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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Introduces ground-breaking and important concept that has inspired countless other books and movies yet book itself is mediocre. Characters are paper thin and the story is not at all compelling. Also, several interesting ideas are introduced but not followed up upon.
Superbe histoire, maitrisée de bout en bout, de la mise en place d'un ascenseur de la terre à l'orbite terrestre, avec ses victoires, ses échecs, ses drames ...
Beaucoup de questions restent en suspens (qu'est-il arrivé à la sonde Starglider, etc.) et auraient presque mérité d'être développées.
Difficile de le reposer lorsqu'on l'a commencé, et triste de l'avoir déjà terminé.
Beaucoup de questions restent en suspens (qu'est-il arrivé à la sonde Starglider, etc.) et auraient presque mérité d'être développées.
Difficile de le reposer lorsqu'on l'a commencé, et triste de l'avoir déjà terminé.
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Well, you either like Clarke's style of writing or you don't. There is no sex, no love and only very little human drama in this book.
It is, however, a beautiful hard SF story, full of awesome Ideas way ahead of its time.
It is, however, a beautiful hard SF story, full of awesome Ideas way ahead of its time.
Meandering & boring with paper-thin characters. I had to put this one down halfway through.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-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
informative
slow-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
There's a sort of false promise that made me interested in this book in the first place. It's marketed as both SF and historical fiction, where Clarke weaves a lot of his knowledge and passion for Sri Lanka into a fictionalized version where he can also play with a lot of his more familiar themes and tropes. To be fair, there is some of that. The first few chapters of The Fountains of Paradise do mix these two genres in a slow but pleasing way. It's discovered that the best/only site for the first space elevator is located at the summit of a mountain that has been occupied by a monastery for thousands of years. Clarke spends some time juxtaposing the struggles of the present day engineer who is the lead designer of the elevator, with the struggles of an ancient king in the area, and his relationship with the same order on the mountain.
In the end though, I'm not really sure if Clarke's intentions are clear. It's as if Clarke himself struggled to fill an entire novel length work with the mixture of historical elements, theology, and science that he initially wanted, and as that structure started to break down he reverted to his tried and true method of describing the creation of a engineering marvel. It's really cut and dry stuff, and I struggling to hold my attention for the duration. I'm probably totally wrong about Clarke's intentions, but I'm certainly not wrong about how the book let me down.
And of course because it's Clarke everything is written with the same intensity and flavor as a bowl of oatmeal. Clarke struggles with creativity, and it's a shame because when he shows some of it (The aliens in Childhood's End or Rama in Rendezvous With Rama) his works are at least a tier higher in quality.
In the end though, I'm not really sure if Clarke's intentions are clear. It's as if Clarke himself struggled to fill an entire novel length work with the mixture of historical elements, theology, and science that he initially wanted, and as that structure started to break down he reverted to his tried and true method of describing the creation of a engineering marvel. It's really cut and dry stuff, and I struggling to hold my attention for the duration. I'm probably totally wrong about Clarke's intentions, but I'm certainly not wrong about how the book let me down.
And of course because it's Clarke everything is written with the same intensity and flavor as a bowl of oatmeal. Clarke struggles with creativity, and it's a shame because when he shows some of it (The aliens in Childhood's End or Rama in Rendezvous With Rama) his works are at least a tier higher in quality.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
It has a very moving ending, and a lot going on what with the Starholmers, the monks, the engineering, and all the predicted inventions. Its funny that my 2010 cell phone does what the info-kiosk (that you have to wait in line for!) of the 22nd century does.