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Childhood's End

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4.09 94,067 ratings
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Without warning, giant silver ships from deep space appear in the skies above every major city on Earth. Manned by the Overlords, in fifty years, they eliminate ignorance, disease, and poverty. Then this golden age ends--and then the age of MankindMoreWithout warning, giant silver ships from deep space appear in the skies above every major city on Earth. Manned by the Overlords, in fifty years, they eliminate ignorance, disease, and poverty. Then this golden age ends--and then the age of Mankind begins.... Less

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rated it it was amazing
11 months ago

I've done a lot of odd jobs over the years. At one point, back before I got my degree and I was still working to put my wife through school, I worked as a delivery driver for a company that sold construction supplies - 50 lb boxes of powdered Kool-Aid, portable generators... Read full review

rated it really liked it
7 months ago

“No utopia can ever give satisfaction to everyone, all the time. As their material conditions improve, men raise their sights and become discontented with power and possessions that once would have seemed beyond their wildest dreams. And even when the external world has g... Read full review

rated it really liked it
over 3 years ago

you think you're so fucken smart, don't you mark? ha, think again. all your little plans and goals, your little community of friends and family and colleagues, your whole little life... what does it matter in the long run? not a whole fucken lot. grow up.

take this book fo... Read full review

rated it it was amazing
3 months ago

Kurt Vonnegut said of Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End that it is one of the few masterpieces in the science fiction genre. Vonnegut went on to say that he, Vonnegut, had written all the others.

As humorous as that is, at least the first clause of that declaration... Read full review

rated it it was ok
over 3 years ago

If science fiction usually treads the fine line between mere speculation and actual scientific feasibilities, then Arthur C. Clarke can be accused of taking a cosmic leap of faith into the realm of highly unrealistic speculation, in this book.

For at least 75% of the narra... Read full review

rated it really liked it
about 3 years ago

From my vast expertise of having read all of two, count them, two, Arthur C. Clarke books, I am seeing a common theme. I don't know if it extends beyond that to his other books, but here it is: The universe is a very, very big place. And humans might just be irrelevant to... Read full review

rated it it was amazing
almost 5 years ago

{Warning: lots of spoilers.}

I read Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End many years ago. I also read it to my son when he was eight. So why did I come back to a book that was originally published in 1953, read it yet again, and feel it necessary to write a review?

What got me... Read full review

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  • The Fountains of Paradise
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  • The City and the Stars
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  • 2061: Odyssey Three (Space Odyssey, #3)
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  • The Garden of Rama (Rama, #3)
    The Garden of Rama
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  • Rama II (Rama, #2)
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Book Details

Mass Market Paperback, 224 pages
Published May 12th 1987 by Del Rey (first published August 1st 1953
ISBN
0345347951 (ISBN13: 9780345347954)
Edition Language
English
Original Title
Childhood's End
Characters
Rikki Stormgren, Karellen, Jan Rodricks
Literary Awards
Hugo Award

About this Author

7779. uy66 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...

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Quotes

Science is the only religion of mankind.
No utopia can ever give satisfaction to everyone, all the time. As their material conditions improve, men raise their sights and become discontented with power and possessions that once would have seemed beyond their wildest dreams. And even when the external world has granted all it can, there still remain the searchings of the mind and the longings of the heart.
There were some things that only time could cure. Evil men could be destroyed, but nothing could be done with good men who were deluded.

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