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Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
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Childhood's End (original 1954; edition 1987)

by Arthur C. Clarke

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
10,148228712 (3.93)329
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:In the Retro Hugo Awardâ??nominated novel that inspired the Syfy miniseries, alien invaders bring peace to Earthâ??at a grave price: "A first-rate tour de force" (The New York Times).

In the near future, enormous silver spaceships appear without warning over mankind's largest cities. They belong to the Overlords, an alien race far superior to humanity in technological development. Their purpose is to dominate Earth. Their demands, however, are surprisingly benevolent: end war, poverty, and cruelty. Their presence, rather than signaling the end of humanity, ushers in a golden age . . . or so it seems.

Without conflict, human culture and progress stagnate. As the years pass, it becomes clear that the Overlords have a hidden agenda for the evolution of the human race that may not be as benevolent as it seems.

"Frighteningly logical, believable, and grimly prophetic . . . Clarke is a master." â??Los Angeles T
… (more)
Member:luke66
Title:Childhood's End
Authors:Arthur C. Clarke
Info:Del Rey Books, Mass Market Paperback, 224 pages
Collections:Your library, Currently reading, To read
Rating:*****
Tags:None

Work Information

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke (1954)

  1. 61
    Nightfall by Isaac Asimov (weener)
  2. 30
    Lilith's Brood by Octavia E. Butler (Medellia)
  3. 20
    The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke (Cecrow)
    Cecrow: Contains the short story upon which Childhood's End is based.
  4. 20
    Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind by Richard Maurice Bucke (bertilak)
  5. 21
    More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon (tootstorm)
    tootstorm: Similar philosophy, stronger writing, & less dated by mid-century sci-fi cliches and ignorance.
  6. 10
    The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven (sturlington)
1950s (58)
Read (54)
Elevenses (251)
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» See also 329 mentions

English (211)  Spanish (5)  Danish (4)  French (2)  Dutch (2)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  Hungarian (1)  All languages (226)
Showing 1-5 of 211 (next | show all)
Not sure how I feel about this one yet! It really captivated me at moments but I am not sure if the total delivery worked for me.
  raccoonpriest | Jan 26, 2024 |
(1953)In the near future, enormous silver spaceships appear without warning over mankind's largest cities. They belong to the Overlords, an alien race far superior to humanity in technological development-and their purpose is to dominate the Earth. Their demands, however, are surprisingly beneficial-end war, poverty, and cruelty. Their presence, rather than signaling the end of humanity, ushers in a golden age-or so it seems.But it comes at a price. Without conflict, humanity ceases to work toward creative achievement, and culture stagnates. And as the years pass, it becomes more and more clear that the Overlords have a hidden agenda for the evolution of the human race-that may not be as beneficial as it seems.Originally published in 1953, Childhood's End is Clarke's first successful novel-and is considered a classic of science fiction literature. Its dominating theme of transcendent evolution appears in many of Clarke's later works, including the Space Odyssey series. In 2004, the book was nominated for the Retro Hugo Award for Best Novel.
  derailer | Jan 25, 2024 |
A fascinating book, with an ending that was completely unexpected. The 2nd half of the book is better than the first. I won’t spoil it, but the last act turned this from a three-star to a four-star experience for me.

It’s dated, and lacks any meaningful female characters. Infused with the sensibilities of the time in which it was written, it’s still worth reading. ( )
  amackera | Dec 28, 2023 |
The two most powerful nations on Earth are reaching for the stars when suddenly the stars reach down, and everyone waits. Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke is one of the most important novels of “the golden age of science fiction” with its surprising twist and interesting ending.

Given the time the book was published and how Clarke projected the “future” timeframe that the story took place, it didn’t hurt the overall story. The benevolent alien contact trope, but with a unique hidden agenda twist was good as well. The surprise twist of the appearance of the aliens was cool, though the later explanation at the end about how their appearance was ingrained in human consciousness was disappointing though it went with the ending of the book. Clarke’s point-of-view characters were a bit flat just there to move the narrative along, which overall was fine. Yet it was Clarke’s prologue for the 1990 edition—which I read—unfortunately undermined the story even before I had begun that I wish that Clark had decided to make it an epilogue. Overall, I thought this novel was okay, I wasn’t dissuaded from reading other of Clarke’s works.

Childhood’s End is one of science fiction’s most important works from its golden age and put Arthur C. Clarke on the literary map. ( )
  mattries37315 | Dec 8, 2023 |
So good. So, so good ( )
  LibraryJamesMac | Nov 16, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 211 (next | show all)
I'm not sure Childhood's End is the first book my dad gave me, but it was one of the first, and it's certainly the one I remember most vividly. And it's probably a book that changed my life.
added by RBeffa | editDaily Kos, DOM9000 (Jul 8, 2011)
 

» Add other authors (22 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Clarke, Arthur C.primary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bacon, C.W.Cover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bing, JonForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bringsværd, Tor ÅgeForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Crezée, MarionCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Csernus, TiborCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Deutsch, MichelTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ellis, DeanCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fernandes, StanislawCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Haars, PeterCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hollander-Lossow, Else vonTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kempen, BernhardTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Löbler, RuudTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Monicelli, GiorgioTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Powers, Richard M.Cover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ratzkin, LawrenceCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Sawyer, Robert J.Narratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Schjelderup, DaisyTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Stevenson, DavidCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Summerer, Eric MichaelNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Whelan, MichaelCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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The opinions expressed in this book are not those of the author.
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The volcano that had reared Taratua up from the Pacific depths had been sleeping now for half a million years. (Original)
Before she flew to the launch site, Helena Lyakhov always went through the same ritual.  (1989 Updated Version)
Quotations
This was the moment when history held its breath, and the present sheared asunder from the past as an iceberg splits from its parent cliffs, and goes sailing out to sea in lonely pride. All that the past ages had achieved was as nothing now; only one thought echoed and re-echoed through Mohan's brain: The human race was no longer alone.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:In the Retro Hugo Awardâ??nominated novel that inspired the Syfy miniseries, alien invaders bring peace to Earthâ??at a grave price: "A first-rate tour de force" (The New York Times).

In the near future, enormous silver spaceships appear without warning over mankind's largest cities. They belong to the Overlords, an alien race far superior to humanity in technological development. Their purpose is to dominate Earth. Their demands, however, are surprisingly benevolent: end war, poverty, and cruelty. Their presence, rather than signaling the end of humanity, ushers in a golden age . . . or so it seems.

Without conflict, human culture and progress stagnate. As the years pass, it becomes clear that the Overlords have a hidden agenda for the evolution of the human race that may not be as benevolent as it seems.

"Frighteningly logical, believable, and grimly prophetic . . . Clarke is a master." â??Los Angeles T

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Fine del XX secolo: misteriosi alieni detti "i Superni" impongono la fine di ogni ostilitĂ  sulla Terra, che inizia una vera e propria EtĂ  dell'oro. Ma Ian Rodricks, inquieto astrofisico, riesce a giungere clandestinamente il pianeta di origine dei Superni e scopre un'amara veritĂ  sul loro mondo e sulla loro civiltĂ  che coinvolge anche il destino della Terra...
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