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Trying to identify a sci-fi novel for my dad. It was a book he borrowed from me in or before 2003:

The main plot point that we both recall is the sudden appearance at four distinct points of the Earth's surface of pyramid structures which seemed to have simply pushed their way through the surface of the Earth. The main character eventually came to the conclusion that

these pyramids were, in fact the corner points of one enormous pyramid, the main body of which lay within the body of Earth itself.

My initial thoughts were that it was 'Sphere' by Michael Crichton or 'Fade Out' by Patrick Tilley. But after finding several plot summaries of both around the web I don't think it was either of them. In 'Fade Out' the pyramid (according to what I found on the web) grew from the ship, and in 'Sphere' I don't think there were any pyramids.

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  • Absolutely not Sphere.
    – Broklynite
    Commented Nov 14, 2016 at 18:54
  • Thanks. The reason I thought it might be "Sphere" was that I remember reading several books around the same time involving 'alien' spacecraft/artifacts, and with one word titles, and the four pyramids being in one of them. Greg Bear's "Eon" just came to mind, but from plot summaries I've found it wasn't that either. It's all pointing towards Fade-Out.
    – Pete
    Commented Nov 15, 2016 at 3:24
  • As a sidenote - "Sphere" was the book that came immediately to mind when my Dad asked, but googling things like sci-fi novel pyramid I found (here at scifi.stackexchange) What's the Title of that Novel Where an Alien Monolith Makes the Earth Lose Electricity?, and one of the answers there gave me "Fade-Out" as a possibility.
    – Pete
    Commented Nov 15, 2016 at 7:33

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I've just found a few more reviews of Fade-Out on goodreads.com and two comments there make me think it might actually be the book I'm thinking of:

  • Edwin Stark's Sep 2011 comment about

    "...black-crystal-pyramids-sprouting-from-the-ground..."

  • Rab Fulton's Aug 2016 comments

    "...Crow's Ridge, Montana - where a large alien object has been discovered...But turns out the reds have found an object too..."

Although that's not 100% conclusive, I think the references to pyramids sprouting from the ground and to at least two objects in widely separated locations make me confident enough that Patrick Tilley's Fade-Out is the book in question.

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  • Thanks - still hoping that somebody else will be able to give me the 100% confirmation though! Regardless of that I'm recommending "Sphere", "Fade-Out" and "Eon" to my Dad. I'm sure that we both read all of three, and neither of us can really remember the details of any of them. So a re-read would be great.
    – Pete
    Commented Nov 15, 2016 at 3:30
  • its not Eon. in that one a "cylindrical" asteroid apears in eart orbit.... bt the end the main character is transported back in time where there are pyramids.
    – Cherubel
    Commented Dec 4, 2018 at 12:57

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