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The Fountains of Paradise

Cover of first UK edition (hardcover)
Author	Arthur C. Clarke
Cover artist	Terry Oakes
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Victor Gollancz (UK) Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (US)
Publication date	1979
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	256
ISBN	0-575-02520-4
OCLC	4993570

The Fountains of Paradise is a science fiction] novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke. Set in the 22nd century, it describes the construction of a space elevator. This "orbital tower" is a giant structure rising from the ground and linking with a satellite in geostationary orbit at the height of approximately 36,000 kilometers (approx. 22,300 miles). Such a structure would be used to raise payloads to orbit without the expense of using rockets. The novel won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel.

Plot

Summary

In the 22nd century, an Australian engineer has devised a technology for moving cargo and people between the surface of the Earth and orbit without the use of rockets. The only suitable point for the Earth terminus of the "space elevator" is the peak of a mountain on the island of Taprobane (pronounced tap-ROB-a-nee per Clarke's preface), essentially Sri Lanka, the author's longtime home. The mountain's peak has been occupied for centuries by Buddhist monks with a perpetual lease, but that obstacle is removed after an ancient prophecy accidentally gets fulfilled.

The engineer is let go from the giant corporation that employs him, for going beyond his mandate. He finds outside financing for his project from a company that is interested in building his giant elevator at Earth then moving it to Mars. After a few setbacks, including some fatalities, construction of the Tower gets underway. Although the engineer's heart is failing, he rides up the Tower to take food and oxygen to a group of stranded students and their professor. After overcoming serious difficulties he succeeds, then dies of a heart attack on the way back down.

In the distant future, the Tower has been so successful that an enormous wheel of habitation encircles the Earth.

Themes

The main theme of the novel is preceded by, and to some extent juxtaposed with, the story of the life and death of King Kashyapa I of Sri Lanka (fictionalised as King Kalidasa). It foreshadows the exploits of Vannevar Morgan in his determination to realise the space elevator.

Other subplots include human colonization of the Solar system and the first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.

Clarke envisions a microscopically thin (in his demonstrator sample) but strong "hyperfilament" that makes the elevator possible. Although the hyperfilament is constructed from "continuous pseudo-one-dimensional diamond crystal", Clarke later expressed his belief that another type of carbon, Buckminsterfullerene, would play the role of hyperfilament in a real space elevator. The latest developments in carbon nanotube technology bring the orbital elevator closer to possible realisation.

Setting

The story is set in the fictional equatorial island country of Taprobane, which Clarke has described as "about ninety percent congruent with the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)", south of its real-world location. The ruins of the palace at Yakkagala as described in the book very closely match the real-life ruins at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. The mountain on which the space elevator is built is called Sri Kanda in the book, and bears a strong resemblance to the real mountain Sri Pada.

Similarities with other works of Clarke

• In the middle of The Fountains of Paradise, an unmanned robotic spaceship of alien origin, called "Starglider" (from an origin world dubbed "Starholme") by Clarke, passes through the Solar system. This situation is similar to Rendezvous with Rama, though the ship exterior and its interactions with humans are very different.
• The first third of 3001: The Final Odyssey describes details of the interior of the ring habitat that encircles Earth, and is connected to Earth's surface with four space elevators. At the end of The Fountains of Paradise , this ring habitat is shown for the first time, though it has six space elevators rather than the four of 3001: Final Odyssey.
• At the end of the novel, Earth turns into an icy wasteland because the Sun has cooled. The same situation also occurs in the story "History Lesson".
• The alien shown near the end of The Fountains of Paradise is a somewhat more physical form of the Swarm, the aliens that land on primeval Earth in "The Possessed".
• A space elevator is also constructed in the course of Clarke's final novel (co-written with Frederik Pohl), The Last Theorem.

Awards and nominations

• Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel - 1980
• Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel - 1979
• Nominee, Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel - 1980
• Nominee, British Science Fiction Association Award - 1979

See also

• Materials science in science fiction

References

1. ^ "1980 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
2. ^ "1979 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-09-29.

External links

• The Fountains of Paradise title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• The Fountains of Paradise at Worlds Without End

• 1979 British novels
• 1979 science fiction novels
• Hugo Award for Best Novel-winning works
• Novels by Arthur C. Clarke
• British science fiction novels
• Nebula Award for Best Novel-winning works
• Novels set in Sri Lanka
• Novels set in the 22nd century
• Victor Gollancz Ltd books
• Space elevator