Status
Available
Call number
Call number
F Cla
Collection
Publication
Del Rey (1987), Edition: First Thus
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:In the Retro Hugo Award�??nominated novel that inspired the Syfy miniseries, alien invaders bring peace to Earth�??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." �??Los Angeles T… (more)
Media reviews
Daily Kos
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.
Original publication date
1954
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member sturlington
Written during what I like to call the "macho science fiction" period, Clarke's classic novel suffers from the same issues as many of his contemporaries, i.e., stilted 1950s-era dialogue and female characters who, when they do appear, are flat stereotypes who are ultimately inconsequential. But we
Aliens suddenly arrive at Earth just as we are ramping up the space race, aliens that are clearly so much more advanced technologically and so much more powerful than we are, that the human race basically lays down all our weapons and calls it a day. Thus, the aliens -- or the Overlords, as we call them -- usher in a golden age of peace and prosperity (and some boredom) for all mankind. No one wants for anything, and there is no war, so maybe it doesn't matter that original art and music and scientific innovation have also largely disappeared. Still the unspoken question is: What do the aliens really want? What are their ultimate goals for mankind? The outcome is surprising and crosses into uncertain moral territory. This is a compelling early work of science fiction that all fans of the genre should read.
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can forgive those failings because this is a seminal "first contact" novel, one that spawned a sub-genre.Aliens suddenly arrive at Earth just as we are ramping up the space race, aliens that are clearly so much more advanced technologically and so much more powerful than we are, that the human race basically lays down all our weapons and calls it a day. Thus, the aliens -- or the Overlords, as we call them -- usher in a golden age of peace and prosperity (and some boredom) for all mankind. No one wants for anything, and there is no war, so maybe it doesn't matter that original art and music and scientific innovation have also largely disappeared. Still the unspoken question is: What do the aliens really want? What are their ultimate goals for mankind? The outcome is surprising and crosses into uncertain moral territory. This is a compelling early work of science fiction that all fans of the genre should read.
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LibraryThing member antao
“No one of intelligence resents the inevitable.”
In “Childhood’s End” by Arthur C. Clarke
One of my favourite long novel is `Childhoods End`, but commenting on it without revealing the ending is difficult. That is the whole point after all, but still, think the early 80`s TV mini
What if humanity was a Caterpillar, ugly and slow but with vast potential, the aliens were more advanced Caterpillars, but that is as far as they will ever go. Their job is to help humanity reach a level they can only ever envy and dream of. Humanity has the potential they so lack, it can metamorphise into a Butterfly of stunning beauty and infinite future. That is the entire story; what is wonderful for the species however may not be so great for it`s members; change can be very painful and even devastating: Basically, humans die, Humanity goes to the `next level`.
Where Clarke scores is in his characterizations of scientists, who by and large, get a poor deal from novelists. Mary Shelly set the trend and the media has pretty much followed along ever since. Only Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in “The First Circle” has properly got scientists "right". But when it comes to the predictive ability and breathtaking scope then Olaf Stapledon deserves recognition. “Last and First Men”, brilliant. Lacks a coherent novel structure but some of his ideas are now on the point of being put into practice. Asimov similarly took huge gulps of the future, chewed it up and spread it across the pages of some lovely books. But Clarke had great scope and also detail which is where many great SF writers fail. It took me years to finally work out what 2001 - A Space Odyssey was about but it did. His books seem slightly dated now but he deserves his place in the Pantheon.
I can see a lot of themes of 2001 running through a lot of Clarke's work, particularly “Childhood's End”. What's interesting is the way in which Clarke, in “Childhood's End”, almost sends his traditional themes in a different direction. For example, a major theme in 2001 is that the evolution of Man lies beyond the confines of Earth and out among the stars. Technology is seen as the great evolutionary driver. However, in “Childhood's End” we are told "The stars are not for Man", and the story centres on how the arriving extra-terrestrials confine Man to Earth and stunt all scientific and technological advancement, all so that Man is able to evolve and become one with the Overmind.
Bottom-line: Mankind's arc in that story reflects the spiritual journey of cleaning up one's act prior to self-realization and annihilation of the ego. “Childhood's End” is almost unique among Clarke's works in the way it goes against the grain of the direction of most of his other novels. “Childhood's End” also possesses an abundance of mythic content on a more macro-cosmic scale. Despite Clarke's ambivalence about his beliefs, his work reveals strong spiritual threads. I sometimes wonder with all the jejune distractions we have these days if we are actually living in the final stages of “Childhood’s End”. Where mankind’s distractions became so many it was impossible to keep up with it all. (300 hours of You tube added every minute.) Don't forget his prediction in one story that worldwide communication would result in an explosion of porn. Well he was spot on with that!
In “Childhood’s End” by Arthur C. Clarke
One of my favourite long novel is `Childhoods End`, but commenting on it without revealing the ending is difficult. That is the whole point after all, but still, think the early 80`s TV mini
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series/series of `V` - with Jane Badler as a seriously sexy, sociopathic alien - think they really were benevolent and took humanity to generations of peace and prosperity. Well, not exactly many `generations`!What if humanity was a Caterpillar, ugly and slow but with vast potential, the aliens were more advanced Caterpillars, but that is as far as they will ever go. Their job is to help humanity reach a level they can only ever envy and dream of. Humanity has the potential they so lack, it can metamorphise into a Butterfly of stunning beauty and infinite future. That is the entire story; what is wonderful for the species however may not be so great for it`s members; change can be very painful and even devastating: Basically, humans die, Humanity goes to the `next level`.
