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Summary: interesting book
Review: "Childhood's End" is one of the best novels of the 20th century. Arthur C. Clarke is one of the best writers of the period. Many scenes from this book have been cribbed into the public consensuses over the years via Hollywood movies, some good and some bad. The most specific image copied from it is that of the giant space ship hovering over cities... done so whacked out well in the movie "Independence Day". Of course, there the aliens were evil invaders rather than the benevolent Overlords. Other ideas that morphed from this novel into Hollywood flicks were in the films 2001 and 2010. Of course, Clarke was directly involved with both of those, so they were much more faithful to the source materials. And naturally, Clarke's influences are seen in Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5 and other Hollywood SF series over the years. The major question dealt with here is "where are we going?" as a species. The weirdness is that many people don't like the answer Clarke attempts to give here. I, myself, don't find it an appealing concept. I am not sure what I don't like about it other than that it seems Alien to me. Very alien. Which is why this is great SF... Clarke makes us feel that we humans can be aliens to ourselves, and not in a normal way. It is something that I think Asimov himself hooked into with his later Foundation novels and the Gaia concept... but Clarke did it first. Clarke, along with other writers like Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, Theodore Sturgeon, Fredrik Pohl, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, and several others, made the future what, in many ways, it has become. Clarke has written many other novels on, somewhat, the same concepts... "2001:A Space Odyssey", "Rendezvous with Rama" and "The City and the Stars" standing out, with this novel, as, in my opinion, his best work. Read this book for something that is more mature in outlook than the usual Hollywood faire that gets the sci-fi label.
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Summary: Not to be missed SF classic
Review: It sounds like a story you've heard before: great alien masters descend on Earth and take control of the world, ushering in a golden age that may be cleverly disguised creative slavery. But Clarke's legendary novel (equal to _Rendezvous with Rama_ and _2001: A Space Odyssey_ in fame) isn't about a human rebellion against alien overlords, but the evolution of humanity into its next stage, and the ultimate dwarfing power of the unknowable order of the cosmos. The narrative glides between different characters and different eons, occasionally with a seeming clumsiness that turns out to be purposeful plotting devices. The pay-off is sublime science-fiction poetry that shows the genre's power to transcend human drama and fly into the infinite. The sheer scope of its conclusions leaves the reader wiser and sadder, the sign of a superb novel.
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Summary: Interesting Ideas about Humanity
Review: This book probably makes many people uncomfortable. There are a number of thoughts present that openly challenge religion, nationality and the sense of superiority that humanity possesses at times. Ultimately, the clever way in which these concepts were presented and woven into the story won me over. The problem that hinders this text is the same as many of those stories that span across several generations. A constant influx of characters are introduced to the reader, and being this book is only ~230 pages, we can only briefly meet them. This prevents us from forming deep emotional bonds with the characters. These men and women are really only window dressing to the sweeping changes that are encompassing mankind. I would recommend this book to those that enjoy looking at things from new and different perspectives. If you desire to learn more about human nature, Clarke's thoughts cover a wide range of human wants and emotions, leaving the reader with ideas wonderous, sobering, fulfilling and bittersweet.
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Summary: A Clarke masterpiece!
Review: Somewhere in the mid 70s, I finally read Clarke's "Childhood's End", a book recommended to me by the clerk/manager of a local science fiction/fantasy book store. I was pretty much a lifelong fan of Clarke's due to "2001: A Space Odyssey" anyway, but this novel cemented that. This book's plot will remind an awful lot of people of "The Village/Children Of The Damned" movies, derived from the novel "The Midwich Cuckoos", another sci fi classic published a bit later. The children here are also bred for excellence in everything, specifically mental acuity, by mysterious, supposedly benificent aliens, a major subplot shared by both books. This story follows the fortunes of mankind in general, and the hand-picked and germinated children specifically, as the entire world lives under the benign rule and nurture of the aliens. The world essentially turns into a Utopia that nonetheless has a few skeptics fomenting rebellion amongst normal humans. Clarke has given so many classic concepts to the world of sci-fi, he puts both Asimov and Roddenberry to shame. Science fiction just might still have been mired in Jules Verne and 50s monster flicks if it wasn't for him. This is probably his first major conceptual contribution to the field. As a Clarke fan, I highly recommend this book, a classic for all time, and I am patiently waiting for the day when this book is finally made into a faithful movie adaptation! (Something Columbia-Tristar promised a few years back, as a matter of fact, with nothing even being rumored to be in production so far!) My God, it's full of stars!!
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Summary: Innocent look at a First Encounter
Review: Clarke has returned to the "First Encounter" theme several times and from several points of view. They all have one thing in common though - the workings of the alien races are at first utterly mysterious, a puzzle for humans to solve. But slowly, over time, we learn the true purpose (always something other than what is generally conceived). At least he does not fall into the trap of an INDEPENDENCE DAY or any of the numerous copies in which Zoogoo from the planet Glowboh tells us mean Earthlings to stop our atomic testing or we will be destroyed. Perhaps Clarke is trying to say that the difference in cultural perspectives are so great as to make it difficult to understand the workings of such higher beings. This is a rather innocent book that has retained its charm. Of course, the weak points are character development, the strong points being the plot line itself and the ultimate realization of our destiny.
