First published in 1979, Fountains of Paradise is one of Grandmaster Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s later books, but in its themes and style is reminiscent of some of his best work.Telling the story of an elevator into space, this also describes a flashback related story thousands of years earlier as a Sri Lankan king builds a palace high on the mountain top. Both celestial projects stretch the limits of human achievement and engineering ability and Clarke’s unique talent ties the two stories together.M...

SF Masterworks #34 - Clarke does it again! This is the third SFmasterworks by him I have read, and once again I was totally immersed in a future reality that was so complete, so real, so well thought out.. so good!Visionary engineer Vannevar Morgan wants to build a 'space elevator' that would enable very affordable transport of cargo into space and beyond. For any normal writer that's enough of a story, but Clarke adds in complications of political considerations, a historic site, religion and p...

Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my HUGO WINNERS list.This is the reading list that follows the old adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I loved reading the Locus Sci-Fi Award winners so I'm going to crack on with the Hugo winners next (but only the post-1980 winners, I'll follow up w

I was disappointed in this book, though I confess that part of it is my fault. Clarke didn't tell the story that I wanted him to tell, and this is always an unfair expectation on the part of the reader. "If you want a particular story, you should write it yourself." is the rightful reply of the writer. But I'm only human, and when I get figs when I was expecting chocolate, I'm disappointed (even if I like figs, which I do).'The Fountains of Paradise' is about mankind's first attempt to construct...

Vannevar Morgan, the Chief Engineer of the Terran Construction Corporation, dreams of building a bridge that links Earth to the stars. The “space elevator” is preferable over rocket travel because it is less expensive and less damaging to the environment. A mountain on the island of Taprobane is the only location capable of holding the elevator, and that location is currently inhabited by Buddhist monks that have no desire to leave. Morgan must convince or coerce the monks to leave in order to f...

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.Carbon Nanotubes: "The Fountains of Paradise" by Arthur C. Clarke“Because politics is the science of the possible, it only appeals to second-rate minds. The first raters only interested in the impossible”In “The Fountains of Paradise” by Arthur C. Clarke Believer: “Clearly the reason spacefaring never came to pass was the sheer cost and risk of escaping earth’s gravity well. Plough resources into establishing a counterweighted space e...

A truly breathtaking work of speculative fiction; the scenes set 400km above the Earth's surface actually triggered my vertigo at one point! Clarke's imagination is nothing less than visionary, all the moreso as it is based in real hard science. Astonishing and highly recommended to fans of hard SF (the climax might even appeal to the Space Opera crowd).

"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 quite often pleasant to go into a book without knowing anything about it. Not exactly the case with this one, I knew it is about space elevators, it's not exactly an obscure book by an unknown author

The ever-reliable Clarke dishes up another humble sci-fi classic with this tale of a guy who decides to build a giant space elevator from Earth into high geosynchronous orbit. Sounds crazy, right? So thinks everyone in the novel, but the actual science is sound and so Vannevar Morgan, the wacko architect/engineer struggles against doubters, recalcitrant monks on the mountaintop he wants to use for the Earth base of the tower (on a thinly-disguised Ceylon), journalists, and politicians to make hi...

4.5 to 5.0 stars. Definitely one of Clarke's best novels, which is saying something given his tremendous body of work. The novel, as most of Clarke's work, was respectful of the scientific basis required for the story but never let itself get bogged down in overly long technical explanations. A superb story that once again reaffirms that man can do just about anythign if he sets his mind to it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!Winner: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1980)Winner: Nebula Award for B...

Where should I start, If I could give it 4.5 stars I would, I really enjoyed the book, and after labouring for a month on my previous book, zipped through this (despite there still being sport on English TV).I haven't read an A C Clarke book for a few years and this book just reminded me why I like him so much as an author, and why I have so many of his books (to re-read, OMG when will I get the time).His descriptive powers are superb and I defy you not to be transferred to Taprobane, or to see

This was a boring book. Solid, as far as the story and writing goes, yes, which is why the 3 stars and not 2. (Although if we’re really honest, it’s more like a 2.5 stars). Boring nonetheless. Phew. With that off my chest, I can now attempt to coherently talk about the rest of it. Hindsight is 20/20, and now I feel that this is probably not the best book to start discovering Arthur C. Clarke. Yes, I am saying I have not read anything by him before. Space Odyssey or RAMA books might have been a b...

Space Elevators. Elevators that take people from the surface of Earth all the way across thousands of kilometers to orbit.Sounds fun yeah?Not to me.To me it sounds like spending twenty hours packed into a crowded and fart-infused metal room, trying to avoid eye contact while enduring an unending audio loop of Top Twenty Chart Hits - Pan Pipe Interpretations.Yet while the term 'Space Elevator' doesn't exactly drip with excitement, Clarke, in his skilled way, spins an engaging and entertaining (if...

Arthur C. Clarke once wrote a rather dull short story, which just happened to suggest the idea of geostationary satellites over 20 years before there were any. This is a rather dull novel, which presents a detailed plan for building a space elevator.Well, I hope history repeats itself...

Where I've recently read one or two Hugo-winning novels recently that I may or may not have exactly wished were winners, I have no qualms in announcing that this 1980 winner is a real winner.It's a true pleasure to read on several levels. While the official "story" sometimes feels a bit tacked on and ethereal, the themes and the characters and the science is all top-shelf goodness.The themes and feels are well known for fans of A. C. Clarke. He has a serious devotion to space elevators, the redu...

When I was a kid, Arthur C. Clarke's 'The Fountains of Paradise' was one of my favorite books. I must've read it more than half a dozen times, checking it out from the library. The book has to do with the creation of a space elevator, and though I haven't read it, now, in over 30 years, I remember it dealing beautifully and sensitively with the conflicts between traditionalism and social and technological progress. It follows one scientist's 'impossible dream' to fulfillment, and although the en...

if you like this review, i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com.??? childhood: The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarkei remember this book as a kid, i think i got it hardcover through science fiction book club, but have read it at least 3 times as an adult (since 17). this is a comforting, engaging, typically arthur c clarke future: conflict is between man capital M and the constraints of the universe- and incidentally, of course, the religious forces- but science trumps them all. sf

I've been a sci-fi fan from as far back as I can remember and I've read the major works of most of the better authors over the years. However, I bought this book years ago and, for some reason, it's sat languishing on my bookshelves, unread and getting dustier by the year. The book won the two major sci-fi awards, the Hugo and the Nebula, back when it was published in 1979, but the cover blurb never grabbed my interest enough to read it over the years. So I finally got around to reading it and w...

The Fountains of Paradise was a fun book to read. I was grabbed by the fact it’s a Hugo and Nebula Award winning novel and that the whole basis for the book is about building an elevator into space. The only problem was that the only great location for this “elevator” was on an island inhabited by Buddhist monks who lived there for more than three thousand years. I really liked the line “I’ve always wanted,’ he said dreamily, ‘to know exactly what would happen when an irresistible force meets an...

This is a classic SF novel by Arthur C. Clarke. published in 1979, it won both Hugo and Nebula awards, as well as was nominated for Locus. I read is as a part of monthly reading for November 2020 at Hugo & Nebula Awards: Best Novels group.I actually read a Russian translation of this novel around 1988-1990 in the magazine Техника-молодежи. It was a rare case of a relatively new Anglophone SF (the translated abridged version was published in 1980) – both censorship and desire not to pay author’s