Where Clarke scores is in his characterizations of scientists, who by and large, get a poor deal from novelists. Mary Shelly set the trend and the media has pretty much followed along ever since. Only Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in “The First Circle” has properly got scientists "right". But when it comes to the predictive ability and breathtaking scope then Olaf Stapledon deserves recognition. “Last and First Men”, brilliant. Lacks a coherent novel structure but some of his ideas are now on the point of being put into practice. Asimov similarly took huge gulps of the future, chewed it up and spread it across the pages of some lovely books. But Clarke had great scope and also detail which is where many great SF writers fail. It took me years to finally work out what 2001 - A Space Odyssey was about but it did. His books seem slightly dated now but he deserves his place in the Pantheon.
I can see a lot of themes of 2001 running through a lot of Clarke's work, particularly “Childhood's End”. What's interesting is the way in which Clarke, in “Childhood's End”, almost sends his traditional themes in a different direction. For example, a major theme in 2001 is that the evolution of Man lies beyond the confines of Earth and out among the stars. Technology is seen as the great evolutionary driver. However, in “Childhood's End” we are told "The stars are not for Man", and the story centres on how the arriving extra-terrestrials confine Man to Earth and stunt all scientific and technological advancement, all so that Man is able to evolve and become one with the Overmind.
Bottom-line: Mankind's arc in that story reflects the spiritual journey of cleaning up one's act prior to self-realization and annihilation of the ego. “Childhood's End” is almost unique among Clarke's works in the way it goes against the grain of the direction of most of his other novels. “Childhood's End” also possesses an abundance of mythic content on a more macro-cosmic scale. Despite Clarke's ambivalence about his beliefs, his work reveals strong spiritual threads. I sometimes wonder with all the jejune distractions we have these days if we are actually living in the final stages of “Childhood’s End”. Where mankind’s distractions became so many it was impossible to keep up with it all. (300 hours of You tube added every minute.) Don't forget his prediction in one story that worldwide communication would result in an explosion of porn. Well he was spot on with that!
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LibraryThing member scififan42
Probably my favorite all-time novel. I first read it in Elementary school. I can still remember the sensation of chills going down my spine while reading the final chapter. After 40 years and 12 re-readings the book still triggers my sense-of-wonder.
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
I have always been a huge fan of Arthur C Clarke’s novels, and this, which was his first major commercial and critical success, was apparently his own favourite. Published in 1954, as the Cold War was gathering in intensity, the novel starts with the Americans and Russians in the midst of a space
The aliens, known informally as The Overlords, assume power over the Earth almost immediately, with the human population realising that resistance would be pointless. They are benign, and under their suzerainty the world embarks upon an extended period of peace, accompanied by a surge of technological advancement and economic growth. The world’s woes are largely vanquished and the population can concentrate on a life led by leisure. Not everyone is happy – some feel that their cosseted existence is robbing mankind of its initiative and ability to progress.
Clarke’s description of the Utopian lifestyle afforded the world under the benevolent guidance of The Overlords is beguiling and demonstrates his awesome prescience. In a throwaway remark he predicts the introduction of a readily accessible, reliable oral contraceptive and something remarkably similar to DNA fingerprinting, decades before either would become a reality.
Clarke is a great science fiction writer because, in addition to being an accomplished scientist, he had that happy knack, so rare among other performers in the genre, of being a genuinely good writer. He understands the intricacies of plotting and development of plausible, sympathetic characters. In Childhood’s End plausible characters abound, ranging from gushing socialite Rupert Boyce, independent and dangerously inquisitive astrophysicist Jan Rodricks, and the domesticated Gregsons, George and Jean and their two children. Clarke’s compelling verisimilitude over the everyday makes the fantastic seem utterly credible. More than sixty years since its publication, and nearly forty since I first read it, the book remains just as gripping, enjoyable and rewarding.
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race (prefiguring the bitter competition that would flourish during the latter half of that decade and then throughout the 1960s). This is, however, rendered redundant by the arrival of a fleet of huge spaceships marking the arrival of an alien race, immensely more powerful and technologically accomplished than mankind.The aliens, known informally as The Overlords, assume power over the Earth almost immediately, with the human population realising that resistance would be pointless. They are benign, and under their suzerainty the world embarks upon an extended period of peace, accompanied by a surge of technological advancement and economic growth. The world’s woes are largely vanquished and the population can concentrate on a life led by leisure. Not everyone is happy – some feel that their cosseted existence is robbing mankind of its initiative and ability to progress.
Clarke’s description of the Utopian lifestyle afforded the world under the benevolent guidance of The Overlords is beguiling and demonstrates his awesome prescience. In a throwaway remark he predicts the introduction of a readily accessible, reliable oral contraceptive and something remarkably similar to DNA fingerprinting, decades before either would become a reality.
Clarke is a great science fiction writer because, in addition to being an accomplished scientist, he had that happy knack, so rare among other performers in the genre, of being a genuinely good writer. He understands the intricacies of plotting and development of plausible, sympathetic characters. In Childhood’s End plausible characters abound, ranging from gushing socialite Rupert Boyce, independent and dangerously inquisitive astrophysicist Jan Rodricks, and the domesticated Gregsons, George and Jean and their two children. Clarke’s compelling verisimilitude over the everyday makes the fantastic seem utterly credible. More than sixty years since its publication, and nearly forty since I first read it, the book remains just as gripping, enjoyable and rewarding.
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LibraryThing member Jean_Sexton
It has been several decades since I last read this book. I started reading it with some trepidation -- would it hold up to my memories? How dated would it be?
The answer is that the technological trappings are indeed dated, but they are not the heart of the story. That has to do with what mankind
The hard part for me is deciding how I feel about the novel. It is well-told and well-written. It made me think. Like the author, I don't think I like the ending at all now; in my youth I thought it marvelous, though. It is a classic as no one really explored the topic as well as Clarke did back then.
