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Arthur C. Clarke

The Fountains of Paradise Paperback – September 1, 2001

by Arthur C. Clarke (Author)

4.3 1,454 ratings

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This Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel is reissued in this trade paperback edition. Vannemar Morgan's dream of linking Earth with the stars requires a 24,000-mile-high space elevator. But first he must solve a million technical, political, and economic problems while allaying the wrath of God. Includes a new introduction by the author.

Print length

332 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Aspect
Publication date

September 1, 2001
Dimensions

5 x 0.75 x 7.75 inches
ISBN-10

0446677949
ISBN-13

978-0446677943
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Published in 1953, 1952, and 1979, respectively, this trio of novels follow Clarke's recurring theme of humans thrusting themselves into space and then not necessarily liking what they find. The religious images that run throughout Clarke's work also are present here.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Clarke once again sounds his grand theme...man is most himself when he...challenges the very laws of the universe." -- -The New York Times Book Review

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Aspect (September 1, 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 332 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0446677949
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0446677943
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.75 x 7.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,992,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #11,783 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 1,454 ratings

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Arthur C. Clarke

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SIR ARTHUR C. CLARKE (1917-2008) wrote the novel and co-authored the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey. He has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, and he is the only science-fiction writer to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. His fiction and nonfiction have sold more than one hundred million copies in print worldwide.

Photo by en:User:Mamyjomarash (Amy Marash) (en:Image:Clarke sm.jpg) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

1,454 global ratings

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Liked but had a hard time understanding

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2023

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My pea brain’s fault, not the Master’s. It was too often impossible for me to visualize the images of Clarke’s descriptions. I was also lost at the end. But for more perceptive readers than I, this will be inspirational.

One person found this helpful

Great, but a bit uneven in quality

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2022

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Overall, this is a great book. The story is interesting, the characters compelling. However, this is one of Clarke's uneven books. Some chapters leave you wanting more, while others leave you wanting less. Due to the uneven approach, there are portions that feel disjointed. Still, again, the overall quality is good.

2 people found this helpful

Great classic Sci-Fi story

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2023

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Great combination of Science and Engineering and fiction by one of the legends of the genre plus a great human story to boot.

Interesting science, but a few loose ends in the plot

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2013

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The book has a great description of the space elevator and the process of building the first one. But the characters were painted a bit thin. (Typical of a lot of hard SF). There was also a bit of preachy atheism in the book. This could have been an interesting part of the book, but it ended up being a loose end of the plot that was never tied up. The conflict between the engineer and the monastery was inadequately resolved. There was also an interesting subplot with the ancient history of the site of the space elevator (a fictional equivalent to the nation of Sri Lanka). Like most hard SF, the highlight was the science and Clarke did a nice job here. A more recent telling of the story would have had a bit more nanotech in it, but overall this was a good read.

5 people found this helpful

Un francais en angleterre

First time Clarke reader: ok but not overwhelming

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2009

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The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke

Even though I am a fairly frequent reader of Science Fiction since my teens (I could not get enough of Asimov's Foundations at the time), I had never read anything by Clarke until I got the Fountains of Paradise for my Kindle. I could not really explain why, but I was under the impression that his main book was 2001. Having watched and loved the Kubrick movie, I just could not see myself reading the book. Probably counting against him were the many books he co-authored, which just does not seem right to me (for no good reason in all honesty).

My perspective changed after listening to a class about fantastic and science fiction litterature, where the lecturer clearly seemed to hold him in high esteem. So I went looking for something, and this is what Amazon had to offer. Did I enjoy the book? Yes. Am I overly impressed, not quite: while the book developed thoroughly some neat ideas and had some pretty good sections scattered here and there, it also contained too many dead ends and themes not fully exploited, giving the impression of reading a very good draft rather than a finished product. I'm providing further details below, but you may want to skip this, as it contains spoilers to some extent.

* Neat ideas

First and foremost, this is the concept of space elevator. Described in details. It could have been fastidious, turned out to be pretty good. Clearly the author was very enamoured with the concept and he was often pretty close to getting over the top with the science and the technology, but he set-up a few pretty good scenes, especially the rescue one, where the main protagonist must go out of the elevator and where Clarke captures fairly well the odd concept that he's in space, but still subject to gravity.

The second neat idea is that of the "Gibraltar Bridge", as a precursor to the space elevator. I felt dizzy thinking about the massive arch in the sky.

Then there's the technology underpinning the elevator: diamond cables in particular.

* Good Sections

Pretty much the entire part dedicated to Sigirya and the old Singhalese kingdom (he calls them differently). This was well written and evocative: I visited the rock a long time ago (I was 18!) and was awed by the paintings. Many sensations and memories came back through Clarke's prose.

