Childhood's End (Del Rey Impact) - Arthur C. Clarke

A true classic

Old fashion Sci-Fi by one of the titans of the genre, Childhood's End keeps you guessing. It's not the typical story about aliens coming to earth and dominating man you might be expecting. It delves into the deeper issues of mankind's future and place in the universe with an interesting array of characters and situations.

Most books aren't much of a surprise; you pretty much know what's going to happen ahead of time, not true here. I loved the story, and couldn't put the book down. Clarke hasn't been considered a master of Sci-Fi for nothing, and here he's at his best.

An imaginative story that's very well written, it's a short book at 212 pages, and a quick read, making it a must for any Sci-Fi fan.

Solid

Childhood's End is 1 of the earliest novels in the oeuvre of Arthur C. Clarke, & 1 of his best. 1 of the interesting things about reviewing very successful works long after their debut is how their very success can sometimes make the work seem less than it originally was. This is because the success of its themes, images, or narrative become so copied that they become clichéd. Such is the case with CE's opening. Giant spaceships arrive at earth, hover over the major cities of the world & issue ultimata. Is it the film Independence Day? Is it the tv miniseries V? No, but now you know where they got their openings....On a higher level there is the notion that what ACC propunds in this book is sharply contradicted by his own later stated beliefs- such as the tragedy he sees as being the hijacking of morality by organized religion. ACC seems to embrace psi phenomena, as well his repudiation of irrational religion. The original editions of this book featured a disclaimer from ACC stating he did not necessarily endorse the book's views- i.e.- that the irrational is a seductive force that will ultimately save (or doom?) mankind. Despite the seeming happy ending the destruction of homo sapiens, the fact that it was not allowed its natural evolution, simply to appease some super-powerful entity, is not what all would see as a positive. In a sense, the book can be seen as a Cold War fable (1st published in 1953)- a screed against Communism, which offered paradise on earth. The Overmind ends up destroying the planet, yet the reader never really gets a glimpse of what awaits. It could all be a hoax- the Overmind just a psychic predator feasting on the willingly gullible human spirit. Karellan states, `The stars are not for Man.' & by book's end we take it to mean that he meant mankind's disembodied descendants would reach the stars, not man. Yet, there is still the nagging feeling that humanity was flushed down a cosmic storm drain, & the more obvious meaning of Karellan's charge is the most apt.

Yet, ACC suggests that such skepticism is the result of our linear, physical minds- & that is the point of his tale. A final point is that the novel works as both a historical marker, & a still relevant treatise on human nature- whether you buy its premises & conclusions is another matter.

Dissatisfied Customer

Book was delayed and took about 3 weeks to receive. Condition of book was much worse than described - the binding was broken and pages were falling out - it was described as good condition - but was really in very worn condition. Disatisfied!

Moving Sci-Fi work

What seemed like an ordinary tale of aliens descending upon Earth to take over, turned into a profound work of humanities struggle, not physically, but mentally, with their interactions with their "overlords." Rather than looking at a stereotypical perspective of Aliens raging war with humans, Clarke creates the story of different individuals and their attempts with facing a world of monotony and routine, without individualism. Clarke exceeds the realm of sci-fi by looking at what it means to be a human. Great read.

A feel-good doomsday scenario

I have read many of the latter works by Clarke, and I find them imaginative, intelligent and thought-provoking. So when I turned my attention to some of his early works, Childhood's End came very highly recommended, and I'm glad to say it lives up to almost all its high praise.

Though presented as a novel, this could easily be three short stories, dealing with three different subjects: contact, utopia and apocalypse. In fact, the book is divided into three parts, which are bound together by a century of life on Earth following humanity's first contact with an alien race called the Overlords. The first two parts are vintage Clarke: a chilling and suspenseful depiction of first encounter laced with clues that will keep any reader guessing at just what might come next and who are these "benevolent" Overlords. The second part describes a utopia that for all intents and purposes has humanity feeling content with itself. As with all utopias in science fiction, we know what to expect next... and do we ever get it.

[Spoilers]
However it is here that the story takes a strange and anti-climatic twist. In short, all that was obtained by the grace of the Overlords, all of mankind's population, and even the Earth itself is entirely eradicated simply to fuel the next evolutionary step for humanity. On one end Clarke, stresses the fact that humans are quite insignificant and not "meant of the stars" and yet just a few pages later mankind's offspring can gobble up their home planet while undergoing their ascendance to the next plane of existence. Not only has this evolutionary step no biological basis, but it is heavily steeped with religious and paranormal implication, the first of which were summarily denied in the first part of the book by the Overlords. Despite all the hints and clues that Clarke purposefully scatters throughout the book about the Overlords, their appearance, and their true intentions, in the end it is humans themselves who inevitably destroy everything; not because of misguided intentions or horrendous mistakes, but simply to fulfill their destiny. The author heavily emphasizes that this is a good way to go, but I find many logical pitfalls in this conclusion. Besides the ones listed above, another glaring one is the destruction of the Earth and all its life, which could have produced other species that eventually become capable of reaching this much-desired enlightenment that humans attained. Clarke gets most of these problems sorted out by his later works, but Childhood's End, while being very imaginative is very raw and heavily influenced by the general outlook and political mind-set of its decade.

A classic worthy of reading? Certainly.

But a masterpiece?...not quite.