If you like classic, thought-provoking science fiction, then I think you should read this book. I cannot predict who will like it.
The answer is that the technological trappings are indeed dated, but they are not the heart of the story. That has to do with what mankind
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is, how we as a species will grow and change, and what makes us human. While the author now disagrees with his conclusions (as stated in his foreword), it is still an interesting exploration of those themes. The hard part for me is deciding how I feel about the novel. It is well-told and well-written. It made me think. Like the author, I don't think I like the ending at all now; in my youth I thought it marvelous, though. It is a classic as no one really explored the topic as well as Clarke did back then.
If you like classic, thought-provoking science fiction, then I think you should read this book. I cannot predict who will like it.
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LibraryThing member baswood
Published in 1953 Chilhood's End is another from the SF Masterworks series. It is one that I have not read before and I was amazed at just how good it is. It seems to avoid many the tropes of 1950's fiction that might bother readers in the 21st century, for example excruciating sexism, nasty racism
The storytelling is straightforward and Clarke writes well enough, characterisation is adequate, it is the story, the plot, the science fiction that drives this book forward. It is the sort of book that as a teenager I would not have been able to put down and I read it over a couple of days this time round. Imaginative science fiction that you do not need a physics diploma to understand, what's not to like if you feel like giving yourself up to an entertaining read. I loved it and so 5 stars.
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and problem solving by beating the crap out of your adversary. Instead it is a story that sets the imagination reeling in a quiet methodical way. An advanced alien race appear in huge space ships above earth, they are intellectually, technologically and militarily light years ahead of mankind. They are benevolent god like figures who remain hidden, but guide human beings towards a golden age. They are known as the overlords and communicate with one representative from the human race. They become accepted by the majority, but opposition grows because the questions of who are they and why are they here remain unanswered. From this scenario Clarke develops a story that is mysterious, shocking and full of wonder as events take an altogether unexpected turn. The storytelling is straightforward and Clarke writes well enough, characterisation is adequate, it is the story, the plot, the science fiction that drives this book forward. It is the sort of book that as a teenager I would not have been able to put down and I read it over a couple of days this time round. Imaginative science fiction that you do not need a physics diploma to understand, what's not to like if you feel like giving yourself up to an entertaining read. I loved it and so 5 stars.
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LibraryThing member BenDV
Though I had my reservations about Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (and Kubrick’s film just didn’t appeal to me all that much), it was strong enough to make me keen to pick up another one of his works. Childhood’s End, consensus seems to say, is the next best place to go.
The novel has three
Childhood’s End is a novel with less negative points than 2001, but it also has less plus points, making for a generally less memorable experience. This is a bit of a shame, because actually the story of Childhood’s End is more interesting than that of 2001, at least in my view. But Clarke was clearly not as accomplished a writer at this point, and so the execution is perhaps not what it could have been.
The main negative is basically the same as in 2001; Clarke has no interest in making complex human characters. People, in Clarke’s novels, are a means to an end, to tell a story and express ideas, not an end in themselves. So there’s no great detail about all of the people, just enough for Clarke to move his story along in the way he wants. It isn’t as bad as in 2001, but I still didn’t feel myself as emotionally involved in the characters problems as I may have been if I had cared about them more.
Also odd is the length of time Clarke focuses on the early period of the Overlords rule when everyone was obsessed with what they looked like, and the Overlords wouldn’t make this clear. Personally I felt this was an unimportant point, but Clarke spends a quarter of the novel focusing on this period. It ultimately has some importance, but there was little tension in these sections.
But Childhood’s End has some big positives as well. I loved the detail he gives on the Utopian Earth the Overlords create. For one a world where you are in education until your thirties, where money is meaningless and everyone follows their passions in life, sounds great to me. But I don’t think that, in such a world, all creative enterprises, especially all forms of art, would die away as Clarke thinks they would. Clarke thinks that a lack of conflict and pain in the world would deprive artists of motivation and inspiration. Firstly, despite Clarke’s claim that these too faded away, there will always be silly tortured romances for people to draw on in all fields. But I also think that, in literature for instance, genres like high fantasy, historical drama, alternative history and science-fiction would become more popular, even if other genres like mystery would fade away. And even if the Overlords did possess so much technology beyond human comprehension, I doubt our curiosity that drives invention and science would die.
Also, despite the fact that Clarke himself disagrees with the message, the novel’s warning that ‘the stars are not for man’ is one I agree with. As the head Overlord of Earth, Karellen, states; if man cannot run a functioning society on a single planet without threatening his own destruction, how on earth could we deal with the enormous complexities going into the solar system or beyond would lead us to face? Of course the Overlords don’t just mean organisational problems; there’s also the various surprises the Universe would throw at us. That’s leaving aside the fact that I doubt the energy sources to get us off this planet and to somewhere else exist.
As the length of this review shows, Clarke was successful in his main aims with this novel; it got me thinking a lot, and Clarke’s imaginative ideas are the main reason for that. So despite its flaws, Childhood’s End gets the seal from approval from me, and keeps me keen to read more of Clarke’s novels.
