Teaser

An alien spacecraft has passed Jupiter, causing panic among both the Americans and the Soviets. For the Fithp do not come in peace, and they want our world for their own . . .

Review

Considering how foundational the idea of an alien invasion is to science fiction as a genre, it’s a little surprising that I’ve so rarely come across the idea in literature. Obviously, you have HG Wells’ The War of the Worlds, but most first contact scenarios are a little less warlike, at least initially. Of course, when it comes to the big screen, alien invasions are all the rage. Alien invasions are a staple of the summer blockbuster, as films like Independence Day prove. Footfall is a prime example of a book that brings those blockbuster ideas into literary form, resulting a book that is a whopping seven hundred pages long, and filled with action and big-screen vistas.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are perhaps the best-known writing team in SF history. Both famous for their solo works (Pournelle for Janissaries and Niven for Ringworld), they also collaborated on a number of novels. The most famous of these is probably The Mote in God’s Eye, which is currently sitting on that very, very long mental list of books I’m hoping to find in the wild.

So with all that in mind, what is there to say about Footfall? Well, surprisingly enough for a book that’s seven hundred pages long, not all that much. The plot is basic. The Fithp invade Earth, including throwing an asteroid at us that wipes out India, and humanity fights back. A good thing we have all these nuclear missiles at our disposal, right guys? Yes, unfortunately, despite the global implications, Footfall is resolutely a US-centric novel. The only diplomacy between Fithp and humanity takes place on a Soviet space station, but naturally the chief diplomat is an American politician. The full-scale conquest of Africa is broadly skimmed over in favour of details about the destruction of Kansas, or the dozens of American characters handling the collapse of society and the search for lost loved ones.

There are a lot of characters in this book. Five pages of dramatis personae proves that, but few of them make any impact. The sprawling cast does little but show the scale of the invasion, and I suppose to bulk up the page count. There is, however, one group of characters that stuck with me.

In the build-up to open conflict, a group of science fiction writers are rounded up by the military and asked to theorise about what might happen. Two of these authors, Bob and Virginia Anson, are clearly modelled on Robert Heinlein and his wife, and I suspect others are also based on real people. The book is also peppered with references and allusions to other works of science fiction, which really helps settle the novel in its historical context. In an accidental moment of foresight, the science fiction writers are gathered in a military facility located underneath Cheyenne Mountain, a name that will be ringing bells with any Stargate fans reading this.

For all it’s faults, Footfall is a really fun novel. Once you get used to the baffling scope and nationalism, it’s easy to let the story sweep you away. It also doesn’t feel like the work of two different authors. It’s one fluid story from start to finish, and all in the same style. The trick to enjoying it is to treat it for what it is. A blockbuster adventure in literary form. Don’t think too much. Just enjoy the ride.

Book Stats

• A Standalone Novel
• Published in 1985
• 700 Pages