Rating: 
Summary: Sci Fi or does it matter?
Review: Some critisize Childhoods End because it is merely a Sci Fi story, a book of ideas. Despite what others say, I believe Childhoods End deserves the title of a classic. It contains some of the most intriguing and mind bending ideas I have ever experienced. These ideas are not only explained, but they are delivered in a fashion that forces the reader to examine them. An excellent work in my mind, give it a try.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as his other famous books
Review: I'm a big fan of sci-fi and deem Clarke as the best author of the category. But after reading great novels such as Rendezvous with Rama, 2001, 2010 and Fountains of Paradise and also having read good reviews about Childhood's End, I was expecting more of it. This book does not follow the good old Clarke's hard sci-fi. The story begins with an alien invasion pretty much like Independence Day film, which is something that even Clarke don't think it is possible. Of course the fact that UFOs are not plausible does not mean that we cannot enjoy a story about it, but it's important to inform clarke's readers that this book is different from what they would expect.
Rating:
Summary: Childhood's OK
Review: I must admit to being slightly disappointed with CHILDHOOD'S END. It's not a bad book by any means; Clarke's imagination is at the forefront. The storyline is full of surprises, and while the characterizations are fairly shallow, that didn't adversely affect the overall book for me. Still, I couldn't help but feel that it wasn't quite as good as its hype would have one believe. It's a decent and engrossing novel, but I just didn't find it to be anything special.There were parts of CHILDHOOD'S END that I just found to be too unbelievable. Now, I'm not talking about unrealistic science or an inability on my part to acknowledge the existence of aliens; I read quite a lot of science fiction, and these sorts of things I am more than willing to accept in fiction. No, to demonstrate what I found strange, I'll go through the back-cover blurb. It begins: "The Overlords appeared suddenly over every city - intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior to humankind." So far, so good. It continues: "Benevolent, they made few demands: unify earth, eliminate poverty, and end war." Again, nothing too shocking. Friendly aliens aren't going to make me throw down the book in disbelief. But the following bit I found to be a bit much: "With little rebellion, mankind agreed, and a golden age began." Now personally I just can't see that happening as peacefully and simply as Clarke posits. And the book doesn't give us much more background that that short sentence. Clarke just skips right over parts like this that would be difficult to swallow. I think part of my difficulty accepting large chunks of the exposition was the way in which Clarke chooses to deliver his narrative. The book skips and jumps through the decades, but also tries to keep itself grounded by introducing us to a variety of easily-exchangeable characters. Clarke is trying to do two things at once here, and in a book that's a slim 212 pages, he simply doesn't give himself enough room to do justice to both. He wants to give us a grand sweeping vision of the future, where the stories of individuals are washed away in the march of time. But then he'll suddenly jump back and relate a chapter or two focusing on a handful of characters. Then it'll be back to the grand historical approach, leaving those individuals far behind. I think that Clarke could have pulled off this approach if he had an extra hundred pages to play around with. Unfortunately, he didn't, and the book ends up being at times neither one thing nor the other. It sounds as if I'm being a bit too hard on this book, and I've devoted more time that I meant to on highlighting the negative points. But I did find a lot to enjoy here. Clarke writes a plot that I simply couldn't anticipate; many of the surprises caught me off-guard. Clarke is thinking big here. He's looking at mankind's place in a large universe and comparing our progress to what limitless potential there is out there. I really appreciated the scope of his vision. It just seemed to me as if Clarke was trying to cram too much into the short amount of pages allotted. It forces him to keep rushing forward, not giving himself time to dwell on some of the ideas that he confronts us with. It also forces him to provide exposition by dumping huge blocks of narration at us, or simply by having characters give long speeches at each other. CHILDHOOD'S END is full of thought-provoking ideas, and I'd classify it as a good science-fiction novel, but I cannot honestly say that I found it a great one.
Rating:
Summary: A new passion
Review: This book was recommended to me by one of my Art professors as a possible source for a theme in my current work. As I read I became more and more convinced that even pre-moonlanding sci-fi can serve a purpose in the new millennium. I am now very interested in reading more of Arthur C. Clarke's work, despite my bad experience with A Space Odyssey. I would recommend this book to those interested not only in sci-fi, but also more universal and fundamental questions about where we are headed and why we as humans have certain aspirations and ambitions.
Rating:
Summary: Essential science fiction
Review: Their are so many novels (even those written in 2002) that are obviously inspired by this protean novel. Although Clarke is often viewed as a "hard" SF writer, this novel is fundamentally a sci-theological fantasy but by providing a perspective of these events from the point of view of a science observer, these fantastic developments are palatable even to hard SF fans. Most of all, its an entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: It was time to put away childish fears...
Review: They came, in huge ships the size of cities. The Overlords came with power and a mission. A mission that was unknown to mankind, but mankind had little they could do about it. The aliens stopped war, ended want and even brought an end to animal abuse! They were all-powerful, all-knowing and staggeringly brilliant. Yet, EVEN they answered to an even greater power.
By the end of this book, mankind goes beyond the Earth and the reader even feels a little pity for the Overlords themselves.