The novel has three
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main features; psychic abilities, super-intelligent aliens and a warning to mankind. Yet oddly, Clarke states in the introduction that he doesn’t believe in the existence of psychics or super-intelligent aliens in UFOs (at least, he didn’t later in life) and he never agreed with the novel’s main idea, that ‘the stars are not for Man’, which rather makes me wonder what inspired him to write the book in the first place. Basically, this species of super-intelligent aliens called the Overlords arrive on Earth in the early twenty-first century and usher in a utopia, bringing peace, justice and an end to poverty. But no one knows there exact purpose, and then they start showing interest in human ideas about psychic abilities; the events of the novel are heavily influenced by these. It’s certainly not the sort of realistic science-fiction Clarke is more known for; most of the technology is not explained in detail and isn’t all that important to the story. The focus is more on ideas than on science.Childhood’s End is a novel with less negative points than 2001, but it also has less plus points, making for a generally less memorable experience. This is a bit of a shame, because actually the story of Childhood’s End is more interesting than that of 2001, at least in my view. But Clarke was clearly not as accomplished a writer at this point, and so the execution is perhaps not what it could have been.
The main negative is basically the same as in 2001; Clarke has no interest in making complex human characters. People, in Clarke’s novels, are a means to an end, to tell a story and express ideas, not an end in themselves. So there’s no great detail about all of the people, just enough for Clarke to move his story along in the way he wants. It isn’t as bad as in 2001, but I still didn’t feel myself as emotionally involved in the characters problems as I may have been if I had cared about them more.
Also odd is the length of time Clarke focuses on the early period of the Overlords rule when everyone was obsessed with what they looked like, and the Overlords wouldn’t make this clear. Personally I felt this was an unimportant point, but Clarke spends a quarter of the novel focusing on this period. It ultimately has some importance, but there was little tension in these sections.
But Childhood’s End has some big positives as well. I loved the detail he gives on the Utopian Earth the Overlords create. For one a world where you are in education until your thirties, where money is meaningless and everyone follows their passions in life, sounds great to me. But I don’t think that, in such a world, all creative enterprises, especially all forms of art, would die away as Clarke thinks they would. Clarke thinks that a lack of conflict and pain in the world would deprive artists of motivation and inspiration. Firstly, despite Clarke’s claim that these too faded away, there will always be silly tortured romances for people to draw on in all fields. But I also think that, in literature for instance, genres like high fantasy, historical drama, alternative history and science-fiction would become more popular, even if other genres like mystery would fade away. And even if the Overlords did possess so much technology beyond human comprehension, I doubt our curiosity that drives invention and science would die.
Also, despite the fact that Clarke himself disagrees with the message, the novel’s warning that ‘the stars are not for man’ is one I agree with. As the head Overlord of Earth, Karellen, states; if man cannot run a functioning society on a single planet without threatening his own destruction, how on earth could we deal with the enormous complexities going into the solar system or beyond would lead us to face? Of course the Overlords don’t just mean organisational problems; there’s also the various surprises the Universe would throw at us. That’s leaving aside the fact that I doubt the energy sources to get us off this planet and to somewhere else exist.
As the length of this review shows, Clarke was successful in his main aims with this novel; it got me thinking a lot, and Clarke’s imaginative ideas are the main reason for that. So despite its flaws, Childhood’s End gets the seal from approval from me, and keeps me keen to read more of Clarke’s novels.
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LibraryThing member Crowyhead
In my opinion, one of the great classics of science fiction. Truly first-rate; I loved it when I was a kid, and when I re-read it recently I STILL loved it.
LibraryThing member raynim
This is one of the greatest science fiction novels out there. Hands down one of my favorites. Clarke encompasses a huge scope of time and thought in a short book. The books speculates on the next step in the evolution of conciousness and the implications are somewhat cold but not depressing at all.
LibraryThing member scottcholstad
Childhood's End is simply one of the most brilliant, excellent, and exciting science fiction novels I have ever read. To think that it was published in 1953, years before so much of this technology had even been thought of, is miraculous.
One day numerous huge space ships appear and hover over all
Fifty years later, when mankind has grown lazy and incompetent, the Overlords descend from their ships and show themselves and what humans see is shocking. Yet they get used to seeing them among them.
Meanwhile, one man, Jan, decides to stow away on an Overlord ship to go their home planet. He estimates it will take 80 earth years, but because of light speed, only two month his time, or four months going both ways, as he's sure he'll be sent back once he's found there. And he succeeds. And is stunned at what he finds. The Overlords' planet and cities are unlike anything he could ever have imagined and he yearns for Earth.
Meanwhile, a couple named Greg and Jean have two young children where they live on an island commune. Their oldest boy is saved from a tsunami by an Overlord and starts having odd dreams. His parents become worried. Greg eventually meets with Karellen, the Overlord Supervisor, and what he is told chills him. Mankind is changing. The Overlords are here to supervise that. What happens to facilitate that is truly original and the ultimate fate of humanity is rather sad, in my opinion. When Jan gets home from the Overlord's planet, he is stunned at the changes on Earth. And a lot is explained to him, and to us. The final pages are chilling and simply unreal. I've never read anything like them before. Clarke can really write some original stuff.
To me, this is easily a five star book. In fact, I'm under the impression that this won a Hugo at some point. If so, it was much deserved. The book "only" has a 4.07 out of 5 rating on Goodreads, so there are obviously some people who don't agree with my assertion, but that's still a pretty good rating. Do I recommend it? Hell yeah, I do! This is easily one of the best books I have ever read. And frankly it helps that it's only about 200 pages. You can read it in a day or two. Strongly recommended.
One day numerous huge space ships appear and hover over all
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of Earth's major cities. Aliens have "invaded" the earth. They are called "Overlords" and people are now at their mercy. However, they've come to do good! They solve Earth's political, criminal, religious, military, and nuclear war problems and introduce a life of leisure and prosperity to all of humanity. Yet they won't show themselves and this drives people nuts. The head of the UN is the only human allowed to talk to the Overlord Supervisor and he does so once a week. Finally, he begs him to show himself to humanity and is told that the Overlords will ... in 50 years.Fifty years later, when mankind has grown lazy and incompetent, the Overlords descend from their ships and show themselves and what humans see is shocking. Yet they get used to seeing them among them.
