You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Clarke is definitely a skilled author, one of the big three of science fiction. However, this book simply does not leave as big an impact on the reader as his short stories.
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Although well conceived and executed, The Fountains of Paradise is not my favourite Arthur C. Clarke novel.
I like how he describes the different cultural, political and technical challenges in attempting to build a space elevator, but I had some issues with the characters. Morgan is pretty much the only one who gets decent treatment and he’s not that interesting to follow.
Although the last third of the novel is more compelling it felt forced to me. It didn’t flow as well as other novels by Clarke.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this book and I think it’s worth reading, but it think it’s only “good” not “great”. I enjoy hard science fiction and there is some of that here, but for some reason I had a harder time connecting with it that I thought I would.
All that being said, Clarke remains an excellent writer. The cultural passages are clearly better “felt” than the technical ones and you can see that he wanted to convey a message on the importance of respect, understanding and curiosity regarding other cultures. That can only be lauded.
Also, there is a whole discussion about religion, put in the context of first contact with aliens. It was interesting but felt quite underdeveloped, I’m not exactly sure why it was included in this novel, it almost felt like an afterthought, even though the subject was dear to Clarke from what I understand.
As I think I mentioned in my review for “Childhood’s End,” my interest in reading Clarke was spurred by an episode of “Prophets of Science Fiction” on the Science Channel. This was another book they talked about in that episode (the third, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” is also on loan from the library and I will probably be starting it this week sometime). Unlike that book, however, this one just didn’t quite work for me.
The premise is that an architect designs and then builds a “Space Elevator,” a tower with four belts made of very thin carbon filaments that extends a quarter of a million kilometers up from an equatorial island into space. The island is home to a sacred monastery that is over two thousand years old: the residents of the monastery get driven out in some way because of some sort of prophecy that I didn’t quite understand. As the tower is nearing completion, there is an explosion which strands a car six hundred miles up and the architect has to go up and rescue the people inside.
The concept of the “Space Elevator” is interesting, but I didn’t find the explanation of the thing sufficient: I could understand the need to move a large body into a geo-synchronous orbit to anchor the top of the tower to. But even with nano-technologically built materials, wouldn’t a tower that tall be WAY too heavy to stay anchored or erect on earth? Also, I never quite got why it was built. Was it a case of “because we can” or was there some other reason (like further exploration of space, etc.)? Plus in the first half of the book, there were a lot of “science vs. religion” quotes that didn’t really fit in.
I’m glad I read it, though.
The premise is that an architect designs and then builds a “Space Elevator,” a tower with four belts made of very thin carbon filaments that extends a quarter of a million kilometers up from an equatorial island into space. The island is home to a sacred monastery that is over two thousand years old: the residents of the monastery get driven out in some way because of some sort of prophecy that I didn’t quite understand. As the tower is nearing completion, there is an explosion which strands a car six hundred miles up and the architect has to go up and rescue the people inside.
The concept of the “Space Elevator” is interesting, but I didn’t find the explanation of the thing sufficient: I could understand the need to move a large body into a geo-synchronous orbit to anchor the top of the tower to. But even with nano-technologically built materials, wouldn’t a tower that tall be WAY too heavy to stay anchored or erect on earth? Also, I never quite got why it was built. Was it a case of “because we can” or was there some other reason (like further exploration of space, etc.)? Plus in the first half of the book, there were a lot of “science vs. religion” quotes that didn’t really fit in.
I’m glad I read it, though.
reflective
slow-paced
Who knew that civil engineering could be so exciting?
This is a really interesting novel, that is immense in scope and yet subtle in execution (mostly). It paints the story of one man's quest to build what is effectively the greatest bridge humankind has ever seen: a space elevator. Here the idea is laid out in great but accessible detail for the first time; previously it had been squarely in the realm of idealistic engineers and academics. This does give the novel the feel of an engineering manifesto only vaguely disguised as a story, but honestly I found this very endearing. I can however see how it would come across as dry, or even tedious, if (somehow) you fail to be impressed by the imagination at play.
Clarke contrasts his not-too-distant future delightfully with the tale of an early Sri-Lankan king who dreams of building colossal pleasure-gardens at the top of a mountain. This idea of humanity constantly dreaming towards the stars is neat, and gives the book some philosophical heft that might otherwise have been missing.
For me personally it loses the final fifth star for actually having too much action in the last act of the book; it becomes a little contrived and over-dramatic, and feels a little at odds with the bureaucratic nature of what had gone before.
There are some fantastic asides to the main narrative of the space elevator; including nice insights into religion through the ages, how humans would deal with first contact, and a bizarrely specific correct prediction about how the internet will affect birthday greetings.
Clarke really was a visionary, and this book is a real testament to his genius while actually having human characters you can get behind, unlike some of his earlier work. A must read for fans of hard sci-fi.
This is a really interesting novel, that is immense in scope and yet subtle in execution (mostly). It paints the story of one man's quest to build what is effectively the greatest bridge humankind has ever seen: a space elevator. Here the idea is laid out in great but accessible detail for the first time; previously it had been squarely in the realm of idealistic engineers and academics. This does give the novel the feel of an engineering manifesto only vaguely disguised as a story, but honestly I found this very endearing. I can however see how it would come across as dry, or even tedious, if (somehow) you fail to be impressed by the imagination at play.
Clarke contrasts his not-too-distant future delightfully with the tale of an early Sri-Lankan king who dreams of building colossal pleasure-gardens at the top of a mountain. This idea of humanity constantly dreaming towards the stars is neat, and gives the book some philosophical heft that might otherwise have been missing.
For me personally it loses the final fifth star for actually having too much action in the last act of the book; it becomes a little contrived and over-dramatic, and feels a little at odds with the bureaucratic nature of what had gone before.
There are some fantastic asides to the main narrative of the space elevator; including nice insights into religion through the ages, how humans would deal with first contact, and a bizarrely specific correct prediction about how the internet will affect birthday greetings.
Clarke really was a visionary, and this book is a real testament to his genius while actually having human characters you can get behind, unlike some of his earlier work. A must read for fans of hard sci-fi.
Full review here: http://infinispace.net/2016/08/the-fountains-of-paradise-review/
Classic Clarke tale, filled with inspirational technical achievements and wonderful descriptive prose.
A very different sci-fi book. It's just about building a friggin tower, but it still felt suspensful. Also, a very interesting way to tell the story, spanning thousands of years with different perspectives.
It's often interesting reading/listening to older Sci-fi novels, this one from 1979. This was entertaining but not much more then that. I enjoy Arthur C Clarke ways of weaving a story though
Arthur C. Clarke masterfully deals with the concept of a tether to the sky most popularly known as the space elevator. Great description of an engineering gigastructure it is thought provoking to contemplate the scale of the construct. After all an orbital tether is more easily relatable as a horizontal bridge to space rather than a vertical space elevator.