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Childhood's End

Childhood's End

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $14.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: Clarke is not a master of insight into the human soul, and "Childhood's End" reflects that soullessness. There is not anything here worthwhile enough to redeem this tedious paean to the New Age philosophies. If you want to read Clarke at his best, look at 2001. It's far more readable than Childhood's End, and has the added advantage of not aspiring to silly philosophies that ultimately can't be substantiated

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This is great!
Review: Imagine this: suddenly, a lot of alien spaceships comes to earth. They stay airborne for a while, but then they land, the aliens steps out and they look like the devil himself. A great number of bad looking aliens have landed and what do you think manking is doing about it? Read and find out..

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The End of Childhood
Review: John W. Campbell, Jr., the father of science fiction, earned his title by discovering and printing the stories of such names as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke in the pages of Astounding Science Fiction. Though some of the names in those pages refuse to be remembered, the "big" ones will always stay with us. But why?

Arthur C. Clarke, in Childhood's End, shows us why. Not only do we follow a few characters through the story, but we are also introduced to a larger character, the true protagonist of the story, the human race. We do care about Rikki Stormgren, George Greggson and Jan Rodricks, but we also care about what species they represent, and what that species is capable of.

The book, written in 1953, is often prophetic and optimistic as Clarke moves us into the future 150 years from the present day, and at forty-four years later, we need only make the slightest changes to imagine it happening in 1997. The story is sparked by the arrival of the, Human coined, Overlords, and whether intentional or not, the makers of Independance Day owe Clarke royalty checks. It is by constant and dull pressure that the Overlords push us into a Utopia, regardless of our lack of desire for one. While that is a struggle for humanity, the means are obvious, but what will be the result? What will the Overlords gain?

It has been a long time since I've closed the back cover of a book with such a feeling of completion and awe. And it is such an aptly named book, that it makes me question the amount of time authors spend titling their books. It is a quick read, I finished in four days, but it carries so well that it is worth a second read, even a third

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Alien invasion - for the thinking person
Review: Arthur C. Clarke weaves a thought-provoking tale of alien invasion, racial precognition, and human destiny in the story of CHILDHOOD'S END. Where Mark Twain postulated Angels as Beings Who Can Do No Wrong, Clarke goes one better with the Overlords, a devilish race of beings who can only do what's right! A true SF Classic, by the British Master of the genre

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great book
Review: As everything Clarke has written, this is a great story. While i was reading it, i didn't get much time over. If you like other Clarke books, you should read it, and if you never read anything by this great writer, this is a good start

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fascinating, though not for everyone
Review: This is one of those books you'll read voraciously, then put down and go, "Huh?" While revealing anything about the plot you won't read in the first few pages will give too much away, suffice it to say that Clarke's opinions about the fate of humanity may raise your eyebrow. You'll probably either love it, or wonder if you're time wasn't wasted. As I said: fascinating, though not for everyone

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best SF Ever
Review: "Childhood's End" is often called of one the best science fiction stories of all time. I am a huge science fiction fan, and after reading this book, I will gladly call it THE best.

Clarke is somewhat unusual among science fiction writers in that he a brilliant technique in addition to his brilliant ideas. The utter realism and plausibility of his fiction is striking, and in the case of "Childhood's End," frightening.

It's fascinating to see how well this story, written in the 1940s, holds up without being dated. Only the occasional reference to radar ranges or the predominance of radio makes Clarke's work seem less than contemporary. The great similarities to the TV miniseries "V" and the blockbuster film "Independence Day" make one wonder why Clarke has not sued for plagiarism.

This is a well-written, thought-provoking, thoroughly engrossing book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome, it kept me hooked.
Review: As a kid I always used to think of aliens as bad creatures. Scary creatures. But this book has changed a lot of views for me, I would never thought of Aliens creating a Utopia of our world. This book is amazing, it keeps you hooked and reading. Everyone should read this at least to get a new view on how to look at other extra terrestial creatures rather than thinking of them as creatures taking over the world and killing everyone. Like an Independence Day situation. So if you want a good book to read, then take this one, you won't be sorry.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A must for anyone
Review: There is a consensus regarding Clarke being one of the best sci-fi authors of the time. This book is one of Clarke's best works. Different than the 2001 and Rama series, which comprise 3 or 4 volumes, this is a one book wonder. Thus, it is a must.
Childhood's End brings us a sublime and visionary story. As in many of Clarke's works, its linked somehow to myths and beliefs of humankind. And its provocative thesis will make you question some of this beliefs.
I might add that, as in the Rama series, you will find (more at the end of the story) fascinating descriptions of events and situations that only Clarke's restless mind could think of.
Get this book. Even if you're not into sci-fi, I venture to say you will enjoy it. And, expect the unexpected.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Read this review for help!!
Review: The people that gave this book a bad rating could not grasp its concepts. What I got out of it was this. In life we have religion and science, God and atoms, unexplainable and predictable. These are tow different things. Here there is the extreme of both. One civilization has conquered science and knows everything about the physical world. And the other is like this physic supernatural being that all humans are connected to through consciences. What way will humanity go? To become so entrapped in our physical world, or go back to the old days of religion and meditation.


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