The year 2012. A hundred years after the sinking of the Titanic. Two of the world's most powerful corporations must find a way to raise and preserve the doomed luxury ocean liner. This could become an obsession...for some, maybe fatal one.
It's been quite a long time since I last read anything by Arthur C. Clarke. I know I read quite a few of his excellent sci-fi novels back in the 1970's including RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA, CHILDHOOD'S END, and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. GHOST FROM THE GRAND BANKS has been sitting on my shelves for several years and I finally got around to it, but to me it was somewhat disappointing. The novel was written in 1990 but takes place in and prior to 2012, which is 100 years after the sinking of the Titanic. The novel is about two groups of people who are trying to raise the Titanic before the centennial date of its sinking. One group proposes to do this by actually freezing the water around the stern of the ship and raising it in a block of ice and then having on display in Japan. The other group plans on using billions of small glass balls filled with air and pumped into the prow of the boat and then taking it to Florida as an amusement attraction.
Okay, so far so good. However, the story is very disjointed and is told in small chapters which introduce the players in the novel including Roy Emerson, the inventor behind the glass microspheres; Donald and Edith Craig, mathematicians with a child prodigy who is fixated on the "Mandelbrot set"; and Jason Bradley, an older experienced master of deep sea operations.
Some of the story that leads into the attempt to raise the ship is interesting including the discussions of the Mandelbrot set (M-set). I looked this up on line and found a very interesting Youtube video which explains it quite well. However, overall I didn't think the novel was written in a clear coherent way and I thought the ending was very anti-climatic. Overall, only a mild recommendation but I did really find the M-set to be fascinating.
Okay, so far so good. However, the story is very disjointed and is told in small chapters which introduce the players in the novel including Roy Emerson, the inventor behind the glass microspheres; Donald and Edith Craig, mathematicians with a child prodigy who is fixated on the "Mandelbrot set"; and Jason Bradley, an older experienced master of deep sea operations.
Some of the story that leads into the attempt to raise the ship is interesting including the discussions of the Mandelbrot set (M-set). I looked this up on line and found a very interesting Youtube video which explains it quite well. However, overall I didn't think the novel was written in a clear coherent way and I thought the ending was very anti-climatic. Overall, only a mild recommendation but I did really find the M-set to be fascinating.
I think I've read nearly everything Arthur Clarke ever wrote. What a marvelous mind!
Originally published in 1990. Fantasy about raising the Titanic from the ocean floor in the centennial year of its sinking, 2012. Clarke has included much technical detail based on current knowledge. Also presents interesting material on the Mandelbrot Set: mathematical fractals.
I usually read non-fiction, but this book uses many factual things and I found it to be excellent reading.
Sci-fi. Attempt to search for titanic.
For a century, it hid below the waves,
it's the year 2012 a hundred years after the sinking of the Titanic. Two of the world's most powerful corpotations, each headed by an eccentric and brilliant man, race to find a way to raise and preserve the brilliant man, race to find a way to raise and preserve the doomed luxury ocean liner, Two multibillion dollar technologies are tested in a plan to raise the ship that will stun the world. And create a media feeding frenzy..
it's the year 2012 a hundred years after the sinking of the Titanic. Two of the world's most powerful corpotations, each headed by an eccentric and brilliant man, race to find a way to raise and preserve the brilliant man, race to find a way to raise and preserve the doomed luxury ocean liner, Two multibillion dollar technologies are tested in a plan to raise the ship that will stun the world. And create a media feeding frenzy..
