Shiva Descending

by Gregory Benford and William Rotsler

Book Overview

The first strikes destroyed Cleveland, Tunis, and parts of Alaska, Canada, and Australia. That was barely the beginning. The swarm-- a cloud of meteors and asteroids 50,000 miles across--was coming. Hundred of missiles put Earth under siege forcing the world in a panicked hell of anarchy and catastrophe. Riots and orgies rampaged in the rubble. And worse waited. Because at the swarm's heart was Shiva--a 30 billion-ton comet set to hit earth with the...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812516907
• ISBN13: 9780812516906
• Release Date: March 1992
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Countdown to annihilation

A swarm of comets is identified swinging in orbit around the sun, but this time they're coming too close. In the center of the swarm is a mountain sized asteroid named Shiva. Earth has eleven months before Shiva returns on it's orbit, where it's path will put it directly into a collision course with Earth. The debris of Shiva precedes it, and meteors begin striking the Earth; first Biskra near the Tunisian border, then Cleveland, then Miami beach - and they keep coming. President Caleb Knowles and NASA Operations director Chuck Bradshaw come up with a plan to save the Earth. Russian president Yaroslav Kalinin has a four hundred megaton atomic device kept hidden from the US that he offers up for the destruction of Shiva. In a global effort, two teams of astronauts, Alpha team and Omega team, are sent into space to detonate the bombs on Shiva to either destroy it or alter its course away from Earth. Captain Carl Jagens leads up the Alpha team, and Major Lisa Bander leads the Omega team. Lisa has a romance going with Colonel Diego Calderon, second to Jagens on the Alpha team. Long before the astronauts can intercept Shiva, the world begins to collapse. With meteors striking everywhere, civilization begins to collapse. There's political and scientific upheaval, global political fallout, the collapse of banks and the exchange, power failures nationwide, desertions in the military and private sectors, assassinations, and sects forming in the civilian population. The most dangerous sect is formed by Douglas Kress, who now calls himself Brother Gabriel and leads "The Gabriels" (reminiscent of the Heaven's Gate cult from comet Hale-Bopp) on a mission to stop the astronauts from launching. They believe its God's will that Shiva cleanses the Earth. Millions would die before Shiva, in riots, revolts, starvation, and disease. 'Shiva Descending' was written in 1980, the forerunner of the "Armageddon by comet" scenarios. 'Lucifer's Hammer' (another good book) came out in 1985. In 1998 came the movie 'Deep Impact', and in 1999 the movie 'Armageddon', both of which are excellent movies. In the movies, though, they portray civilization staying relatively intact while waiting for impact, whereas in 'Shiva Descending' the more realistic approach of chaos is used. I personally believe society would break down into splinter groups and wreak havoc during their remaining days. (I don't have much faith in humanity - a person is smart, but people, as a herd animal, are stupid) The book has a good grasp on its futuristic allusions except for a couple of references to card-reader computers and 8-track video cassettes. It should be considered a "hard sci-fi" book because of the extensive scientific material included, almost technical enough to lose my attention. The ending is a bit abrupt; leaving a lot of unresolved issues, but satisfies the destiny of Shiva itself. The main characters are independent and realistic, and there are many extra character

Excellent. Entertaining.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! The characters are well developed, the science is good and it is well written. A mountain size meteor is approaching Earth, and Earth has one shot, actually two, to try and do something about it. The story goes at length into how different countries and cultures deal with the situation and how US politics and world religions (both old and newly formed as a result of the impending doom) address the crisis. There is the usual love interest, as well as competition amongst the astronauts involved. The science is solid and interestingly presented through various characters. One cannot help but draw comparisions to Deep Impact and Armageddon, this story is far superior to either of those two. The book is only a little dated because it draws upon the US/Russia mistrust, space competition and nuclear weapons... but that does not detract from its enjoyment.

Flying Mountain

"Shiva Descending" is the genesis of movies, "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon" --- a huge, mountain-sized asteroid is going to enter the earth's orbit and destroy the planet. The big-daddy asteroid is accompanied by a "swarm" of smaller asteroids that are hitting the planet causing earthquakes, tidal waves and huge destruction. The main asteroid designated, Shiva, is discovered eleven months before its projected impact.How does the earth's populace prepare for this devastating event? On balance, not well at all. NASA and the military are the only heroes, our government gets a grade C, organized religion rates a D, and the general population flunks. Pandemonium, lawlessness, strange sects and anarchy reign. As Shiva nears Earth's orbit, the level of civilization declines drastically. The only hope for humanity is if the massive asteroid can be deflected away from earth. Enter NASA and the astronauts carrying a bomb load that would make Anola Gay look like a peashooter.More than a nodding acquaintance with astronomy and physics would add to the enjoyment of this book. The technical passages are many and sometimes too long. The male characters are well delineated, surprisingly so for this type of book. The anti-hero, Carl Jagen, is particularly complex; he creates tension whenever he appears. The females, with the exception of the clear-eyed astronaut, are pliant, ...... ravenous, and servile. The story contains a few dead spots, but provides a rousing, spot-on finale when the astronauts do battle with Shiva in space. After barely retaining my interest in the opening passages, I was riveted by the last third of the story. Grade B-

A Powerful Message

Realistic science. Even more realistic pandemonium. A classic example of the growing gap of quality between SciFi books and movies. Most importantly, this book conveys the powerful message that great science fiction reiterates over and over: Technology will never be an obstacle for mankind's conquest of the stars, mankind will be mankind's obstacle to conquering the stars.

I think the movie "Armageddon" takes ideas from this book.

"Armageddon" is very good. However, if you had read this book first and watched the movie second, you will be never satisfied, because the movie got a little cheaper. The results of the movie is too optimistic. They must underestimate the danger by asteroids. You can find the detailed real in this excellent book. If the movie had been made faithfully in the basic line of this book...!