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Classic Radio Sci-Fi - Childhood's End

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| Audio CD | 9781405677868

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2 Reviews

I can't call myself a sci-fi fan except the brief period I was quite into 倪匡 when I was 12. I am thus in no place to point out if Arthur Clarke is indeed (one of) the best sci-fi writer.
Yet Arthur Clarke indeed illustrated a vision of how far human being can go (as in 2001, 2010), and how we may en ... (continue)

I can't call myself a sci-fi fan except the brief period I was quite into 倪匡 when I was 12. I am thus in no place to point out if Arthur Clarke is indeed (one of) the best sci-fi writer.
Yet Arthur Clarke indeed illustrated a vision of how far human being can go (as in 2001, 2010), and how we may end up, as in this book. The stark difference between Clarke and 倪匡 (argh..sorry I got nobody else to compare with) was quite stunning. The stories by the latter are more like one man adventures or one ET encounters yet Clarke was able to depict the whole future worlds which are totally beyond his time.
The End of Childhood is not about mankind's adventure but the end of it, while another creature from outerspace arrived the Earth and asserted its ruling. The story spans a long period of time and it's growingly more intersting as it develops. Clarke is such a genious that he not only plant an vivid vision in your mind but intrigue endless philosophical questions which have been asking throughout human history.

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fruit said on Oct 12, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

the book was first written in 1954. Thus somethings are incorrectly predicted as times passed. A new chapter One was written after some decades..which again was wrong.
The newest edition was in 2000, when the second edition Chapter One was changed to the Appendix.
All these are due to unexpected slo ... (continue)

the book was first written in 1954. Thus somethings are incorrectly predicted as times passed. A new chapter One was written after some decades..which again was wrong.
The newest edition was in 2000, when the second edition Chapter One was changed to the Appendix.
All these are due to unexpected slowness and postpone of Space Travel due to decrease in Investment.
The book really runs into an ending totally unexpected for me...by looking at the name of the book and even 7/8 of the way through it.
The anticipated future world is still far more advanced than many SF movies these few years. May be it is too difficult to be expressed. I sincerely wish this novel can be made into a movie as I read half way through the book. In fact, the right to do so has already been purchased decades ago, but it has never been made into a movie. Instead , part of the scene has been adopted in the Movie Independence Day.
There is a main theme in this book. Super civilization send their messengers to this world and makes it change. The super civilization itself already evolved to beyond physical and imagination. And for the earth to further evolve, annihilation may occur, planned or unplanned.
After finishing this book, I realize that the written much later, in 1967 , a much much more famous novel , 2001, in fact based a lot on this earlier masterpiece. 2001.....even after 2020, 2061 unto the last one 3001,written a few decades latter than this book , and with a much better grasp of the future in this book [which became the PAST when 3001 was written] describes things was inferior and simpler than this novel.
I am not sure why, and AC Clarke did not explain in his 2000 preface....may be it is because as he said, he has lots of expection in paraphysical in 1954 and found it to be 99.9% fake....thus losing the limitless imagery when he reached 2000.
In the preface of 3001, his description of buddhism and other oriental beliefs are much clearer than in this book in 1954. And yet, the mystic air and belief in its supreme power is much less, make the latter books more 'down to earth' and much less astounding.
For those who has read 2001-3001 only.
This book is strongly recommended.

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Wutaichi2 said on Dec 19, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback