Lucifer's Hammer

[Kirle]

Anyone read it? I'm about 3/4 of the way through it and can't put it down.

[Payndar Circusdorf]

Reading it as you type? I'm impressed.

(Haven't read it.)

[Kirle]

But of course i multi task but only on the slow days at work.

It's a sweet book essentially about what happens to the world after it's hit by a giant comet.

[GraaceAndWill]

Probably something like the Dark Ages... I think there's been speculation that's what happened back then and why there's so little in the way of information about it.

[Iamnameless]

...what happens to the world after it's hit by a giant comet.

Everyone dies?

[GraaceAndWill]

Earth would become a sauna for a few years, most plant life would die, welcome to the world of famine and disease, most of the world would die off, probably about 80% of humans anyway... think Boubonic Plague, massive scale. Floods, fire, natural disasters etc would destroy most everything since the Earth's equilibrium was violently trashed...

I guess we could always go live underground indefinately and get vitamin D supplements in bulk...

[Payndar Circusdorf]

Probably something like the Dark Ages... I think there's been speculation that's what happened back then and why there's so little in the way of information about it.

Information about what?

[Payndar Circusdorf]

Earth would become a sauna for a few years, most plant life would die, welcome to the world of famine and disease, most of the world would die off, probably about 80% of humans anyway... think Boubonic Plague, massive scale. Floods, fire, natural disasters etc would destroy most everything since the Earth's equilibrium was violently trashed...

I guess we could always go live underground indefinately and get vitamin D supplements in bulk...

However spiky leather vests will become the norm of fashion.

[GraaceAndWill]

Probably something like the Dark Ages... I think there's been speculation that's what happened back then and why there's so little in the way of information about it.

Information about what?

There's just next to nothing in the way of development, culture, etc between about 525 and 12th century.... it was like all of Europe practically sat on their asses for the better part of 600+ years. Theories range from plague, to a massive volcanic eruption, to a collision.

[Payndar Circusdorf]

There's just next to nothing in the way of development, culture, etc between about 525 and 12th century.... it was like all of Europe practically sat on their asses for the better part of 600+ years. Theories range from plague, to a massive volcanic eruption, to a collision.

I'm assuming you misspelled the moon "Europa" in which case we've never had any civilization there.

Otherwise I'm not sure what you mean by the above.

[GraaceAndWill]

Dark Age (därk)
n.
also dark age
An era of ignorance, superstition, or social chaos or repression. Often used in the plural: a novel depicting the dark ages in the aftermath of a global war.
The early or crude stage in the history or development of something. Often used in the plural: back in the dark ages of radio technology.

Dark Ages
The period in Europe from the fall of Rome in the fifth century A.D. to the restoration of relative political stability around the year 1000; the early part of the Middle Ages.
The entire Middle Ages, especially when viewed as a troubled period marked by the loss of classical learning. No longer in use by historians.

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That's the timeframe and characteristics. There's additional theories as to why there was a good 500ish year loss of education etc. Yes, barbarians invaded and caused chaos and the fall of Rome, but there's speculation as to it may have been more than simply that... like there may have been two catastrophic plagues, one around the 500-600s in addition to the one we know about the bubonic. There's also speculation that there may have been a volcanic eruption that spewed ash etc into the atmosphere on a massive scale, and the "dark" ages may really have been... dark.... such as this idea... http://www.ees1.lanl.gov/Wohletz/Krakatau.htm There's also speculation that there may have been an impact by a meteor or something and caused something similar to the volcano eruption theory. Drills into antarctica ice did find layers of ash/sulfur (I'm not entirely sure, lost track of it) to suggest something big like that quite possibly happened during that timeframe.... as the ice there kinda works like a tree's rings.

[Payndar Circusdorf]

There's just next to nothing in the way of development, culture, etc between about 525 and 12th century.... it was like all of Europe practically sat on their asses for the better part of 600+ years.

This is the part that doesn't match history.

That Krakatoa link above is kind of interesting though; it's the first I've ever seen of that. I only skimmed it; are there records of European crop failures contemporaneous to it?

[GraaceAndWill]

As far as I've found, no one is sure what happened... the entire thing seems really weird. Yes the feudal system developed, and a few things continued, but by and large, culture and progress came to a stand-still. It seems there's not much in the way of written history of the timeframe as compared to prior and after.