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Of Time and Stars: The Worlds of Arthur C.Clarke
◼ පොළොව යට ඇති ශිෂ්ටාචාරයක්
◼ අත ලඟ එන අයිස් යුගයක්
◼ අපට මග පෙන්වූ අමුත්තෙක්
◼ ලෝක විනාශය ගැන කියවෙන පණිවුඩයක්
මෙම ප්රබන්ධ විද්යාත්මක අදහස් පැහැදිලි කරනු පමණක් නොව, වෙනස් ආකාරයකට සිතීමට ද පාඨකයාට අනුබල දෙනු නොවනුමානයි. . .
Introduction • (1972) J.B. Priestley
If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth... • (1951)
All the Time in the World • (1952)
An Ape About the House • (1962)
Feathered Friend • [The Other Side of the Sky] • (1957)
Green Fingers • [Venture to the Moon] • (1956)
Hide and Seek • (1949)
Into the Comet • (1960)
No Morning After • (1954)
Robin Hood, F.R.S. • [Venture to the Moon] • (1956)
Security Check • (1956)
The Fires Within • (1947)
The Forgotten Enemy • (1948)
The Nine Billion Names of God • (1953)
The Reluctant Orchid • [Tales from the White Hart] • (1956)
The Sentinel • [A Space Odyssey] • (1951)
Trouble with the Natives • (1951)
Who's There? • (1958)
Encounter at Dawn • [A Space Odyssey] • (1953)
◼ අත ලඟ එන අයිස් යුගයක්
◼ අපට මග පෙන්වූ අමුත්තෙක්
◼ ලෝක විනාශය ගැන කියවෙන පණිවුඩයක්
මෙම ප්රබන්ධ විද්යාත්මක අදහස් පැහැදිලි කරනු පමණක් නොව, වෙනස් ආකාරයකට සිතීමට ද පාඨකයාට අනුබල දෙනු නොවනුමානයි. . .
Introduction • (1972) J.B. Priestley
If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth... • (1951)
All the Time in the World • (1952)
An Ape About the House • (1962)
Feathered Friend • [The Other Side of the Sky] • (1957)
Green Fingers • [Venture to the Moon] • (1956)
Hide and Seek • (1949)
Into the Comet • (1960)
No Morning After • (1954)
Robin Hood, F.R.S. • [Venture to the Moon] • (1956)
Security Check • (1956)
The Fires Within • (1947)
The Forgotten Enemy • (1948)
The Nine Billion Names of God • (1953)
The Reluctant Orchid • [Tales from the White Hart] • (1956)
The Sentinel • [A Space Odyssey] • (1951)
Trouble with the Natives • (1951)
Who's There? • (1958)
Encounter at Dawn • [A Space Odyssey] • (1953)
208 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published June 1, 1981
40 people are currently reading
604 people want to read
About the author
Arthur C. Clarke
1,655 books11.7k followersStories, works of noted British writer, scientist, and underwater explorer Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, include
2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968).
This most important and influential figure in 20th century fiction spent the first half of his life in England and served in World War II as a radar operator before migrating to Ceylon in 1956. He co-created his best known novel and movie with the assistance of Stanley Kubrick.
Clarke, a graduate of King's College, London, obtained first class honours in physics and mathematics. He served as past chairman of the interplanetary society and as a member of the academy of astronautics, the royal astronomical society, and many other organizations.
He authored more than fifty books and won his numerous awards: the Kalinga prize of 1961, the American association for the advancement Westinghouse prize, the Bradford Washburn award, and the John W. Campbell award for his novel Rendezvous with Rama. Clarke also won the nebula award of the fiction of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979, the Hugo award of the world fiction convention in 1974 and 1980. In 1986, he stood as grand master of the fiction of America. The queen knighted him as the commander of the British Empire in 1989.
This most important and influential figure in 20th century fiction spent the first half of his life in England and served in World War II as a radar operator before migrating to Ceylon in 1956. He co-created his best known novel and movie with the assistance of Stanley Kubrick.
Clarke, a graduate of King's College, London, obtained first class honours in physics and mathematics. He served as past chairman of the interplanetary society and as a member of the academy of astronautics, the royal astronomical society, and many other organizations.
