Armageddon!

by Jerry Pournelle, Gregory Benford, James Patrick Kelly, et al.

Book Overview

From the bestselling author of Footfall, The Legacy of Heorot, and Lucifer's Hammer comes Pournelle's most apocalyptic work ever, a sweeping science fiction saga depicting the last days of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812549651
• ISBN13: 9780812549652
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

A look back in time

It's an interesting philosophical exercise, writing a review that it's entirely likely no one will ever read, but, regardless, here goes. This is the eighth in a series of anthologies of military and militaristic SF stories and essays edited by Jerry Pournelle. I vaguely recall reading the first one a very long time ago, and I picked this eighth volume up at a dollar store a few years back and am only now getting around to it. I recommend this in particular as a snapshot of the world situation in 1989, when there was still a Soviet Union and nuclear exchange between two states was still at the forefront of the popular imagination. The contents: "Still Time" by James Patrick Kelly (1983). A not particularly memorable character study of a family man trying to make it to safety after a nuclear attack. "Surviving Armageddon" by Jerry Pournelle (1982). A reprint of an article discussing various basic aspects of survival and rebuilding after a nuclear assault; provides a survey of the survivalist literature of the time. It seems out of place. "To the Storming Gulf" by Gregory Benford (1985). The aftermath of an accidental nuclear attack, from a number of points of view, and a surprising shift in the political role of the space station. "Dinosaurs" by Geoffrey A. Landis (1985). A parapsychologist enlists the help of people with paranormal powers to fend off a nuclear attack. Killer twist ending; definitely in the top three stories in this collection. "The Prevention of War: About Unthinking the Unthinkable" by Reginald Bretnor (1981). Probably the essay that's most relevant today; Bretnor attempts to refute some myths about the cultural factors that bring about war or peace. "Day of Succession" by Theodore L. Thomas (1959). Fairly hawkish story of alien invasion. The twist ending doesn't really work. "The Irvhank Effect" by Harry Turtledove (1987). A newly-discovered damping field that renders nukes useless had unintended consequences for its inventors, and for the world. Less a story than a thought experiment, but interesting. "War Circular" by J. E. Oestreicher (original). Concrete poem about war. "The Tranquil Sound" by Lenore Lee Good (original). Poem about the aftermath. "Psi-Rec: I Linger" by Peter Dillingham (1979). Poem. I didn't care for it. "The Benefactors" by Don Hawthorne (original). Longish tale of political and military intrigue in the Soviet Union after some unnamed disaster. "Nuclear Autumn" by Ben Bova (1985). Nuclear war tale written around a scientific riddle; I found the manner in which the ending was handled a little unsatisfying. "As It Was in the Beginning" by Edward P. Hughes (original). An entry in what is apparently a series of stories throughout this sequence of anthologies dealing with a small English village after a war. This is a flashback to the founding of the village's political system, but it's kind of hard to judge without having read the others. "Triggerman" by Jesse F. Bone (1958). Remember t