The scene where the builder of the elevator journeys to the summit of the mountain where he wants to install his device. The mountain is occupied by buddhist monks. The prose is very evocative. The idea to watch the shadow of a peak stretching through the plain during sunrise is wonderful (apparently this truely occurs at Adam's Peak in Sri Lanka)

The end, with the engineer dying as a gets back to earth after saving a team of scientists. Clarke uses the "automated health monitor" he had introduced before to maximimum dramatic effect.

* Dead Ends and Themes Not Fully Exploited

There are shallow dead ends and deep ones. Those I call shallow are mostly minor characters inexplicably given "air time" beyond what is needed to advance the plot and who are not particularly interesting in themselves (the old ambassador, the world famous journalist, the nephew of the builder, the scientist turned buddhist). They end up feeling like fillers. The deeper dead ends have to do with the structure of the book:
- one gets a prelude dealing with an historical king in Sri Lanka, and for the first two chapters the historical narrative is intertwined with what turns out eventually to be the main story. So one is led to expect a deeper connection between the deep past and the deep future, but this just falls flat: we never hear again about the ancient king. One may have expected some sort of spell, or dramatic analogy, but one gets nothing.
- then one gets aliens exploring the solar system, with again the story alternating with that of the space elevator. Again, we get no connection in the end. While the way the aliens are introduced is actually pretty neat and opens wide perspectives, this is just not weel fitted in the overall scheme of the book.
- there's also the entire sub-plot about getting the buddhist monks to agree to the installation of the elevator. One gets a fairly promising scene between the engineer and the abbot and his aide, who turns out to be a scientist: is this a prelude to a match of intellects? a match between science and mysticism? between hubris and wisdom? It turns out to be none of it, as the buddhists leave their precint later as an accident in the elevator fulfills a prophecy. That's pretty weak and uninspired.

11 people found this helpful

Nickolas Landry

An amazing engineering treatise wrapped in a novel

Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2022

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I love Clarke's writing. He can so eloquently describe and summarize complicated scientific principles, exotic locales, and far-fetched alien ideas with just enough detail to be explicit without boring the reader with long-winded exposition. This book is no exception.

The Fountains of Paradise reads like a modern fiction story with a historical fiction backstory, mixed with some well-founded engineering and scientific knowledge, and capped with just enough Sci-fi to leave us wanting. I wish Clarke had a stronger drive for sequels. The Starholme could very well have been developed on a parallel course to Le Guin's Hainish Cycle.

This book captivated me, entertained me, educated me, and sent my imagination soaring. Of course, as a 2022 reader, I find it hard to believe that such a project as the space elevator could have been accomplished by what seemed to be such a small team. Clarke kinda oversimplified the complexities of large corporation, even by 1970's standards, but it doesn't take anything away from the book. A highly recommended book.

5 people found this helpful

Clarke Revisited

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2008

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Motivated by the news of Clarke's recent death, I dredged through what remains of my book collection, inclined to reread this particular book. Unable to find my copy, I ordered this paperback version from Amazon. It has been satisfying to once again go to the 23rd century with Clarke. He certainly was one of the 20th century's most creative thinkers, and he presented his ideas and insights with a minimum of frills.

My new paperback version of the book, however, includes in Chapter 22 a serious error in keyboarding and/or proofreading. Euler's identity is presented with the exponent missing.

The space elevator which Clarke describes in considerable detail in this book is also variously described as a bridge or a tower, and he makes several references to such structures which preceded it, including the Eiffel Tower of the 19th century and the Gibraltar Bridge of the 23rd century. He even makes a passing reference to the legendary Rainbow Bridge to Valhalla, which he has now crossed himself. Godspeed, Arthur Clarke.

5 people found this helpful

While the idea of a book about a space elevator

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2022

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Didn’t at first appeal to me, I trusted Clarke and found that my trust was warranted.

2 people found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

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CJD

Holds up well

Reviewed in Canada on September 2, 2023

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Rereading this for the first time since I found the first edition in my local library in 1979!
Holds up very well. Definitely a big 3 classic!

A. Santos

Younger audience

Reviewed in Brazil on June 6, 2021

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I guess this book is for younger audience. But it's very entertaining.

Cat

Fountains of Paradise

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 14, 2023

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Excellent book

David A Ball

Five Stars

Reviewed in Australia on March 17, 2018

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Excellent book

triton

extrêmement bien écrit

Reviewed in France on October 23, 2016

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une histoire qui renvoie à Jules Verne, et au lointain passé du Sri Lanka, une histoire qui mêle passé, et avenir.

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