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Summary: Arthur C. Clarke at his best!
Review: This is Arthur C. Clarke at his best. Clarke uses his extrodinary story telling and weaving skills to give the reader a story not about sci-fi, futuristic creatures; but about the human spirit, human strengths, human weaknesses, and human desires that just happens to be in a future time period. Truly a must read...also recommended are Clarke's 2001 series and Rama series.
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Summary: A Satisfying Odyssey
Review: The Songs of Distant Earth is undoubtably one of the best works Clarke has given in years. Many sci-fi readers and writers tend to forget that storytelling also involves believable characters who move us, and not just science. This book has the most profoundly believable and moving characters Clarke has ever produced. Clarke is visually as well as emotionally evocative, and one can't help but be moved by the tragic circumstance which befalls our hero. It actually feels like this story could happen to any one of us. A truly great read
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Summary: Clarke tries to move away from his most successful novels.
Review: The Songs of Distant earth is a journeyman's novel that could have been written by any number of writers. It is not terribly original, action packed, or thought provoking.
It was published based on Clarke's success with the Odyssey series. My bet is that it was a short story from his pulp days that he was able to expand to novel length.
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Summary: One of the best Science Fiction novels period.
Review: A intruiging tale of a future which sees the end of Earth and our solar system and the visit of one colonized world in the far (yet so close in perspective to our galaxy even) reaches of space. This colony of Thalassa is at first a paradise with many interesting people and places to go as the last earthlings meet them. But by the end of the story a new world with Jealousy has poked through the seemingly perfect land, but all through A.C. Clarke gives what any book should undoubtedly have, a great mix of characters. This one is a definite must for any avid Science Fiction reader, and is my personal favorite Sci-Fi novel
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Summary: One of the best futures I've ever read.
Review: One of the best futures I've ever read.
And I've read a lot of them.
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Summary: How great!!!
Review: Songs of distant Earth is just great! I liked it from the first time I read it. just read it everyone
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Summary: Just brilliant!
Review: This work gives the best satisfaction/pages ratio I've ever encountered. It's interesting, funny, thrilling and moving - all at the same time, along with some interesting views by the writer about mankind and God
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Summary: Space opera and sci-fi high tech at its finest!
Review: No one claiming to be a sci-fi lover could read this book and not be utterly fascinated by its realistic tale regarding our sun going nova in a few thousand years, forcing humanity to set out in suspended animation for the stars. Landing on a paradisical world, Thalassa, wherein a clash of cultures takes place to intensify the conflict and, thus, add this great book to many others: "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Puppet Masters", "2001", "2010", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Ringworld", all the "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" books, as well as books as new to the genre as "Advent of the Corps" and others.
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Summary: A lovely, bittersweet story *Some Spoilers*
Review: The reason I love most of Clarke's work is that it tends to focus on ideas and human interactions as opposed to saving the world, winning some war or saving a girl. Others, of course, will disagree.
This novel is one of the best of Clarke's later works, but for those of you looking for drama and crises that need resolved will be disappointed.
The novel takes place thousands of years in the future. Humanity discovered that our Sun was unstable and would nova far earlier than expected. In order to save part of humanity, various projects were developed to save something of our species.
One of the first used were "seeder ships". This were automated space craft containing human embryos and genetic material of many Earth creatures. The concept was that these ships would land on planets capable of sustaining human life and the automated systems on board would create a sutiable colony by providing a technological base and the onboard computers would educated the first generation of colonists birthed from the embryons on board with a very censored version of human history. The primary example of the effort to create a better human society is the censorship of religion. None of the great religious works (or works based on them) are included in the data banks of these vessels. The hope was that a society raised without religion would avoid the violence that often accompanies it.
The colony of Thalassa, where the action takes place, is a result of these plans. The Lassans live on two island of an otherwise watery world. The Earth they know is a sanatized version and their world is Eden like. Violence, jealousy and hate are rare. As the result of the breakdown of the colony's interstellar communication device the Lassan's are even more isolated than other seeder colonies having had no contact with other colonies for hundreds of years.
It is to this peaceful, beautiful world that the one of next generation of human colony ships arrives. It is the Magellan, a ship with an advanced drive system that finally allowed humanity to reach distant worlds in a "reasonable" amount of times meaning hundreds of years not thousands. The Magellan is more of a space ark because it contains over a million specially selected colonists in cryogenic suspension. Even more poignent, the Magellan was the last of these ships to leave Earth, escaping only days before the Solar system died. To them Earth is a recent memory, not an ancient past, and the crew still mourns its passing and the loss of those left behind.
The Magellan stopped at Thalassa because the ice shield that protects the ship during its voyage is in need of repair. The crew didn't think that Thalassa would be inhabited. Most of the resulting novel revolves around how much and what type of interactions do or should develop between the two very different groups and what knowledge can be passed on to the very curious Thalassans without permanently damaging their culture.
There is no one protagonist in this story. Rather the point of view moves between various characters and their reaction to the Lassans or vice-versa. There are a few interesting sub-plots such as the discovery of an intelligent marine based species and a plot by some of the crew to sabatoge the Magellan so they can remain on the idyllic world.
Overall the work is very bittersweet as both groups must deal with the knowledge gained, friends/lovers never to be seen again once the ship leaves and the grief/guilt that comes with being the last chosen survivors of a dying world.
An excellent read and one that stays in your thoughts long after you're done.
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Summary: Excellent science fiction
Review: An interesting perspective on how religion shapes the way humanity has developed, along with speculation on the effect of censorship of humanities darkest moments within a new society. Again Sir Arthur is way ahead of the rest in his thinking, putting forward some very serious questions about our "civilization" with hints at some of the root causes of major problems and how they be improved.
All this very deep and serious stuff is bound up spectacularly in a wonderfully involving story that will suck you in so you can't put it down. It's not a sermon on the evils of mankind, it's a great entertaining work of fiction with some very pertinent messages - all done with Sir Arthur's inimitable style and humour. If you read no other Arthur C Clarke book (and if so shame on you) read this one. It's one of his best.
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