Set on the equatorial island of Taprobane-a not-as-fictionalized-as-you-think version of Sri Lanka, where Clarke lived most of his life-this is more than just an earnest advocacy text for how a space elevator would revolutionalize humanity in the near future. His latest magnum opus vision is to create the world's first space elevator, a tower between the surface of the Earth and a space station in geosynchronous orbit, and the novel details many of the hurdles-political, religious, personal, and technological-he must leap over in order to succeed. Winning both the Hugo and Nebula, The Fountains of Paradise tells the tale of Vannevar Morgan, an aging architect in the twenty-second century unsatisfied with his already legendary reputation for building a bridge across the Strait of Gibraltar.

Clarke afficianados have an unfortunate tendency to refer to it as 'the space elevator one,' but such reductionism is unfair to what might just be Clarke's most personal novel, and easily one of his best. Though not as well-known as Childhood's End, 2001, or even Rendezvous with Rama, The Fountains of Paradise is nonetheless one of Clarke's most important works. Strap in and prepare yourselves for a journey into the stars and the mind, and let us never forget how much richer the world of fiction is for having been blessed by the incomparable Sir Arthur C. This summer, I am going to look at a few of his most famous works, including the entirety of his 2001 series and the tiny handful of adaptations that have been made for film, television, and video games. Clarke, my personal favorite of the 'Big Three' from the Golden Age of the genre (Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein). Of all the sci-fi greats, none have influenced me more than the late Arthur C. On the heels of last year's popular Slasher Summer, this year I'm leaving behind the guilty pleasure of the niche horror genre and exploring something a little closer to my own heart: namely science-fiction.

Clarke: The Fountains of Paradiseīefore I begin, welcome to my Summer of Arthur C.

The fountains of paradise