He authored more than fifty books and won his numerous awards: the Kalinga prize of 1961, the American association for the advancement Westinghouse prize, the Bradford Washburn award, and the John W. Campbell award for his novel Rendezvous with Rama. Clarke also won the nebula award of the fiction of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979, the Hugo award of the world fiction convention in 1974 and 1980. In 1986, he stood as grand master of the fiction of America. The queen knighted him as the commander of the British Empire in 1989.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
June 7, 2025
Не му е сила на Кларк писането на разкази - едва няколко от включените в този сборник ме заинтригуваха поне за малко. Спокойно можете да пропуснете тази книга.
"Деветте милиарда имена на Бога" – 2*
"Маймуна в къщата" – 1*
"Зелени кълнове" – 3*
"Неприятности с туземците" – 2*
"В кометата" – 4*
"Утрешен ден няма да има" – 3*
""Забравя ли те, моя Земя…"" – 3*
"Кой е там?" – 2*
"Безкрайно много време" – 3*
"Криеница" – 3*
"Робин Худ, член на кралското дружество" – 2*
"Огънят под нас" – 2*
"Забравеният враг" – 3*
"Неотзивчивата орхидея" – 2*
"Проверка" – 2*
"Пернатият приятел" – 2*
"Часовоят" – 4*
"Деветте милиарда имена на Бога" – 2*
"Маймуна в къщата" – 1*
"Зелени кълнове" – 3*
"Неприятности с туземците" – 2*
"В кометата" – 4*
"Утрешен ден няма да има" – 3*
""Забравя ли те, моя Земя…"" – 3*
"Кой е там?" – 2*
"Безкрайно много време" – 3*
"Криеница" – 3*
"Робин Худ, член на кралското дружество" – 2*
"Огънят под нас" – 2*
"Забравеният враг" – 3*
"Неотзивчивата орхидея" – 2*
"Проверка" – 2*
"Пернатият приятел" – 2*
"Часовоят" – 4*
October 19, 2017
Clarke's beautifully-titled collection is bookended by two undisputed SF classics ('The Nine Billion Names of God' and 'The Sentinel'), which means the other sixteen stories included here have a lot to live up to. Clarke is best writing about the exploration of the great unknowns: space, the sea, even the core of the Earth; he wasn't - unlike Wyndham - so great at more comic and/or domestic tales, which - like 'The Reluctant Orchid', a clear nod to both Wyndham and Wells - read as a little naff and dated.
Clarke was definitely a master of the short story generally, delivering high-concept ideas with panache, deep insight and brevity, often with a clever and convincing twist in the last line, even the very last word. Many of these twists are profound, beautiful, devastating, whereas one or two are a little hackneyed, but it's nevertheless an essential collection for Clarke-/SF-lovers that achieves the gravitas of its name.
Clarke was definitely a master of the short story generally, delivering high-concept ideas with panache, deep insight and brevity, often with a clever and convincing twist in the last line, even the very last word. Many of these twists are profound, beautiful, devastating, whereas one or two are a little hackneyed, but it's nevertheless an essential collection for Clarke-/SF-lovers that achieves the gravitas of its name.
September 4, 2021
Apart from a few H. G. Wells novels, this was my first foray into the world of science fiction and I must say it surprised me. Somehow I had been expecting something 'out of this world' but the tales in this book, enjoyable and innocent as they are, are like rather old-fashioned tales on a very human level, set in space to make them into science fiction. I would recommend this book to old people as I fear younger ones are used to more action and fantasy and might be dreadfully bored.
April 3, 2013
Wow!! I loved this book - if I wasn't on strict instructions from other members of the family to get rid of some of my books (!), I would be keeping this - although I'm sure the stories would have quite as much impact. I don't know where to start - I don't think I could even pick a favourite! The Nine Billion Names of God, Into The Comet, Who's There?, All the Time In the World, The Fires Within, The Forgottwn Enemy and Feathered Friend are definately the ones I won't be forgetting in a hurry. The Sentinel, which 2001: A Space Odyssey was based on, was interesting as it differs from the larger story quite a bit and yet the echoes of the film are still there. There wasn't one story that I didn't like, which is really unusual.
August 24, 2017
review to come :)
April 19, 2021
I had this collection as a kid back in the 80s. I read it and re-read it. When I bought it I found that I could remember some of the stories, but not all of them.
They're mostly pretty short, crisply written and reasonably light-hearted. Two - The Sentinal and Encounter at Dawn - were influences on 2001: A Space Odyessy. They often end with a natty final line or two, which wraps everything up. Some of those final lines are fantastic. I'm thinking of the last line to the Nine Billion Names of God and No Morning After in particular.
