Not up to Clarke's standard. Must be mainly written by Baxter. Do not recommend it!

The French-translation is pretty good and give a nice touch to the book. I'm pretty sure that the role of the translator often become an additional author of the book. On the story itself, the idea is clever. The rhythm is pretty good (beside being a large book) and the idea of the "quantum" viewer is really great. The only drawback is the soap-like story with the protagonists in the story. A really good work and an easy catch for sci-fi fans. ( )

Unlike other reviewers who seem less than enthused about this recently reissued collaboration between Arthur Clarke and Stephen Baxter, I found the Light of Other Days to be a good story and a fascinating play on the development of some almost believable new technology. The technology in question is the development of "wormcams", based on navigable worm holes that can eventually be used to view scenes anywhere in space or time past. I like the science, because it is based on a concept of time I can accept - the past is an immutable block universe left behind as it is generated by the quantum foam of the possibilities of the progression of present instants, on the growing surface. In this the future doesn't exist until activity occurs in the present. The authors don't spend a lot of time presenting this concept, but it provides a believable matrix for developments.

The scenario extends from the first development of the technology through its perfection as a commodity tool for spying on anyone anywhere and available to anyone, and the associated total loss of personal privacy. The characters involve a lady investigative journalist, the media mogul who funded the technology and its commercialization, his two sons and a few other characters.

Of all the Clarke/Baxter collaborations I have read, this probably has the best human characterizations and plot development. Very definitely a good read for anyone who likes technology-based sci-fi. ( )

Too much attention was paid to the main characters' soap opera relationships and not enough attention was paid to the revolutionary possibilities of the technology and its effects on the world. A very interesting concept with relatively poor execution. ( )

This book starts out in an interesting and effective manner. The marks of good storytelling leave you expecting that this is more than Clarke just slapping his name, once again, on another man's work. Unfortunately, the story quickly spins out of control, trying to combine too many plots, ideas, and styles without ever leading to a believable or satisfying conclusion. As an interesting look at the death of privacy, it does pretty well. As an interesting story, in and of itself, it does much more poorly. ( )

A rather bizarre (and not all that important) plot built around the effect upon the world of the invention of 'wormcams' - tiny wormholes that allow viewing of the past (or present). Privacy ends, religions are thrown into turmoil, history merges with psychology, crimes long since forgotten are re-opened...I find this concept particularly fascinating, and it's stuck with me since I read the book some years ago. The idea of a completely open society, where privacy is simply impossible, is thought-provoking - would the first generation born into it actually care? Would I? ( )

Novel about the consequences of the invention of the "wormcam," an invisibly small quantum device that allows one to see and hear any event anywhere, now or at any time in the past. Now, if you think the *Internet* is a threat to privacy, ...

A collaboration with Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, fascinating and ambitious - perhaps a tad too ambitious; the authors have too many irons in this particular fire, with insufficient delving into each one. The premise, an intriguing one, is that of a new invention, which allows the user to see, and eventually hear, any event anywhere on the globe (and ultimately far through space). The invention's scope is later widened to events of the past, with ever-increasing boundaries. What this means, of course, is the death of privacy. The book is overshadowed throughout by the knowledge that a giant comet will destroy all life on Earth in 500 years. I suspect that Clarke mapped out the premise and implications, and let Baxter run with the characters and their stories - which was never Clarke's strong suit, anyway. This is a fascinating (I said that already, didn't I?) idea that I wish had been dealt with in a more leisurely fashion, without the giant comet thrown in. Still a good read, though. ( )

Epilogue is cliche. ( )

It's been a while since I've read this - I haven't since it was first released in 2000.

Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter are two of the preeminent hard sf authors in the sf genre. And when they put their heads together, they do certainly come up with interesting ideas.

The Light of Other Days is based on the idea that tiny wormholes can be used to see anything, anyone, at any time - and the social consequences of that kind of information. It's the complete end of privacy and a lot of our beliefs about history. Eventually it's developed to the point that we can network our minds together, and even achieve a kind of immortality.

I don't remember many of the details of the characters or plot; but the idea of the transparent society which they created still sticks with me, that's why it gets the high rating from me. ( )