Meanwhile, one man, Jan, decides to stow away on an Overlord ship to go their home planet. He estimates it will take 80 earth years, but because of light speed, only two month his time, or four months going both ways, as he's sure he'll be sent back once he's found there. And he succeeds. And is stunned at what he finds. The Overlords' planet and cities are unlike anything he could ever have imagined and he yearns for Earth.
Meanwhile, a couple named Greg and Jean have two young children where they live on an island commune. Their oldest boy is saved from a tsunami by an Overlord and starts having odd dreams. His parents become worried. Greg eventually meets with Karellen, the Overlord Supervisor, and what he is told chills him. Mankind is changing. The Overlords are here to supervise that. What happens to facilitate that is truly original and the ultimate fate of humanity is rather sad, in my opinion. When Jan gets home from the Overlord's planet, he is stunned at the changes on Earth. And a lot is explained to him, and to us. The final pages are chilling and simply unreal. I've never read anything like them before. Clarke can really write some original stuff.
To me, this is easily a five star book. In fact, I'm under the impression that this won a Hugo at some point. If so, it was much deserved. The book "only" has a 4.07 out of 5 rating on Goodreads, so there are obviously some people who don't agree with my assertion, but that's still a pretty good rating. Do I recommend it? Hell yeah, I do! This is easily one of the best books I have ever read. And frankly it helps that it's only about 200 pages. You can read it in a day or two. Strongly recommended.
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LibraryThing member ElTomaso
One of the originators of great American science fiction.
LibraryThing member DarthDeverell
Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End grew out of his short story, “Guardian Angel” (1946), which he used – with minor modifications – as the first part of the novel. This fifth novel from Clarke explored themes that were common to much of his work. Like “Guardian Angel,” his 1948
The story follows a group called the Overlords, represented primarily by one named Karellen, who come to Earth to observe humanity and guide it to the next stage of its evolution. Writing in the early 1950s, Clarke began with the space race, which he set in 1975, and proceeds into the twenty-second century over the course of the novel. Among the changes are a focus on science and reason. As Clarke writes, “It was a completely secular age… The creeds that had been based upon miracles and revelations had collapsed utterly. With the rise of education, they had already been slowly dissolving” (pg. 72). Further, “Humanity had lost its ancient gods: now it was old enough to have no need for new ones” (pg. 73). As a secular humanist, Clarke examines the benefits of losing superstition’s influence on society. On the other hand, he shows how a utopia could drastically affect expectations for life. He writes, “When the Overlords had abolished war and hunger and disease, they had also abolished adventure” (pg. 91). These shortcomings notwithstanding, the benefits allow humanity to avoid its own destruction and develop its mental faculties to make the next leap.
Though a simple concept, Clarke’s writing elevates it as his readers join him on this odyssey for the future. He examines themes of cosmic irony and the promise of a great destiny. Clarke also uses the time dilation effects of relativistic travel to great effect in the last third of the novel. Fans of his writing will find plenty to enjoy as he waxes rhapsodic about new journeys and strange worlds. Even the more dated references don’t hinder the overall effect. New readers to Clarke’s fiction will find this a welcoming first novel with which to experience his prose.
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short story, “The Sentinel,” and the later 2001: A Space Odyssey and Rendezvous with Rama, Clarke examined what might occur if humanity were to encounter an alien intelligence superior to its own and how both human civilization, and humanity itself, would evolve as a result.The story follows a group called the Overlords, represented primarily by one named Karellen, who come to Earth to observe humanity and guide it to the next stage of its evolution. Writing in the early 1950s, Clarke began with the space race, which he set in 1975, and proceeds into the twenty-second century over the course of the novel. Among the changes are a focus on science and reason. As Clarke writes, “It was a completely secular age… The creeds that had been based upon miracles and revelations had collapsed utterly. With the rise of education, they had already been slowly dissolving” (pg. 72). Further, “Humanity had lost its ancient gods: now it was old enough to have no need for new ones” (pg. 73). As a secular humanist, Clarke examines the benefits of losing superstition’s influence on society. On the other hand, he shows how a utopia could drastically affect expectations for life. He writes, “When the Overlords had abolished war and hunger and disease, they had also abolished adventure” (pg. 91). These shortcomings notwithstanding, the benefits allow humanity to avoid its own destruction and develop its mental faculties to make the next leap.
Though a simple concept, Clarke’s writing elevates it as his readers join him on this odyssey for the future. He examines themes of cosmic irony and the promise of a great destiny. Clarke also uses the time dilation effects of relativistic travel to great effect in the last third of the novel. Fans of his writing will find plenty to enjoy as he waxes rhapsodic about new journeys and strange worlds. Even the more dated references don’t hinder the overall effect. New readers to Clarke’s fiction will find this a welcoming first novel with which to experience his prose.