A couple of them have that Tales of the Unexpected vibe about them. One of them is, to me, a SFed up version of a PG Wodehouse story, complete with an overbearing Aunt. It almost feels like an influence on 'The Little Shop of Horrors' musical too. But there I may be over-reaching a tad. It's one of my favourite stories in the collection.
There's a couple I wasn't vastly entertained by. Hence the four stars not five. But glad I re-read it.
They're mostly pretty short, crisply written and reasonably light-hearted. Two - The Sentinal and Encounter at Dawn - were influences on 2001: A Space Odyessy. They often end with a natty final line or two, which wraps everything up. Some of those final lines are fantastic. I'm thinking of the last line to the Nine Billion Names of God and No Morning After in particular.
A couple of them have that Tales of the Unexpected vibe about them. One of them is, to me, a SFed up version of a PG Wodehouse story, complete with an overbearing Aunt. It almost feels like an influence on 'The Little Shop of Horrors' musical too. But there I may be over-reaching a tad. It's one of my favourite stories in the collection.
There's a couple I wasn't vastly entertained by. Hence the four stars not five. But glad I re-read it.
April 17, 2020
A selection of interesting and less interesting sci-fi short stories. The Sentinel is tangentially related to 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is where my interest lay, but there were plenty of other fascinating concepts explored here, such as sentient carnivorous orchids and what would happen if aliens landed in rural Britain rather than in a city.
March 9, 2025
Хит след хит, няма слабо. Вече не ги пишат като едно време.
September 1, 2009
Kivoja pikku novelleja, joiden ajankuvaus on melkoisen yltiöoptimistinen avaruuden valloituksen suhteen. Eihän kuussakaan ole käyty sitten kuusikemmenluvun kuin muutaman kerran, saati sitten, että muista sivilisaatioista tai edes alkeellisesta elämästä olisi löydetty mitään merkkejä. Tästä huolimatta tarinat ovat kiehtovia ja sisältävät usein mukavan yllättävän koukun.
Suosikkini oli maailmanlopunkatkuinen "Ei seuraavaa aamua".
Suosikkini oli maailmanlopunkatkuinen "Ei seuraavaa aamua".
July 27, 2018
Arthur C Clarke, sci-fi extraordinaire from Minehead in Somerset, England, spent most of his long life in Sri Lanka. I recently read an account by Paul Theroux of when he met Clarke in Colombo in 2006. Clarke passed away shortly afterwards, age 90. It inspired me to check him out, and I ended up picking up this collection, introduced by JB Priestly (‘An Inspector Calls’), in a charity shop.
A recurring theme running through many of the stories is that Earth will be destroyed or rendered inhabitable by humanity. This seems very relevant, almost prescient, but the cause in these stories is interestingly different to the one we would no doubt forecast today: it’s not man-made ecological collapse that will destroy the world but nuclear war. This is telling. The collection was published in 1973 but all the stories were written between 1949 and 1962, the high watermark of nuclear tensions.
This reminds me of the 2008 Keanu Reeves update of the classic 1950s sci-fi film ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’. In the later version, Klaatu comes to Earth not to suppress humanity’s dangerous warlike spirit but to destroy humanity so that it doesn’t destroy the planet. The Earth’s destruction, it seems, will be brought about by whatever concerns us most at the time a story is written.
There’s a wide variety of material, from the silly and humorous to the serious and sad. There’s usually a surprising twist in the last line, Roald Dahl-style, though sometimes it’s in the very last word, which is most impressive and effective. The single best example of this is in the masterful ‘Encounter at Dawn’, apparently one of the inspirations for Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. That film was based more obviously on ‘The Sentinel’, another winner of a short story also included here.
An inventive array of ideas is on display here: plants are adapted to grow on the moon, an abacus is used to navigate a spacecraft, relics of an alien race are found in our solar system, we are warned of the dangers of a super computer falling into the hands of Tibetan monks, an enhanced super monkey paints masterpieces with its feet, cats birth kittens in spacesuits, visitors from the future save some of Earth’s treasures before it’s too late, there are civilisations beneath the earths crust, we enter a new ice age in London, and we meet man-eating orchids.
That last one, from 1956, was the inspiration for the ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ films, by the way, though it, in turn, was inspired by the 1905 HG Wells story ‘The Flowering of the Strange Orchid’.
Lovely cover illustration by Peter Jones, incidentally, who created many memorable sci-fi and fantasy covers from my childhood, including ‘Warlock of Firetop Mountain’, the first of the Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone role-playing books that I used to adore.
