Reddit reviews Footfall

Footfall by Niven and Pournelle

Ring of Charon by Roger MacBride Allen (Follow up - The Shattered Sphere)

Saturn Run by by John Sandford and Ctein

From the other linked discussion - One of my favorite scifi trilogies, The Chronicles of Solace (The Depths of Time, The Ocean of Years, The Shores of Tomorrow) by Roger MacBridge Allen, makes the lack of FTL -- and the necessary workarounds for maintaining an interstellar civilization -- a major plot point.

Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan - No FTL, but consciousness can be beamed as data and downloaded into different bodies (called sleeves). Futuristic noir detective murder mystery.

--Best of luck!

I was first introduced to the Orion concept in Footfall over 15 years ago and it has stuck in my mind since.

The list was too long to fit into a self-post, here is the continuation.

Prolific Authors: (5+ Books)

• Going Home by A. American
  
• Surviving Home by A. American
  
• Escaping Home by A. American
  
• Forsaking Home by A. American
  
• Resurrecting Home by A. American
  
• Apocalypse Law by John Grit
  
• Apocalypse Law 2 by John Grit
  
• Apocalypse Law 3 by John Grit
  
• Apocalypse Law 4 by John Grit
  
• Apocalypse Law 5 by John Grit
  
• Holding Their Own I: A Story of Survival by Joe Nobody
  
• Holding Their Own II: The Independents by Joe Nobody
  
• Holding Their Own III: Pedestals of Ash by Joe Nobody
  
• Holding Their Own IV: The Ascent by Joe Nobody
  
• Holding Their Own V: The Alpha Chronicles by Joe Nobody
  
• Holding Their Own VI: Bishop's Song by Joe Nobody
  
• Holding Their Own VII: Phoenix Star by Joe Nobody
  
• Holding Their Own VIII: The Directives by Joe Nobody
  
• Holding Their Own IX: The Salt War by Joe Nobody
  
• Apocalypse Drift by Joe Nobody
  
• Secession: The Storm by Joe Nobody and P.A. Troit
  
• Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse by James Wesley, Rawles
  
• Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse by James Wesley, Rawles
  
• Founders: A Novel of the Coming Collapse by James Wesley, Rawles
  
• Expatriates: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse by James Wesley, Rawles
  
• Liberators: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse by James Wesley, Rawles
  
• 299 Days 1: The Preparation by Glen Tate
  
• 299 Days 2: The Collapse by Glen Tate
  
• 299 Days 3: The Community by Glen Tate
  
• 299 Days 4: The Stronghold by Glen Tate
  
• 299 Days 5: The Visitors by Glen Tate
  
• 299 Days 6: The 17th Irregulars by Glen Tate
  
• 299 Days 7: The Change of Seasons by Glen Tate
  
• 299 Days 8: The War by Glen Tate
  
• 299 Days 9: The Restoration by Glen Tate
  
• 299 Days 10: The 43 Colonels by Glen Tate
  
  Science Fiction with apocalyptic elements:
  
  
• Directive 51 by John Barnes
  
• Daybreak Zero by John Barnes
  
• The Last President by John Barnes
  
• The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
  
• Wool by Hugh Howey
  
• Shift by Hugh Howey
  
• Dust by Hugh Howey
  
• Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
  
• Aftermath by Charles Sheffield
  

Before aliens actually invade with landing forces, they will sit back and throw rocks.

Is the idea older than the sci fi book, "Footfall" ?

Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

You basically described the premise of Footfall there, though their ship was a fusion ship that they built using a previous races plans.

Amazon

Amazon again

Ebay

deal. i just started footfall, but i'm dling neuromancer right now, and that's next. :)

We really need to agree on what we're talking about, in terms of scale and capability and mission. If we assume humanity is constrained by physics as we presently understand them, we're effectively limited to the solar system. So what's the mission of this space navy- defend against hypothetical alien invaders? (Good luck.) Protect a nation's access to off-Earth resources? Exploration? Defense of national space outposts? Talking about power projection is tricky if you don't know what your objectives are.

(If you assume humanity has faster-than-light travel then all bets are off and society is probably unrecognizable.)

In fiction: Footfall by Pournelle & Niven.

Here's a link just because I like the cover art :)

Have you read Footfall?.

Just wanted to add Footfall to the list of stories like this. Elephant-like aliens with vastly superior technology attack Earth with a very flawed understanding of how humanity wages war.

There is a book called Footfall, by Larry Niven, where this method of getting to space is used.

The classic "the aliens arrive, and announce themselves by dropping rocks" story is Footfall.

Holy shit, I can't believe this thread has been going on for an hour and no one has thrown out:

• Footfall
  
• Lucifer's Hammer
  
  Same authors, different stories, great post-apocalyptic vision.

Footfall had alien elephants, but it was mid-80s and it wasn't for kids.

http://www.amazon.com/Footfall-Larry-Niven/dp/0345323440