The Book That Changed Everything

When I read this prompt, the first book that came to mind was Lucifer's Hammer. My second thought was for The Stand, but Lucifer's Hammer won out.

I let the story stew in my mind and wondered what about it triggered my reaction?

It's our world but with the impending arrival of an asteroid (Lucifer's Hammer) that will end the world. At one point in the book, one of the characters compares the asteroid to part of a hot fudge sundae, which the public loves. The end of the world as they know it comes not on a Tuesday, but on Hot Fudge Tuesday. It's the same yet different.

And the characters are ordinary people. Sure, there's a Senator and some astronauts. But one of the astronauts is named Pieter Jakov. A bit of humor, poking fun at us.

The end of the world is described through the eyes of a boy scout troop watching the glowing embers of the smaller asteroids arrive or the surfer riding the tsunami caused by the impact of the big one. A different perspective on everyday people and things.

What I remember most are the characters: the nuclear engineer, the chicken farmer, the rich playboy, the office manager. Over the course of the story, they change as the world around them does. Some change in unexpected ways, others become the person they were meant to be and some even became the person I wanted them to be.

This end of the world epic captured my gaze with the graphics on the cover, it captured my attention with the theme of mankind surviving against all odds and it captured my heart by being rooted in my world. By being the same, yet different.