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Summary: Wonderful, Fantastic, and just plain Great!
Review: I loved this book. Personally, it is my favorite Arthur C. Clarke Novel. Whatever you do, though, don't read too many reviews that describe the plot, as your enjoyment of this book will suffer if you get too many hints about what is going on. The real joy is exploring how things unfold, and how the storyline progresses -it is basically about Mankind's reaction to Aliens coming to earth. (And that's ALL I have to say about the plot!) It is just one of those cool books where more and more things unfold, and things start to get eerie and interesting, and at the very end the book comes to a fantastic close with a "punchline" that throws everything into a new light (kind of like in movies like "The Usual Suspects" or "The Crying Game".) If you loved any of Clarke's other books like Rendezvous with Rama, 2001, the City and the Stars, and The Light of Other Days, then this book is definitely something you want to give a read. And if you've read this book and are looking for others, then the ones I just mentioned are also reflective of his best work.
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Summary: Amazing
Review: This is yet another book I would tack up there as being among the best. Even though this was written in the early 50's, the language Clarke uses makes it feel new. It's concise, to the point, and eeirly prophetic. It accomplishes a very hard task as well: merging the idea of evolution with the idea of God. Clarke pulls it off, and demonstrates why he is among the best writers, sci-fi or not, who has ever lived. Read it now!
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Summary: My introduction to science fiction; Still a good read
Review: As a young boy many years ago, I came across this book in the library. As I was interested in science, I thought I'd give this book a chance. It was the start of a life-long interest in science fiction. Years later, I picked the book up again (having purchased it for my own library.) I read it through again, and was pleased at how much I still liked it. The plot has been summerized many times before, but I do want to say that Arthur C. Clarke is a master storyteller, and I thank him for introducing me to the genre of science fiction. Recommended.
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Summary: A Classic in the Sci-Fi Genre
Review: Arthur C. Clarke is the master on the science fiction genre, and Childhood's end is one of his greatest works. The book begins with humanity near the possiblity of nuclear destruction, and just beginning to look to the stars for their future. However, the hope for conquest of the stars is shattered when a fleet of alien ships suddenly appears over every major city on the planet. The aliens are far more technologically advanced than man, and their intellect is unmatched. Instead of having the aliens take over the planet and enslave humanity, however, Clarke has the aliens(dubbed the "overlords" by the citizens) request only a few things- abolish war, poverty, segregation, and cruelty to animals, and set up a global nation. With these obstacles removed, humanity enters a golden age, and earth is a utopian society; yet the Overlord's still keep their true reason for visiting earth secret.
Childhood's end is engrossing, read it in one sitting. The ideas that Clarke puts forward are classic, the characters, such as the enigmatic Overlords, are original and captivating. With the overlords, Clarke has set up an alien race unlike any other in science fiction. Earth doesn't know the intentions of the Overlords, and neither does the reader, making the Overlords mysterious and magnificient at the same time. The Overlords are a key part on the book, and one of the reasons that make it a classic. The ideas Clarke has in the book(despite the caption in the front that reads" the opinions expressed in this book are not those of the author") make you think in a different way, and put a new spin on the history and future of humanity. The ending, which I won't spoil, is both great and sad at once, very bittersweet.
Childhood's end is a classic, and the ideas that Clarke had about the future are far-reaching, and some of the aspects of his future earth can be seen in our modern culture. The only problem with the book is its slightly dated beginning, however the rest of the novel more than makes up for it. Childhood's End has influenced everything from sci-fi movies like "Independence Day" to computer games, and even a Pink Floyd song. I highly recommend it to any fan of the sci-fi genre, and to anyone looking for a new perspective on humanity.
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Summary: Old Myths rewritten as a Sci-Fi
Review: I think most people have missed the point of this great work.
In this book, Clarke re-tells the old Christian-Islamic creation myth from a mystic point of view in a Science-Fiction novell!
According to this myth, man has a divine gift in him that allows him to finally join in with God , where as the Devil, though the archangel, made of fire instead of clay, can never reach this phase. Though by God's plan it serves His great purpose of making that final union of Man and God possible.
Clarke takes this , wraps it up in a Scientific world-view, even explains the origin of the above myth in its plot's context, in the mean time makes fun of all the prosaic results of the very same myth, and finally portrays the union in perhaps the most fascinating way ever told!
If this is not masterpiece , I don't know what is! He also gives us a hint at the very first page where he writes :"the opinions expressed in this book are not that of the author".
Ofcourse they're not!
Clarke is a scientifically minded atheist, who uses the very core of modern religions to write a science fiction master piece!
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