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Summary: Songs Mark II
Review: Arthur Clarke's first version of "Songs" was a 1958 short story, which became the title story for one of his many anthologies. It tells much of the same tale of arrival by a starship for repairs at an Ocean planet, but without the death of the Sun, and reading both makes for an interesting comparison between 1950s and 1980s sexual attitudes. The love story common to both is an evocative and poignant examination of just how tiny humans are in the Universe, how short our lives and loves really are against that background - a very common theme throughout Clarke's works.I have a few quibbles with the novel because Clarke makes a few mathematical blunders in this book, which is unusual for him. One major mistake is about mass-ratios for interstellar flight. He squares the actual mass of fuel and not its mass-ratio and this is given as the main reason why only "seeder-ships" and not "space-arks" have colonised nearby stars, until quantum vacuum energy is developed for propulsion. Hopefully he made a deliberate mistake to create dramatic tension. Also he messed up the timeline at the back of book - the first edition's timeline would be correct in Thalassan years. A recurring interest of Clarke's is God and the religions that besmirch Her name. Thalassa, the Ocean planet where the action happens, lacks religion and even an awareness of the God concept, a situation deliberately created by the colony's founders. Moses Kaldor - a terrestrial ideologue - becomes either the Snake in Eden or the new Law-Giver by discussing God with Mirissa, the female protagonist. Whether humans can go for any length of time without creating religion is a question even Clarke can't answer.
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Summary: The Songs of Distant Earth
Review: Superb. Thank you, Mr. Clarke.....
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Summary: Found it agian, for the first time.
Review: Earth is gone, but humanity survives. Realizing that the sun will go nova much sooner then expected Earth sends out ships to the far corners of the galaxy to colonize every planet possible. 'Songs of a Distant Earth' is a story of one of the more successfull colony's who has had a uneventfull 700 years of existance until the Magellan arrives. The Magellan left Earth 300yrs ago as the Earth boiled away into nothingness, the last of the colony ships, with the last of the Terrans. Thalassa is a pit stop for the Magellan, which with its Quantum RamJet needs a sheild of ice, and Thalassa is 95% water, so they stop by to use the Lassans water. Thus is the basic story of 'Songs of a Distant Earth.' The technical and ingenious writing style of Clarke always intrests me, even though I find him to be much more naïve then he finds the ideas of Star Wars/Trek and their warp speed and hyperspace. In all the Clarke books I have read lightspeed isn't possible even a 1000yrs from now, and all technology is based from technology now. Who 50 yrs ago could have ever thought of the Internet, or even LCD screens, but that we have, what more will there be 50 years from now that no one has yet to explain. This is an excellent read, and I suggest it to anyone who enjoys Clarke to pick this up.
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Summary: Very good, Mr. Clarke
Review: I found this book to be not so much science fiction, but, rather a story about how we relate to each other. I don't know about everyone else, but I found it also to be a bittersweet story. It begins with the last spaceship from Earth (before our Sun goes supernova) with the last humans aboard arriving at a "seed" planet where humans were planted seven hundred years earlier. The story goes on to explore the differences between the Thalassans and these "strangers from the sky," before they continue on to their destination planet. Principally, it is the relationship between Loren Lorensen, Lt. Commander of the spaceship; Marissa, a beautiful Thalassan who thirsts for knowledge (and Loren); and Brant, her Thalassan "significant other." While Clarke writes that the Thalassans say they have done away with Jealousy, Lust and Fidelity in order to better mankind, don't you believe it. I read this book several months ago and I still can not stop thinking about. It is thoroughly enjoyable and I highly reccomend it.
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Summary: I LOVE this book!!
Review: I remember buying this book - not really expecting much from it. I also wasn't that familair with Arthur C. Clarke (but that has changed). This is one of the best (if not the best) books that I've ever read. Hmmm.. it could very well be my "favorite". I'm not usually drawn to male writers. Although male myself, female writers are usually... well, in my opinion - better writers. But, Arthur C. Clarke is awesome and did a first-rate job writing this novel. I wish he had written a companion book about the colonist after they reached Sagan II. I've enjoyed reading and rereading this book many times.
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Summary: The Best
Review: I have read several of clarkes books, and this is the best. I cried at the end. Of all the books I've read in my life, this is hands down my favorite. THE BEST! enough said.
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Summary: One of Clarke's absolute best
Review: I can only strongly echo the high praise offered by the other reviewers. I have read the book many times, and it never fails to stimulate the sense of awe and wonder which all great works of science fiction evoke. A superior work by one of the masters of the genre. Highest recommendation.
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Summary: Provocative and magical
Review: Arthur C Clarke is one of science fiction's most prolific writers, and also one of its most variable, both in style and quality. In The Songs of Distant Earth, Clarke has created something remarkable, a deep, easily read, thoughtful, beautiful and provocative picture of the future. Nominally about a meeting of civilizations - one utopian, one tainted by human flaws and the memory of a home destroyed, Clarke uses the opportunity to sketch out a vision of how humanity might improve itself, what space travel might actually entail, and even a glimpse of alien evolution. Clarke draws a world, Thalassa, created from Earth as an opportunity to begin again anew without human memories or faults. Built by robots, and seeded rather than colonized, Thalassa's society is everything humanity would like itself to be, civilized and untainted by so many millennia of hatred and violence. Earth's motive in creating this world is to ensure the survival of humanity - the Solar System is to end. And from the ashes of Earth flies a refugee ship with the million or so survivors, flying to a third planet in order to begin again, but passing by Thalassa in need of help. This is not an action packed novel, but a slow, thoughtful, discussion of the issues involved. Clarke resists the temptation to exaggerate either his near-perfect Thalan society or the faults of the refugees. Characterization, never Clarke's strong point, seems better than usual, certainly not cardboard. The book's scientific contribution is in part what it does not do. There is no faster-than-light travel for example: ever the scientist, Clarke prefers to hang his hat on what relativity actually tells us, and what the consequences of relativity's laws are on long distance space travel. Not all Clarke fans will enjoy this book - it is not typical of his more popular works, closer to The Fountains of Paradise than 2001: A Space Odyssey or Rendezvous with Rama. Clarke will upset the fundamentalists with his attacks on religion; his provocative stance on what he sees as damaging superstition in many ways weakens the book, not because he is wrong on the evils (he's not wrong) but because of an optimistic view that we are close to throwing such baggage away, which does not feel likely in these newly hyper-religious times. But one can hope. Another criticism one might make is that Clarke is never subtle, his attacks are always spelt out either editorially or by a character. Finally Clarke's description of the sexual escapades of the Thalans will probably upset one or two puritans. Whether Clarke is right that such a paradise as Thalassa is possible is open to question. But this book paints a beautiful picture, pushes a whole set of buttons, imparts a whole range of ideas, and stimulates the imagination. This magical book is highly recommended.
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Summary: Beautifully written and very imaginative.
Review: This is a book that you will likely not forget reading. Clarke's imagination here is staggering. The novel takes place several thousand years from now. Earth has been destroyed by an unstable sun. Mankind foresaw the nova of Earth's sun for about two thousand years, and mounted an effort to colonize nearby stars in order to save the species. This was done in the nick of time. The story takes place on planet Thalassa--a world largely of oceans with a single pair of islands perhaps the size of Taiwan. The Thalassans, originally colonists from Earth, have been alone for over a thousand years. Now they are visited by the last starship from Earth, which stops there en route to a different planet intended for colonization. The story deals with the clash of cultures, but the best part are the flashbacks to Earth, and Clarke's highly intelligent and plausible extrapolations as regards science, politics, and societal development. Clarke's prose is outstanding as well, which is not all that common in science fiction. This is, quite simply, a wonderful story which will strike a chord in most readers.
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Summary: Enjoyable, thought provoking but suffers the author's bias
Review: Arthur C. Clarke has consistantly provided science fiction stories that are stories to make us think. The action is pulled along not so much by big events but the development of characters and relationships that we come to care about. This is no exception to this. But in it, Clarke weaves his story with large pieces of his own views on religion. In his story, we are transported to Thalassa, a new world - a carefully balanced Eden for some of the remains of mankind after the destruction of the Earth. Yet to balance this vision of Eden, he has removed all concepts of God, removed from the collected knowledge of Earth when we sent outselves out to the stars. Religion is unknown in Eden, and so much of the cultural foundations that we take for granted are now unknown, being so intertwined with religious thoughts. Instead, religion has been debunked, and man has become God, given the choice of who will survive, and who will perish in the end of the Earth. As well as sending out DNA to the stars, to "create" new humans on distant planets. Science seems to be God to Clarke, and in this he makes great strains to show how irrelevant it is and twists his story along to match it. Just as he showed in 3001, religion is illogical and the root of our suffering. Here the new planet thrives, is happy and successful (if not mentally stagnant) without religion. While I support his right to have his view, it sometimes feels as if he's building his stories to support it. Otherwise, however, the book is extremely enjoyable - both a disheartening and hopeful look at the future, the end of one world, and the beginning of new ones for the human race. The central question of whethere the visitors on the Magellen spacecraft should or could stay or not is presented with balance, with reasons for both individuals and society as a whole should or should not just stay. What is a hallmark of Clarke is kept going here - the story is believable. That is Clarke's gift - to let us realistically see beyond our own time and place.
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