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Against the Fall of Night

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 1,235 ratings · 44 reviews

Editorial Reviews Product Description The 10-billion-year-old metropolis of Diaspar is humanity's last home. Alone among immortals, the only man born in 10 million years desperately wants to find what lies beyond the City. His quest will uncover the destiny of a people--and a galaxy. This book also includes the classic short story Jupiter V. About the Author Arthur C. Clar...more

Paperback, 151 pages

Published October 1st 2005 by iBooks (first published 1948)

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Jan 01, 2013 Erik Clarke rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's a beautiful, poignant, almost desperately sad story of the human race, billions of years in the future, set against a fading galaxy in the last human city of Diaspar.

One of the things about Clarke's stories, or at least this one in particular, is the elegance of their future technology. Somehow, writing over 60 years ago, he can make it feel dishearteningly primitive to sit back down at a modern computer or mobile device. The technology in Against the Fall of Night is seamless and eternal-...more

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Jun 08, 2010 Matt Sears rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, pulp

From my blog pulpaweek.blogspot.com

'Destiny in his hands-
Alvin hesitated for a moment. None of his people had left the City for uncounted millions of years. "Diaspar has everything," they said. "Why should we go outside into the desert?" But Alvin knew the fear that underlay the seeming free preference—the records he had studied hinted at the dark truth.

We are safe as long as we stay in Diaspar, the records said. If we leave... the Invaders will come again from the wastes between the worlds. And...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Charles rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

I'm interested in seeing how Clarke reworked this book in The City and the Stars. Against the Fall of Night has problems: the protagonist doesn't change and seems like a static vehicle, a tool used by the author to present an enormous revelation about the imagined far-future society. A second problem is point of view: too frequently, the pov shifts jarringly from protagonist to supporting character. It's like trying to shift gears on a bike and failing: the ride lurches and you struggle to maint...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Joel Pearson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: hard-copy

This book was one I had mixed feelings on. My dad handed this to me and told me it was one of his favorite books from his youth, that it was the book that opened his eyes to the thoughts of exploring the world outside earth. It was fairly well written, although due to it's novella status left a LOT to the imagination, and left a lot of plot pieces wide open to interpretation. That said, it was written in 1948, long before traditional sci-fi and long before ACTUAL space exploration. The kind of p...more

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Jan 12, 2011 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

It's times like this I wish Goodreads had half stars. I was torn on whether or not to give this novel 3 or 4. I love the feeling of this book. The message and overall theme are wonderful; it is the story of a young man and his desire to see the world beyond what he's told of it, and to bring people together in spite of major differences. The characters are interesting, and the world building is very good, but it's weak point is its plot. At about the halfway point, it starts to really lose steam...more

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Jun 10, 2010 Trice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, scifi-fantasy

I found this in a random place in my school's reference room and jumped on it - English language books are difficult to find here unless they're well known classics, and sci-fi books are among the rarest to come across, so I was excited. I was especially excited to see it was a Clarke book I had discovered as I've previously read 2 of his books, Childhood's End and Rendezvous with Rama, and enjoyed both.

A couple comments on these previous encounters: Rama was seriously lacking in characterizatio...more I found this in a random place in my school's reference room and jumped on it - English language books are difficult to find here unless they're well known classics, and sci-fi books are among the rarest to come across, so I was excited. I was especially excited to see it was a Clarke book I had discovered as I've previously read 2 of his books, Childhood's End and Rendezvous with Rama, and enjoyed both.

A couple comments on these previous encounters: Rama was seriously lacking in characterization, being primarily occupied with the exploration and understanding of the encountered craft and, through it, with what would be necessitated by deep space travel - I found this fascinating and so enjoyed reading it, but it didn't exactly touch my sensibilities. Childhood's End was a mix: it had fascinating ideas and characters who, although they weren't explored or revealed as much as they would have been under other authors' pens, were more real than Rama's. But it was... spooky: a collective memory for a species, haunted by the ghosts, specters, monsters of its future? And the reason for that haunting? I think maybe it was spooky because it showed a destruction, which in most stories would be a reason for fear and hatred, and yet, here we were to celebrate that destruction for the new birth it would allow - humanity as phoenix? and yet not, as the being birthed was so unlike, so truly alien, and had lost so much of what we would call human. It was humanity xed. This one left me with chills for a bit, but overall, I thought it was both a good example and an excellent member of the sci-fi genre.

These were both books that I had generally positive feelings about, but which were also so very different from each other that I didn't know what to expect from Against the Fall of Night, though I thought with a title like that, there must be some reward within. Clarke still isn't strong on characterization here, although his characters are distinct people. But they are neither mythological figures nor the well-developed actors of many modern works. As before, the ideas, the actions, the thoughts of future and past and their confusion with one another, these take center stage. It is described in places as a mystery novel, and I would agree with this in a way, although, in setting itself up in this fashion it is exploring the nature of humanity, its innate curiousity and desire to know, and asking who we would be if we were to lose this - in stagnation could we still be human? could we continue or would we wither away and die to our last member? But Clarke is showing us that this is indeed an innate trait, though often it is quelled, submerged in fear, and fear is often encouraged by tradition without knowledge of truth. In one way it is similar to Childhood's End, and that is in placing its trust for the future of humanity in children, or at least in youth. It is saying that youth is the time when curiousity trumps fear and tradition, to reach beyond the known into the possible or even into what we thought was impossible, and in this innate, ultimately unquellable curiousity, humanity has its hope.

In the end I am in complete disagreement with the materialist foundation of Clarke's philosophies, however, I enjoy his writing and find his explorations fascinating and inspiring. Against the Fall of Night is my favorite example of these so far.(less)

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Aug 06, 2011 Stephanie (S. J.) Pajonas rated it 4 of 5 stars

A true sci-fi classic. Looking at the forward I was blown away that A. C. Clarke had written down most of the ideas that came to be this story in the 1930s! If he were alive today, I wonder what he would think of this world compared to the world of Diaspar and Lys.

I've learned a lot about writing, voice, and POV lately, and the only reason I don't give this story 5 stars is because of the sort-of scientific detachment Clarke's writing style seems to have. I think that it's par for the course th...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Dan Allosso rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf-speculative-fiction

This is my favorite Clarke story. The short story version may be a little bit "better" technically, but the long version is overflowing with ideas -- maybe too many for a single story, but I guess that's how I like my SF.

The moon, the invaders, the two civilizations: Clarke was one of the best at taking science to a place where it functioned like myth. Clarke's third law notwithstanding, the way advanced technologies ARE distinguishable from magic is that they are based on as yet undiscovered na...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Barry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really can't tell you what makes this book work so well. It's simple, short, and doesn't delve deeply into any major theme. But it's elegant and somehow compelling. There are so many avenues Mr. Clarke could have traveled down in this story, but he chose not to. This book easily could have been three or four times the length and been an epic novel, but Mr. Clarke preferred to rein in the possibilities and leave the what-ifs to the readers' imagination. Within the story I noticed elements that...more

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Oct 10, 2009 Evan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read this one rather than his later rewrite "The City and the Stars." Deep-future always works better as poetry, and you can't clutter up poetry with too many details -- the bare prose and simple exposition which Clarke later abandoned make a clean frame for this lovely story.

That spooky feeling you got when the time traveler in HG Wells disembarks into the silent garden of the Sphinx at twilight? This is a whole book of that. It's also an antiquarian mystery, an essay on the implications of dee...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Terry rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of dying earth tales

Recommended to Terry by: Richard

Shelves: sci-fi, post-apocalypse, dying-earth

3 – 3.5 stars

Hundreds of thousands of years ago (millions of years after our own benighted age) the Earth suffered a tragic loss in battle with beings known only as "the Invaders" and the apparently last remnant of humanity sits behind the majestic walls of the final human city: Diaspar. Here they while away their immortal days, a society of lotus eaters tended by the greatest machines ever conceived by humankind, living in pleasure, but also fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of the wasteland outs...more 3 – 3.5 stars

Hundreds of thousands of years ago (millions of years after our own benighted age) the Earth suffered a tragic loss in battle with beings known only as "the Invaders" and the apparently last remnant of humanity sits behind the majestic walls of the final human city: Diaspar. Here they while away their immortal days, a society of lotus eaters tended by the greatest machines ever conceived by humankind, living in pleasure, but also fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of the wasteland outside their walls, fear of the future. From time to time there has arisen among them a mind not founded on this culture of fear and indifference, but rather one prone to curiosity, courage and insight. Such a mind belongs to Alvin of Loronei, the last child to be born in the city of immortals, and a young man who thirsts for knowledge and adventure.

Clarke crafts an exciting, and lyrically written, dying earth story in which young Alvin must overcome the obstacles of his own people and face even greater challenges in the wider world. Ultimately the fate of humanity and its future (should it have one) will rest on his decisions. I don’t want to give too much away and spoil the story, for much of the enjoyment comes from learning the truths, and falsehoods, of Alvin’s world through his own investigations. Suffice it to say that there is much humanity of the final eras has to learn about itself and its history and Alvin’s actions are likely to spell either a great new era in their development, or the final sputtering out of their dying life force.

I have never read anything by Arthur C. Clarke, but didn’t expect this. My impression was that he was a much more ‘hard sf’ kind of writer, more interested in true science and plausible extrapolations of it, but here we have a lyrically written fable of humanity’s far-future days of decline. True, elements of science (or super-science) are important to the story, but they don’t outweigh the emotional elements of the tale, which are really what carry it forward. There is also a significant smattering of pseudo-science elements that I found interesting. I enjoyed the story, but sometimes Alvin seemed a little too competent (perhaps a smattering of the John Cambellesque hero here?) and I’m not sure if I ever believed he wouldn’t overcome the obstacles placed before him, but the future history Clarke has painted for mankind is an interesting one and this is definitely a worthy entry into one of my favourite sub-genres of sci-fi.
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May 04, 2011 Andrew rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read the intro to "Rama II" last week, and Clark said something along the lines of "I heard a very interesting idea, and I thought 'that's not possible; because I didn't already think of it'". Despite the fact that this statement makes Arthur C Clark a pompous ass, I have thoroughly enjoyed several of his novels. Both for his writing, and the ingenuity of his ideas.

That being said, I'm still trying to figure out what Clark was trying to accomplish with this novella. A brief introduction:

This s...more I read the intro to "Rama II" last week, and Clark said something along the lines of "I heard a very interesting idea, and I thought 'that's not possible; because I didn't already think of it'". Despite the fact that this statement makes Arthur C Clark a pompous ass, I have thoroughly enjoyed several of his novels. Both for his writing, and the ingenuity of his ideas.

That being said, I'm still trying to figure out what Clark was trying to accomplish with this novella. A brief introduction:

This story is set in the far far distant future of Earth. Oceans have given way to deserts, and all of humanity has gathered at one location; Diaspar. This city enjoys many luxuries including 'people movers' (I forget what they are called) that can move them all across the city; as well as immortality The city contains many technologically advanced things, but the people themselves are not as savvy. The population has grown dumb and content in their little world. Everyone is fearful of learning and/or exploring new ideas. This is explained by a legend that long ago; humanity once explored the stars. However, they were beaten back by 'intruders' who claim that if earthlings ever attempt to leave their planet again, they will come back and destroy them all. Once ever hundred thousand years or so, someone comes along with a spirit for adventure, and challenges the whole system.

Not to spoil or spoiler this novel, that is most of the first 2/3's of the book. What follows is a hasty climax and falling action that attempts to challenge everything that has been set up and explained in the beginning of the story. The Deus Ex Machina then explains the entire history of earth's society in about 2-3 pages, with more holes than Swiss Cheese.

On of my major complaints is the protagonist. Alvin is born in Diaspar, and is the only child born in the city in something like that last thousand years or so (no explanation or justification). The prologue feels out of place and does not coincide with the remainder of the story. The reader is removed from Alvin's character throughout the entire story, sometimes feeling sympathy for him, other times contempt. At one time, he is described as malevolent and a bully. However, we are offered no character development nor explanation of his actions. It's as if we are entreated to watch a wholly inconsistent and uninteresting character fumble his way through a situation that is not adequately explained, only to be given a conclusion that contradicts the purpose of the entirety of the plot progression thus far.

At best, Clark had a novel theory of the progression of human society. I was reminded frequently of Card's "Homecomming" series; only this was way worse and way shorter. Thank god. It was about 150 pages; it could have been 40.

The cover of the book says it sells for 75 cents. I paid about 1.50. In my opinion, I was robbed about 75 cents, and I want my 2 hours back.

Sorry...I haven't ranted in a while. The book wasn't that bad, but again, I fail to see the point. Read it if you have nothing else to read, as Clark is a good enough author. However, it's the worst book of his that I have read to date...(less)

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Apr 21, 2012 Lianne (The Towering Pile) Lavoie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: currently-own, read-in-2012, sci-fi

This review is copied from my blog, The Towering Pile. It was originally published here.

Against the Fall of Night tells the story of a boy named Alvin. He lives in a city called Diaspar, which as far as the citizens know contains the entire population of Earth. The book takes place millions (or maybe even billions!) of years in the future, when humans have retreated to this one city after being beaten back in their expansion by the Invaders. Most people are perfectly content in their luxurious c...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Scoats rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the 2nd Arthur C. Clarke book that I've read. I liked this one a lot too. The great reveal at the end was again somewhat unexpected but I am detecting a pattern here.

Clarke was a very good writer and this is a comfortable read.

The story is that humanity has been around for countless millions of years and seems to be happily confined to a single city where everyone lives forever pretty much and has no wants. A young lad rebels and wants to find out what is out there beyond the walls.

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Nov 23, 2012 Hriday rated it 3 of 5 stars

An interesting book with richly imagined concepts, some of which are unique. The story's premise and the introduction captivates the reader but soon after this the excitement somehow diminishes.

While it appeared like a quick read of 150 pages, I found the narrative a little boring and monotonous as it is mostly long lines of indirect speech, reminiscent of HG Wells' 'Time Machine'. Several of the characters are also abruptly introduced because of which I felt that this book would have been far...more

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Jun 07, 2010 Mason Hoffman rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a good book. It's pretty classic. It was interesting to see the difference in this book of sci-fi from years ago when compared to the same genre in today's culture. Clarke had less of a focus on detail and description and relied more on leaving things to mystery. It was a nice change from the heavy explanations that seem so common today, although I do enjoy the way books are written. Anyway, I ramble. Overall, good book. I would recommend it. It's a quick, enjoyable read.

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Aug 07, 2010 Angela Alcorn marked it as to-read

Shelves: we-own, sci-fi, fiction, 1940-1949, 20th-century

We really own this as an omnibus: Against the Fall of Night/Beyond the Fall of Night

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Feb 01, 2011 Bill rated it 3 of 5 stars

Reading old ACC is like putting yourself in the Sci-Fi way-back machine (is that redundant? Fine.) -- it's almost impossible to not read him and see how far SF has come (largely because of him, obviously). The writing isn't brilliant -- but the ideas and the mind behind them sure are. It's actually kind of neat to see the sort of evolution both of ACC as a craftsman and of the craft itself from it's early beginnings.

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Apr 04, 2013 Nicos Karalis rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's a very interesting book. The only reason this book is not 5 stars is because after the main climax. the story gets all depressing and stuff... everything else just 5 stars.

i whish i could rate the sections of this book, like this: intro: 5 * development: 5 * conclusion: 2 *

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May 12, 2012 Tetaknits rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've read both this and City and the Stars. I preferred this one, but enjoyed getting a picture for how an author could rewrite a book. (when I got married, we discovered that I had one and my husband had the other book!)

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May 27, 2012 Tara rated it 3 of 5 stars

It lacked the grace of some of his later works but definitely held the seeds of what his future fiction would be like. The concept is really interesting though unfleshed, and a little too vague in places.

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Mar 09, 2013 Kerem Arslanli rated it 4 of 5 stars

i first read the translated version titled "Kara Güneş" as "Black Sun" which makes me hate translations and go for originals. i recently downloaded in Kindle version and enjoyed in very much.

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Dec 08, 2008 Erik Graff rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Clarke fans

Recommended to Erik by: no one

Shelves: sf

Having read The City and the Stars during childhood and having forgotten most of it, I was interested in reading the 1948 original, Against the Fall of Night.

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Sep 04, 2012 Mick rated it 4 of 5 stars

This one is a bit hard to get into..... that being said, the galactic empire mentioned in this book sounds like some serious frame work for some movies by a guy named Lucas. Has to be lifted! Nothing is original it seems.... but this maybe was. A great short story.

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Mar 21, 2012 Meg St. Clair rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Golden Age SF

It's probably not a great book, but, even 35 years after reading it for the first time, I still enjoyed it. It's definitely dated.

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Feb 05, 2009 Patrick added it

Shelves: sci-fi

Classic novella by Clarke. This was later expanded into the novel The City and The Stars, although both are still available.

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Oct 20, 2012 serrulatae (girl a) marked it as maybe

Shelves: science-fiction, z_maybe_sff

Short story. Jo Walton compared this with Biting the Sun on the Tor blog.

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Jan 09, 2012 Keri rated it 3 of 5 stars

It was good enough for me to want to check out another one of his. We'll see.

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Oct 02, 2011 Kashyap rated it 2 of 5 stars

does not do justice to Arthur Clarke's name whom I admire very much.

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Jul 12, 2011 Jenn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fabulous story, not too long, engaging.

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About Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke was one of the most important and influential figures in 20th century science fiction. He spent the first half of his life in England, where he served in World War Two as a radar operator, before emigrating to Ceylon in 1956. He is best known for the novel and movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which he co-created with the assistance of Stanley Kubrick.

Clarke was a graduate of King's Co...more

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2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)

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