Brilliant Book... Cant remember Title or Author

[Justin_Case83]

Hi Guys

so i have searched high and low, and i cant seem to be able to find the title or author of this book... so here goes the description.. (it was a few years back that i read it, so details are a bit fuzzy)


from what i can remember, it was called "to reach the sky" or "to touch the stars" or some such thing (which it obviously isn't, or i would have found it by now...

so, the contents page showed 3 main chapters, which was important, as they all took place 50-100 years apart. (and has the same main characters throughout...

based in the future, there is some main earth religion based around the atom (we are all atoms, we all come from atoms, etc)

this religion had 3 main aims/focuses :

- to live forever,or for extended periods of time via implants, and eventually genetics {hence the 3 chapters 50-100 years apart each)

- to travel the stars (we have managed to colonize a few planets in our solar system, but to not have the tech for long term space travel, or FTL

- cant remember the 3rd thing....

from what i remember, teraforming either proved too difficult, or time consuming (generations) that the colonists had rather been genetically modified to withstand the harsh environments.

i think on earth there was also some sort of special psy unit who worked within the religion known as angels or ghosts...

they are telepathic and or telekinetic, and are trained from a young age to harness the power to their full potential.

the genetically modified colonists on venus are all somehow born with the tele powers, but not much is know of them, as the colonists planets dont like earth very much (people have it too easy, they started with nothing on a new planet, blah blah)

eventually with most religions, this one loses its way, and becomes too tied up in politics, etc, so there is a split off "purest group" who believes the original path was lost, so they go off on their merry way.

on of the leaders of the group is assassinated, which adds voice to the cause, and all those not willing to accept the totalitarian religion/society join the new religion, including the colonists on mars and venus.

for the first time in generations, the planets are in open communication with each other, even though the 2 religions groups are at each others throats..

only at the end, with a good twist, they prove that the group leader was never assassinated - they have him is stasis, and it was all their clever little plan to get everyone working together, and they all join up at the end, as the tech from the main religion is required, and the psy power from the colonist peeps is required to fully put their plan into action, and finally, after the genetic modification, allowing them to life infinity longer, and the psy/tech to get them where they want to go, the first explorers are launched off ... to reach the stars....

so... sorry for that long explanation... thought rather more than less, as others i have asked before have given me similar examples, but never quite right...

so... good luck to me, and fingers crossed..

if i come up empty here, perhaps the book never existed, and i should write it myself

 

[CassFrank]

This is most likely To Open the Sky by Robert Silverberg (1967). The plot and structure are roughly as OP describes. Has Venus colonists, religious group, telepaths, and jumps forward in time in chapter breaks.

A summary from Goodreads: “In essence, "To Open the Sky" tells the story of a futuristic religious group called the Vorsters. Named after its founder, Noel Vorst, the cult worships the energy of the atom (its symbol is the blue glow of a cobalt reactor!); through scientific research, the group aims to greatly increase the life span of humankind and, via paranormal methods (telepathy, telekinesis), find a way to send mankind to the stars….” Reviews