Here are my ratings of each story:
Nine Billion - 4/5 (thought-provoking if a little silly)
Ape - 2/5 (just plain silly)
Green fingers - 3/5 (interesting concept)
Natives - 2/5 (silly throwaway nonsense)
Comet - 4/5
No Morning After - 3/5
If I Forget Thee - 3/5
Who’s There? - 3/5
All the Time - 5/5
Robin Hood - 4/5
Fires Within - 4/5 (great twist)
Forgotten Enemy - 5/5
Reluctant Orchid - 5/5
Encounter at Dawn - 5/5 (best example of the twist in the very last word)
Security check - 2/5
Feathered friend - 3/5
Sentinel - 5/5 (short and perfect; serious intent)
A recurring theme running through many of the stories is that Earth will be destroyed or rendered inhabitable by humanity. This seems very relevant, almost prescient, but the cause in these stories is interestingly different to the one we would no doubt forecast today: it’s not man-made ecological collapse that will destroy the world but nuclear war. This is telling. The collection was published in 1973 but all the stories were written between 1949 and 1962, the high watermark of nuclear tensions.
This reminds me of the 2008 Keanu Reeves update of the classic 1950s sci-fi film ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’. In the later version, Klaatu comes to Earth not to suppress humanity’s dangerous warlike spirit but to destroy humanity so that it doesn’t destroy the planet. The Earth’s destruction, it seems, will be brought about by whatever concerns us most at the time a story is written.
There’s a wide variety of material, from the silly and humorous to the serious and sad. There’s usually a surprising twist in the last line, Roald Dahl-style, though sometimes it’s in the very last word, which is most impressive and effective. The single best example of this is in the masterful ‘Encounter at Dawn’, apparently one of the inspirations for Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. That film was based more obviously on ‘The Sentinel’, another winner of a short story also included here.
An inventive array of ideas is on display here: plants are adapted to grow on the moon, an abacus is used to navigate a spacecraft, relics of an alien race are found in our solar system, we are warned of the dangers of a super computer falling into the hands of Tibetan monks, an enhanced super monkey paints masterpieces with its feet, cats birth kittens in spacesuits, visitors from the future save some of Earth’s treasures before it’s too late, there are civilisations beneath the earths crust, we enter a new ice age in London, and we meet man-eating orchids.
That last one, from 1956, was the inspiration for the ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ films, by the way, though it, in turn, was inspired by the 1905 HG Wells story ‘The Flowering of the Strange Orchid’.
Lovely cover illustration by Peter Jones, incidentally, who created many memorable sci-fi and fantasy covers from my childhood, including ‘Warlock of Firetop Mountain’, the first of the Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone role-playing books that I used to adore.
Here are my ratings of each story:
Nine Billion - 4/5 (thought-provoking if a little silly)
Ape - 2/5 (just plain silly)
Green fingers - 3/5 (interesting concept)
Natives - 2/5 (silly throwaway nonsense)
Comet - 4/5
No Morning After - 3/5
If I Forget Thee - 3/5
Who’s There? - 3/5
All the Time - 5/5
Robin Hood - 4/5
Fires Within - 4/5 (great twist)
Forgotten Enemy - 5/5
Reluctant Orchid - 5/5
Encounter at Dawn - 5/5 (best example of the twist in the very last word)
Security check - 2/5
Feathered friend - 3/5
Sentinel - 5/5 (short and perfect; serious intent)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2024
Arthur C. Clarke's stories are slightly better than your average science fiction story and this collection is only short ones, which I enjoy reading at work as I can get through one on my break and 15 stories are completely read in 15 breaks, so it feels like I am methodically plowing through it, when in reality I am purposefully dragging it out by not taking it home and finishing it in one day. The best one is the one that would become the basis for the book and film 2001: A Space Odyssey. There is another that is extremely interesting in that it seems to be the basis for the character of Harry Potter's Aunt Marge. I have no doubt that J.K. Rowling once read a bunch of Arthur C. Clarke in her younger days and loved this character.
October 31, 2018
I read this as a pre-teen and remembered the stories fondly, but I didn't understand them in order to truly appreciate Clarke's work. Rereading the shorts as an adult made me realise how much I wasn't able to see as a kid.
Silly humour, wonder, and at times rather plainly absurd, each story in Of Time And Stars is equally great. This collection still remains a favourite on my shelf and one I'm eager to share with my spawns. Clarke's writing makes these stories accessible, though that's of course dependant on each individual, to readers of all ages. And each is character-oriented so immersing into the world is effortless.
