Pillar to the Sky
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Pillar to the Sky
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
About this listen
A towering epic to rank with Douglas Preston's Blasphemy and Michael Crichton's Prey
Pandemic drought, skyrocketing oil prices, dwindling energy supplies, and wars of water scarcity threaten the planet. Only four people can prevent global chaos.
Gary Morgan - a brilliant renegade scientist pilloried by the scientific community for his belief in a space elevator: a pillar to the sky, which he believes will make space flight fast, simple, and affordable.
Eva Morgan - a brilliant and beautiful scientist of Ukranian descent, she has had a lifelong obsession to build a pillar to the sky, a vertiginous tower that would mine the power of the sun and supply humanity with cheap, limitless energy forever.
Gunther Rothenberg - the ancient but revered rocket scientist who labored at Peenemünde with von Braun to create the first rockets and continued on to build those of today. A legend, he has mentored Gary and Eva for two decades, nurturing and encouraging their transcendent vision.
Franklin Smith - the eccentric Silicon Valley billionaire who will champion their cause, wage war with Congress and government bureaucracy, and most important, finance their herculean undertaking.
This journey to the stars will not be easy; it will be a tumultuous struggle filled with violence and heroism, love and death, spellbinding beauty and heartbreaking betrayal. The stakes could not be higher. Humanity's salvation will hang in the balance.
©2014 William R. Forstchen (P)2014 BlackstoneListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Pillar to the Sky
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Andy Hurley
- 25-11-15
Absolutely loved despite the science flaws
I am writing this before I get to the end because I am enjoying the ride so much, I very much doubt my rating will change but I guess we will just have to wait and see.
In principle the idea seems sound scientifically although I think there would be rather more obstacles in reality but what is really bugging me is the danger of the sharpness of carbon nanotubes. I get that a molecular scale tube would be so thin as to be sharp enough to slice through stuff (though it would have so little mass that this would not be a serious problem unless anchored and pulled tight). What I don't understand is why this is still a problem when woven into a thread 2mm wide, that's rather thicker than my watchstrap which is never in any danger of chopping off my hand. Someone please let me know if I have just misunderstood this (which is a theme used widely in the book).
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- JohnW
- 30-08-17
Awful
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
someone ignorant
Has Pillar to the Sky put you off other books in this genre?
no
How did the narrator detract from the book?
not really
You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?
the concept
Any additional comments?
I could suspend reality regarding the background and the technology, but when he introduced a black scientist (Franklin) from the ghetto who was richer than Bill Gates and Steve Jobs combined, I could not believe this anymore. Then the main character (Gary) gets diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, I bet Franklin ends up with Gary's wife in the end.
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