The Fountains of Paradise
In the 22nd century visionary scientist Vannevar Morgan conceives the most grandiose engineering project of all time, and one which will revolutionize the future of humankind in space: a Space Elevator, 36,000 kilometers high, anchored to an equatorial island in the Indian Ocean."An amazing list...
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In the 22nd century visionary scientist Vannevar Morgan conceives the most grandiose engineering project of all time, and one which will revolutionize the future of humankind in space: a Space Elevator, 36,000 kilometers high, anchored to an equatorial island in the Indian Ocean."An amazing list – genuinely the best novels from sixty years of SF." - Iain M. Banks"Delightfully written and at times almost unbearably exciting." - Kingsley Amis"His enthusiasm is combined with his considerable literary and myth-making skills ... the result is something special." - Sunday Telegraph"A superbly crafted novel that may be his best." - Tribune
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Format: mass market paperback
ISBN:
9780345253569 (0345253566)
ASIN: 345253566
Publish date: February 1980
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Pages no: 305
Edition language: English
Category:
Fantasy,
Science Fiction Fantasy,
Classics,
Novels,
Science Fiction,
Literature,
European Literature,
British Literature,
20th Century,
Space,
Speculative Fiction,
Hard Science Fiction
Just finished writing a collection of short stories so my need to write is really low.Anyways this novel sucks. But this collection of ideas is extraordinary! Solar mirrors on Mars, moon mining, magnetic rails... awesome. I could plagiarise this book alone and have enough inventions for two or three...
"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is goldAnd she's buying a stairway to heaven"Hmm... not an entirely appropriate Led Zep reference I suppose but I got to start the review somewhere, and the phrase "Stairway to heaven" does appear in the book, but regrettably not the guitar solo.It is qu...
The basic plot of The Fountains of Paradise can be summed up with two words: space elevator. Yes, it's something of an architectural procedural, and much of the story is taken up with the events of the project lead (Vannevar Morgan) to get the thing started. Luckily, this is also terribly interestin...
Nutshell: earthlings begin building skyhook, aliens show up, aliens go away, earthlings finish skyhook, yay!Nifty parallel drawn between ancient monument builders and scifi megastructures through the use of an ancient Sri Lankan legend (or what purports to be, anyway). Lotsa technical detail. What...
Not his greatest work in my eyes, this book may have aged more than others the great man has written though which has negatively impacted my view on the book. That being said, if you are a fan of Clarke this is a decent read and one which explores the concept of a Space Elevator in detail. Whether o...