William R. Forstchen

Pillar to the Sky William R. Forstchen Unabridged edition

[Read by Grover Gardner]

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.