HomeScience FictionThe fountains of paradise

Cover of The fountains of paradise

Science Fiction · 1978 · G

The fountains of paradise

by Arthur C. Clarke

One man's lifetime obsession: to build a tower from Earth to space.

ForAll agesGenreScience FictionLength272 pagesRead time~7 hours

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What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.

Violence

None

No violence

Language

None

Clean language

Sexual Content

None

No sexual content

Substance Use

None

No substance use

Emotional Intensity

Barely any

Themes of human ambition, religious tradition, and the long view of civilization

What this book is about

Engineer Vannevar Morgan dedicates his career to building a space elevator from a sacred mountain in Sri Lanka — while the mountain's Buddhist monks resist his project and political forces obstruct it. Arthur C. Clarke's Hugo and Nebula Award winner is hard science fiction at its most ambitious and accessible — a visionary novel about a real engineering concept, with Clarke's characteristic optimism about humanity's capacity for great works.

Notes for sensitive readers

Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.

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