HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

In a word: Realistic

Plot:  An alien ship is observed heading to Earth.  Attempts to contact the aliens to discover their intentions are met with silence.  The delegation sent to make first contact are attacked and kidnapped.  The aliens are the Fithp and they are not interested in negotiations or converstation.  They intend to make Earth their Winterhome and demand immediate and complete surrender or they will cull the human herd.  When faced with human opposition, the Fithp iinitiate"Footfall", throwing a huge asteriod at the Earth and causing catatrophic death and destruction.  Yet, even amongst the devastation and chaos, humans still refuse complete surrender.  As the Fithp try desperately to quell rebellion within their own herd, the US gears up for one last ditch effort to get the Fithp to roll over and surrender - in this case, literally.

Thoughts:  Jerry Pournelle is the Writer Guest of Honor at ConCarolinas 2010 - so I thought I would pick up a few of his collaberative efforts.  I'm glad I started with this one, as it's probably the best alien invasion novel ever written.  In most alien invasion novels, the aliens are more human than alien - and their technology is so superior you never buy into the idea of human resistance.  No so with this book.  The aliens are actually ALIEN.  They have virtually no common ground with the humans.  The Fithp are a herd species and are completely baffled by the idea that humans act individually.  On the flip side, humans are just as baffled that the Fithp follow the herdmaster, no matter what.  Acting individually is considered "rogue" and not tolerated.  Also, the technology the Fithp use is explained so expertly that you understand how they could be defeated by our much more primitive weaponry. 

The book is dated - here the USSR is still intact and the Soviet/American cold war is still in full gear.  That doesn't detract from the story, however.  I simply viewed it as a bit of alternate reality.  The narrative does drag a bit, particularly when they switch to the Soviets and at the end, with the flight of "Michael" to the Fithp Mothership.  But, again, I can forgive the book that, simply because the rest of the story is so deftly told and the characters are so engaging - in particular the Government's "Threat Team", a group of science fiction writers (who better to try to figure out the alien mindset?) and Hairy Red, a wandering minstrel who seems to end up right where the action is.

Great action, great characters, great storyline! 

If you like this, try reading:  Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournell; Ringworld by Larry Niven; Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke.