A review by elizafiedler
The Fountains of Paradise, by Arthur C. Clarke

4.0

So, basically the entire book is about building a space bridge/elevator. I enjoyed it a lot. But why? What makes it much more entertaining (to me) than Stephenson's Seveneves, which is mostly about building a space station etc.? The stakes are even higher in that book than this one, but I couldn't read one more word about the technical challenges in Stephenson's book. I think it's because the characters in Clarke's book feel more like real people with more going on for them than the engineering problem immediately in front of them. They're more than just a medium for exploring engineering problems. Their engineering problems are a part of the larger picture of their lives and the unique moment in (future) human history that this book is building toward.