The Web Between The Worlds

by Charles Sheffield, Arthur C. Clarke

"WHAT SF SHOULD BE ALL ABOUT." -- Kliatt Rob Merlin was the best engineer who had ever lived. That was why "The King of Space" had to have him for the most spectacular construction project ever -- even though Rob was a potentially fatal threat to his power... Thus begins a breakthrough novel by the former President of the American Astronautical Society, about an idea whose time has a shimmering bridge between Earth and space that mankind will climb to the stars! Sound like fantasy? The concept has been in the literature of physics for over three decades, but only a writer with the scientific background of a Sheffield or a Clarke could bring the idea to life.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Hard Science Fiction, Fantasy, Collections, Gemstones

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1979

About the author

Charles A. Sheffield (June 25, 1935 – November 2, 2002), was an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction author. He had been a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronomical Society.

His novel The Web Between the Worlds, featuring the construction of a space elevator, was published almost simultaneously with Arthur C. Clarke's novel about that very same subject, The Fountains of Paradise, a coincidence that amused them both.

For some years he was the chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation, a company analysing remote sensing satellite data. This resulted in many technical papers and two popular non-fiction books, Earthwatch and Man on Earth, both collections of false colour and enhanced images of Earth from space.

He won the Nebula and Hugo awards for his novelette "Georgia on My Mind" and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his novel Brother to Dragons.

Sheffield was Toastmaster at BucConeer, the 1998 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.

He had been writing a column for the Baen Books web site; his last column concerned the discovery of the brain tumour that led to his death.

He was married to writer Nancy Kress.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Web Between the Worlds is an early novel by Sheffield (I believe it was his first, in fact), that examines the "beanstalk" concept of having space elevators to bring cargo back and forth to and from orbit. My trade paperback first edition includes an interesting preface by Arthur C. Clarke explaining that the concept is a parallel development of the idea that he used in his novel Fountains of Paradise, and that the idea of plagiarism shouldn't be considered. It's an interesting and thought-provoking book, but his enthusiasm for the engineering and scientific design got translated into occasional info-dumps which slowed the narrative a bit; he was more interested in the ideas and mechanics than the story and the characters. It's good science fiction, but he got much better at the fiction half of the equation later in his career.

[Sergio Garcia Borrego · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sorprendente obra que, probablemente, sea una de mis lecturas favoritas en lo que llevo de año y parte del anterior.
Un libro de ciencia ficción dura y entendible que prácticamente tiene de todo: ingeniería aeroespacial, biotecnología, astrofísica, biología y algunos toques filosóficos y sociales.

Escrita en 1979 y basada en un futuro no muy lejano, Julia Merlín, embarazada, sufre un aparatoso accidente de avión. Rob Merlín, su hijo, consigue salvarse y tras seguir los pasos de su padre, aspira a ser un gran ingeniero.
Contactado por Darius Regulo, empresario espacial, se sumerge de lleno en un proyecto que cambiará la historia del sector espacial.
Durante este recorrido, Rob Merlín investigará la muerte de sus padres y muchos otros enigmas junto con varios personajes más, algunos brillantes.

Siendo mi primera novela de Sheffield y no la última, la recomiendo 100%

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite hard SF, but close, intertwined with an investigation subplot.

There are lots of technical details related to the construction of the "Beanstalk", which on occasion, kinda bore the reader. But the presence of some other unique characters saves the general impression, albeit they could have been developed more.

All in all, an interesting reading.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Web Between the Worlds by Charles Sheffield tells the story of Rob Merlin (misspelled as Merlyn on the back of the book). Merlin is the best engineer who has ever lived. He has designed a machine, called the "Spider," that can extrude graphite cables which enable him to build incredibly long bridges of great strength. His work comes to the attention of "The King of Heaven"--a man by the name of Darius Regulo who nearly owns the space mining business. Regulo doesn't like rockets. He doesn't like the energy wasted in getting them out of Earth's atmosphere and he envisions a space elevator (or "Beanstalk") that will reach from Earth to a synchronous orbit in space. A bridge to the stars that will allow materials to be transported to and from Earth without the expense of rocket launches. He wants Merlin to adapt his Spiders for work in space and to extrude silicon cables which will be much stronger than the graphite used on Earth.

Merlin is intrigued and agrees. While working on the project, he meets several people who make him think about his past. Merlin is an orphan. Both of his parents were scientists and they each died in accidents--his father in a lab fire and his mother in a plane crash--within a day of each other. The more contact Merlin has with the people connected to Regulo, the more convinced he becomes that his parents were murdered. But why? And who was responsible?

Another reviewer here on GoodReads has compared Sheffield to Robert Forward because of the amount of technical detail and hard science involved. I agree....to a point. It's been a long time since I read Forward's books, but I don't remember the scientific details boring me quite the way the space elevator details do in The Web Between the Worlds. I found myself zoning out for several paragraphs in various portions of the book while Merlin and Regulo hashed out the details of the Beanstalk. I just really didn't need to know all the ins and outs of cable strength and velocity and mass and whatnot. Really. I suppose it's because Sheffield was a physicist first (chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation for many years) and a story-teller second. Unfortunately, it shows.

The story is interesting enough and he sold me on the space elevator idea fairly quickly--but the characters could use a bit more fleshing out and the secondary story-line (the murder of Merlin's parents) would have benefited from more detail and direct action. Most of what we learn about their deaths comes from research reports from Howard Anson, a man who runs an information service and tracks the answers down for Merlin. Three stars for a solid science fiction read.

This was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A techno thriller buoyed by the author's attention to scientific plausibility. Sheffield introduces a whole mess of sfnal concepts (space elevators! asteroid mining! genetic engineering! uplift! extreme prosthesis!) but consistently manages to present them as improvements on modern technology - and it holds up rather well, almost forty years on.

Sheffield is not, on the other hand, a particularly notable stylist. His characters, while differentiated by their roles and contexts (definitely not a "cast of thousands" story), tend to fall into only a couple modes of speaking: "like an engineer," or "not like an engineer." Fortunately, the pacing is fairly quick, so I always felt a forward momentum even when the dialog felt unpolished.

I think this book holds up better as an "elevated" version of something like a Michael Crichton novel, than as a must-read sf novel. Especially by the late Seventies, there are many better-written options to choose from... But I did really enjoy this one for what it is. 3.5 stars, rounded up because thrillers are fun.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10. Media de los 4 libros leídos del autor : 6/10.

Tres hugos, un Nébula, un Campbell como reseñables de este físico y escritor, uno de los mejores representantes e la gama Hard en CF. Me quedo con su novela "Proteo".

[Miles Gould · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less good than The Fountains of Paradise, but that's one of my all-time favourite novels, so it's not much of a criticism!

[Carlos Casas · Rating 4 out of 5]

De vez en cuando surge la ocasión de leer una de estas novelas que en su momento fueron populares pero con el tiempo cayeron el olvido, ocultas tras la marea de novedades literarias. Sin embargo, alguien aparece en un tu vida y comenta cierta novela que leyó hace tiempo, y de repente te suelta: «Tiene un ascensor espacial, como la tuya». Y se te abren los ojos. Indagas un poco más y te das cuenta de que está disponible en la biblioteca donde trabajas, así que con un par de clics y un sello, asciende a la categoría «para leer en el autobús». Resulta ser un acierto, de modo que aquí os traigo la reseña de La telaraña entre los mundos, de Charles Sheffield.

Nuestro viejo amigo, el ascensor espacial

La telaraña entre los mundos se trata de una novela de ciencia ficción dura, por lo que podemos esperar ciertas invenciones que son teóricamente posibles pero cuya tecnología todavía no ha madurado. En este caso, incluye una estructura muy querida por mí, el ascensor espacial. Maravilloso proyecto para alcanzar la órbita de los planetas sin necesidad de naves espaciales —«Los cohetes no sirven», es una de las citas más repetidas a lo largo de la novela— que ya apareció en mi novela El Señor es mi pastor y que pienso incluir en futuras obras.

El hilo conductor de la novela es la contratación de un ingeniero de puentes, Rob Merlin, para que deje de construir sobre océanos y «piense a lo grande», una estructura de inconcebibles dimensiones que permita conectar la tierra con otros mundos, aunque de momento se limite a la órbita baja de la Tierra. Su empleador es el hombre más rico del Sistema Solar, que ha hecho su fortuna en la logística, pero parece dispuesto a desmoronar su imperio de cohetes en pos de un sistema más avanzado, el ascensor espacial.

