The Fountains of Paradise

Very much enjoyed Arthur C Clarke's Fountains of Paradise, about the building of a space elevator. I am a sucker for Big Dumb Objects and Clarke makes the building of the elevator and the dealing with an accident very exciting. Some of the subplots were a bit unnecessary really,but where the book scored with me was the way it restored some of the awe and wonder of the near space around us.We may not have attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion,but Clarke managed to renew the feeling of wonder at space on a more prosaic but believable level,just above our heads.Clarke's rather dry style works perfectly with the dry engineering stuff,making it plausible,and the protagonist is made likable enough that we can identify with him in the tense later sections of the tale.

I think this is my favourite Clarke book as far as entertainment goes. I often found it moving and absorbing. Very enjoyable.