Genesis - Paul Chafe
I've recently read Genesis, by Paul Chafe, the first book of the Ark series.
The main focus of the book is the creation of a gigantic multi-generation starship, on a ten thousand year voyage.
While the overpopulated and in serious trouble Earth is easy to visualize, I find it hard to imagine a project on such a scale being done, specially given the lack of a return in the investment.
It's also hard to imagine it actually working without any human maintenance for the whole trip - it's supposed to fall back to a simpleton agrarian society, because there isn't enough people to maintain an industry, not to mention the lack of extractable resources.
The whole space elevator arc of the story sounded reasonable, though. There are still real projects looking at the feasibility of the concept with current materials, I can't help but hope that eventually we'll be able to make it work.
Some of the religious outrage reminds me of Exit Earth, by Martin Caidin - an excellent, memorable book.
Overall, the book was OK, although I did find the ending a little revolting. I'm now reading the sequel, which as it happens was already on my smartphone, after I got it from Webscriptions.
The main focus of the book is the creation of a gigantic multi-generation starship, on a ten thousand year voyage.
While the overpopulated and in serious trouble Earth is easy to visualize, I find it hard to imagine a project on such a scale being done, specially given the lack of a return in the investment.
It's also hard to imagine it actually working without any human maintenance for the whole trip - it's supposed to fall back to a simpleton agrarian society, because there isn't enough people to maintain an industry, not to mention the lack of extractable resources.
The whole space elevator arc of the story sounded reasonable, though. There are still real projects looking at the feasibility of the concept with current materials, I can't help but hope that eventually we'll be able to make it work.
Some of the religious outrage reminds me of Exit Earth, by Martin Caidin - an excellent, memorable book.
Overall, the book was OK, although I did find the ending a little revolting. I'm now reading the sequel, which as it happens was already on my smartphone, after I got it from Webscriptions.
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