Silly humour, wonder, and at times rather plainly absurd, each story in Of Time And Stars is equally great. This collection still remains a favourite on my shelf and one I'm eager to share with my spawns. Clarke's writing makes these stories accessible, though that's of course dependant on each individual, to readers of all ages. And each is character-oriented so immersing into the world is effortless.
December 30, 2018
A series of short stories, written by Clarke throughout the 1950's. There's almost a childlike innocence to a lot of the stories here; cartoonish and quirky and almost always bring a huge smile to the face. The stories range from philosophical, to comedy, to the far areas of Clarke's extraordinary imaginative mind and finally to the short story which finally became 2001: A Space Odyssey.
It's a fun collection of stories; some skipped over my head and lost my interest but others had me gripped and there are many sweet and funny moments. It probably rates more as a 3.5 than a 3 and worth checking out if you like Arthur C. Clarke.
It's a fun collection of stories; some skipped over my head and lost my interest but others had me gripped and there are many sweet and funny moments. It probably rates more as a 3.5 than a 3 and worth checking out if you like Arthur C. Clarke.
July 25, 2018
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The Nine Billion Names of God
All the Time in the World
Encounter at Dawn
The Sentinel
★ ★ ★ ★
Into the Comet
'If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth...'
The Forgotten Enemy
The Reluctant Orchid
Security Check
★ ★ ★
No Morning After
Who's There?
Hide and Seek
Robin Hood, FRS
Feathered Friend
★ ★
An Ape About the House
Green Fingers
Trouble with the Natives
The Nine Billion Names of God
All the Time in the World
Encounter at Dawn
The Sentinel
★ ★ ★ ★
Into the Comet
'If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth...'
The Forgotten Enemy
The Reluctant Orchid
Security Check
★ ★ ★
No Morning After
Who's There?
Hide and Seek
Robin Hood, FRS
Feathered Friend
★ ★
An Ape About the House
Green Fingers
Trouble with the Natives
January 25, 2018
A solid anthology from Clarke. Read this just after reading the Nightfall anthology by Asimov, and I have to admit that this anthology isn't as good as Asimovs but still very enjoyable reading. Recommended for anyone that likes old school SF that retains the sense of wonder :-)
June 9, 2019
Imaginations of an absolute genius! It's astounding to think that ACC came up with these stories more than half a century ago! Such insight into matters of earth and beyond. The book to give to a child to set her/him off into the magical world of sci-fi.
March 12, 2023
A collection of Clarke's early short stories and as you would expect, despite occasional being scientifically dated, they are always thought-provoking and surprising. It includes the iconic Sentinel, which led to 2001. It was an excellent read.
March 6, 2017
wow~~~
it is a book making you really enjoying your reading!
it is a book making you really enjoying your reading!
April 9, 2018
Some of Clarke's best short stories are included here.
November 3, 2018
Mixed bag of short stories, some cute, some too ordinary, some great. A nice short read.
October 30, 2020
克拉克的作品质量当然没问题。可惜现在看来已经过于“古老”了。
December 22, 2020
Light-hearted short stories that seem simple now but may have been forward thinking when they were written in the 50s and 60s.
July 6, 2021
Somewhat hit and miss, as these things tend to be, but there's some genuine gold in here.
August 17, 2021
刚从新华书店买来，正在看。@2013-10-04
《神的九十亿个名字》这则短篇，有种《巴比图书馆》的宏大感。至于对“永恒的工作”得到完成以后的恐怖后果的想象，似乎有种存在主义的诘问的味道——于是一切都无意义（面临毁灭）了。@2021-08-17
《神的九十亿个名字》这则短篇，有种《巴比图书馆》的宏大感。至于对“永恒的工作”得到完成以后的恐怖后果的想象，似乎有种存在主义的诘问的味道——于是一切都无意义（面临毁灭）了。@2021-08-17
September 5, 2021
fghbb
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2022
水准参差不齐。硬科幻无法逃脱时代的局限。但有一些故事讲的相当有意思。
January 2, 2023
2023/01 短篇小说集 多篇都脑洞大开 能看见后来很多其他电影的影子 自序里也不吝说自己的故事改编成了哪些后续的电影
February 6, 2023
I love watching sci-fi movies but for some reason I've never been a big reader of sci-fi books. This book reminded me of what I'm missing out.
December 25, 2023
每天午饭时看一个故事，
还是挺下饭的（双关语）
还是挺下饭的（双关语）
June 4, 2024
Just not a short story kinda guy
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews