Footfall

By: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

They first appear as a series of dots on astronomical plates, heading from Saturn directly toward Earth. Since the ringed planet carries no life, scientists deduce the mysterious ship to be a visitor from another star. The world's frantic efforts to signal the aliens go unanswered. The first contact is hostile: the invaders blast a Soviet space station, seize the survivors, and then destroy every dam and installation on Earth with a hail of asteriods. Now the conquerors are descending on the American heartland, demanding servile surrender - or death for all humans.

©1986 Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Nobody does it better than Niven and Pournelle. I loved it!” (Tom Clancy)

"Rousing – the best of the genre.” ( The New York Times Book Review)

Narration limits enjoyment of the story

I'd have to agree with the other reviewers. The voice acting is over-the-top. Please don't make all the Russian voices sound like Pavel Chekov from the original Star Trek. I really wish narrators would just stop it with the ethnic voices. The alien voices are just terrible. I realize that narrator had his hands tied when it came to pronouncing the alien names, but simpering, lisping alien voices are distracting. Just read the damn story.

better than people make it sound

I have read lots of the reviews here and other places that have this book and people seem to have a problem with the elephants caring guns and the whole elephant thing, but I don't really find that to be a problem its a new idea I have never read before.

This is a "First Contact" book and if you like those type of books then you should like this one, there are some strange things in here and it seems dated as it was written in 1986 but really its not that bad I have read worse.

I do have a problem with how the Aliens act like they don't understand the human ways and couldn't have predicted what happens but I assume that could be the case if these Aliens were just a small off shoot from a much larger clan as it sorta seems like it must be but not mentioned, however I would assume that they should have some concept of how other Aliens act or could act, I don't know maybe that's the "dated" part but for the most part the book was great.

The narrator does a great job but the Aliens sound stupid and there name sounds like the narrator was trying to say something but couldn't figure t out so just made a noise, and the Aliens don't have to sound like that in the beginning you here them first and I was worried I wouldn't be able to handle that but it turned out not to be a problem other than the names they use being strange.

This was a great book and if you like "First Contact" books you will like this one

Solid classic scifi, but not the best

I read the story ages ago and with an upcoming road trip decided to re-read it via audio book. The story itself is quite unique, and while the science in it seems strong, the story felt a bit thin and jumpy. Not my favorite from these authors, but still good. The narration was excellent. If you are a Niven and Pournelle fan and can't find anything else that excites you, this would be a worthy listen. The story however isn't nearly as satisfying as Mote in God's Eye or Lucifer's Hammer.

Bring Swim Trunks

Invasion Earth! Excellent narration brings this book to life, along with superb writing. Great fun.

Riviting

Would you listen to Footfall again? Why?

Yes. Great narration and interesting plot.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The congressman and his neurotic female companion. His steadfast belief that a compromise could be reached and the slowly evolving interplay between her and him was unforeseen and interesting when it finally started to show itself.

Which scene was your favorite?

The climax where the president was overridden and the congressman played his cards very close to the vest.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The Herding of Humanity

Any additional comments?

I could really never get my head around miniature elephants being able to bring humanity to the brink of destruction.