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Summary: my all-time favorite book
Review: i first read this book on a whim back in college. now, 22 yrs. later, it is still my all time favorite book. i remember, as i finished it back then, that my jaw just dropped open over the imagination it took to come up with this story line. consequently, Mr. Clarke he has become my favorite s.f. author and i still read him regularly. i have often stated that if we would ever come to the "fahrenheit 451" situation, this would be the book i would memorize and be able to recite word for word to anyone wanting to hear it. i'll not try to tell the plot, it's so unbelievable, but rest assured it's a very fast read and such a positive ending, one that makes you proud to belong to the human race and know that it's a part of something greater.
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Summary: Emotional, vivid, extream, A CLASSIC!
Review: This book blew me away! Clark's description of the ways of humans in the future, coupled with his descriptions of other worlds and the Overloads world and stagnation, left me wondering truly about our future. Clark's final description nearly brought tears to my eyes, considering that possible fate of humankind. This book is incredibly lucid, and it's dull beige pages give rise to amazingly vivid and emotional prose.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent reading, spookily realistic.
Review: Childhood's End is a grim tale about mankind's first contact with aliens. The plot unfold's itself towards the very end, with only brief insights into the true nature of the alien's mission on Earth. As the story unfolds, I was surprised by the many twists and turns in the plot. The ending is incredibly emotional, and Clarke brings the reader right into the story.
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Summary: The best by the best.
Review: I am in the happy position of being an SF reader of many years who never read this book until recently. In fact although I admired arthur c clarkes Rendevous with Rama I must confess I found 2001 a bit over rated. Childhoods End is hard to overrate. The book had the same effect on me it seems to have had with several other readers here, I sat stunned by the magnitude of the ideas and tried to accomadate it with my own world view. Its rare that a work of fiction has that kind of impact on me.Now I understand why Mr. (or is it "sir" by now?) Clarke is viewed so highly. -rod
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book.
Review: At first, I did not want to read this book because I have never enjoyed a Science Fiction book before. When the teacher announced that we were going to write an essay on it, i decided to read it, and I am glad I did. I read it in one afternoon. It was so good, that I could not put it down. The ending was not the best part of the book, and religion is banned. If it wasn't because of this, i would of given it a 10.
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Summary: Expect the unexpected.
Review: I am usually quite aggravated when I can guess things about a book and be right. So I was very pleased when I found that none of the book was even remotely predictable. It's the kind of science fiction that eases you into believability whereas in some science fiction novels you just plunge into all of the strangeness and half the time you have to figure out what they are talking about. In Childhood's End the narrator speaks to you as if you need filling in not like some books where they expect you to know everything about the book before you even start. In other words it's an easy read and rather difficult to put down at that. It just blows my mind to think about some of the occurrences in the book. It just takes everything we ever dreamed of about alien encounters and twists it. I highly recommend this book if you like science fiction as well as in-depth material and very possibly deep philosophical meanings. I guarantee that this book will exceed your expectations. This book takes science fiction to a whole new level. It puts you in a whole new perspective of an alien take-over.
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Summary: This book may me ask why.
Review: When I first started the book I was extremely confused with the abrupt change of characters. When I figured the new characters out, the book became more interesting and began to flow. I'm a person who analyses everything while I read, therefore I had trouble excepting the extraordinary plot. The book became comprehensible once I relaxed and started enjoying the story. When the Overlords were exposed in the beginning, I kept asking myself what could they possible want with Earth. By the time this question was answered, I had stopped wondering because I had become caught up with all the new twists and turns Clarke had thrown in. I don't know if Clarke intended to do this, but that's what happened to me. I hope I'm not the only one left thinking this. Clarke definitely plan out the course of events that took place in the book. With all the twists and turns the book had, I was kept on my toes. I was forced to think about what I was reading . This book was weird but incredibly entertaining. Overall, the book did not totally stump me. By the time the end came, everything came together. Loose end's were tied up and child hoods were ended.
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Summary: Nice, for Science Fiction
Review: When I first looked at this book, I thought of all the Sci-Fi I had read and hated, but I must say that I enjoyed Childhood's End from cover to cover. Although I am not an avid reader, I didn't notice time pass while I read this. I was interested the whole way through. The overall plot wasn't revealed until the end, which made the book more suspenseful. Imagine another race coming to Earth and the way they would be accepted by humans. I think Arthur C. Clarke handled this well, this truly could be the way things go if something similar were to happen on Earth. Clarke made it a point to suggest that the human race wasn't ready to travel in space. This might be true. I know I am not ready to discover who or what might be out there, and I dare say neither is the rest of the world. The Overlords turned out to be nice and caring, despite of their looks, and in time were considered friends to the human race. I enjoyed reading about humans and their run-ins with the Overlords. The things experienced by the characters could have been felt or happened the same way to you or me. I feel the best part of this book was the fact that I could relate to the things that occurred. Everything was real to me as if it actually happened. After this, I plan on not looking at all Science Fiction as bad. Although I never would have picked this book off the shelf, I am glad I had the experience of reading it.
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Summary: This book was strange and different but very appealing.
Review: Childhood's End was a strange but exciting book. The book was usually easy to follow as some science fiction books are not. Clarke's usage of new characters was very appealing. And the way they all connected in some way reminded me of a Seinfeld episode. The whole idea of a visiting race is hard to grasp; but, a race like the Overlord's, whom seemed to be only helping humans, is very desirable. Unlike many science fiction novels/movies, the Overlords were only trying to bring the human race to a bigger, better place. Some of the things that happened in the book were irrelevant. I didn't really understand the reason why so much time and energy was used on Stormgren when he really didn't have and affect on the story. Actually the whole first section of the book could have been condensed into only a few pages and still have accomplished its purpose. I also found the ending very hard to understand. I think that Clarke should have better explained what was happening to the children and what their final fate was. The book was very strange but also entertaining. Clarke is an exceptional science fiction writer and Childhood's End is a prime example of his ability.
Rating:
Summary: The stars are not for Man.
Review: I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I am not a real big fan of scifi, but this book was pretty interesting. The way Clark seemed to foretell the future of man and his accomplishments was astounding. I was also impressed with the image he gave the Overlords. For the time this book was published it was a very risky thing to do. He described the Overlords as the very Devil himself. Truthfully this book was not the type that "you can't put down until the end". I was able to put it down, but I had to pick it up again later. It's interesting to read what happened to mankind. It's also very thought provoking because the futuristic timeline is much like the actual timeline that took place. I found it funny (in perhaps a sad way) to think that in the 50's, Clark thought Man to be self-destructing. What would you call what is happening to Man today? The 50's were a Happy Wonderland compared to the world we live in today. That was the main reason I continued to read this book. It was weird to see what people back then thought was "bad". They have no idea.
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