From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

Childhood’s End

Arthur C. Clarke

Start date: December 1, 2016

Finish date: December 25, 2016

Discussion: Book Discussions

Why we're reading this: Group Classic sf novel discussion topic December 2016
#49 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 p…more
[close] Group Classic sf novel discussion topic December 2016
#49 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...
#14 on Locus Magazines Best SciFi novels of the 20th century http://www.locusmag.com/2012/AllCentu...

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What Members Thought

Dec 10, 2015 Michael rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2015, science-fiction

One of my big complaints about the current state of science-fiction and fantasy is the overwhelming need to make EVERY single concept into a trilogy or on-going series.

Which is what makes going back to the classics of the genre such a pleasure.

Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End is one of the most economic genre novels ever published. But I'd argue that the novel packs more ideas and punch into its two hundred pages than some on-going series have packed into their thousand plus (and counting) p One of my big complaints about the current state of science-fiction and fantasy is the overwhelming need to make EVERY single concept into a trilogy or on-going series.

Which is what makes going back to the classics of the genre such a pleasure.

Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End is one of the most economic genre novels ever published. But I'd argue that the novel packs more ideas and punch into its two hundred pages than some on-going series have packed into their thousand plus (and counting) pages.

In many ways, Clarke created the mythology of the alien invasion. The Overlords arrive in ships that hover over the greatest cities on Earth, saying that they are here to help humanity. The Overlords put an end to petty conflicts and help point humanity toward a better tomorrow -- but there could be a price to it all. They refuse to allow human beings to see them as they really are for the first fifty years of their overseeing our world. Instead, a single human is chosen as the intermediary for humans and Overlords.

Interestingly the plot I've described there only encompasses the first twenty-five or so pages of the novel. There are ideas galore packed into this one and Clarke quickly throws out one after the other, leaving it up to the reader to ponder the implications of them fully. Like many novels of this era, Childhood's End is full of big and exciting ideas. But it's not necessarily full of interesting, well-rounded or even the most dynamic characters. If you're looking for deep character development, you may need to look elsewhere. The characters aren't deep and they aren't necessarily the point of the novel.

Instead, it's the idea of a superior alien race showing up and trying to offer humanity a better way and how we react to it that is at the heart of this novel. Clarke attempts to debunk religions (not entirely successfully -- at least to this reader) as well as try to show humanity there is a better way to live and co-exist on our planet.

But what is really most remarkable about this book is how many touchstones of the alien invasion mythology spring from this text. As Clarke says in his introduction, Independence Day borrows much of the set-up of this book, if not necessarily the conclusion and certain revelations that are to come. The Overlords aren't here to blow up major structures across the world and unite humanity in a fight against a common foe. But they are here to unite us for an entirely different purpose.

If you haven't read this one in a while or you've never read it, I recommend giving it a try. SyFy recently aired their mini-series adaptation of the novel, updated and changing certain things and trying to make it a bit more character driven. It wasn't quite as successful an adaptation as it could have been. But my hope is that it will create curiosity among viewers to explore the original vision that Clarke gave us many years ago. ...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Nuno Ribeiro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, favoritos, ebooks, distopia

Um dos livros que mais gostei de Arthur C. Clarke é o clássico "Childhood's End" onde o autor nos brinda com uma autêntica visão do próximo passo evolutivo para a espécie humana. Trata-se de uma narrativa épica onde Clarke explora com muito rigor científico as propriedades da dilatação temporal da Teoria da Relatividade de Einstein para nos brindar com uma descrição de um futuro em que o Ser Humano é confrontado com as responsabilidades que deve assumir ao evoluir, como espécie, da fase infantil ...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Mark Yashar rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I read this book years and years ago. I remember being completely blown away by it at the time. I've always wanted to
re-read it but never got around to it. I believe that it was one of the inspirations to the "Independence Day" movie (starring
Will Smith), and I've also read and heard the Clarke was experimenting with psychedelics when he wrote this book... I remember
being fascinated by the Overlords... I really need to re-read this ... ...more

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Feb 03, 2015 Srinivas Kowtal rated it it was ok

***SPOILER AHEAD***

Loved the first part. But second part was not that great. Anyway I don't like novels that end with earth being consumed and humanity wiped out. Why should all other species on earth pay the price for the next stage of humanity? That at least tells me that the overmind cares not one iota about other forms of life. ...more

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