City and the Stars/ Sands of Mars

Rating:
Summary: Clarke's Best Novel
Review: Although Childhood's End seems to get more attention, The City and the Stars is Arthur C. Clarke's best novel. It ia an evocative, awe inspiring look at a society in the far distant future. It evokes a real sense of wonder in a way that very few other books do.

The Sands of Mars, while not on the same level as The City and the Stars, is also a good read.

Rating:
Summary: The City and the Stars for Ever
Review: I read The City and the Stars for the first time in High School in probably 1969 or 1970. It was by far the most profound novel I had ever read. All I could remember was being so upset when it was over. I wanted more. It is that kind of story. You step into another world and you are really there. This book is the one that converted me to Science fiction. I bought the book again in the early 1990's. It was a revised edition and somethings were different.But it was still very good. (I liked the original the best). Arthur C. Clarke is much greater than 2001. This book shows it. Thanks Arthur!

Rating:
Summary: What Was Arthur Smoking?
Review: I was very disappointed with this book. It has touches of Arthur C. Clarke brilliance. An interesting well written beginning frames a story with lots of potential. But somewhere in the middle of the story Clarke just loses it. Even Clarke's wonderful writing style and delivery cannot overcome the silliness of the plot.

The intelligent blob that lives in a puddle of water on a waterless desert earth for a billion years was my favorite silly character. The main character is a human that after a billion years has evolved to have no hair, fingernails or teeth. He still enjoys munching away on all sorts of food. He must have strong gums. There are the space ships and subway systems that after a billion years are still functional. (A billion years. Not a few thousand or a few million.) Once interesting characters hurtle off to the center of the Galaxy, the blob's robot does the driving, and within a few hours visit a half dozen planets, find space ship eating plants, alien artifacts, and then of course...the ultimately intelligent being in the universe..."Mr. Mind". This is the guy with no body or form, just mind. He hitches a ride back from the center of the galaxy to earth... it's all too much.

Clarke must have been smoking something strong when he wrote this. I've read other Clarke books and loved them. This one was a real disappointment. The story just runs away and becomes silly. If you are a Clarke junky I'm sure you'll disagree with me. If you aren't and want to read Clarke for the first time I suggest not reading this. Try a classic like "Childhood's End". Clarke obviously was thinking much more clearly when he wrote that...



Rating:
Summary: A fine pair of Science Fiction Classics from the 1950's
Review: THE CITY AND THE STARS, partially based on his earlier work AGAINST THE FALL OF NIGHT, has been continuously in print since it was first published in 1956. It is Arthur C. Clarke's most enduring tale and is "one of the strongest tales of conceptual breakthrough in genre SF." (Peter Nichols, Encyclopedia of Science Fiction) It is a mesmerizing story of technology, nature, space travel, discovery, 'the future' and the true nature of cosmic perspective. Engaging and articulate, it brings a mystical intensity which has made it a classic, and made Sir Arthur C. Clarke a true grand master of science fiction.

THE SANDS OF MARS, one of Clarke's earliest novels is a bit stiff in its prose, but is still as entertaining today as it was when it was first published in 1952. It is an optimistic tale of survival on Mars--in the very classic mode of human problems being resolved against a backdrop of scientific discovery.

A special thanks should go to Warner Aspect SF division for putting such great works in a contemporary format--and bringing back some of the finest science fiction classics. Some of the other titles they have published in this new format include THE FOUNTAINS OF PARADISE, THE GHOST FROM THE GRAND BANKS and THE DEEP RANGE.

Rating:
Summary: Classic early Clarke
Review: The City in the Stars is Clarke playing around with the potential of information technology to change society. It's one of his better novels, with some of his favorite themes about galactic exploration.

The Sands of Mars is rather dated. If you can get past the fact that there isn't actualy any vegetation, let alone animal life, and there are in fact mountains on Mars, you come out with a rather good novel, with better character work than usual, and interesting (if wrong) science.

Rating:
Summary: Hard SciFi at its original best!
Review: This newly released omnibus contains two full-length novels that have become so ubiquitous as to be part of our psyche.

The City and The Stars made such an impression on me that I can remember exactly where I was when I read it for the very first time - seventh grade in Bright, California at one of the meanest junior highs I ever did attend. It was an escape, it was fantastical without being fantasy. It was hard science fiction, set in the future. At that age, I couldn't comprehend how far in the future but I knew it was a place I would have liked to see, doing things that Alvin did. Living that Grand Adventure with him!

I would encourage anyone who hasn't read an early Arthur C. Clarke or knows of any young science fiction fans to buy this omnibus & introduce them to the universe of Arthur C. Clarke. He did write more than 2001: A Space Odyssey - you know!

Rating:
Summary: Two Classics
Review: Two great classics in one book. The City In the Stars is one of the most entertaining sci fi books I have ever read. Clarke challenges your imagination through every step of this one. If there was a movie for every persons vision of this book, not a single one wold be the same. Clarke describes the unimaginable with such simplicity, yet you capture exactly what he is describing. A timeless classic!
Sands of Mars is also very entertaining and is also a must read for any Clarke fan. Although there are many ideas that are false in this book (since we have now seen the surface of Mars) it is interesting to see what Clarke envisioned on this planet. There are great ideas in this novel.