thegooddoctor
2/23/2021
An absolute top favourite.
Some (such as critic David Pringle) will cast disfavour on the "bestseller - page-turner" style - but hey, I loved it. It is the only SF novel that I can recall that elicited any interest whatsoever from my non-SF friends and family. They actually wanted to know what was happening with this or that character - did they make it out alive, etc.
Not surprising, as this is the sort of SF that would even appeal to non-SF fans, people who don't want any weirdness about aliens, etc. etc. It's just a simple straightforward what-if that could happen tomorrow. A large object (in this case a comet) arrives and smashes into the earth. Then Larry Niven does what he does best - extrapolates the logical consequences and outcomes of that impact (oops, I should say "they", as he does it along with his co-author Jerry Pournelle).
My rating system: I begin with one star being equivalent to a rating of "C -". Progressing upwards, I add ½ star for each step, up to the maximum 5 stars, which is equivalent to a rating of "A"+. I reserve ½ star for BOMBS, there being no option of zero or negative stars.