Estos dos genios mantendrán inteligentes conversaciones sobre los componentes, materiales, distancias y ritmo de construcción del ascensor espacial, que hará las delicias de los nerd de este tipo de megaestructuras. Como yo. Y da gusto leer estas explicaciones, sugerencias finalmente descartadas sobre su ubicación en el planeta Tierra, tamaño y grosor del cable, número de cabinas, capacidad de carga… Una maravilla para los frikis.

Ciencia ficción dura, con lenguaje blando

Hace poco escribí una reseña sobre La misión Encédalo donde me quejaba del tono académico de las explicaciones científicas, y lo comparé con el tono humorístico o sarcástico que aparece en El marciano, como ya expuse en el análisis de la primera escena de El marciano. El lenguaje de La telaraña entre los mundos está a medio camino: funciona como aprendizaje pero mediante un lenguaje serio. ¿Cómo lo consigue? A través de la pasión que los personajes transmiten al exponer temas tan complejos.

Es esa pasión —que se transmite directamente desde e autor, físico e ingeniero cuyo entusiasmo es palpable— la que fomenta el aprendizaje, al igual que sucede en los institutos. El lector se emociona con el progreso porque los personajes también lo hacen, un entusiasmo que pienso utilizar para mi próxima novela, Noventa atmósferas, que también tiene como personaje titular a una ingeniera. Quiero que el lector ansíe resolver los problemas que se le plantean.

Tramas y personajes de La telaraña entre los mundos

Mención de honor al primer capítulo, que pese a ser uno de esos prólogos que preceden a la historia, consiguió engancharme para el resto de la novela. De hecho, lo leí antes de finalmente decidirme a pedirlo prestado en la biblioteca, de modo que ahí tienes la garantía de que me gustó.

La telaraña entre los mundos es una novela centrada en torno a su protagonista, Rob Merlin, y los interrogantes que su mente curiosa necesita resolver. ¿Cómo cuáles? Muy pronto nuestro ingeniero se percatará de que las extravagancias de su empleador se deben a razones íntimas y de salud, y que los demás empleados están relacionados con el pasado de Merlin, más de lo que le gustaría.

Por lo tanto, aunque la construcción del ascensor espacial sirve como nexo para los personajes, La telaraña entre los mundos cuenta con cierto componente policial —más bien de espionaje— que me mantuvo enganchado. Te hueles un poco el final, pero ciertamente no el CÓMO. Aplausos para el autor.

¿Recomiendo leer La telaraña entre los mundos?
No se trata de una obra para el público general, pero sí para quien ya haya hecho sus pinitos con la ciencia ficción. Se trata, como he mencionado, de una obra que gira en torno a la ingeniería para vincular las historias de los personajes implicados. Pese a los esfuerzos por simplificar el lenguaje, aún podría persistir cierta barrera.

Sin embargo, la sucesión de misterios y los actos para recopilar información hacen de La telaraña entre los mundos una novela amena de leer, que no pierde su ritmo ni distrae al lector con desvíos innecesarios, y que deja un buen sabor de boca cuando la terminas. Además, es autoconclusiva. Cuatro estrellas.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Noaptea goblinilor

Vocea reveni în urechea ei când intra cu paşi repezi în aeroport. Era un sunet extrem de reţinut, emis de implantul receptor.

― Sper că eşti deja în avion, Julia. Am impresia că am avut dreptate să luăm această decizie. Eu sunt încă la laborator, dar ieşirile sunt supravegheate. Tot nu pot să trimit niciun mesaj pe cale normală. O să văd dacă-l pot contacta pe Morrison, în Clădirea Doi. Continuă, fii prudentă.

Vocea se stinse. Femeia pătrunse în aerogara principală din Christchurch şi privi înjur. Era aproape două noaptea. La ora aceea fuseseră programate puţine zboruri, iar pasagerii erau rari. Acesta era un avantaj şi totodată un dezavantaj. Ii era mai uşor să repereze vreun eventual urmăritor, dar poate nu era nimeni care s-o salveze în caz de agresiune, pe ea sau preţiosul ei bagaj. Se îndreptă circumspectă spre ghişeul de bilete şi privi tabelul pe care erau afişate plecările. Un singur zbor pentru ora următoare. Pe acela trebuia să-l ia, şi nu era prevăzută nicio întârziere. Se apropie încet de ghişeu, unde stătea un tânăr angajat cu aer plictisit, care o întâmpină cu un căscat.

― Da, doamnă?

― Aveţi o rezervare pe numele Merlin, Julia Merlin?

Făcuseră o greşeală, ea şi Gregor, folosind pentru rezervare numele ei adevărat? Aruncă din nou o privire circulară în jur. În afară de doi tineri care dormeau, întinşi pe bancheta lungă de lângă peretele din capăt, aerogara era pustie.

― Imediat.

Angajatul butonă pe tastatură cererea de confirmare.

― Zborul transpolar o sută cincizeci şi şapte spre Cap. Bilet plătit în avans pentru o persoană. De fapt, cred că e un bilet pentru două persoane, nu-i aşa? adăugă el, zâmbind, cu o privire spre burta rotunjită a interlocutoarei sale.

Ea încuviinţă din cap, străduindu-se să-i întoarcă zâmbetul.

― Încă o lună. Să nu-i credeţi niciodată pe cei care vă spun că sarcina durează nouă luni. Pare de cinci ori mai lungă.

El aprobă fară s-o asculte prea atent.

― Îmbarcarea are loc în douăzeci de minute. Durata zborului este de trei ore şi jumătate, preciză el pe un ton de scuză. Nu este aparatul cel mai rapid ― sub mach 3 de la un capăt la celălalt. Bănuiesc că oamenii care călătoresc în toiul nopţii nu sunt grăbiţi. Vor fi doar cincizeci de pasageri la bord, ceea ce înseamnă că vă puteţi întinde, poate chiar trageţi un pui de somn Şi bagajele? Le înregistraţi pe amândouă?

― Nu.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot thread that is most "science fiction" and explains how other threads coalesce is about the planning and building of a "space elevator" (a "beanstalk" vehicles can climb up to space rather than using rockets.) The other major thread is more-or-less a mystery which connects to the first thread via a lot of coincidences which may stretch some readers' acceptability. Between the two threads, there are many science fiction elements - space elevators and slingshots, asteroid mining, an asteroid whose ice has been melted into water and surrounded by a membrane to create an internal ocean, a modified giant squid with intelligence, tiny genetically-modified people used for experimentation, space habitats at the Lagrange points, etc. While the "mystery" does have much of a whodunit, I didn't feel the book itself was a full-fledged "science ficiton mystery."

There's an interesting introduction in the edition I read. It tells how Arthur C. Clarke and Sheffield were both completing novels about building space elevators around the same time, and the two books had some common elements which motivated Clarke to explain this was not plagiarism on Sheffield's part.

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't really Sheffield at his best, but it still contains a surfeit of interesting science fiction ideas jammed tightly together (not all of which you'd want to see come true). To wit:

1) making rockets obsolete by building a giant "space elevator" to move people and materiel between the Earth and space
2) mining asteroids by heating them until they're molten, then spinning them to separate out the useful elements
3) a superintelligent giant squid
4) breeding a race of miniature, short-lived humans in order to use them as lab rats for researching diseases

...and more; these ones are just the most remarkable. Not all of these ideas are developed much; the squid, for instance, seems to be present mostly to serve as a late-novel dues ex machina. And one of the major plot threads- the main character (a hotshot engineer) begins to suspect that the super-rich mogul who just hired him may have been responsible for his parents' death- relies on some unlikely coincidences, and feels like it was tacked on solely for dramatic tension.

Still an enjoyable read, but not nearly essential.

[Aeo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5
Una novela que mezcla una parte científica donde se desarrolla de forma muy buena la construcción e instalación de un ascensor espacial con otra parte donde asistimos a una trama de intereses personales que no se sostiene igual de bien. Se nota que el punto fuerte del autor es la parte hard y que disfruta construyendo el entramado técnico. No es un libro excesivamente difícil al respecto, cualquiera con cierta base de jerga ingenieril y de conocimientos estelares es capaz de seguir sin perderse el desarrollo del ascensor hasta su construcción, y este es de unas dimensiones épicas. Pero salvo este punto, al libro le falta la fuerza necesaria para enganchar algo más; la trama es bastante interesante con elementos de biotecnología pero para mi gusto le falta algo más de punch narrativo para terminar de ser más redondo.
(En la edición de Ajec al final viene un pequeño ensayo hablando de los problemas y los puntos a tener en cuenta a la hora de una hipotética construcción de un ascensor espacial así como un pequeño recorrido por las obras de CF que tratan el tema.)

[MH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flawed, but it hasn't held up too badly. This was released around the same time as The Fountains of Paradise, and I think Clarke did it better. In part that's because Sheffield's story is torn between being about the beanstalk, and the investigation into Rob's parents deaths, and so doesn't quite do a good job of either. The final resolution is a bit unconvincing. But not nearly as unconvincing as Rob's postulated career (27, and he's built four megabridges in the four years since he invented the spider. Apparently these things take no time whatsoever to design, permit, and finance, let alone do the logistics for. Or maybe his real invention was a machine to make all of those problems disappear as well...)

[Russ Tarvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow read and gets going better at the end. Sadly I felt that it got to its best stride at the end and wrapped up. I liked the concept and science in it and felt that it left a lot on the table. It didn't create conflict in the creation of the space elevator, but tried it with the main character in a way that was not really necessary. It really glossed over the creation of the elevator, except the tethering of it. I just felt the "main" story was contrived.
I am glad I read the book and was just bummed it could have been more.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Science Fiction from '79 hit the speculative science spot for me. The engineering, including wonderful robot spiders, a thread of investigation and mystery, and the eventual construction of a beanstalk space elevator all together made for quite a different kind of SF than we usually see today.

Smart engineers, visionary money men, and the deep desire to create something amazing.

I mean, seriously. Why don't we have more of this? Do we no longer have the imagination to dream big? Alas!

*sighs contentedly*

[Kimberly Karalius · Rating 4 out of 5]

The technical jargon was too much for me at times, but I knew that going in. I was surprised by the plot twists (I didn’t see all of them coming) and the characters were interesting enough to keep me turning the page. Plus, I CERTAINLY didn’t think a novel about a space elevator was going to include a murder mystery, goblins, a giant intelligent squid in space, talk of finding cures for cancer, and a man who remembers everything with perfect clarity.

[Carlos Domingo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si bien al principio puede hacerse algo pesado es una muy buena historia. Historia de ciencia ficción ubicada en un tiempo en que nuestra ingeniería y concepción del espacio están muchísimo más avanzadas. Muy bien explicada en todo momento los aspectos de ingeniería y los problemas de salud de Senta. Igual un poco precipitado el cierre frente a lo distendida que se narra la historia en general

[Robert (NurseBob) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two plots going at once: an engineering marvel in the making and a cold case murder mystery with dire ethical implications. Sheffield never quite brings the two together but the science is intriguing and his cast of characters (including a bizarre not-quite-alien intelligence) were colourful enough to keep me turning the pages.

[Piojo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entretenida novela de ciencia ficción dura, aunque no excesivamente tecnológica. Sorprende que ha aguantado bastante bien, en líneas generales, el paso del tiempo. Plantea ideas que, si bien no son novedosas, si se hacen interesantes por darles una realidad más allá del plano teórico. Me ha gustado sobre todo la parte de Caliban, aunque se queda un poco corto y podría haber profundizado más.

[Sedna Dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had interesting concepts and an interesting mystery with a sci-fi background.

[Solim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 Part hard sci fi, part mystery. The science was too much for me to follow. I need more hard sci fi conditioning.

[Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce roman est assez étonnant, par le thème choisi. En effet, plutôt que de partir à la conquête de l’univers, ou au contact d’une race extra-terrestre, voire même d’autres objectifs plus spécieux, La toile entre les mondes raconte une histoire simple, et très actuelle : comment le premier ascenseur spatial sera construit. A titre anecdotique, cette édition est très intéressante car on y trouve une préface d’Arthur C Clarke qui explique en long, en large et en travers que ce roman n’est pas un plagiat de sa propre oeuvre sur le thème, écrite quasi-simultanément. C’est donc un bel hommage rendu à Charles Sheffield qui augmente encore un peu la valeur de ce récit. Et franchement, il n’en a pas besoin.
En effet, l’auteur arrive à rendre captivante cette construction, à côté de laquelle le fameux viaduc de Millau n’est guère plus qu’une passerelle enjambant un caniveeau(1). La construction est captivante, car éminement complexe et dangereuse, mais elle n’est qu’un des éléments qui rendent le roman intéressant. J’y rajouterai volontiers les personnages, habilement campés (Darius Regulo est à rencontrer, ne serait-ce qu’à cause de son bureau illuminé de maximes diverses, dont le fameux "Les fusées sont un non-sens" qui soutend cet ascenseur). Ainsi que des décors, dont la sphère d’eau de Regulo, qui me fait terriblement penser au repère d’un méchant de James Bond. Bon, je ne sais pas quoi dire de plus, mis à part que j’ai nettement plus apprécié ce bouquin que, par exemple, Le vol de la libellule ou même Titan. Car ici, on n’est pas dans le domaine de la recherche, mais dans celui de la réalisation. Et peut-être même la réalisation la plus typique de l’art de l’ingénieur : le pont. Et que ce pont ait une etrémité en orbite plutôt que sur une île ou un continent ne change finallement pas grand chose à l’affaire. Ca reste la description d’une réalisation faramineuse à tous points de vue. Par l’innovation qu’elle suggère aussi bien que par la révolution qu’elle impose, une révolution d’ailleurs déja largement utilisée dans des romans comme La jungle hormone ou d’autres. Bref, c’est un roman à lire pour d’innombrables raisons, et je me déçois de ne pas l’avoir lu plus tôt.
(1) A propos de la wikipedia, je constate une erreur assez nette dans la page sur l’ascenseur spatial, puisque ni cet auteur, ni ce roman, ne sont mentionnés

[LyndaIn Oregon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This hard-science fiction takes a look at a premise that's been around for decades -- the notion of a "sky hook" (here called "the beanstalk") that could lift cargo and passengers to gravity-free launch points in near-Earth orbits.

The technology is fascinating and explained well enough to almost be comprehensible to a non-scientist, but Sheffield falls down (you should excuse the pun) on the fictional side of the equation. He pads the tech effort with a mystery subplot and a sort-of-but-not-quite love-ish story. Most of the big reveals are no surprise to the observant reader; there are some elements that simply don't make a lot of sense, and there are a couple of plot elements that are ... well, they're just left hanging there. Kind of like the beanstalk.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific story. The characters are vivid and complex, and the science (fiction) provides a perfect backdrop. The protagonist, Rob Merlin, is a engineer who's been asked to build a bridge between earth and space. Rob is also searching for information about what happened to the parents he never knew, and the two endeavors come together in a mysterious and dangerous way. In my opinion, this is the best kind of science fiction -- where the science sets the stage for an engrossing human story.

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this after attending a few of my kids' robotics meetings. The idea of a "space elevator" was intriguing but I couldn't wrap my brain around it. Seeing this book at a local thrift store, I couldn't pass it up. Sure, it is fantasy, but I get the idea now. Can't see that it would ever work, but I'm no space engineer. It wasn't the most exciting book I've ever read either, but the pace was upbeat and I didn't get bored. Glad I found it :)

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

with Charles Sheffield, as with Robert Forward, you get amazingly intricate, well-fleshed-out scientific speculation along with completely two-dimensional, boring characters. Definitely an acquired taste, not for everyone, but if just hearing a scientist/engineer go crazy with 'what if' is your bag, it can't really be beat... might start with the heritage series rather than this though, for sheffield

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorite books. It has everything a good science fiction book should: great characters that feel fully fleshed out, a tight and exciting plot, real science that is well explained and cleverly used, and a satisfying conclusion that isn't what you were expecting. I highly recommend this to everyone!

[Pablo Cantero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro con unos cuantos años pero molón de ciencia ficción. Viendo como algunos autores de su época olvidan a veces la narrativa para centrarse únicamente en presentar ideas ingeniosas de ciencia ficción, se agradece que Sheffield introduzca una trama interesante que te mantiene enganchado.

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful adventure that embraces one of my favorite science fictions, the building of a bean-stalk.

[Wes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lets build an elevator that rises into orbit! No more rockets for us! Yoo-hoo!