Sometime in the late 70's/early 80's, I picked up a book called Lucifers Hammer. It was a collaboration by two authors I had never read before, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. The team up was great. I looked for other books by this team and found The Mote in God's Eye, a truly fantastic novel. From there I discovered the Jannissaries, Falkenberg's Legion, and the CoDominium.
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Works by J.E. Pournelle
CoDominium/Empire of Man (In Universe Chronology)
Falkenberg's Legion
1. Prince of Mercenaries (1989)
2. Falkenberg's Legion (1990)
3. Go Tell the Spartans (1991) (with S M Stirling)
4. Prince of Sparta (1993) (with S M Stirling)
Empire of Man
5. King Davids Spaceship (1973)
Moties (with Larry Niven)
6. The Mote in God's Eye (1974)
7. The Gripping Hand (1993)
Red Heroin (writing as Wade Curtis)
1. Red Heroin (1965)
2. Red Dragon (1970)
Inferno (with Larry Niven)
1. Inferno (1976)
2. Escape from Hell (2009)
Janissaries
1. Janissaries (1979)
2. Clan and Crown (1982) (with Roland J Green)
3. Storms of Victory (1987) (with Roland J Green)
Heorot (with Steven Barnes, Larry Niven)
1. The Legacy of Heorot (1987)
2. Beowulf's Children (1995)
3. The Secret of Black Ship Island (2012)
Jupiter
1. Higher Education (1995) (with Charles Sheffield)
2. Starswarm (1998)
Golden Road (with Larry Niven)
1. The Burning City (2000)
2. Burning Tower (2005)
Other Novels
Birth of Fire (1976)
Lucifer's Hammer (1977) (with Larry Niven)
High Justice (1977)
Exiles to Glory (1978) Oath of Fealty (1981) (with Larry Niven)
Footfall (1985) (with Larry Niven)
Fallen Angels (1991) (with Michael Flynn, Larry Niven)
The Children's Hour (1991) (with S M Stirling)
This is the novel that introduced me to Jerry Pournelle. After reading this I looked for books by both Niven and Pournelle. Niven alone didn't do it for me, but Pournelle was very good, and the team was awesome..
From the E-Book:
"a massive comet breaks apart and bombards the Earth, with catastrophic results: worldwide earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, thousand-foot tidal waves and seemingly endless rain… With civilization in ruins, individuals band together to survive and to build a new society."
This was the first Pournelle solo work that I read. The mixture of past and present military tech and methods was an irrisistable combo for me (I was enlisted in the military at the time), and the addition of aliens, another planet, and star travel just upped the interest factor.
From the Paperback:
"Some days it just didn't pay to be a soldier. Captain Rick Galloway and his men had been talked into volunteering for a dangerous mission -only to be ruthlessly abandoned when faceless CIA higher-ups pulled the plug on the operation. They were cut off in hostile territory, with local troops and their Cuban "advisors" rapidly closing in. And then the alien spaceship landed..."
This really is one of the best SF novels. Niven and Pournelle are an amazing team.
From the Hardcover:
"Set in the year 3017, when man has long colonized space, it tells an engrossing tale of first contact, utterly inhuman aliens who harbor a dark secret, and humanity's unique solution to a potentially dangerous situation. The Alderson drive has made it possible for humans to shunt between systems in zero time, and, having never encountered another intelligent species, man reigns supreme. Or so it seems -- only a ship appears out of nowhere, bearing an emissary from a civilization totally alien in creed and culture, yet our equal in power and technology. Before contact can be established, the emissary is accidentally killed, and a danger signal transmitted across space. Commander Roderick Blaine of the Imperial Space Navy knows full well the implications of that unfortunate encounter. Now he and his crew are forced to make a desperate voyage to find the visitor's home world and try to convince its alien inhabitants of humanity's good will. But will they listen? Will they accept Earth's offer to be equal partners in a peaceful universe? Or will they permit nothing less than an all-out galactic war for supremacy?"
While this book reads as a Young Adult book it is one that I have enjoyed reading several times..
From the Paperback:
"Living with his Uncle Mike at Starswarm Station on a planet called Paradise, Kip's best friend is Gwen who answers questions and seems to know everything. But Gwen is an implant in Kip's head, connected to an Artificial Intelligence at the planet's central computer, and Kip learns some secrets that put not only his and his Uncle Mike's lives in danger, but also threaten the existence of the aliens called centaurs and the starswarms, mysterious but highly intelligent organisms living in lakes and streams. "
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