You will think about ideas in this book long after you finish it

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	• Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke Del Rey, 1987 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 283 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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.

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You will think about ideas in this book long after you finish it

Arthur C. Clarke was a master of science fiction and Childhood's End shows it.

This book will leave you thinking about heavy concepts long after you finish it.

I highly recommend this book.

--Guy P. Harrison, author of 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God

I also recommend:

Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds!: Collected Essays, 1934-1998

Foundation (Foundation Novels)

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One Of Clarke's Best

Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - 2008) is one of the masters of the genre of Science Fiction from its golden age. Though undoubtedly best known for "2001: A Space Odyssey", there are numerous other works of his which should be on every fan of science fiction's reading list. "Childhood's End" is one of those books. This book deals with concepts such as the utopian society, individuality, a `hive mind", and much more. This novel grew out of a short story titled "Guardian Angel" which was published in 1950 ("Famous Fantastic Mysteries"). The original novel was written in February through December of 1952 and was published on August 24th of 1953 by Ballentine. The text which I am reviewing includes a new chapter (or prolog) which was added in 1990, replacing the original.

When "Childhood's End" was first published, it included a disclaimer "The opinions expressed in this book are not those of the author". Though certainly an odd statement, it did have its purpose as Clarke explains in his introduction. After publishing "The Exploration of Space" he felt that people would be confused by a book expressing the idea that "The stars are not meant for man" which is not only in opposition to the book he had just published, but in many ways is the opposite of most of his works which express an opinion in that area.

The story is told in three parts. The first section is titled "Earth and the Overlords". The original prolog had the United States and the Soviet Union both on the verge of creating nuclear powered spaceships for space exploration venture when a fleet of alien spaceships appear over all the major cities of the world. Reinhold is the main scientist for the U.S., and Konrad Schneider is the USSR's lead scientist. The new prolog replaces that with Earth starting the 21st century by proclaiming it the Century of the Solar System with mankind on the verge of visiting the other planets when the Overlord fleet arrives.

The story then picks up five years down the road, with the overlords firmly in control of Earth, but with people becoming more and more restless about the still unseen Overlords and specifically the Supervisor, Karellen. Secretary General Stormgren is the only one who has even been able to talk to the Overlords, as he meets with Karellen on the Overlords' ship, but he sits in a room with what he thinks is a view screen and is only allowed to talk to Karellen. When his time as Secretary General is coming to an end, Stormgren is kidnapped and finds that he has been used as bait by Karellen to find the leaders of those who are opposed to Earth allowing the Overlords to control humanity. Stormgren then comes up with his own plot, to find out what the Overlords look like, with or without their permission.

The second section is titled "The Golden Age" and starts with the Overlords allowing at last humanity to see what they look like. This is also the golden age on Earth. Humanity has evolved and put aside many of its prejudices and superstitions and with the help of the Overlords has attained new heights in almost every scientific area. This is man's second shot at the paradise. Will man be cast out of the Garden of Eden again? This time the apple is the exploration of the stars, and Adam is in the form of Jan Rodricks, who learns the location of the Overlords home star, and attempts to stowaway on one of their ships to find out more about their home world and the Overlords themselves. Clarke borrows from the story of Jonah and the whale in this story, to add to some of the biblical allusions.

The last section is titled "The Last Generation", and this section reveals the Overlords real purpose, which is to guard over and guide the evolution of man into what mankind will evolve into. It is also revealed that the Overlords themselves are fated to advance no further. The message for the rest of humanity is not so wonderful though, as they are fated to be the last generation. Their entire purpose was to be the caterpillar for the butterfly that is to be man's evolution. There are theological motifs played out as well, for what are the Angels (Overlords) in relation to humanity? Mankind was made in the image of God, while the Angels are the servants. Jan Rodricks returns to Earth and do to time dilation and the psychological effects on the world, he is alone as the last human in existence, able to observe the Overlords observing what man has become.

This novel has many thinking points. Is it better to be a member of a species which will evolve, but your own species is but a stepping stone to that higher level, or to be a member of a species which is stagnant, force to watch and serve those who are more advanced? Clearly Clarke prefers the latter, but there is a certain sadness to know that all that one accomplishes is meaningless with the exception of one's descendents. There is also the question of what the real fate is of humanity's child, does it really partner with the Overlords master as they say? How would they really know? This is science fiction at its best, an engaging story which keeps the reader thinking while reading as well as after finishing.

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Brilliant

I actually bought this the day ACC died, and what a legacy this man left behind. This novel actually adresses racial issues. For it's time, I'm impressed with the ethnic diversity represented here. I love a book that gets me thinking, and this is no exception. What happens when an alien race solves all of humanities problems, or so we think? Unless you're getting this book for a short plane ride or a trip to the beach, your money might be better spent getting this as part of a Clarke collection, because it's so short...a mere 212 pages. An interesting fact I didn't realize about this book was the influence it had on the V television series, which I hear is coming back to film or TV after 20 years of obscurity (Part II). This novel is fascinating, keeping in mind this was originally published in 1953.

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Wow

This is an amazing, shocking book. Like 2001 the movie(and it's inspiration-Clarke's story "The Sentinel"), man encounters alien civilization in a way that is far more fascinating and original than the typical invasion story. I don't won't to say too much. That could ruin the story. This might be the best science fiction book(and one of the best in general) I have ever read. The only slight problem I see is that traces of anachronism are presented in the book-originally published in the 50's. Clark tried to update it a bit 40 years later, but some of the age still shows. That is only a minor concern. The story is so powerful and excellent that one little dirt speck can't ruin its overall luster

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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 Mankind begins....

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