Footfall - Elephants Attack!

Footfall (1985) by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
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My father was a fan of science fiction and horror, and of course both Niven and Pournelle adorned his shelves. Footfall, a semi-hard science romp against communist space elephants, wasn't the first of their books to cross my path, but it is perhaps the weirdest. Published during the early years of SDI and Space Shuttle mania, the book was a concious attempt to sell fans on Ronald Reagan and his expensive efforts to win the Cold War.



Despite the rather obvious politics of the book, it remains a fun story. It helps me, at least, that the book offers a glimpse into certain mentalities of my childhood. With a cast of dozens, characters sometimes disappear as quickly as they arrive, but the authors deserve credit for trying to give us a global view of a world war, even if seen through the bifocals of West versus East. I found the alien technology to be particularly fascinating. The authors worked to make the aliens advanced, but plausibly so. Their portrayal of military space systems--and the importance of orbital power--is perhaps terribly pat. Nevertheless, it remains as inspiring techno-drama.

They don't skimp on the non-military tech either, giving the invaders a realistic insertion into our solar system. Warp drive and teleporters need not apply here. Nor exotic detection--those space commies are picked up on astronomical plates, and the book does well in showing how even a large alien ship could hide in our own solar system for years, feeding off asteroids while it refuels and assembles its invasion force.

Don't fret that the book will wear at your ideological edifices--it is far too goofy and dated to suceed at its goal. A year later the Challenger exploded and people began to realize the space plane was a bit more difficult to manage than the Saturn-style rocket. Meanwhile, SDI and its sucessors climbed higher and higher into that deficit sky, producing so little for so many tax dollars and resources. On the other hand, I think the basic concept of a shuttle and space weapons are sound; they just needed a lot more sense and farsight to make them sing. So there's no shame in reading this book, no matter your own beliefs. Reading it may even illuminate some of the tropes and icons which unconciously emerge in my own fiction.