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LibraryThing member Goodwillbooks
Childhood's End tells the story of "the next step in the evolution of mankind." It tells of the arrival on Earth of hundreds of space ships which, through very subtle (and on rare occasions, not-so-subtle) means, take control of the planet. While employing no violence, they nonetheless enforce
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their will, but only to effect improvements in the condition of man. Within 50 years, war, poverty, disease have been eliminated, and the planet is on its way to a truly cohesive global society. Nonetheless, there are elements who resist, and demand to know the true aims of the "Overlords," who remain singularly silent about their intent. Their role ultimately becomes clear. The book is described as a "novel of ideas," and Arthur C. Clarke provides a realistic picture of the future, grounded in science, like no other author can. One can take issue with his predictions about mankind's responses to such events, and various societal changes resulting from the Overlords' stewardship (I think he overestimates man's rational nature), but the story is coherent and always engaging. Show Less
LibraryThing member TadAD
It may be a classic in the SF genre, but I didn't really find a single character in the book with whom to bond. The story concept was very good, the writing typical of Clarke's dry style...which is pleasant, but not gripping. I'd recommend it simply because it's part of the science fiction
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pantheon, but not as one of the all-time greats. Show Less
LibraryThing member jwhenderson
There are reasons why certain books are considered great. Arthur C. Clarke's novel, Childhood's End, exhibits several of them. It is a lucid account of the meeting of "aliens" from outer space with the residents of earth. In describing this encounter and the aftermath, Clarke created a scene, the
Fundamentally this is a "novel of ideas" and that is what this reader took away from the book. The wonder at the nature of the universe and the potential for man when encountering other residents of it.
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image of huge spaceships hovering over major cities of Earth, that not only impresses the reader but that had remained as an image for subsequent science fiction. But this book should be considered great as a work of literature, from the structure to style to characterization there is a economy that allows for a tale spanning decades to be told in a couple hundred pages. Clarke focuses on the essentials of the story and lets the reader imagine the inessential details. He also provides contrasts in character and ideas while providing just the right amount of suspense to keep the reader turning the page.Fundamentally this is a "novel of ideas" and that is what this reader took away from the book. The wonder at the nature of the universe and the potential for man when encountering other residents of it.
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LibraryThing member FEBeyer
An excellent novel from the early 1950s, Childhood’s End is more about ideas than hard scifi. In the 1950s Britain and the USA were relatively egalitarian societies with good wages. For the first time labour saving devices were available for the mass market, and the passive entertainment given by
“Fifty years is ample time in which to change a world and its people almost beyond recognition. All that is required for the task are a sound knowledge of social engineering, a clear sight of the intended goal – and power.”
Clark's prose is precise and rather even in tone, he’s only lyrical when talking about the strange geography of far away planets. His characters are there to wrestle with ideas, but there is just enough development and background given. The Overlords' technology and planet are not fully explained, unlike with the Trisolarans in “The Three Body Problem" by Liu Cixin, a twenty-first century scifi masterwork that owes a lot to Childhood’s End.
The Overlords study us like anthropologists among a primitive tribe up the Amazon River. Surprisingly, they are interested in the paranormal; their reason for being on Earth, while not the greatest plot twist of all time, is not what we might expect. In their study of human history they realise their role is something like that of the Roman or British Empires - yet more altruistic. There is one thing about humanity they can’t understand: art, something they do not have. This hints that we, despite our backwardness, can go further than the Overlords ever have. In the Pacific Islands a group of artists set up a colony called Athens to offset the damage Overlord rule is doing to the human race. Yes there is no more war, no more poverty, but:
“ The world’s now placid, featureless, and culturally dead: nothing really new has been created since the Overlords came.”
Humans once again will be creative and productive in this colony:
“‘Here,’ he continued, ‘we do not suffer from the ancient obsession that leisure is wicked. But we do not consider that it is enough to be passive receptors.”
In Athens a change will happen, something the Overlords have been waiting for.
When it comes to predicting the future - Clark does talk about something very similar to virtual reality and his safer but homogenised world has come about to some extent. Childhood’s End packs a lot into just over two hundred pages, I’m sure many other writers would have drawn this plot out to over 400. It’s very well put together; a real page turner that holds up well in 2020 and gets you thinking.
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television was new and worrying. People like Clark realised the danger of being amused to death (as Roger Waters would later put it). Then there was the existential threat of the bomb, and in Childhood’s End the human race is hell bent on destroying itself through nuclear war but saved by the intervention of benevolent aliens: the Overlords. In fact it is the overlord in charge of Earth, Karellen that makes this claim. The Overlords are beings with superior minds and technology. But what are their aims? The reader can’t believe they won’t end up being evil - especially when Clark reveals what they look like. The Overlords delay showing themselves because their appearance will induce dread in humans. They have time to prepare for this unveiling though, and much like the Chinese Communist Party, they know that:“Fifty years is ample time in which to change a world and its people almost beyond recognition. All that is required for the task are a sound knowledge of social engineering, a clear sight of the intended goal – and power.”
Clark's prose is precise and rather even in tone, he’s only lyrical when talking about the strange geography of far away planets. His characters are there to wrestle with ideas, but there is just enough development and background given. The Overlords' technology and planet are not fully explained, unlike with the Trisolarans in “The Three Body Problem" by Liu Cixin, a twenty-first century scifi masterwork that owes a lot to Childhood’s End.
The Overlords study us like anthropologists among a primitive tribe up the Amazon River. Surprisingly, they are interested in the paranormal; their reason for being on Earth, while not the greatest plot twist of all time, is not what we might expect. In their study of human history they realise their role is something like that of the Roman or British Empires - yet more altruistic. There is one thing about humanity they can’t understand: art, something they do not have. This hints that we, despite our backwardness, can go further than the Overlords ever have. In the Pacific Islands a group of artists set up a colony called Athens to offset the damage Overlord rule is doing to the human race. Yes there is no more war, no more poverty, but:
“ The world’s now placid, featureless, and culturally dead: nothing really new has been created since the Overlords came.”
Humans once again will be creative and productive in this colony:
“‘Here,’ he continued, ‘we do not suffer from the ancient obsession that leisure is wicked. But we do not consider that it is enough to be passive receptors.”
In Athens a change will happen, something the Overlords have been waiting for.
