology pitch might turn off some readers but "all in all it's a good book, if not a great one". Lucifer's Hammer received a nomination for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1978. C. Ben Ostrander reviewed Lucifer's Hammer in The Space Gamer No. 13. Ostrander commented that "I recommend this book.... Don't miss it for a long, interesting story". See also The Hammer of God, novel by Arthur C. Clarke about an asteroid strike. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, in which the Moon disintegrates and falls to Earth as "Hard Rain". The Star by H.G. Wells, 1897 short story which can be considered the progenitor