The Songs of Distant Earth

by Arthur C. Clarke

Hardcover, 1986

Status

Available

Call number

F Cla

Call number

F Cla

Barcode

595

Publication

Ballantine Del Rey (1986), Edition: 1st, 256 pages

Description

The paradise of Thalassa is threatened by an evolutionary event brewing beneath the calm seas and by a spacecraft of refugees hovering in orbit above the planet. The arrival of a spaceship from Earth--destroyed when its sun went nova--carrying five million Earthlings in suspended animation, as well as an uncensored cultural record of Earth, threatens to destroy the paradisiacal planet of Thalassa.

Original publication date

1986

User reviews

LibraryThing member Audacity88
Clarke's intent, as stated in his preface, is partly to "creat[ing] a wholly realistic piece of fiction on the interstellar theme" - as compared to Star Trek and Star Wars, which, because of their reliance upon faster-than-light travel, are not truly science fiction. In this, Clarke
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succeds.

However, he fails to create characters or a society that are consistently interesting enough to emerge from this backdrop of realism. Clarke is a strong writer and thinker, and I frequently came upon passages worth underlining. But upon finishing the novel I did not feel that sweet sadness that comes from bidding farewell to a world so vivid that it felt real. Perhaps realism is not enough: the characters in Star Wars, despite doing impossible things, come to life in a way that the people of Magellan and θαλασσα do not.
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LibraryThing member edspicer
It was a very detailed, well-written book. It gives a possibility of what might be the future of the human race hundreds of years from now. It might get confusing at some points, and you may have to look back a little, but you will never regret reading this book.
5Q, 3P
This book is best suited for
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highschoolers and adults.
It was selected after hearing about the author, and because of the intriguing title. (It gives a hint that the story doesn't take place on earth, a science fiction novel.)
Grade (of reviewer): 9th
(TH-AHS-NC)
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LibraryThing member sf_addict
An unusual one from clarke, somewhat like a Science Fantasy rather than pure SF, a bit like Anne McCaffrey I guess.
LibraryThing member nm.sprin08.A.Palmer
On an isolated world of peaceful oceans, they never expected to see the sight that day, now are the people really leaving, or are they here to stay?
LibraryThing member Darla
Not a bad story about humans colonizing other planets, and an encounter between those from the first wave and those from the last wave, but nothing much happens. And I admit, I was turned off by the author's note at the beginning of the book which pretty much said that everybody else claiming to
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write science fiction is really writing fantasy, and he's the only one who writes real science fiction. Get over yourself, already. Bah.
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LibraryThing member brakketh
I quite enjoyed reading this book about the end of the earth and some of the possible settlement strategies that might be realistically attempted. I am not sure that I agree with Clarke that it is necessary to stick strictly to science to write science fiction. I found that this made the book a
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little dull at times. My favorite parts were around the interaction between the two human cultures.
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LibraryThing member cbradley
A quick read and an interesting story about colonization. I thought it was a decently good book exploring some of the issues we will face when we go out and colonize other worlds. Books like these only prove Clarke’s genius and storytelling imagination.
LibraryThing member rodrichards
Revisiting Clarke upon the news of his death, and also in preparation for a sermon on humanism. Not his best, but the chapter: Whatever Gods May Be... is worth the price of admission.
LibraryThing member Farree
A reasonably well written story by Clarke (my favorites are "The City and the Stars" and "Childhood's End.") Do check out Mike Oldfield's CD "The Songs of Distant Earth," which is based on this story. If you want to know more about the planet portrayed, I suggest Jack Vance's "Blue World."
LibraryThing member Jasignature
A very relaxing and idyllic story. Can't help but enjoy Arthur's slant upon a flighty American visiting a nice place here in Oceania. Great cover and title. This is one of those novels that hits the 'sweet spot' which stands the test of time and beyond the realm of just Arthur C.Clarke and
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Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans.
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LibraryThing member www.snigel.nu
One of my Arthur C. Clarke favourites. I love the feeling of melancholy induced by far of Earth, and the dilemma of the spaceship which arrives on a paradise world where they cannot stay.
LibraryThing member jandm
This book was recommended to me as being a sci-fi novel that (amongst other things) explores the implications of a post-God society, I found it didn't do that. It offered two lines of reason why most of the world had effectively 'deprecated' God; first from the usual simplistic and debatable line
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that religion caused more problems in the world than good. The second was at least slightly more creative, suggesting that the field of "statistical theology" grew up, which would show that there was just not enough scientific evidence for an involved "Alpha" (personal) Deity. This But it was interesting to note that this society couldn't deal with the question of whether an "Omega" (Creator) Deity existed, as that couldn't be tested.