When it comes to predicting the future - Clark does talk about something very similar to virtual reality and his safer but homogenised world has come about to some extent. Childhood’s End packs a lot into just over two hundred pages, I’m sure many other writers would have drawn this plot out to over 400. It’s very well put together; a real page turner that holds up well in 2020 and gets you thinking.
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LibraryThing member melydia
Just as man is about to achieve space flight, a group of alien ships appear over every major city in the world. The aliens, whom the human race refer to as The Overlords, bring peace and prosperity to the entire planet over the course of the next hundred years. The Overlords are mysterious and
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secretive, never revealing their true purpose - until one day they announce that the current generation alive will be the very last of mankind ever. It's a difficult read, though admittedly not quite as depressing as, say, On The Beach by Nevil Shute, but sobering nonetheless. Another interesting facet is the view of the future from the past: here, for example, it's the mid-1970s and we still haven't reached the moon. But I wouldn't mind the near-instantaneous travel, where people living in Australia can attend a dinner party in South Africa. So while this isn't what one might consider a rolicking adventure, it's a fascinating look into one possible first contact scenario. One final note: at the beginning of my copy is a disclaimer that the views held within this novel are not held by the author. Which views, however, are not specified, so I am left to speculate. Does it refer to the polygamy of men? The passive submission to the Overlords? Something else? Hard to say, but in all honesty it added to my enjoyment of the book, because I paid more attention to the subtle clues of what, if anything, the author is disavowing. Show Less
LibraryThing member john257hopper
This is another awe inspiring novel by the British SF master. Mysterious aliens appear in the sky over Earth and somehow become benevolent dictators over the whole planet. But the aliens' own motives are not at all straightforward, neither as benevolent as many humans take them to be, yet at the
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same time not evil in the normal sense of the word. The denouement was sad and wonderful (in the literal sense of inspiring wonder), and very thought provoking about the role of different species towards each other. I didn't think this novel was quite as consistently wonderful as The CIty and the Stars or Rendezvous with Rama as I thought it sagged just a little in the middle, but the initial chapters were intriguing and the final few mind boggling in their implications for both the human race and their new alien overlords. A great read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Andorion
One of the coldest, most heart-breaking and yet most beautiful books I have ever read.
LibraryThing member luskwater
I cannot put this down or put it away. Something about it compels me to read and reread, enjoying the way Clarke builds the story. The Prologue, the first chapter, is one of the most riveting intros I've ever read. But maybe that's just me.
LibraryThing member breic
Science fiction on a huge scale. As Clarke himself admits at the end, it is overly mystical; apparently it was written when "paraphysics" studies were taken more seriously. Worse than that, the story suffers from long info-dumps. In fact, there is hardly any story or characters. To his credit,
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Clarke's vision of a grand universe, with alien overlords (and their own overlords) looking over the destiny of all humanity, still sustains interest. Show Less
LibraryThing member Mattmcmanus
This was the moment when history held its breath, and the present sheared asunder from the past as an iceberg splits from its frozen, parent cliffs, and goes sailing out to sea in lonely pride.
Perspective is a fickle thing. You can go about your days thinking you’re engaged with your life. That
Then, as if a freight train has passed with in inches of your face, you are startled into awareness that you are nothing more than kid swimming in a back yard kiddie pool.
For me, Childhood’s End is the freight train and Arthur C. Clarke is the conductor.
To any fan of SciFi, the premise of this book is simple, it’s concepts familiar, and it’s characters relatable. However, it’s profoundly engaging and completely delightful. At some point you realize this book was written in 1953 and you’re hit by the train.
Clarke is a master.
I’ve had long, involved conversations with several people about this book. Each one about different aspects of it. Many about thoughts that seemed like throw-aways during the course of the story but had a depth that only revealed itself over time.
I will read this book again and probably very soon.
Perspective is a fickle thing. You can go about your days thinking you’re engaged with your life. That
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you’re working towards increasing in knowledge & understanding. Though you continue to hope to grow in depth and awareness, you feel like you’ve don’t a good job mining the depths of yourself and what it means to be human.Then, as if a freight train has passed with in inches of your face, you are startled into awareness that you are nothing more than kid swimming in a back yard kiddie pool.
For me, Childhood’s End is the freight train and Arthur C. Clarke is the conductor.
To any fan of SciFi, the premise of this book is simple, it’s concepts familiar, and it’s characters relatable. However, it’s profoundly engaging and completely delightful. At some point you realize this book was written in 1953 and you’re hit by the train.
Clarke is a master.
I’ve had long, involved conversations with several people about this book. Each one about different aspects of it. Many about thoughts that seemed like throw-aways during the course of the story but had a depth that only revealed itself over time.
I will read this book again and probably very soon.
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LibraryThing member meandmybooks
Interesting from a "history of sf/how the future looked from the 1950's" perspective. This really does have some interesting and prescient ideas, but also some eye-roll-inducing sexism. And I never did figure out why bull fighting was forbidden but murder was okay. Actually, there were quite a few
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similar oddities which might come clear for me on a second reading (and it's a quick read), but I'm not that interested. Worth reading, if not rereading, though. Show Less
LibraryThing member monica67
I was motivated to read this story by its acclaim as groundbreaking in the genre. It's an epic portrayal of a potential future for the human race. It's one of many imagined scenarios for our first visitation by beings from another planet, a scenario that contains both a fatalism and a measure of
The story itself was told with a distance that I suppose was required for its scope. It was sort of in between omniscient POV and a distant third POV, with a more limited third coming into play at times. It kept me from getting attached to any particular character. In a way, it kept me focused on the broader tale.
