The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Clarke centers this novel around the fascinating idea of building a tower into space (to replace rockets). While I definitely enjoyed the story and found myself engrossed in it, the characterization was at a minimum. This took away from the overall novel for me. The story, in fact, centers much more around the tower and the mountain it is to be built on; they are really the central characters. Notwithstanding my criticism on this front, they are worthy enough to be the focus. I did especially liked the interludes that provided the context for the story. There is also an interesting sub-motif about religion, science, and how mankind (especially on these issues) might be affected by alien contact.
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