So, disappointingly close to the current trend for scientism, not understanding that there's more to the world than scientific explanations and tests.

However, this was in most other ways an excellent read, with a more emotionally rich exploration than I was expecting of the highs and lows of contact with this similar race of people "from the stars". And suggesting what would happen to earth's society should the time come when our Sun would be known to be a few centuries away from exploding.
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LibraryThing member CharityBradford
Well written, engaging and intriguing as always, but it just ended. *sigh* I like my books wrapped up in neat little packages at the end.
LibraryThing member chesbet
great book. very inspiring
LibraryThing member bibleblaster
Revisiting Clarke upon the news of his death, and also in preparation for a sermon on humanism. Not his best, but the chapter: Whatever Gods May Be... is worth the price of admission.
LibraryThing member unclebob53703
Very good story of what might happen if Earth colonizes the stars. A great example of him taking a lofty idea and breaking it down into real people you can relate to.
LibraryThing member DLMorrese
Despite Earth being destroyed, this is a very nice piece of positive science fiction.
LibraryThing member helver
The spaceship Magellan left Earth mere days before its destruction, taking with it Earth's last best minds and those with whom another planet could best be colonized. It's initial target was the planet Thalassa - one of the earliest colonization targets - but one that had fallen out of contact with
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earth several centuries before. Imagine the new colonists surprise when they found a whole world of existing colonists, happily living their lives. Questions abound. Do they stay, or do they go on to their secondary target; another 300 years away? Do they pass along additional information to the colonists? Do they hide knowledge and concepts that had caused pain and damage to Earth?

Interesting questions, all. Makes some references to the Space Elevators describe in more detail in [Fountains of Paradise].
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LibraryThing member Razinha
Light and shallow, yet thought-provoking (that's not an oxymoron) far future fantasy fiction. I think he had more faith in a utopian possibility for human reason prevailing over irrationality than I do (that's why it's more fantasy than sci-fi), but it was still a nice read.
LibraryThing member expatscot
It's Clarke, what more needs to be said?

The set-up is reasonable, the story simple in its own way, but the ideas, the concepts, simply drift in effortlessly in page after page after page.
LibraryThing member santhony
Arthur C. Clarke is widely regarded as one of the pioneer writers of science fiction from the classical period of that genre, along with others such as Asimov, Herbert and Heinlein. His novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey, was a landmark in not only science fiction writing, but film making as well. This
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novel, The Songs of Distant Earth, while not at the level of A Space Odyssey, is considered one of his better works.

I recently had the occasion to reread Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novel. I was somewhat surprised at its simplicity as compared to recent science fiction from such authors as Cixin Lui, Neil Stephenson and Peter Hamilton. When departing for a short hunting trip, I grabbed this paperback book off the shelf for easy reading material on the trip and came away with a similar experience.

This is a very short book. Though near 300 pages, many of the chapters are only 3-4 pages in length, resulting in a lot of empty pages. It is readable in one 4-6 hour sitting. While the story is not without some interest, it is hardly original or remarkable in any way.

