Paperback, 189 pages
English language
Published Aug. 13, 1956 by Pan Books.
Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival ends all war, helps form a world government, and turns the planet into a near-utopia. Many questions are asked about the origins and mission of the aliens, but they avoid answering, preferring to remain in their ships, governing through indirect rule. Decades later, the Overlords eventually show themselves, and their impact on human culture leads to a Golden Age. However, the last generation of children on Earth begin to display powerful psychic abilities, heralding their evolution into a group mind, a transcendent form of life.
This is an absolutely outstanding, albeit disturbing, tale of the future. It is simply amazing that it was written in the 1950s. I place it in a category of must read science fiction.
This book holds up fairly well. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe overly heavy prose or a strict adherence to science. But Clarke just tells the story.
Of course there's anachronisms; it was written in 1953. Like the jarring use of the n-word, even though he uses it to express it's silliness. And although superbly advanced, they still use TVs and faxes. Kinda funny.
But he gets the important things right making the extrapolations thoughtful, even to us future-people. Like check this passage where he gets it so wrong (the time) yet perfectly right:
"If you went without sleep and did nothing else, you could follow less than a twentieth of the entertainment that's available at the turn of a switch! No wonder that people are becoming passive sponges--absorbing but never creating. Did you know that the average viewing time per person is now three hours a day?" …
This book holds up fairly well. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe overly heavy prose or a strict adherence to science. But Clarke just tells the story.
Of course there's anachronisms; it was written in 1953. Like the jarring use of the n-word, even though he uses it to express it's silliness. And although superbly advanced, they still use TVs and faxes. Kinda funny.
But he gets the important things right making the extrapolations thoughtful, even to us future-people. Like check this passage where he gets it so wrong (the time) yet perfectly right:
"If you went without sleep and did nothing else, you could follow less than a twentieth of the entertainment that's available at the turn of a switch! No wonder that people are becoming passive sponges--absorbing but never creating. Did you know that the average viewing time per person is now three hours a day?" (3 whole hrs, huh Arthur?)
Worth a read for its scientific journey into the mystical.
