Pillar to the Sky: A Novel

By William R. Forstchen

From William Forstchen, the New York Times bestselling author of One Second After, comes Pillar to the Sky, 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 is 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 which would mine the power of the sun and supply humanity with cheap, limitless energy forever.

Erich Rothenberg—the ancient but revered rocket-scientist who labored 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.

The Goddard Space Flight Center—the novel's pre-eminent hero, it's enormous army of scientists, engineers and astronauts will design, machine, and build the space elevator. They will fight endless battles and overcome countless obstacles every step of the way.

This journey to the stars will not be easy—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.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Feb 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781466810778

William R. Forstchen

William R. Forstchen is the author of the New York Times bestseller One Second After and We Look Like Men of War, among numerous other books in diverse subjects ranging from history to science fiction. He has co-authored several books with Newt Gingrich, including Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War, Pearl Harbor, Days of Infamy, To Try Men’s Souls and Valley Forge. Forstchen holds a Ph.D. in History from Purdue University, with specializations in military history and the history of technology. He is currently a Faculty Fellow and Professor of History at Montreat College, near Asheville North Carolina. He is a pilot and flies an original WWII recon "warbird." He resides near Asheville with his daughter Meghan.

Reviews for Pillar to the Sky

[alexezell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Very hard sci-fi. Lots of repetition of metaphors and scientific concepts. The characters take a long time to care about. Excellent premise and some true emotional moments. Ultimately, it's a giant commercial for NASA and a plea for the spirit to do bold things.

[wifilibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An exploration of how humanity could build a space elevator, or tower/pillar, as it is called in the book, through the plans of two scientists who are a couple, and a billionaire investor who dreams of leaving a legacy for the earth. Many characters were never named, so we're meant to guess who they are. The "Brit" for example, and the "Actor". A lot of the key moments are only referred to but not actually described, yet a lot of the book could have been glossed over and not gone into as much detail.

[busyreadin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Loved the characters in this book but the politics slowed the story for me. I like futuristic sci-fi, but found the science to be way over my head.

[abycats_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed "One Second After" about an American town after an electrical disruption wiped out normal existence. This one, unfortunately, became tedious fairly quickly and was at least twice the length it should have been to make its point. Valid point in there but buried.