The Sun is failing and life on Earth is doomed. Seedships, carrying robots and genetic material are dispersed throughout the galaxy in an attempt to maintain the human race. One of these early seedships colonizes the planet Thalassa. Hundreds of years later, the last humans from the planet Earth arrive in Thalassa, aided by subsequently developed technology. They are on their way to another star system, hundreds of years away. The book deals with relations between the two groups along with conflict that arises within the crew of the ship. Again, not bad, easy reading, just not remarkable in any way.

After having had the same experience with other work by generally well regarded “masters” of the craft, I am left with the conclusion that much of what passed for classic science fiction from the mid-20th century simply doesn’t measure up to the current generation of writers in the genre. Frank Herbert’s Dune may be an exception, but the work of Clarke, Asimov and Heinlein simply hasn’t aged nearly as well. If anything, it can be relegated to a YA audience.
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LibraryThing member Noeshia
I want a sequel?
While on the one hand there were some parts that dragged at me and made me wonder where the plot was, the ones that had plot I recognized say that it was cut short, and that there is so much more to the story. I feel like the wandering bits made it more realistic, for sure, so I'm
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not upset with them. I just don't want to be wrenched out of the story so quickly, when there is still so much more to say.
Anyway, this is a great science fiction story about how people deal with the end of their solar system. It also shows how cultures separated by some time may develop and eventually interact. The social aspect really got to me, so I really enjoyed it.
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LibraryThing member TJCams
This was a book I had wanted to read for quite some time, and thankfully I found this at a closing sale at a bookstore in metro Detroit.

Clarke is fascinating to me, in that he uses real science ( at least real concepts ) in his stories, and keeps away from making every sci-fi book into a war. His
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philosophical stance may offend some, but this also makes reading him that much more enjoyable for me.

This is a very quick read, with short chapters, and deals with a group of people who have left Earth as it was about to be consumed by the sun (This will actually happen one day!). In anticipation of this event, mankind has sent out probes to "seed" other planets that may support life. One planet (Thalassa) was seeded, and human life has evolved in it's own way. One day a ship arrives in the skies of Thalassa bearing the last of life that actually lived on Earth.

The book goes on about the relationship between the earthings and Thalassans.

One can say this book as a "first contact" story, as well as an insight to possible "escape a dying Earth" story.
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LibraryThing member andyray
i like the way Clarke structured this book, using little chapters to change POVS. This way he gets in a lot more complications with a paucity of effort. and it continues to hold interest, too.
LibraryThing member burritapal
One of the best sci-fi books I've read. It's thought-provoking and full of good vibes. A ship bound from the now-destroyed earth comes to a planet where one of Earth's seedships had landed 7 centuries ago. Mostly a water-world, these people are happily settled. Ship Magellan has crossed 50 light
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years, stopping at planet Thalassa to pick up some water from their ocean. The exchange of technology and culture is a delight to experience through the eyes of Clarke's well-written characters. My favorite part is the explanation of god that one of Clarke's characters gives:
" 'the trouble with the word god,' he began slowly, 'is that it never meant the same thing to any two people - especially if they were philosophers. that's why it slowly dropped out of use during the third millennium except as an expletive--in some cultures, too obscene for polite use.
'instead, it was replaced by a whole constellation of specialized words. This at least stopped people arguing at cross-purposes, which caused 90% of the trouble in the past.
'The personal God, sometimes called God One, became Alpha. It was the hypothetical entity supposed to watch over the affairs of everyday life - every individual, every animal!--and to reward good and punish evil, usually in a vaguely described existence after death. You worshipped Alpha, prayed to it, carried out elaborate religious ceremonies, and built huge churches in its honor...
'then there was The God who created the universe and might or might not have had anything to do with it since then. That was Omega. By the time they'd finished dissecting God, the philosophers has used up all the other 20 or so letters of the ancient Greek alphabet, but Alpha and Omega will do very nicely for this morning. I'd guess that not more than 10 billion man years were ever spent discussing them.' "

He goes on with more explanation of what happened to god...pages 254-259, 1986 paperback Serendib BV edition.
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Rating

½ (593 ratings; 3.7)

Pages

256
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