Rating:
Summary: Childhood's End
Review: This book was originally written in 1953. It was reissued in 1990 with a foreword and an "updated" first chapter, bringing the beginning of the story into the 21st century. That was a strange decision of Clarke's, since the world as it is described in the early chapters of the book (and aside from the first chapter, the rest of the book is entirely unchanged) is very clearly not the world of the 21st century. In other words, the book is dated, but this is something you notice less and less as the story progresses.
Childhood's End tells the story of the alien "Overlords," who come to Earth in their huge spaceships. On Earth they quickly establish a Golden Age of peace and prosperity, with no more wars, famine or poverty. The World State is finally established, and the Earth becomes a paradise. But, as in all paradises, all it not so well after all, and something sinister is lurking behind the perfect facade. What are the true motives of the Overlords? What is their real agenda, and what are their real plans for mankind?
For a long time the Overlords remain on their ships, refusing to reveal what they look like to the humans. They communicate their wishes, and enforce their benevolent rule, through the use of their vastly superior technology. It is the first part of the book which is the best, with the tension building until, finally, the first secret is revealed, and the Overlords show themselves. After this, the book starts spiraling down into an abyss. The future of mankind turns out to be bleak and nightmarish beyond anyone's wildest dreams, and this is truly one of the saddest and most disturbing stories I have ever read. The absolute pointlessness of human existence is brought home forcefully.
The book is very short, and at first I had the feeling it could have been developed into a full-length novel (the way the book ended, though, I must say I'm glad it is as short as it is). There is, for example, almost nothing said of the first five years after the arrival of the Overlords. Clarke's brief description of the initial reactions on Earth to the changes brought by the Overlords is, although I hesitate to use the word, almost naive. Personally, I think there would have been chaos, panic, hysteria, conflict, protests, and resistance without cease, but as Clarke describes it, everyone just gave up and accepted the situation peacefully and rationally after some, none too impressive, displays of the power of the Overlords. Especially religious fanatics would never have accepted the rule of the Overlords, and although Clarke does touch on this subject, he does it in a way that does not convince.
This is a book to read only once, and never return to. It is a classic, and essential reading for all fans of Clarke and science-fiction, but it is not a pleasant read.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic of science fiction
Review: Of all Arthur Clarke's works, Childhood's End is not only the most disturbing but also one that truly challenges a reader. Like the best of science fiction, the nuts and bolts of spaceships and technology are but the base canvas for the painting. The title itself, Childhood's End, is loaded with several layers of meaning. On a basic level, it is the end of human life as it was conventionally known when the Overlords arrive. On the highest level, humanity itself in the end grows beyond its infancy and transitions to something beyond (and hopefully better than!) human. As is the case with many of his other books, Clarke pushes his own philosophy here, having the Overlords promote and in some cases enforce causes dear to him: witness the bullfighting example and the bodily form of the Overlords. Another theme that appears in other works of Clarke is that the future belongs to the young whom he sees as more open to new ideas and less hidebound by past experiences. Bear in mind here that the timeline of this book is pretty long and for that and other reasons, the story is told by different voices over the period of the book. That has its own charm as well, as one sees the nucleus of the story from multiple angles. The time factor also allows us to see how humanity evolves over the period, from fear of the Overlords, to grudging acceptance, till finally the presence of the Overlords is taken almost for granted. There are some weak parts of course; the rationale for the Overlords arrival on earth is somewhat thin and plays more to Clarke's philosophy than the logical coherence of the story. But that is just a small detail. Most poignant of all, just as the "older" humans can only watch in dismay and incomprehension as their children move beyond them, in many ways, the Overlords too are left on the sidelines and share the same sentiments of loss and futility. This is an awesome book. It is not a book that will cheer you, rather it will leave you disturbed and shaken at the end. But it is a book that will make you think and remember how small we are in the overall scale of the Universe. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Finest Books I've Ever Read
Review: I borrowed "Childhood's End" from a friend and didn't expect very much. I'm no fan of Sci Fi most of the time (which more often than not seems to veer dangerously into Star Trek-ish geekery), but my friend reassured me that much more was going on here; namely, real humanity and spirituality of a sort. Despite what I've seen in other reviews of the book, I didn't feel at all cheated at the end - in fact, I felt a sense of peace and wonder: could it really be this way? If so, I'm all for it! Well worth checking out.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Enjoyable and Thought Provoking
Review: I agree with another reviewer's comments that the value of this book is in the strength of the author - the writing is awesome. The main problem with trying to review Clarke's books is that they are so often filled with riddles and morals to the story; one can easily miss them (as I am sure I often did). The implications upon religion and humanity are enough to recommend this book as a wonderful way to ponder difficult and intriguing questions. Unlike another recent reviewer, the point of the ending appeared to me to represent the insignificance of humanity within the universe, which seemed perfectly fitting to me considering the overarching plot to the book (as I saw it, of course), but I can see how such could be a lackluster letdown to anyone - reading all the way through a book to be letdown at the end is virtually always leaves one feeling cheated. Overall, the book is still a great read and certainly worth the time.
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