The story is also sixty years old, and the differences from how stories are written today are clear. The close of the story wasn't at all what I'd expected, and rather anti-climactic. The end comes… and goes. In fact we're not even there to witness it. But we've traveled to another planet, so I can accept the tradeoff.
Overall, an intriguing tale. Though a breakthrough when written, from the perspective of sixty years later, I realize I've become accumstomed to the changes in the genre that followed this publication. Clarke may have changed science fiction with this book, but it continued to evolve afterward, and I'm afraid my appreciation is diminished because of that.
I was struck, however, by the author's vision of the future. His vision included concepts and machinations that no longer exist or are no longer necessary. At the same time, he failed to predict others that have already been created. Clarke's vision of the future included cameras with film, tape recorders, even flourishing newspapers and journalists (now a dying breed). Perhaps he was not as concerned with the technological advances that might come. But I still found it amusing that his future had no advancement of information technology, which in reality has shaped our present world.
He also failed to predict that male dominance of most spheres would wane. Men still rule and make the decisions in his future. Perhaps it was a concept beyond his imagination. But one who is envisioning a future should consider the future for our social interactions and cultural development.
The most amusing anachronism was when a character bemoaned the fact that, after the Overlords had brought world peace and expanded the leisure time of all humanity, TV watching had grown to a shocking three hours per night in the twenty-first century. If only.
It seems to me that many science fiction writers (including of movies and television), in their envisioning and creating of a potential future for us, are limited to what sort of future they can imagine. Star Trek is one example. They were a little bit more on target, as they saw the potential for handheld devices and technology beyond the capability of the day, as well as the idea that a world that had eliminated war and hunger would have also expanded equality for all. And yet, their computers were nearly as large and lumbering as the computers of the day. The relatively tiny computers we use today were beyond what they thought possible.
These days, we feel like we have a better idea of the future because we consider nearly all things possible. We have a continuous evolution of technology that regularly outperforms our expectations and--if not exceeding our imaginations--outdoes what we consider "normal."
But if we are limited by what we can imagine, by the knowledge we now possess, and we now consider so many things possible that once were science fiction, what sort of future are we in store for? What unimaginable things are in our future?
That's a future I'd like to see.
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hope for humanity.The story itself was told with a distance that I suppose was required for its scope. It was sort of in between omniscient POV and a distant third POV, with a more limited third coming into play at times. It kept me from getting attached to any particular character. In a way, it kept me focused on the broader tale.
The story is also sixty years old, and the differences from how stories are written today are clear. The close of the story wasn't at all what I'd expected, and rather anti-climactic. The end comes… and goes. In fact we're not even there to witness it. But we've traveled to another planet, so I can accept the tradeoff.
Overall, an intriguing tale. Though a breakthrough when written, from the perspective of sixty years later, I realize I've become accumstomed to the changes in the genre that followed this publication. Clarke may have changed science fiction with this book, but it continued to evolve afterward, and I'm afraid my appreciation is diminished because of that.
I was struck, however, by the author's vision of the future. His vision included concepts and machinations that no longer exist or are no longer necessary. At the same time, he failed to predict others that have already been created. Clarke's vision of the future included cameras with film, tape recorders, even flourishing newspapers and journalists (now a dying breed). Perhaps he was not as concerned with the technological advances that might come. But I still found it amusing that his future had no advancement of information technology, which in reality has shaped our present world.
He also failed to predict that male dominance of most spheres would wane. Men still rule and make the decisions in his future. Perhaps it was a concept beyond his imagination. But one who is envisioning a future should consider the future for our social interactions and cultural development.
The most amusing anachronism was when a character bemoaned the fact that, after the Overlords had brought world peace and expanded the leisure time of all humanity, TV watching had grown to a shocking three hours per night in the twenty-first century. If only.
It seems to me that many science fiction writers (including of movies and television), in their envisioning and creating of a potential future for us, are limited to what sort of future they can imagine. Star Trek is one example. They were a little bit more on target, as they saw the potential for handheld devices and technology beyond the capability of the day, as well as the idea that a world that had eliminated war and hunger would have also expanded equality for all. And yet, their computers were nearly as large and lumbering as the computers of the day. The relatively tiny computers we use today were beyond what they thought possible.
These days, we feel like we have a better idea of the future because we consider nearly all things possible. We have a continuous evolution of technology that regularly outperforms our expectations and--if not exceeding our imaginations--outdoes what we consider "normal."
But if we are limited by what we can imagine, by the knowledge we now possess, and we now consider so many things possible that once were science fiction, what sort of future are we in store for? What unimaginable things are in our future?
That's a future I'd like to see.
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LibraryThing member alaudacorax
I read this on a wave of enthusiasm for Arthur C. Clarke, having just read Rendezvous With Rama and been very impressed with it. I wasn't overly impressed with this. In my review of the latter book I mentioned having read his 2001: A Space Odyssey two years back and completely forgotten the fact. A
I actually found a large part of the book quite absorbing, but it gradually went downhill for me in the last section, 'The Last Generation'. The direction it took struck me as muddled and rather pointless and I felt Clarke had run out of inspiration.
I'm afraid I've now lost my enthusiasm for Arthur C. Clarke. I don't see myself reading more of his fiction in the near future.
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similar thing seems to have happened with Childhood's End - I had vague stirrings of memory while reading and must have read it years ago and very quickly forgotten it.I actually found a large part of the book quite absorbing, but it gradually went downhill for me in the last section, 'The Last Generation'. The direction it took struck me as muddled and rather pointless and I felt Clarke had run out of inspiration.
I'm afraid I've now lost my enthusiasm for Arthur C. Clarke. I don't see myself reading more of his fiction in the near future.
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